July 02, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has allocated 4.8 billion rupees to develop the capital city of Eastern Province Batticaloa in preparation for the next year Deyata Kirula exhibition.

Deputy Minister of Child Development and Women's Affairs N.A.L.M. Hisbullah has said that the money will be allocated from the Deyata Kirula funds.

The government has planned to hold the next year's Deyata Kirula exhibition, which opens to coincide with the country's Independence Day celebrations on February 4th, targeting the Eastern Province for development.

Accordingly main development projects will be initiated in Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, and Batticaloa districts.

The 2013 Independence Day celebration will be held in Trincomalee while the Deyata Kirula will be held in Ampara.

The government has already launched a number of programs targeting the development of Batticaloa under the patronage of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the Deputy Minister has said at a progress review meeting held in Kattankudi recently.

The development work will get underway this month. It is expected to complete the work before the end of this month.

Deputy Ministers Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and Basheer Segu Dawood also had participated in the meeting.

The Deyata Kirula exhibition is being held in rural areas with the aim of developing those areas.