(UDHAYAM, COLOMBO) – The government will take steps to open 35 paddy storage facilities around the country. These will directly help thousands of farmers and indirectly help many families to get a good income said Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka at the opening of the storage facility in Nanattan, Mannar yesterday (26th Jan).
He said Mannar is a place where all communities live and by establishing such development projects too we expect reconciliation to take place.
Minister Rishard Bathiudeen always speaks on behalf of the people of Mannar as well as the people of the North. He always asks money for various development activities. Today also he asked us for a Bus Terminal. Minister Karunanayak said they are ready to give a bus terminal with all modern facilities to Mannar. We will develop the whole country to ensure that all communities enjoy the benefits.
Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishard Bathiudeen said that hereafter the farmers in the North need not sell their harvest to black marketers.
The storage facility which can store 10,000 metric tons of rice was a project of the Rural Development Bank and it cost Rs264 million.
The main occupation of the People of Mannar,Vavuniya,Mulaitivu,Kilinochchi and Jaffna is agriculture. They suffered for 30 years due to the war. They work tirelessly and since there was no place to store their harvest they had to sell it off to private traders. Now the farmers can hand it over to the Paddy Marketing Board and sell it to this storage facility said the minister.