It has deeply analyzed the agriculture, land ownership, and investment opportunities of the Northern Province among the meetings held between Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan and the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
A meeting between Northern Province Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan and Mr. Mathew Duckworth, Australian High Commssioner to Sri Lanka was held on wednesday (13th May 2026) at ‘Reecha Park’ premises Kilinochchi, Iyakkachi.
It was extensively discussed at the meeting regarding the matters such as Current Situations, Progress of Agriculture and Fisheries sector and Future Development Plans of Northern Province that can be implemented with the financial Support of Australian Government.
High attention was paid regarding modernizing the agricultural sector of the Northern Province, especially adding value for agricultural products. In addition, the Honorable Governor also highlighted the need to expand agricultural produce processing facilities in the Northern region.
Further, the governor emphasized that reasonable prices for local producers in the fisheries sector can be obtained through establishing preserving factories for the products like seafood, seaweed, and sea cucumber. Accordingly, the Australian High Commission to Sri Lanka asked about the possibilities to encourage private investments in the northern province for purchasing agriculture and fisheries products and preserving and providing cooler facilities for them.
It was also discussed at the meeting regarding the public lands that were still not released in the northern province even though the war had finished many years ago. Specially, Thoughts were shared for the Progress of mechanisms to release the lands acquised by Forest Resources Department and Wildlife Department.
Further at this juncture, the governor was clear about the legal issues currently faced, as their deeds of lands and documents were lost by migrant people.
While, Australian High Commissioner questioned and came to know regarding the new project started to resolve the matters regarding Land issue with the patronage of United Nations.
The Australian High Commissioner mentioned this at this juncture to provide continuous cooperation to the Northern Province through the plan ‘Administration for the Growth’ implemented with the aim of improving the administrative skills of local authorities under the financial assistance of approximately 4 million dollars of the Australian government.
In addition, the meeting also discussed the importance of establishing “Single window system” community care centers where citizens can access all necessary government services in a single location, as well as simplifying services for investors.
The Australian High Commissioner highly praised Governor N. Vethanayahan’s administrative experience, noting his long years of service as a District Secretary in various districts of the Northern Province. He emotionally told the Governor that “no one else can understand the grassroots issues of the North better than you.”
The Governor expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the Australian Government’s positive approach and for the ongoing support they continue to provide for the development of the Northern Province.
Senior officials from the Australian High Commission, including the media secretary of the Northern Provincial Governor, and several others participated in the meeting.
