July 25, Colombo: Sri Lanka Cabinet has approved the preparation of a master plan to develop the Kalpitiya peninsula in the Puttalam district as a special tourist project on the instructions of Tourism Minister, Milinda Moragoda.

The Kalpitiya peninsula is a unique destination by itself with a cluster of 14 islands of varied sizes. Five of these islands are inhabited while the rest are frequented only by the seasonal fishing community.

The Kalpitiya Integrated Resort Project was initiated far back in 2003 when steps were taken to prepare a master plan. However action on the project got delayed due to lack of initial funding required for developing the basic infrastructure prior to other construction. Minister Moragoda has sought the cabinet approval to address this issue and to accelerate the project.

The Ministry of Tourism had already appointed a project Steering Committee and together with this a project office has been set up. The project Steering Committee represents all the stakeholder agencies including North Western Province Land Commissioner, Chairman/Central Environmental Authority, Coast Conservation Department, Fisheries Department, Road Development Authority, Urban Development Authority etc. To cover various aspects of the project intensively in terms of immediate action required, several sub committees were set up in the area of infrastructure development, land acquisition, investment, community awareness creation, legal and Environment.