Sri Lanka to rebuild power supply facilities in north
- Source: Xinhua
- [09:27 June 11 2009]
- Comments
The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that it has allocated 3.75 billion rupees (about 32.6 million US dollars) to rebuild electrification facilities for the resettled families in the north.
According to a press release issued by the Department of Government Information, the money will be spent on constructing transmitting stations grid, sub-stations and on rural electrification schemes.
The north was the scene of a three-decade-old armed conflict between the government troops and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The release said new 132 kilo watt transmitting net work from Vavuniya to Kilinochchi will be set up at a cost of 1.4 billion rupees (about 12.17 US dollars) while 2.25 billion rupees (about 19.57 US dollars) will be spent on extending the network from Kilinochchi to Chunnagam with the assistance of Japanese Economic Cooperation bank loans.
The government said it will supply electricity to every village in the north.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse announced last month that the LTTE has been totally defeated and the government will launch massive development programs in the north to win the hearts of the minority Tamils.
Nealry 300,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the fighting between the government and the LTTE are now being accommodated in refugee camps in the northern Vavuniya and Jaffna districts.
The government has promised to resettle most of them to their original villages and towns within 180 days.