President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed the relevant authorities to design a programme to allocate underutilised land, together with the necessary project support services, to Sri Lankan migrant workers returning home after completing their overseas employment.
The President issued the directive during a review meeting on Thursday afternoon (24) at the Presidential Secretariat, held to assess the progress of projects funded under the 2026 budget for the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure and to consider the Ministry’s proposals for the 2027 Budget, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.
The meeting reviewed initiatives across the plantation and community infrastructure sectors, including programmes funded under capital allocations of Rs. 1,081 million such as estate land surveying, coconut disease management, the Kapruka Fund and the Northern Coconut Triangle Programme.
President Dissanayake stressed the importance of completing the construction of 10,000 houses for the Malayaha (hill-country Tamil) community within the stipulated timeframe and handing them over to beneficiaries without delay.
He also noted that weaknesses in the implementation of projects financed through foreign grants and loans had left some allocated funds underutilised or returned. According to the PMD, the discussion further covered the tea, rubber, coconut, cashew and palmyrah sectors, several of which recorded improved profitability this year, as well as the need to update older agreements governing the allocation of state land to companies.
