Colombo, Aug 2 (IANS): The Sri Lankan government will address the water scarcity issues in the country's northern province by commencing the 'River for Jaffna' project, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday.

Attending the opening of a seawater desalination plant, a part of the Jaffna-Kilinochchi Water Supply Project in northern Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe said he hopes to transform the north into a developed province within the next 5-10 years, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wickremesinghe said the government plans to provide safe drinking water to 300,000 people and improve sanitation facilities for 80,000 people in the Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts of Sri Lanka's Northern Province through the Jaffna-Kilinochchi Water Supply Project.

In mid-2022, only 5 per cent of the Northern Province's drinking water needs were met through piped water, but from Friday this will increase to 40 percent, the President's Media Division said.