WB team inspects NEIAP focal villages in northeast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 21:31 GMT]
A World Bank team is to begin its six-day tour in the northeast province and its border areas Thursday to assess the ongoing rehabilitation and development works in the selected villages under the North-East Irrigated Agricultural Project (NEIAP), which is funded by the Bank, sources said.

The World Bank team, which arrives in Trincomalee Thursday, will leave to Kantalai on a field visit to inspect agricultural focal villages Karawalagaswewa, Paththinipuram and Paluhalmillewa in the Trincomalee district. The team will leave for Mannar district to inspect the Kaddaikaddu focal village in the Nanattan division. On December 14, the WB team goes to Puttalam district to inspect Mylankulam focal village.

The team is scheduled to inspect Mallavi in Thunukkai division in Mullaitivu district and thereafter Sinnapalavarayankulam in Pooneryn division in the Kilinochchi district and later Chalampam in the Vavuniya district, NEIAP project officer, Mr.S.Vanniyakulam, said.

The NEIAP project has already brought about 7000 ha land into cultivation under 177 rehabilitated schemes. These lands had not been used for cultivation for many years due to destruction and dilapidated condition of irrigation system resulting due to prolonged conflict, the NEIAP performance monitoring and evaluation report said.

The report further said that with the rehabilitation of 470 km of rural roads, 24,657 families or approximately 133,000 people, living in 128 focal villages have been able to enjoy their traveling and transport convenience by getting better access to their paddy fields, market places, main roads and other service providing institution such as schools, health centres, co-operative shops and postal services.

The project has been addressing the needs of health and sanitation aspects of people in the focal villages. 288 wells have been constructed in 114 focal villages out of a target of 842 wells.

This has provided pure drinking water facilities for at least 16,700 families and given a chance by reducing their time to fetch water and saving time to attend to their household activities, NEIP report said.