Archives

The focus of Sri Lanka's politics and the economy these two weeks has been on Oslo, a capital which has not been hitherto very familiar to us Sri Lankans who have sometimes been charged with possessing an insular island mentality.

The reason for this national focus has, of course, been the one-day Peace Support Conference in Norway's capital and the third round of the peace talks with the LTTE which are being held for the first time outside Thailand. Taken together the two conferences have been able not merely to mobilise considerable international attention and aid for Sri Lanka but also to continue demonstrating the support of the international community for the peace process.

The pledges of aid and support are important because this aid will be channelled directly to rebuilding and rehabilitation work in the North and the East of the country battered and brought to their knees by a futile and wasteful war. The Government and the people owe it to the people of the North and the East to engineer this resurrection not merely because this has been one of highest areas of priority of the LTTE in the wake of the cessation of hostilities.

We also owe a moral duty to the people of these areas who have suffered unspeakable acts of hardship as the result of the two military campaigns of Sri Lanka's armed forces and the LTTE. It is now widely recognised that there have been no winners in this conflict and all of us have been the losers.

It is also significant that the donor community has decided to leave the delivery mechanism in the hands of the two parties to the negotiations. In other words it will be the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE which will have to face the joint challenge of drawing up detailed project proposals and a mechanism for delivery.

The challenge therefore is to evolve a mechanism which will meet the current international criteria of efficiency, transparency and accountability and the special legal requirements of the donors.

It is also important that the donors should have emphasised the need for the aid to 'quickly hit the ground' in the words of Britain's Minister for Overseas Development Clare Short. She had proceeded to say that for the donors 'this cannot be business as usual. The peace process is dynamic and demands rapid and flexible responses from donors.

So the challenge is to draw up rapid and appropriate plans for rebuilding, rehabilitation and resettlement and see that they are delivered as expeditiously as possible. There should also be complete transparency in the use and disbursement of funds, the choice of contractors and the myriad other activities involved in such a far-reaching development project as that which is envisaged. The donors in short have to be convinced of the total integrity of the two parties undertaking these development activities.

Also significant is the concern expressed again by Ms. Short that whatever assistance is given should 'benefit all the people of Sri Lanka. 'This concern is all the more significant when we bear in mind the fact that economic discontents have been at the root of revolt in both the North and the South of Sri Lanka. While there were specific reasons for discontent among the Tamil people arising from their condition as the people belonging to a particular ethnic community problems of economic underdevelopment and the unemployment of educated youth were also factors in causing Tamil discontent.

Similarly in the South the problem has been most acute in areas of the deep South which are plagued by economic backwardness, land hunger, conditions of drought etc. This is why the development of the South is an urgent priority and parties such as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna will only be demonstrating their backward-looking politics when they protest (as they did recently) when a Norwegian team came to the Hambantota district to inspect the progress of development work there aided by Norway.

What is important is that all the people of Sri Lanka should see peace as beneficial to themselves. They must see peace as being a positive factor enriching their lives and bringing about a better tomorrow for them and their children. It must open new avenues of employment for the youth (irrespective of communal or geographical barriers) and the revival of the villages which will then be able to retain their best talents rather than let the towns suck them away.

In short the people at large must be given a sense of economic purpose arising from the presence of peace.

Then and then only will peace become meaningful to the people and something which will transcend the mere absence of war.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager