US pleased with N- E progress

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator (SDAA) Denise Rollins expressed her satisfaction over the development work in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

She said there would be greater job opportunities in the two areas through tax-free investments. Rollins made the observations when she met Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa at his ministry office last week to discuss Sri Lanka’s development programmes.

The official was confident that the scenic attractions of the North and East, especially the natural beauty of the Eastern coastal belt and the traditional Sri Lankan hospitality, were bound to attract more foreign tourists to Sri Lanka in the light of the rapid progress of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.

Minister Rajapaksa told Rollins that the government launched an accelerated development programme in the North and East where drinking water and power supply, housing and other infrastructure facilities are being provided.

Steps have been taken to raise the people’s living standards. The production of garments and industrial goods have begun since the government has created the right environment for the investors to set up large factories helping young people in the two provinces to secure employment, the minister said.

He drew attention to high yields from paddy, undu, mung and other crops in areas like Jaffna and Vavuniya thanks to irrigated water supply and availability of fertiliser and other requirements for agricultural development. The minister said development work is being accelerated in the Uva, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces where people are already benefitting from agricultural production with annual high yields.

He said both agricultural and fisheries sectors have reached high levels of production countrywide.

Minister Rajapaksa said the government’s objective is to increase foreign-exchange earnings through flexible investment policies that include 99 year leases which will encourage foreign investors to build factories in the lands they have leased thereby contributing to massive development in the North and East.

The minister said home gardening is being popularised islandwide under Divineguma which is also providing each household with facilities for vegetable and fruit cultivation and animal products.

Potatoes, big onions, beet, grapes and mangoes are among the vegetables and fruits grown in the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya districts from where these products are distributed islandwide.

Rollins has served as USAID’s Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia since July 2011. A member of the US Senior Foreign Service, Rollins has more than 25 years of international experience.