Govt decides:

Maximum relief for drought-hit farmers

* Cabinet to decide on compensation today

* Free distribution of seed paddy, fertilizer

Disna MUDALIGE

The government will provide the maximum possible relief for the farmers affected by the drought, Health Minister and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena said.

Addressing a press conference at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday, the minister said that the Cabinet would today decide on the compensation for the drought-hit cultivated lands.

The minister said the government has decided to distribute paddy seeds and fertilizer free to farmers affected by the drought, defer the recovery of interests on their bank loans and pay a daily wage by using their labour to clear drains and canals. Sirisena said some of these moves are already being implemented.

He observed that it is during the regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that a significant service was rendered for the farmers after former regimes of D S Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake and Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

He also noted that the UNP regimes led by Ranil Wickremesinghe during 1977 to 1994 and 2002 to 2003 failed to provide any service to the farmers, adding that even the benefits that the farmers already enjoyed were deprived of them during these periods.

The minister revealed that the Paddy Marketing Board building valued at Rs 250 million in Kandy was given to commence a restaurant while many more property and money invested on agriculture were grabbed indiscriminately.

The minister also noted that the public have kept faith upon the government despite false propaganda by the Opposition parties to tarnish its image.

Sirisena noted that the public have understood it is useless to vote for Opposition parties which have broken into pieces. He added that the first election rally with the participation of the President would be held in Anuradhapura on August 17.

He also noted that the government went for early elections in three provinces not because of its inability to solve people’s problems as the Opposition claims, but because the government wanted to make its international allies as well as enemies aware of the message that the public of the country have fully embraced the policies of the government led by the President. He noted that these elections are conducted with broad national and international political objectives. He added that the forthcoming elections would respond to the international allegations made against the government following the Geneva resolution.

Urban Affairs Senior Minister A H M Fowzie, Ports and Highways Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena also participated.