Australian High Commissioner in Colombo Ms Kathy Klugman on Tuesday (24) announced Rs. 8.2 million in grants to nine small scale development projects in different parts of the country.

The projects are given funding under Australia’s Direct Aid Program (DAP), which aims to provide grass root level assistance to disadvantaged communities.

Speaking on the occasion, the High Commissioner said: "I am pleased to announce that this year, following an increased funding allocation, Australia will support more local communities under the DAP scheme. The additional assistance reflects Australia’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka in its post-conflict development process".

DAP projects are designed to provide immediate benefits to the recipients who are fully involved in the identification, design and management of the project activities and assist in sustaining the project in the long term.

In this round, funds were presented to Vehilihini Development Centre in Moneragala for a mushroom cultivation project, Diriya Women’s Development Centre in Anuradhapura for construction of local agro wells, Central Council for the Disabled in Bandarawela for the construction of a sales outlet and sewing centre CEENRIDE in Matara for a home gardening and livelihood project for 300 tsunami widows, Sinhala-Tamil Rural Women’s Network in Nuwara Eliya for a cattle management and dairy project for 100 women in the plantation sector, VOVCOD in Trincomalee for an income generation project for 30 resettled IDP families, Sri Lanka Solidarity to support the publication of the trilingual children’s magazine Yuti; Sri Lankan Council of Visually Handicapped Graduates in Moratuwa for the production of digital talking books and Women’s Saving Effort in Chilaw for an agricultural income generation project for 100 women.