President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the forthcoming Budget will give special attention to rural roads, drinking water provision and waste management, signalling a clearer set of infrastructure priorities for the next fiscal cycle.
Speaking at the Special District Coordination Committee Meeting held at the Batticaloa District Secretariat on Wednesday morning, the President instructed public representatives and community members to jointly prepare and submit a report on the water supply projects needed for the district’s drinking, irrigation and industrial water needs. Officials, including the Chairman of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, will be sent to the area for follow-up discussions, he said.
President Dissanayake also directed officials to put in place immediate temporary measures to address the district’s drinking water shortage until large-scale projects are completed, adding that the government would allocate the necessary funds for all projects already planned by the Drainage Board.
On infrastructure, he instructed officials to commence construction work on all planned roads in the district within this year and confirmed measures were underway for the full development of Valaichchenai Harbour, a key fishing-industry hub in the Eastern Province. The meeting also discussed the need for a lighthouse facility at the harbour.
Extensive discussions covered land-related issues, cultivated lands within wildlife zones, the long-standing Mailaththamadu–Madhavanai grazing land request from dairy farmers, flood preparedness, human-elephant conflict and healthcare facilities. The President pressed for faster progress on compensation for cultivated lands and houses damaged by Cyclone Ditwah and on the new housing reconstruction programme.
The Batticaloa visit forms the first day of the President’s two-district Eastern Province tour announced last week and follows his speech earlier in the day pledging that public outrage would not stop law enforcement from reaching former elites.
Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti, Eastern Province Governor Dr. Jayantha Lal Ratnasekara and MPs Kanthasamy Prabu, S. Rasamanickam, M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, G. Srineshan and Elayathamby Srinath were among those present, alongside Chief of Presidential Staff Prabath Chandrakeerthi and Defence Secretary Sampath Thuyacontha.
