It has been decided to appoint a multi-sectoral committee comprising departments, sectoral experts and investors to take forward the next steps for allocating lands to investors who have come forward to undertake tourism investments in the Kawtharimunai area of Poonakary in Kilinochchi District.
This decision was reached during a discussion held today – on Sunday 27 September 2026, at Kawtharimunai for tourism investors, under the chairmanship of R. Chandrasekhar, Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources and Chairman of the Kilinochchi District Coordinating Committee, and N. Vethanayahan, Hon. Governor of the Northern Province and Co-Chairman of the Kilinochchi District Coordinating Committee.
While 56 persons had submitted their proposals to undertake investments in the Kawtharimunai area, 46 of them had participated in the interviews. Of these, 34 had also submitted financial statements for their projects.
Earlier, when requests to undertake tourism investments in the Kawtharimunai area were presented at the Kilinochchi District Coordinating Committee meeting, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) had been requested to prepare an integrated plan based on the future development of the area. Accordingly, the plan map prepared was submitted and examined during today’s discussion.
The subsequent discussion focused in detail on various matters, including infrastructure development in the Kowtharimunai area, land allocation for investments, procedural issues and delays faced by investors. Hon. Minister R. Chandrasekhar stated that action would be taken to provide the infrastructure facilities required for this area through the government.
At this juncture, the investors highlighted various issues they were facing, particularly procedural delays.
Responding to this, Kilinochchi District Secretary S. Muralitharan stated that the lands identified for investment had been surveyed and were ready and that only a technical decision needed to be made regarding which investor should be provided with how much land and in which area.
Following this, it was decided to appoint a committee comprising relevant government institutions, experts and investors and to commence the process of allocating land to investors based on the recommendations of the committee by the end of November. It was also decided to include the Northern Province Tourism Bureau and the University of Vavuniya in this committee.
This decision constitutes an important next step towards systematically implementing tourism-based investments in the Kawtharimunai area and carrying out the necessary infrastructure facilities and land allocation activities in an integrated manner.
Hon. Minister R. Chandrasekhar, Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan, Kilinochchi District Secretary S. Muralitharan, Divisional Secretary of Poonakary division, Hon. Chairman of the Poonakary Pradeshiya Sabha, Chairman of the Northern Province Tourism Bureau, Provincial Land Commissioner of the Northern Province, Kilinochchi District Coordinator of the Clean Sri Lanka Task Force, Secretary of the Poonakary Pradeshiya Sabha, officials of the Urban Development Authority, investors and many others participated in this discussion.
