Rapid economic development in N/E could coerce LTTE towards moderation - DEW

"THE LTTE could be coerced towards moderation through the Tamil people if we could ensure rapid economic development in the North and East said Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara when he addressed trade union representatives of the State Banks at the Ministry auditorium to sensitive them on the Tsunami Relief Council on Tuesday.

Minister Gunasekara said unless the government implemented the Tsunami Relief Council proposal there was every likelihood of the UN and the International Community providing direct funding to the North East for rebuilding the tsunami affected areas. If that happened the LTTE would have been able to have direct dealings with the outside world.

Minister Gunasekara said the LTTE by signing the P-TOMS agreement had for the first time recognised the Sri Lanka Government. In the Ceasefire Agreement signed with the UNF Government the LTTE referred to Sri Lanka as the Indian Ocean island.

Differentiating between the CFA signed by the UNF and the P-TOMS signed by the present government, Minister Gunasekara said the CFA referred to liberated and unliberated areas while P-TOMS referred to all areas as areas controlled by the Sri Lanka Government.

Now that the Government had signed the P-TOMS agreement Sri Lanka would receive Rs. 3.5 billion and to rebuild tsunami affected areas. Almost 90 per cent of these funds were outright grants.

Unless we received this money Sri Lanka would have had to set apart the entirety of Budget allocations for tsunami rebuilding for several years continuously.

The Minister said therefore people should not entertain any fears or apprehensions regarding the Tsunami Relief Council since it was purely intended to help community life in the North-East.

A Ministry release said the trade union representation present pledged their full co-operation towards making the P-TOMS a success by educating their membership about it.

Trade Union representatives from the Bank of Ceylon, People's Bank, the NSB and the State Mortgage and Investment Bank attended the meeting.