With only three months remaining to end of the year, it was emphasized at the District Coordinating Committee Meeting that development projects carried out in Mullaitivu District by the Central and Provincial Departments should be expedited to enable public access soon.
Third District Coordinating Committee of Mullaitivu District for 2026 was held today (01.10.2026), Thursday at Mullaitivu District Secretariat under the chair of Hon. Upali Samarasinge, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Development & Chairman of District Coordinating Committee and Hon. N. Vethanayahan, Governor of Northern Province & Co-chairman of District Coordinating Committee.
The meeting commenced with a welcome address by the Addl. District Secretary (Land) of Mullaitivu District. Following this, Chairman of the District Coordinating Committee, in his address, emphasized the necessity of expediting the progress review of ongoing development projects which are carried out by the Central and Provincial Government institutions and completing the remaining works rapidly, within the short period remaining to end of the year.
During the meeting, the progress on the matters reviewed at the last District Coordinating Committee Meeting was discussed in detailed. Issues regarding the housing scheme initiated by the National Housing Scheme in 2019 and subsequently suspended were also addressed. Hon. N. Vethanayahan, Governor of Northern Province, pointed out that he was informed by the Hon. Minister, Susil Ranasinghe that outstanding payments for this housing scheme will be settled next year.
Further, the Asst. Director of Disaster Management Centre stated that 1,113 Nos. of houses costing Rs. 5 million per unit are going to be constructed in Mullaitivu District for the victims of “Ditwah” disaster, ensuring that there is no disparity in the process of providing the housing scheme.
Furthermore, the matters regarding the prefabricated houses under the assistance of Chinese government were also discussed based on the district requirements and priorities.
The allocation of land in Mullaitivu District to establish a campus of Jaffna University also was considered. Hon. N. Vethanayahan, Governor of Northern Province stated that the project proposal for this was sent to Hon. Minister, Wimal Ratnayake through proper channels following his request.
A detailed discussion was held on the long-standing threats of elephant in several parts of Mullaitivu District. Representative from the Dept. of Wildlife informed that action is being taken to establish separate mechanism at the divisional secretariat level to handle this issue in future.
It was further stated at the meeting that 684 Nos. of projects costing Rs. 8,431 million are being carried out in Mullaitivu District through Northern provincial Councils the departments.
Also, 341 Nos. of projects costing Rs. 1, 356 million are being carried out through the Mullaitivu District Secretariat under various programmes.
Following that, the financial progress under the decentralized capital budget was reviewed and 08 projects submitted for the approval of District Coordinating Committee Meeting were evaluated.
During deliberations on key issues of the district, the land acquisition and land use concerns related to Forest Department and Dept. of Wildlife was discussed in detailed at length. Hon. N. Vethanayahan, Governor of Northern Province pointed out that false information is provided to the government by some government officials, stressing the necessity of directly inspecting situations to provide solution based on accurate facts.
Meantime, the committee discussed regarding the unavailability of pasture land in Mullaitivu District, challenges faced by the livestock breeders and their requirements.
The need to construct a paddy warehouse for safe storage of the agricultural produce in the district was also discussed. During this, importance of infrastructure to handle the post- harvest products of the farmers was insisted. The committee also focused on the cadre vacancies prevail across several government institutions, consulting the relevant parties on measures to ensure the cadre required for providing uninterrupted essential services.
It was insisted that issues presented by public through District Coordinating Committee Meeting should be resolved in a practically possible manner through the coordination of relevant departments.
Members of Parliament, Hon. S. Thilakanathan, Hon. M. Jegatheesawarn, Hon. K. Kathar Masthan, Hon. T. Ravikaran, Hon. P. Sathyalingam and Hon. Selvam Adaikkalanathan, Chief Secretary of Northern Province, Secretaries and Asst. Secretaries of the Ministries, Heads of Department, Hon. Chairmen, Tri-forces and representatives of public institutions participated in this meeting.
