President Ranil Wickramasinghe said that a cabinet sub-committee will be appointed to implement the Surbana Jurong plan related to the development of the Western Provinces, and a new agency is expected to be established to implement the development plan.
Emphasizing that the Western Province, which contributes about 50 percent to the country’s economy, should undergo comprehensive development through a formal city development plan, the President also pointed out that informal city development will become an uncontrollable situation.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe mentioned this during the discussion held at the President’s Office yesterday (14) morning with the relevant officials on the Western Province Municipal Development Plan.
The President also instructed the officials to present the development plan for the Eastern Province to the Cabinet.
Recalling that Minister Indika Gunawardena presented the first plan related to the development of Western Provinces around 1997, President Ranil Wickramasinghe then said that the plan presented by Surbana Jurong Company in Singapore in 2004 was also not implemented.
After that, after 2015, the relevant plan was revised again by the company and the President instructed the officials to discuss the plan with everyone and come to an urgent decision on the basic development plan needed for the Western Province with further amendments if necessary.
Also, the main development plan proposed to be implemented in the Western Province through the Urban Development Authority was also presented to President Ranil Wickramasinghe.
There was also a lengthy discussion regarding the release of land and land acquisition for the implementation of the development works and President Ranil Wickramasinghe instructed the officials to speed up the work.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Prasanna Ranatunga, Bandula Gunawardena, Vijayadasa Rajapaksa, Nalin Fernando, Member of Parliament Yadamini Gunawardena, Presidential Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake, Presidential Senior Adviser on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardena, President Secretary Saman Ekanayake and a group of government officials including ministry secretaries attended the discussion.
