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Prime Minister's address to the UN : People want immediate peace dividend

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday said that the people of Sri Lanka cannot wait for the peace talks between the Government and the LTTE to end before they benefit from the peace dividend.

"Resources must flow into developing the areas ravaged by war. Opportunities must be created. The momentum for growth must be re-established. The people want normalcy restored. Not tomorrow, but today," he said. "The farmers want their damaged irrigation canals repaired today their harvest cannot be delayed until the final agreement is reached." Peace, he said is, people driven. "Sri Lanka's people demand peace and the negotiators (at the peace talks) had better deliver."

He said that this imperative "is driven ever-more by young people among the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE cadres whose weapons lie silent." With that the Prime Minister called on the international community to help rebuild Sri Lanka. "Without international support and help with resources to build a peace dividend, the gloss on peace can be dulled," he warned.

From thereon he said the complex constitutional issues could be addressed. He said the Government believed the way forward is "through a clearly representative interim administration within a united Sri Lanka in which the rights of all communities Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese are safeguarded."

This he said would allow the government to go ahead with plans to empower local people through the decentralisation of the administration and the establishment of five regional economic zones to kick-start the economy.

The government he said is resolved to ensure that the people of the North and East enjoy the same security, quality of life, democratic governance and human rights that citizens in other parts of the country do. Sri Lanka has commendable literacy levels and a high rating in the Human Development index.

"Peace will enhance this further but its dividend must be credited to all the shareholders in Sri Lanka's future."

In restoring normalcy the Prime Minister said that making the war affected areas safe for resettlement was a priority and thanked the countries, which had come forward to help with the de-mining. He said that Sri Lanka was reviewing its stand on the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines.

The Ancient Arabs, the Prime Minister noted, called our island paradise. "If in the course of our recent conflict some of the quality of paradise has been lost, then surely paradise must be regained. Regaining Sri Lanka is more than a slogan, it is a practical do-able strategy in which we invite the International Community to participate."

The Prime Minister said that across Sri Lanka the people continue to build the only true peace they can hope for. "Without fanfare, without politicians or the media, they are quietly going about their business, finding old friends and building new relationships. The mis-trust and suspicion are slowly melting away as people talk and share experiences. The hatred in some hearts will take a little longer to dispel. But even that will be overcome in time by the deep desire for weapons to be destroyed, mines to be cleared and the sound of laughter to be heard once again," he said.

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