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Mahaweli was an accelerated project for UNP robbers - Maithripala Sirisena

Villages coming under the Mahaweli system has achieved a significant growth under the PA regime during the last seven years. This improvement is not confined only to their income level but also in other sectors such as health, education, culture.

After coming into power in 1994, PA had to take great efforts to rehabilitate the Mahaweli irrigation canals and tanks as proper construction standards were not followed at the time of construction under the Mahaweli Accelerated Project.

In other words, racketeers used the accelerated Mahaweli project to steal public money in an accelerated manner. It has been revealed that nearly 40 per cent of the money allocated for this project had been wasted due to malpractice.

On the other hand, politicians acquired lands worth of millions at a song during the UNP regime. But, we did not allow a single politicians to acquire even one perch of land from Mahaweli areas under the PA administration.

Also, we took bold steps to prevent corruptions in the Mahaweli projects and have turned the Mahaweli Development Project to a new path.

During the last even years, we have been granted nearly Rs 16 billion as foreign aid.

These aid were given from countries like Japan, Saudi Arabia, Europen countries, Kuwait and the World Bank.

These aid were utilised mainly for rehabilitation and new development projects in the Mahaweli systems. Apart from that, a considerable amount of money was also spent on the development of human resources.

Unlike the UNP Government, we did not spend a large sum of money for publicity purposes. We spent funds received in a very economic manner for the welfare of the people living in Mahaweli areas.

PA ruined the Mahaweli and its beneficiaries - Navin Dissanayake

The PA has reduced the Mahaweli to just a name board. The Mahaweli that my father started during the UNP times had ensured that the lead projects such as Victoria, Randenigala, Rantembe and others were completed during that time.

Only 30 per cent of the work was outstanding and that was the down stream development. This is what had to be completed and that is what the PA failed to do. No new hi-tech agro industrial systems have been introduced to the system. This technology has been introduced only to the private sector companies but not seeped down to the farmer. Viable products such as cantaloupe, water melon bananas and other high yielding vegetables have not been introduced. Concepts such as green houses drip irrigation and poly tunnels have also not been introduced.

The objective of the entire exercise of the accelerated programme was to ensure that the problems of the second generation of settlers were solved. This too was not done. The biggest problems that the farmers are facing now is their inability to get good farm gate prices for their products such as chilies and onions. They cannot do that as importers undercut them with prices. It is the same with rice production as well. The fertiliser costs are high. Their production costs are high. None of their issues have been settled in the last seven years.

A further bugbear to these farmers in the Mahaweli farmers is that they do not have irrigated water for their cultivation as the water has been consumed for power generation.

We have neither the power nor the agricultural produce.

The Mahaweli project had also another drawback in that the Kukule ganga project had also not been commenced on schedule. Other problems are the lack of good educational facilities and also security for the border villagers especially System B. There was a World Bank funded retrenchment package and most of the high calibre professionals had left the Mahaweli. They are either overseas or with the local private sector.

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