Rs. 1 bn for developing Jaffna, Eastern universities

May 4, 2012, 10:18 pm, The Island


by Franklin R. Satyapalan

The government has set aside funds for the development of the Jaffna and Eastern universities. The construction of the Agriculture and Engineering faculties on a 500-acre block of land at Arivu Nagar (City of Knowledge) in Kilinochchi, with a Rs. 500 mn grant from the Indian government and a Rs. 500 million allocations from the Sri Lankan government would commence shortly, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said.

He said the Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake accompanied by Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kanth would visit the site in Kilinochchi on Monday, May 07 and meet the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Jaffna University Prof. Vasanthi Arasaratnam and Government Agent of Kilinochchi Mrs Rupawathi Ketheeswaran in taking forward the project.

He said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had advised the Minister Dissanayake not to delay the project as the area had been deprived of development over the past three decades due to the war.

He said the Government would allocate supplementary funding for the project in the 2013 Budget.

The Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. K. Kobindarajah said that he was looking forward to the proposed development as peace among the communities could be achieved through the field of education.