Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Dr. Harsha de Silva says that the Dambulla Agricultural Warehouse, which was initiated during the Yahapalana government in 2019, has now been renamed and officially opened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a heartfelt post shared on his social media, Dr. de Silva expressed both joy and a sense of vindication over the inauguration of a project he helped bring to life during his tenure as Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Supplies.
His full statement reads:
“I am sincerely happy about the opening of the Dambulla Agricultural Warehouse. Today marks another historic day in my life. The temperature and humidity-controlled agricultural warehouse complex we began constructing in Dambulla has now been completed and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. This is a win for the country, and I genuinely rejoice in its completion.
We had even developed a comprehensive business plan to move this project forward. Unfortunately, we could not complete it due to the electoral defeat of the Yahapalana government. Those who came to power after us showed little real interest in finalizing the work. I trust that the current administration will utilize the groundwork we laid.
We initiated this facility as the country’s first temperature and humidity-controlled agricultural storage complex, with a capacity of 5,000 metric tons, to help farmers preserve their vegetable and fruit harvests when necessary.
I fondly remember that Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the then Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, joined me in laying the foundation stone for this project.
We named this program—funded through a grant from the Indian Government—‘Prabhaswara: An Innovative Turnaround in Farming Life.’
The cold storage complex comprises six chambers with varying temperature and humidity settings. Our goal was to provide area farmers with affordable access to these storage facilities during peak harvest times.
I vividly recall stating at the time of construction: ‘Farmers in this country are forced to throw excess harvest to the elephants during the harvesting season. I’ve long wanted to solve this issue. Since 2002, I’ve worked closely with the Dambulla Economic Center to deliver timely market information to farmers, launching the “Govignana” program. It brings me great satisfaction to see this vision finally materialize.’
Following this Dambulla project, we had plans to build similar agricultural storage centers in Keppetipola for the Central Province, Jaffna for the Northern Province, and Embilipitiya for the Southern Province, all under the “Prabhaswara” initiative.
May President Anura now carry this vision forward and make it a reality.”
The Dambulla warehouse project stands as a milestone in Sri Lanka’s agricultural infrastructure, aiming to provide long-term storage solutions that will empower farmers, minimize post-harvest losses, and stabilize market prices through proper management and planning.
