Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 9, 2010 – A reservoir project in Sri Lanka set to provide water to farmers in the eastern province during the dry season will be boosted by a $46 million cash injection from the Saudi Fund For Development (SFD).
The scheme, known as the Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga reservoir project, is expected to be implemented by the Mahaweli Authority with co-funding from the Kuwait Fund and Sri Lankan government.
Costing $113 million in total, the project will be funded by SFD ($46 million), the Kuwait Fund ($37 million) and the Sri Lanka government ($30 million).
The Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga reservoir project is set to become a mega-irrigation scheme implemented by the Sri Lanka government in order to provide water to farmers in the eastern province during the dry season.
It is expected to fully address the irrigation needs of the people in Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee and Matale districts and provide drinking water for all in those districts.
A hydropower station with a capacity of 20 MW will also be set up under the Moragahakanda reservoir project.
The allocation of the funding followed a meeting in Riyadh this week between the Sri Lankan Ministry of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services and the SFD. The agreement is expected to be signed later in Colombo.
Abdullah Al-Shedokhi, project officer of SFD, said: “This is the seventh financial facility offered by the SFD for infrastructure development in Sri Lanka.”
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