A special statement from Minister K.D. Lalkantha, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, during the Katukeliyawa Tank renovation

The 'Wari Mahima Ape Urumaya' program is being implemented according to the government's policy of 'A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life'. Under this program, the renovation of Katukeliyawa Tank in Polonnaruwa District was held today (28^th ) under the leadership of Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation Mr. K.D. Lalkantha and Deputy Minister of Housing Mr. T.B. Sarath.

After the tank renovations, the efficiency of the tank will increase as it becomes possible to retain maximum water capacity within the tank. Simultaneously, several agricultural roads are being repaired. Plans are also being made to renovate a tank located in a wildlife area in this region. Although completing these development works before the end of the year is a major challenge, the Department of Agrarian Development has come forward to quickly complete the development works amidst these challenges. 

Joining this occasion, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation Mr. K.D. Lalkantha expressed his views.

We have an old saying: ‘Gamayi Pansalayi Vevayi Dagebayi’. According to our culture, when tanks collapse, the country's economy collapses. If the tank is prosperous, the village is also good. If the village is good, the temple is also good. The stupa is also good. The best indication that our country has collapsed is the collapse of these existing tanks. The best sign that everything has fallen apart can be seen when looking at these tanks. The district leader of our Department of Agrarian Development said that he doesn't have officials to do this work. That means the public service has also collapsed. After 2015, we haven't recruited to our public service. It was only this year that we decided to recruit 30,000 new people. That's not enough. We are still continuing recruitment efforts.

The person closest to the village in the Department of Agrarian Development is the A.R.P.A. (Agricultural Research and Production Assistant) officer. About 36% of A.R.P.A. officers are lacking. There isn't the required number. A large number of institutions under our Ministry don't have the necessary officials. There are 9 Departments under our Ministry. In addition to the Departments, there are 20 institutions. The shortage of government officials affects the proper functioning of the agricultural industry.

The government can allocate funds. The allocated funds haven't been spent. The work can't be done with the allocated funds. The reason is staff shortage. When October comes, the rains will come to Polonnaruwa. Restoring this work to normal condition is a major challenge.

Among renovation works in Sri Lanka, irrigation renovations take the least time. Even though money is available, work doesn't get done. The people and the civil service should connect and carry out this task. Taking the work as their own, providing support to the officers of the Department of Agrarian Development, involving the Divisional Secretary and carrying out renovation work with government officials. Don't just leave it to the officials and wait. If these activities happen quickly, we hope to solve the problems of Sri Lankan farmers by 2028. We hope to stop importing rice from foreign countries by 2028.

Even though we call ourselves an agricultural country, we are in serious difficulty in producing the rice we need, obtaining the rice, and achieving fairness for both farmers and consumers. As soon as the President came to power, he increased the fertilizer subsidy from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000. If other crops were cultivated during the Yala season on paddy lands, a subsidy of Rs. 15,000 was allocated from the budget for that as well. These are the people's own money. The entire population of our country makes a great sacrifice for the farming community.

These days, farmers are harvesting big onions. That big onion quantity is normally sufficient for two months. The big onion needed for the remaining 10 months must be imported from abroad. But the media reports that the government is importing big onion during the time when farmers are harvesting big onion. That's a complete lie. Previously, there was a tax of Rs. 10 on imported big onion. Now it has been increased to Rs. 50. Therefore, big onion prices go up. In trying to save the big onion-growing farmer, the general public has had to make sacrifices for our farming community.

Another crop in our country is maize. We get chicken meat and eggs because of maize. Without maize, the chicken meat and egg industry would collapse. Then the country's protein requirement would collapse. But maize production within the country is only half of the country's requirement. The country needs 600,000 to 700,000 metric tons of maize. The country produces only 300,000 metric tons.

We started purchasing paddy. We aim to solve the problems of the farming community and consumers by 2028.

On the other hand, we are surveying tanks. The tanks have no boundaries. People have come and settled inside the tanks. Hotels have been built inside tanks. Some people say to remove Dudley's hotel if possible. We didn't start this work to show off to anyone. Through the Tank Village Development program, boundaries of 325 small tanks have been marked. A tank is our most valuable public property. We have courageously begun the challenge of protecting tanks.

Senior officials participated in this occasion.