How the joint mechanism will help in rebuilding

The Tsunami Relief Committees program has become a burning topic of discussion among the people today. Some others call it the joint mechanism. This agreement to be signed between the Government and the LTTE has come in for strong criticism from various quarters.

So we have decided to discuss it with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga today, veteran journalist Janadasa Peiris said at the beginning of his ninety minute interview with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, telecast over Rupavahini on Monday evening. The interview:

Q: Your Excellency - what actually are these Tsunami Relief Committees?

President: In short, these will be effective only in the North and East. Six districts in the North and East were subjected to the tsunami. These include 3 out of 5 districts in the North and all 3 districts in the East.

In these 6 districts we have identified a two kilometre zone extending inland from the coast as tsunami-affected areas. Tsunami Relief Committees or mechanism is an administrative program proposed to rebuild this devastated 2 km belt. Some people are expressing fearful views about it. They are all untrue. This is only an administrative program restricted to the tsunami disaster.

Q: Your Excellency - but serious criticisms are being levelled against it. The Government is going to sign this agreement with the LTTE which is a terrorist organisation proscribed in many countries. Won't signing of this agreement provide official recognition to them?

A: No, they won't gain recognition. First of all, LTTE is a terrorist organisation. But what is our prime motive? All nine parties in our Government including the JVP and all opposition parties including the UNP excluding the JHU subscribe to the view that a political solution is needed to solve the ethnic problem and war precipitated by it. What is our prime motive in achieving a political solution? It is to bring the LTTE into the political mainstream.

The LTTE which was engaged in killings cannot do this at once.

The LTTE has now changed over to the good side deviating from its earlier positions of engaging in violence, terrorism and demanding a separate state. Three years have lapsed after they signed the ceasefire agreement. Now there are no killings. Our village youth don't have to die unnecessarily now. This way we have achieved certain victories.

The LTTE is now prepared for open discussions with anyone.

Now roads to the North are open. Anyone can go to the Wanni and talk to the LTTE. Now LTTE delegates are visiting foreign countries and studying federal and other power sharing arrangements achieved by them without dividing their nations.

The LTTE has undergone many transformations. We cannot take them towards our final goal in one giant leap. It has to be done step by step.

For instance, when two groups are injured in a long drawn out fight and left with broken limbs you cannot get them to get up and run at once. You have to treat their wounds and help them to move forward slowly by giving them some rest. The LTTE too would not shelve its terrorism and demand for Eelam at once. But they have shown it through various other forms of expression.

We are now trying to build this rest hall in a two km belt. Those who have no alternative to this are just making a hue and cry. This mechanism will be implemented only in a two km belt. Beyond that the Government mechanism will operate even in the Jaffna district.

These Committees will not handle funds. They will have to be given some money to maintain an office. Beyond that they will only make recommendations regarding various projects and monitor the progress of work. The development activities will be carried out as before by the Education, Health and Highways Departments and other State institutions, or Provincial Councils. Then one can ask why this mechanism is needed at all. It will do only one thing that is to identify projects that should be reconstructed and those already rebuilt.

The identification of projects has already been done by the Sri Lanka Government. TAFREN has also drawn up a list in association with each Ministry. The World Bank drew up a separate list. Both lists are almost identical except for minor differences. The LTTE has said this list has been drawn up in a very fair manner. This will be the basis.

The roads, hospitals or other damaged facilities and the funds needed to repair them will be stated in our plan. The Relief Committee will go through them and make minor adjustments if necessary. After identifying these projects the Committees will inform the central Government and the Finance Ministry will channel the necessary funds to the institutions handling the identified project as being done now. All foreign aid will be received by the Finance Ministry as done now.

If the Committees recommend a wrong thing, for instance, if they say they want to buy some arms it won't happen. If they say so we will not provide funds.

When the funds are sent by the central Government to the State or Provincial Council institutions and work is started, such work will be monitored by this mechanism. If there is any corruption involved that mechanism will inform the relevant State institution.

One might then ask what purpose is served by this mechanism. There is one reason why it is needed. Both the Tamil people and the LTTE say that they cannot trust the Sri Lanka Government.

There are justifiable causes for it. I wish to emphasise that the Sri Lankan Government's have failed to grant the rights of the Tamil people for 50 odd years for some reason or other. When I worked at the Agriculture Ministry, the Colombo head office had a staff of about 420. When I recruited a Tamil as chief accountant there, all the Sinhala staff blamed me for doing so. But I stuck to my decision. Tamils are not given opportunities at places staffed by Sinhalese. That is why we had to introduce a quota system for university admissions.

If one party while in government tries to grant Tamil rights the other party will change it once it comes to power for narrow political gain. So it is not strange for Tamils to lose confidence in the Sri Lankan Government. This trust fully broke down after the 1983 Black July incidents. There were five terrorist organisations active on a mild scale then - viz LTTE, PLOTE, EPRLF, TELO and EROS.

All these were not involved in violence to the scale of the JVP in 1971. When the Tamil terrorist organisations asked for rights of Tamils by engaging in violence in a modest scale the then UNP Government did not call them for talks like the 'Methini' tried to rehabilitate the JVP. The UNP allegedly sent out a set of goons and killed innocent Tamils including doctors, accountants, engineers lawyers and businessmen, by storming their houses and burning them alive.

Can we expect the Tamils and the LTTE to trust the Sri Lankan Government after such sordid acts? Now there is a suspicion among them that since the Muslims are also in the Government a lion's share of the aid received from abroad will be taken for the Sinhala and Muslim areas and a negligible sum will be apportioned to the Tamil areas.

There are not enough reasons yet for them to believe that the Chandrika Government is completely on a different wave length. There are sufficient reasons but yet they don't accept them.

It is to rebuild that trust that they are now saying that we should form some organisation or mechanism by whatever name and discuss how this aid should be distributed. Five Southern districts also faced the tsunami.

The damage caused in Colombo and Gampaha districts were somewhat on a minor scale. This mechanism will not operate in these districts.

(To be continued)