President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to identify and immediately commence projects required to resolve drinking water issues across 14 districts, calling the lack of an adequate supply a major public concern. The directive came at a review meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday afternoon covering national drinking water, community supply and wastewater management projects.
The President asked officials to submit a report listing projects that could be started immediately, the funding required and expected completion dates. He told the meeting that financial constraints should not be treated as an obstacle and directed officials to prepare project plans and submit the relevant funding requests on that basis.
Dissanayake said greater attention should be given to completing projects using domestic funds rather than depending on foreign loans, and that staff required for project planning should be recruited on a contract basis. He also stressed the importance of utilising capital expenditure allocations within the same year for the relevant projects.
The discussion separately reviewed projects being implemented and planned for Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Monaragala, Kandy, Gampola, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Ampara, Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa.
Sri Lanka has faced sustained pressure on drinking water supply this year, with Pallekelle and parts of Kandy hit by reservoir-level shortages and Cyclone Ditwah disrupting infrastructure across the central and northern regions. The President’s call to accelerate timelines mirrors similar instructions issued for housing and reconstruction projects being run under post-cyclone recovery.
