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Minister Chamal Rajapaksa made this revelation at a meeting in Weeraketiya, in Hambantota.
He said that a plan for a water supply project was in place during the tenure of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the President but was unable to implement it.
“Nothing has happened, during the last five years, so we have decided to start the project now. The water source is the Gin Ganga (a river that flows through the rain forest). Two Chinese companies have been askedto build the water supply project that will cover many areas in the Hambantota district” he said.
Instead of the forest land that will be using for the reservoirs, we propose to plant fifty acres of forest in adjacent land, he said, to compensate for the land used. He also said rubber is a suitable plant to provide forest cover and the government would encourage the people to plant rubber in the Weeraketiya area which will be used for two purposes, as a plant that provides forest cover and as a cash crop.
