Palmyra Development Board celebrates silver jubilee

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:16 GMT]
About 2.5 million Palmyra trees in Jaffna district had been felled during the two decade old war by the Sri Lanka armed forces, said Mr P.Sivapatham, President of the Palmyra Development Board (PDB), at the inaugural session of the two day silver jubilee celebrations of the PDB held Monday at the Jaffna Central College, sources said.

An exhibition of Palmyra produce and its by-products is currently held at the Jaffna Central College to coincide with the silver jubilee events, sources said.

Mr. Sivapatham further said that 1.1 million Palmyra trees are in the country. However most of the trees have been found in the eight districts in the northeast province, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai and outside the Northeast in the districts of Puttalam and Hambantota

”The PDB has entered its twenty fifth year and it is sad to note that about 2.5 million Palmyra trees have been destroyed due to war,” he said.

Mr. Sivapatham added the finances allocated to the PDB, by the central government, is adequate only to pay the salaries of its employees.

The PDB Director, Professor V.K.Ganeshalingam, said there would be a demand for Palmyra products in the country if the government banned the use of polythene. He said that Polythene is considered dangerous to the eco-system.

Jaffna University Vice Chancellor, Professor C.Mohanadas, also spoke.