President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that his primary focus is on providing “rights” to the people of the country.
The President was speaking during a ceremony yesterday at the Batticaloa District Secretariat, where Urumaya freehold land deeds were awarded to 192 families across 14 Divisional Secretariat divisions in the Batticaloa district, as part of the Government’s initiative to distribute two million freehold land deeds.
27,595 landless families in the Batticaloa district will receive freehold deeds under the Urumaya program with 2,610 already granted. Moreover, 252 English diploma holders from the Higher National Engineering Diploma Institute received teacher appointments yesterday, presided over by the President.
President Wickremesinghe participated in the symbolic hand over of Urumaya land deeds and teacher appointments. He also opened the new District Secretariat building in Thiraimadu, Batticaloa constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,055 million. The building project initiated by then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the former Minister of Home Affairs Wajira Abeywardena on September 11, 2016, aims to enhance service efficiency for the people of the Batticaloa district.
The President unveiled the plaque and inspected the new facilities.
The President said, “We have decided to develop Trincomalee as a major economic hub. We had extensive discussions on securing India’s support for this endeavour during the recent visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka.
We plan to launch a large agricultural business in these areas under the Agriculture Modernisation Program. A project to improve undeveloped Mahaweli land in Batticaloa and Trincomalee will commence soon, he said.
President Wickremesinghe said, “We also have plans to enhance tourism from Verugal to Arugam Bay. The Batticaloa Fort is set to be developed for tourism by the Department of Archaeology, and a quality hotel will be set up in this province. Dairy farming improvements are also on the agenda. Significant efforts will be directed towards implementing projects here, enabling Trincomalee to become a major export economy following the passage of the Economic Transformation Act this year.
“With both, the Eastern and Southeastern Universities located here we aim to further develop education in this region. The reform of the vocational education sector will provide more vocational training opportunities for our youth.” Due to a recruitment freeze over the past three to four years, honorary appointments were made today to enhance school education. Unemployment remains a significant issue in our country. Therefore, we must create jobs for the youth through a new development process. We have endured a very challenging period, and people of this country have suffered greatly. As we rebuild, we will never forget these people, the President added.
