President made these comments during a discussion on the progress of Wew Gam Pubuduwa programme held at the Presidential Secretariat last(19th).
President instructed the officials to expedite the programme which will bring benefits to farming communities in 7 districts.
A brainchild of President Sirisena, the Wew Gam Pubuduwa programme has been implemented with the financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 3682 million from the Green Climate Fund and Rs. 1250 million from the Government of Sri Lanka.
As a result of a request made by President Sirisena following the resolution made at the United Nations Climate Change Summit held in Paris in 2015 to provide financial assistance to face adverse impact of the climate change, the Green Climate Fund extended financial assistance to this project.
The project will be centered around 03 river basins including MalwathuOya, MeeOya and Yan Oya covering Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Puttalam, Trincomalee and Mannar disctricts.
Under the programmes 325 rural tanks under the cascading system and 75 ecological systems will be established while improving paddy cultivation in 9750 hectares, provision of agricultural climate advices to 520,000 farmers and supporting 16,677 women to engage in smart agricultural activities have also been planned.
A project to supply safe drinking water to villages in the close vicinity to the tanks will be implemented in parallel to this programme with financial assistance of Rs. 1732 from Green Climate Fund and the Sri Lankan government invested Rs. 1069 for the continuation of the project.
Establishment of 35 new rural community water supply schemes, installing 4000 systems to store rain water, establishment of new water purification systems and construction of new water purification plants for schools and hospitals will be conducted under this project.
The project will also assist to improve the living standards of the nearly 1.5 million low income farmer families in these areas who are continuously affected by natural disasters such as floods and droughts. Installation of automated climate and hydro surveyors, capacity building at the Department of Meteorology, water management and agricultural consultation and disaster preparedness and mitigation in flood-prone areas will also be carried out.
Secretary to the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment Anura Dissanayake, Project Director Janaka Ratnayake and several other joined the discussion.
