Mattala airport, catalyst of development - Speaker

Raja Waidyasekera Tissamaharama Special corr

Several decades ago people of Mattala asked for water for cultivation and drinking but today Mattala is converted to a fully-fledged international airport, Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said.

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa

The Speaker said so addressing the meeting that followed the opening of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International airport. He said Mahinda Rajapaksa International airport at Mattala and the Mahinda Rajapaksa International seaport at Hambantota are catalysts of development.

“Mattala was a jungle with elephants and wild beasts but today it has the second international airport in Sri Lanka.

The benefits of this airport is not for the people of Mattala but for the entire country,” he said.

Foundation stones were laid for the airport first at Weerawila, he said.

“Farmers earlier protested the construction of the airport saying that it will destroy paddy fields. But now they will reap benefits from this,” he said.

A major part of the construction work of the airport was completed within three years. This is a great achievement, the Speaker said. The Speaker said the people of Mattala and its outskirts were drought stricken in the recent past.

But there was no scarcity of water as a result of the implementation of reservoir projects.

“In the past during drought seasons women in the area collected water to pots with the help of coconut shells.

This is the true history of the area,” he said.

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a statesman who keeps his election pledges,” the Speaker said. His far-sighted policies have paved way for a prosperous country.

The people of this country now live in peace, he said.

A period of transition has occurred in Hambantota in the spheres of infrastructure such as wide roads, electricity projects, advances in telecommunication, health and education, he added.