President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to increase the capacity of small and medium-sized reservoirs in preparation for El Niño conditions, the President’s Media Division said.
He told officials to draw up plans that take account of developments related to the El Niño phenomenon, according to a NewsFirst report on Saturday.
The President made the remarks at a discussion on the progress of development projects being implemented through Provincial Councils and on plans for the 2027 Budget.
Irrigation work to be consolidated
Dissanayake said irrigation rehabilitation carried out by the Department of Agrarian Development, the Irrigation Department and Provincial Councils should be implemented under a single national plan.
He also called for reservoir rehabilitation projects currently running under various external projects to be brought under one centralised mechanism.
30,923 provincial projects under review
A total of 30,923 development projects are being implemented at provincial level, the meeting was told. Their progress, and problems that have arisen, were also discussed.
The President said the central government and Provincial Councils should work within a common policy framework: the government is responsible for planning programmes based on national policies, while Provincial Councils should plan and implement projects in their own areas within those policies.
He called for more efficient sharing of data and better coordination across the state machinery to prevent duplication of projects, saying this would avoid wasting resources on unnecessary work and allow essential projects to be prioritised. He also stressed the need for strict financial discipline and for activities to be planned within allocated expenditure limits.
Officials were instructed to complete plans for all projects by November so that work can begin on schedule next year.
Context
The directive follows a run of warnings about the developing El Niño. The Environment Ministry said this week the event had strengthened towards a “very strong” category, with emergency water distribution under way in six districts, and dry weather has affected more than 81,000 people across seven districts. NARA said separately on Saturday that it could not confirm whether El Niño was behind a decline in fish catches.
The President’s Media Division statement was reported by NewsFirst. No other verified newsroom had published its own account of the meeting when this article was filed on Saturday evening.
