People are in Danger due to Uma Oya Project

Due to the Uma Oya project the there are eight villages in Suburb Bandarawela have been affected, the villagers don't have a drinking water due to this project. before start this project the people had a sufficient drinking water but now the villagers water well are dried due to the drilling work of the project. also hoses are cracking day by day as unusual. so the people demand to stop the project.

Meeting at Panama Tample Hall on Panama Land Grabbing issue

Panama people have conducted a meeting about their issue and way forward on 24th January 2015 at the Panama Tample Hall. Praja Abhilasha , NAFSO and PARL members were present at the meeting.more than 35 people attended in the meeting. Now the Panam people are in one stand that they want their own land back. So the Panama People will meet the Divisional Secretary of Pottuvil on 28th January 2015 in order to get a response from the new government.  

Lanka's largest economic centre coming up in Omanthai

[ Thursday, 16 July 2009, 03:15.16 AM GMT +05:30 ]
The government has decided to set up Sri Lanka's largest economic centre in Omanthai.
The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Bandula Gunawardena said that the centre would act as a hub to exchange agricultural produce and other goods between the north and the south. “The Centre will be set up on a 20-acre land and will be planned out by the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau,” the Minister said.
It would be complete with storage, packing and refrigeration facilities, he said. Once the railway lines are constructed, transport costs could be further reduced, Minister Gunawardena observed.

Source:Lankasri.com

A petition to Sri Lanka courts against sand mining in Eastern coast

Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 17:40 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Feb 25, Colombo: Challenging the selection of a multi-national company to excavate mineral sands on the coast between Nilaveli and Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka Marxist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today filed a petition at the Court of Appeals.

JVP parliamentarians Bimal Ratnayake and Jayantha Wijesekara with the corporation of an inter-company workers union representing the party filed the petition.

Petitioners have named the Industrial Development Minister Kumara Welgama, Coast Conservation Department, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, Sri Lanka Board of Investment and Environmental Development Authority as the respondents of this petition.

They have pointed out that the Minister of Industrial Development has selected a multi-national company to mine mineral sands from Pulmoddai following the approval given by the Cabinet of ministers on December 2nd last year.

The petitioners appealed the Courts to issue a suspension order on this decision pointing out that the project had been given to an Austrian company without adhering to an accepted tender procedure.

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Distractions of the Hill country

The first phase of the project, begun in 2006, is 80% complete. Work is expected to conclude in 2010, at an overall cost estimated at 950 million dollars. The civil society network Praja Abhilasha (PA) and the movement People to People Dialog (PPD) explain to AsiaNews that the costs for the population in the area are much higher than expected, and are calling for a general revision of the project.

The plant on the upper Kotmale is being constructed to respond to the energy needs in the southern part of the island, and at full capacity it should produce 150 megawatts, taking water from the Kotmale, a tributary of the Mahaweli.

Francis Raajan, local coordinator and secretary of the PA, explains that the inhabitants of the areas of Holyrood Estate, Rathnilagala Division, and Thalawakelle are the hardest hit by the revolution brought to the area of the power plant. "At the beginning, the politicians were against to this project but they internally supported the project after that they gave their co-operation to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) directly because they were able to get some high posts and power from the project side. Therefore they canvassed door to door during the night time and said, 'Please support the project'. After that, people began to support the project, but now the affected people realize the impact and suffering."

After conducting a direct survey, the PA and PPD have drawn up a list of problems generated by the project, and by the lack of respect for the promises that the politicians have made to the people. In spite of the fact that a school, a supermarket, a city hall, and a movie theater have been built, many of the homes into which families have been relocated are inadequate: they are small, poor in quality, and built with inferior materials. The hydroelectric plant has also had a negative impact on the conditions of the population. Jobs have been cut, agriculture is languishing, and the road network and transportation system have not been sufficiently developed.

the affected people's only expect is an adequate house, that is utterly changed, now those people ask 500,000Rs as compensation for each family , also people will move from their houses, if only government handover the land title(Deed) for each family.