India offers to help develop Palali airport

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attending an event at the Engineering Faculty of the Killinochchi University said that India will support the development of the Palali Airport. According to the Premier, Palali will become an airport of "international status" which will allow flights to come in from countries such as Malaysia and India. He noted that some lands will need to be acquired for the expansion of the airport which will take place in two stages with the assistance of the Indian Government. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also expressed his plans on developing Kankasanthurei as a post. The leader of the UNP also stated that the Government plans to remove the cement plant in Kankasanthurei and use the land to develop light industries and an IT park. He went onto note that the Government plans on setting up a series of cold stores throughout the country adding that they are also searching for large swathes of land to plant coconut tree that are being taken down from the Gampaha and Kurunegala districts.