Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has directed officials to complete all development projects launched under approved 2026 allocations within the next three months.
She issued the instruction on Tuesday at a progress review meeting of the Colombo District Planning Committee, held at the Colombo District Secretariat, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The meeting reviewed work carried out under the Decentralized Budget Programme, the Rural Road Development Programme, the Praja Shakthi poverty eradication programme and a programme promoting a culture of sports. Officials also assessed projects being implemented in the Colombo district by several state agencies, including the Road Development Authority, the Provincial Road Development Authority, the Urban Development Authority, the National Housing Development Authority and the Department of Irrigation.
Amarasuriya said identifying delays and outstanding problems early would allow officials to make the changes needed to finish projects without further obstruction, so that the public received the intended benefits on time.
She said poverty eradication should be the primary objective of the development programmes, and called for practical criteria to measure their quality and long-term effectiveness.
Overlapping mandates flagged
The Prime Minister also told officials to settle unresolved questions over which agency is responsible for particular roads, lands, canals and drainage systems — a recurring source of delay where more than one authority has a claim on the same asset.
Officials told the meeting that, under a gazette notification, responsibility for canals and rivers rests with the Department of Irrigation.
Amarasuriya directed that uncertainty over institutional responsibility should not be allowed to become an obstacle to implementing future development projects, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Praja Shakthi is the government’s flagship rural poverty programme. It was launched in June across 1,000 Grama Niladhari divisions covering all 341 divisional secretariat divisions, with 25,932 projects planned. Of the Rs. 25 billion set aside for it in the 2026 Budget, Rs. 23 billion had been approved and released to district secretaries by May.
