It has been decided to expedite the cultivation of unused lands owned by all institutions under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.
Accordingly, the Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga has instructed the officials to take necessary steps for this purpose.
Under this program, steps will be taken to cultivate crops endemic to those areas in consultation with the Divisional Secretaries of the relevant areas.
The decision has been taken to implement this program as a solution to the possible food crisis in the future.
The Minister gave these instructions during a discussion with officials of the State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation, and the State Ministry of Housing which are under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.
The discussion was held at the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing last Friday (20).
The Minister further instructed that no land owned by the relevant institutions should be vacant.
The Minister instructed that if the lands allotted for investment have not been used yet, the lands should be taken back immediately and action should be taken to hand them over to the new investors.
The Minister also said that steps will be taken to advertise locally and internationally when allocating lands for investment.
Minister Prasanna Ranatunga instructed to suspend new projects that are currently being planned until the economic situation in the country improves, and also instructed the Ministry to allocate funds only for essential items until the next budget is presented.
Speaking at the discussion Minister Prasanna Ranatunga further stated, “The government is taking all possible steps to resolve the economic crisis. Our priority at the moment is to save the country and the people from this economic crisis. We will do everything possible to reduce fuel and gas queues and save the people from the hardships they face.
The fuel and gas crisis will not be solved by building ‘Go Gama’s, holding hartals. A proper program needs to be implemented to end them.
A government alone cannot implement that program. The support of all parties is essential for that.
The Ministry of Urban Development and Housing is a Ministry that directly contributes to the development of this country. However, our responsibility at this time is to find a solution to this economic crisis.
That is why I said to cut all the expenses except the essential ministry expenses and why I instructed to cultivate lands which are not being used at present. ”
Secretary to the State Ministry of Housing Keerthi Ranjith Abeysiriwardena, Chairman of the State Engineering Corporation Ratnasiri Kalupahana, and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation Commodore Hiran Balasuriya were also present at the discussion.