Unite to rebuild motherland - President

WELIGAMA: Tsunami victims will rest in peace only if we are united. Therefore I appeal those who are desirous of bestowing merit upon the tsunami victims to unite in our efforts in rebuilding our motherland, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

The President was delivering the second tsunami commemoration speech at the ceremony to commission a housing scheme completed with the Turkish Government's assistance, in Weligama on Saturday.

"Today we commemorate the second anniversary of Tsunami, an unprecedented devastation occurred in the annals of the Sri Lanka's history. Here we commemorate all Sri Lankans, Tamils, Muslims, Burger and the rest, of all walks of life victimised by this ruthless act of nature. Let all of us pray that such a calamity will not come again," he said.

"Attempts we have made to extricate ourselves from the devastation are tremendous. So we ought to remember it on December 26 every year. The way our people reacted in the fact of that devastation influenced my political concept too to a great extent. In helping one another, they did not display an iota of discrimination on the basis of race, religion or political affiliation such as UNP, JVP or JHU.

Catholics sought shelter in Buddhist Temples. Catholic Church provided a safety environment for Buddhists. I heard in a news items that Sinhalese children rushed to a Muslim village to donate blood", the President said.

Even the LTTE leader accepted the fact that our Forces helped a lot, to their cadres and the Tamil community. There, we saw how people loved their neighbours in difficulty.

This should go down in the history in an indelible impression. Even the way the international community reached was commendable. Children of certain countries donated even the small amounts of money they had saved to buy greeting cards for the season. I saw some foreigners engaged in cleaning the drainage system in the Galle city". "All of us are aware that the Government and people of Turkey are with us, at this ceremony", he said.

"We welcome the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey who has joined us today. We recall that it was the Prime Minister of Turkey, who visited our country shortly after the tsunami, laid the foundation stone for this housing project. This work was completed with assistance of the Turkish Government", the President added.

Sri Lankans should value and protect this housing complex as being symbolic of the lasting friendship of the Government and People of Turkey, the President added.

This gesture should be accepted as a lasting symbol of the great humanity and friendship of the people of Turkey. What the Government of Turkey has told through this gift is that people should be happily, and in peace, President Rajapaksa said.

The President conveyed gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey for the gesture. "The unity prevailed at the moment of this disaster tremendously influenced my political career", he added.

"It is the solidarity prevailed among us that protected thousands of people from hunger and epidemic. We were able to clear the debris within week and to reconstruct the damaged railway in a short time of 52 days.

The entire world knows that we were the most affected by tsunami and it was our country which recovered from the post tsunami trauma before the rest of the affected countries. Number of houses damaged by tsunami is 115,000. Today we have completed the construction of over 63,000 houses. The rest would be provided as early as possible", the President said.

Majority of the people who lost their livelihood were those residing along the coastal line.

He said that their fishing gear have been brought to normalcy. Our dedication in recovering what we have lost and the speed at which we march forward under the situation was not second to the course of action followed by countries devastated by the world war II.

That is why I always emphasised that if we are to rise out of the difficulties we all should get together hand in hand. Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, UNP, JVP and JHU should get together. This concept originated in my mind as I witnessed the benign results of unity at the time of tsunami. "Let all of us be together. Perhaps the reason might be a dream or an aspiration to a portfolio in a Pradeshiya Sabha or a Provincial Council or the post of President of Sri Lanka", he said.

"Our foreign friends will sympathise with us only if we maintain unity among us. Foreigners will help us only if and when we are united and not otherwise. Those who seek international support should ensure first, the unity within the country.

It is only then the real friends will extend their helping hands to us. I must pay homage to those who sacrificed their lives to tsunami thereby showing us the proper way to follow," the President concluded.