President Ranil expresses gratitude to Iran for assistance in Uma Oya project

President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday expressed gratitude to Iran for their technical support, emphasizing that without Iran’s assistance, Sri Lanka could not have diverted the Uma Oya tributaries into Kirindi Oya. 

The President stated this while addressing the gathering after both he and his Iranian counterpart, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi jointly inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP), one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka following the Mahaweli Development Project.

At a special invitation extended by his Sri Lankan counterpart, President Raisi arrived in Sri Lanka on Wednesday morning (24) on a one-day visit to foster ties between the two nations. His arrival marks the first visit of an Iranian President to Sri Lanka since former President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit in April 2008.

Shortly after his arrival, President Raisi participated in the public ceremony to inaugurate the UOMDP which aims to alleviate water scarcity in the southeastern dry region of the country by redirecting an annual average of 145 million cubic meters (MCM) of excess water from the Uma Oya basin to the Kirindi Oya basin.