| The Government has taken measures to pay compensation amounting to Rs.120 million to people whose lands have been acquired for the "Deduru Oya" reservoir, a mega-irrigation project providing irrigation and domestic water supplies for the benefit of the people in Kurunegala, Puttalam,
At the final phase, 59 families displaced due to the "Deduru Oya" project were compensated at a cost of Rs.35 million by Highways and Road Development Minister T.B.Ekanayake at a function held in Yapahuwa recently. Minister Ekanayake told the Daily News that the Government has paid compensation worth Rs.120million for the plots of 410 lands of the displaced people. Meanwhile, families displaced due to the project have been given free land from the Kaluwaragasveva and Randhibandhi Ella areas in the Puttalam district. The Minister said that the people who have been relocated in these areas are engaged in their cultivation successfully while constructing their own houses using the compensation money. "We have also compensated the people who have illegally settled in state owned lands for long time after submitting a special Cabinet paper for the first time in history," the Minister said. The Government has acquired 450 hectares to implement the "Deduru Oya" irrigation project. "We have also obtained manpower, machinery and vehicles for the construction of the project from local residents. Therefore, it has resulted in uplifting their living standards," he said. Over 500,000 people living in Anamaduwa, Puttalam, Bingiriya, Nikaweratiya, Mahawa, Yapahuwa, Wariyapola and Galgamuwa, will be able to meet their present and future domestic, industrial and commercial water demands through the project. |
| |
|
