President Maithripala Sirisena has given instructions to the relevant authorities to implement a special project with the aim of identifying the problems faced by the rural community in the Hambantota district and to provide solutions for those issues as well as to develop rural infrastructure facilities in the district.

The President gave these instructions during a special meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday (04) on preparing a programme to address basic issues of low income families in the Hambantota district, stated President’s Media Division.

Even though during the recent past a large number of mega development projects were being carried out in the district, many people are living in the rural areas, who did not even have basic facilities, and President Sirisena emphasized the need of an urgent programme to uplift them.

During this meeting discussions were held on the issues of providing clean drinking water to the people in the district, providing solutions for the land issues in order to enable chena farmers to go on for a permanent cultivation process, providing solutions for the water problem of the farmers and providing long term solutions to the issue of wild elephant threats.

Speaking at the occasion, the President said that public servants should pay their prominent attention regarding the miserable living conditions of the people.

The President further said that several field officers have been deployed in the rural areas and it is their responsibility to apprise the relevant sectors about the difficulties faced by the people.

President Sirisena pointed out that the subsidies granted by the government for the welfare of the people is sufficient, but the problem is that those subsidies were not properly distributed among the public. The President also pointed out the importance of moving forward while solving those issues.

Special attention was paid regarding the drinking water issue of the Hambantota district. Discussions were also held to implement a water supply project, which produce 35,000 cubic meters per day using the Lunugamwehera Reservoir, proposed by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.

Furthermore, the President also stressed the need for taking urgent actions to provide solutions for the drinking water issue in the Kataragama sacred area.

Ministry Secretaries, including Secretary to the President, Udaya R Seneviratne, District Secretary, Mr.M.K.Bandula Harischandra and other officials participated in this discusion.