The National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) issued 510 gem mining licences at concessionary rates in order to promote the gem industry in the Uva province.
Authority Director General H.P.M Sumanasekara said that recipients could mine only in their own lands.
The wife of a gem miner who died on the job, D.M. Kamalawathi, was granted Rs.0.5 million. Kamalawathi’s husband had died when the mine he was in caved in.
National Gem and Jewellery Association Chairman Peshala Jayaratna and Association Director-General H.P. Sumanasekara participated in the event.