From ancient times the development of this country revolved round the concept of village, temple, tank and Dagab. However with the colonization of the country by Europeans development took a different direction and very little of the benefits of development trickled down to the masses.  Although large scale development projects were needed for the development of the country it is also essential to have development projects that address the needs of the people at grass root level.   With this in view on an initiative of Minister Faiszer Musthapha Minister of Local Government & Provincial Councils a program to develop rural infrastructure facilities was launched under the program “ Our village, our temple and our community” at the Dharma Wijeyarama Viharaya at Nawagampura in  Colombo Central. 

This event was launched under the patronage of Ven Seelogama Indrawansha Himi the chief incumbent of the Dharma Wijeyarama Viharaya and Minister Faiszer Musthapha addressing the crowd said “Large scale Development projects are essential for the development of this country, However we must not neglect the needs of the rural folk.  We should not leave room for such a thing to happen. In most countries of the world both large scale and grass root level development projects go hand in hand.  In the past the development of the country was confined to large scale projects. That is why I decided that development should be taken to the grass root level.  The main aim of the Our village and our temple concept is to have a direct impact on the lives of the people. The projects aim is to provide infrastructure development to the grass root population.  Today there is rapid development taking place in urban areas of the country. The infrastructure needs of these persons have to be developed immediately. With this program the people can request for development work and get immediate results.  It is not the duty of the Government to postpone development of infrastructure facilities of the people.

Officials of the Ministry of Provincial Councils & Local Government , Officials of the Colombo Municipality, other Government Officials participated at this event.