India on Friday entered into an agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to rehabilitate the Atchchuvely Industrial Zone (AIZ) in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka.
The UNOPS will be the implementation partner for this project, which will be implemented under full grant assistance of the Government of India with an estimated outlay of approximately 1.7 million USD.
The Agreement will assist potential investors to commence business ventures by providing for required infrastructure and utilities at the AIZ.
High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha informed the Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa that the project will be completed in a period of 14 months and it will provide a platform for industrial development of the region, for regeneration of livelihoods and for restoration of normalcy in Northern Province.
The completion of the Project is expected to provide a boost to economic activities in the Jaffna Peninsula and generate local employment, both direct and indirect, for about 2,000 people. It is also expected to lead to flow of significant investments to increase production capacities in the sectors of textiles, plastic and leather products, food processing, agro-based industries, oil and fibre products, etc., thereby resulting in better utilisation of local resources.
The Project will undertake to construct access roads, internal roads, water supply system with treatment plant, power supply, sewerage and waste disposal system, etc., as a part of the requisite infrastructure at the Zone. Approximately, 25 acres of the AIZ will be developed initially.
The Project will be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development of the Government of Sri Lanka. Necessary technical expertise and project management services will be provided by the UNOPS. The Government of Sri Lanka through its agencies is already carrying out preliminary site preparation work at the AIZ.
India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through donation of roofing sheets & cement bags and reconstruction & repair of houses under the Indian Housing Project for 50,000 houses), health-care (providing emergency medical relief, organizing artificial limbs re-fitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of schools and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of Northern Railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and KKS Harbour).
