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The challenges ahead

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's speech to the Tokyo Donor Conference yesterday, which we reproduce in full on this page, spells out lucidly, the problems and prospects confronting Sri Lanka today on its arduous journey to peace and economic betterment.

It, of course, comes at a time when the peace process has suffered a setback in the form of a withdrawal of the LTTE from the negotiatory process. However the Premier struck a profoundly inspirational note when he said that: "However, I believe that the peace process is mature enough for you to see that we can and will move forward very soon". Our sincere hope is that it will be as the Premier has prefigured.

If there were any doubts and reservations among the LTTE and their backers about their future status and role in the peace process, they should all have been eliminated by the Premier's continued emphasis on the LTTE as an equal partner in the way forward. Besides, it was emphasized that the international community's continued financial assistance was required for the development of the whole country, including the North - East. Moreover, it was made clear that once resumed, the peace process would be geared towards finding a political solution within the framework of a federal state.

However, the process of economic rejuvenation is not going to prove easy, and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was frank enough to recognize this reality. For instance, there was the recognition that the structures put in place in the North - East "were too cumbersome and too distant from the people to be acceptable or to react quickly enough". It was also recognized that although development needed to be put on a fast track, our public service was too large, poorly paid and lacks the capacity to handle the increased rates of project design and implementation.

The latter set of issues, we believe should be addressed squarely while taking on the project plans envisaged in the reports, 'Regaining Sri Lanka" and the 'North - East Needs Assessment'.

We believe we are blessed with sufficient local expertise for these major projects, although their capacity for handling these challenges may need to be upgraded and enhanced. This, the State may need to concern itself with rightaway. A skills and capacity upgrading program for these exercises we consider an essential requirement.

Besides, there needs to be closer interaction between the grass roots masses, their organisations and the State and its agencies for a comprehensive push towards development. It is widely felt that the approach which is dominating on the development front right now, is a "top-down" one which could lose sight of the real needs of the people.

On the other hand, a "bottom-up" approach would enable a fuller fleshing out of development plans and ensure a more sensitive response from the State to the people's needs.

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