Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha participates in the ceremony for the renovation of the Potamulla Canal and construction of new sluices, which is one of the projects being carried out under the Knuckles Project.

The GCF Knuckles Project (Dumbara Green Empowerment Project) is implemented under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation. The primary objective of the GCF Knuckles Project is to adapt the agricultural, rural and plantation communities in the Knuckles mountain region to climate change.

Using its financial provisions, this canal renovation and construction of new sluices was carried out under the minor irrigation modernization program implemented by the Department of Agrarian Development to secure resources in the mountain areas and strengthen the downstream agricultural, rural and plantation communities.

The Minister presented several special remarks on this occasion.

“The 'Eka Mitata – Govi Bimata' program is implemented under the Department of Agrarian Development. This is an island-wide program that brings together various social groups including politicians, officials, and farmers to cultivate uncultivated lands. That's why it's called 'Eka Mitata' at the outset. The main objective of this program is to cultivate lands that can be cultivated but are currently not being cultivated due to various reasons. While doing this, we need to protect our waterfalls and preserve vegetation. We need to build canal embankments. Money from the Knuckles Project has been allocated for many such activities. What we are starting today is one such initiative.”

Everyone expressed appreciation regarding this program brought by the current government to uplift the lives of farmers, and Commissioner General of the Department of Agrarian Development Rohana Rajapaksa, Knuckles Project Director Chandrika Athugala, along with a group of officials as well as farmers from the area participated on this occasion.