Northern Province Governor N. Vethanayagan has raised concerns over continued obstruction by Colombo-based officials, stating that such interference is undermining efforts to accelerate development in the North and East, despite clear directives from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The remarks were made during a high-level meeting held at the Governor’s Secretariat in Jaffna with a visiting World Bank delegation, which included Sri Lanka Country Operations Manager Abid Kali and Project Head Gayathri Singh.
The visit forms part of a broader assessment mission by the World Bank to evaluate development needs in the region.
The Northern Province, heavily impacted by decades of civil conflict, continues to suffer from widespread infrastructure deficits and underinvestment.
The Governor highlighted that the Tamil population in the North remains deprived of basic facilities, and development proposals aimed at addressing these gaps are frequently delayed or obstructed by officials in Colombo who, he noted, often lack direct knowledge of the situation on the ground.
The Governor expressed appreciation for the World Bank’s approach in directly engaging with provincial authorities and conducting site visits to assess local conditions firsthand.
He stressed that effective development in the North requires not only financial assistance but also institutional cooperation and a departure from centralized decision-making that has historically sidelined regional priorities.
The meeting underscored a growing concern among Northern officials that, despite a stated national commitment to inclusive development, bureaucratic resistance at the central level remains a significant barrier to progress.
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