Govt saved over 60,000 lives from Mavilaru water blockade – President

Chaminda PERERA

The government succeeded in ensuring the basic right of water to more than 60,000 people whose lives were at stake due to the closure of the Mavilaru sluice gate by the terrorists in 2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.

He said the government deployed Security Forces to ensure water supplies to these people as LTTE terrorists rejected repeated requests by the government to open the gate for seven days. It was the biggest operation in recent history to ensure water to thousands of people, mainly farmers, though the country is facing the music for this humanitarian act in Geneva, he said.

The President said the closure of the Mavil Aru sluice gate denied water to 60,000 people.

“More than 2,100 hectares of paddy land in the area were completely devastated by this act,” he said.

President Rajapaksa was speaking at the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Water Convention at the BMICH to mark World Water Day.

The theme of World Water Day is International Year of Water Cooperation.

He also opened the international exhibition organised to coincide World Water Day at the BMICH.

A book on Sri Lanka’s water heritage written by Professor J B Dissanyake was presented to the President by the author.

Employees who served the National Water Supply and Drainage Board for more than 35 years received awards from the President.

Board employees donated their day’s pay totaling Rs 3 million to implement programmes to alleviate kidney disease in the North Central Province.

President Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans have understood the importance of water and its preservation.

“We have been made to think that water resources are the lifeblood of the nation,” he said.

The President said many countries face a water crisis though Sri Lanka is blessed with ample water resources.

He said all citizens should take the responsibility to protect this national heritage. President Rajapaksa said all resources of the country should be properly manged for the benefit of the future generation.

“The government has given prominence to protect natural resources and the environment, even while development activities are being implemented,” he said.

The President recollected how instructions were given to the authorities to plant a tree on behalf of every tree removed from the site where the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport was constructed.

Sri Lanka has many experiences with regard to water cooperation, he said. President Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans use more water than they require. “This will be detrimental to the agricultural sector in the future,” he said.

It was his view that all institutions should join together and implement a mechanism to educate farmers on the preservation of water.

He said farmers have become more enthusiastic in engaging in agriculture than any other era. “ I have received information that many youths who were employed in private security firms have gone back to villages to do farming. It is during our time that the farmers received special attention,” the President said.

He said the government has placed special focus on the protection of the environment.

President Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans have a ritual of making the first transaction with the well at the Sinhala and Hindu New Year.

He said the government will increase the number of households with pipe borne water facilities from 45 percent to 60 percent by 2015.

Anunayake Thera of the Amarapura Nikaya Most Ven Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera and Emeritus Archbishop of Colombo Rt Rev Oswald Gomis, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne and Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa were also present.