Massive allocation of resources for Eastern development - Foreign Minister

SINGAPORE: The Government intends to channel adequate resources for the development of the East which has been totally liberated, Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Channel News Asia in an exclusive interview over the weekend.

Bogollagama said the door was open for negotiations but the Government would not tolerate terrorism.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Could you describe the situation in the East ?

A: In the East of Sri Lanka hitherto it was known as an area that was controlled by the LTTE But today three districts comprising Eastern Province has been totally cleared of the LTTE, the development process has started and we are launching the new dawn of the Eastern Province by the President which will be concentrated from infrastructure to social well being.

We will be spending lot of our resources in lifting up the quality of life of the people of the Eastern Province. This is an area that has been held by the LTTE. They suppressed the people, took control of the children, started recruiting children to their cadres and made them child soldiers.

And today we are very happy to announce that the Eastern Province has been entirely cleared of these terrorist attacks and people are free to get about and soon we will hold elections so that people will decide the local leadership that would emerge from the democratic process.

This is a major success we have achieved for Sri Lanka. Hitherto people thought that LTTE is a dominant party in terrorising people and the Government may not be able to take control of the area and today we have shown that we have not only taken control of the area but we are pursuing the goals for the people in terms of development.

We want meaningful development for the people. That is what we believe in terms of peace. Peace cannot be achieved if there is terrorism.

We have cleared terrorism from the Eastern Province and today we are happy to announce that we concentrate fully in terms of lifting the quality of lives of our people.

Q: What about elections? Is there any timetable?

A: Obviously when an area has to be governed the representatives have to be elected by the people and we are one of the vibrant democracies in the world and we are practising it to the last letter of the word.

What we looking at is once normality is returned and the political process to start is a matter for the Commissioner of Elections to call for Local Government elections.

The environment is right for elections now and there is lot of interest shown by other political parties in coming to the election fray. We want to encourage that process. I am sure people will decide their leadership at the local level with the elections.

Q: Are we to take that the offensive by the Government is a fight to the finish ?

A: We are not an offensive party we are only trying to maintain law and order and also the security of our people and that of the country. As a sovereign state we have to counter any threat that comes to the security of our people and that is what we have been engaging ourselves in.

We have been always calling the LTTE to come to talks we still call them to come to talks because we still believe that they should come to talks and get matters sorted out.

At the same time we can’t tolerate terrorism. We have zero tolerance of terrorism. Not only in Sri Lanka today the world is countering terrorism. We have said this in the past. At one time we were a lone voice now the world has come together.

They have come to realise the threat of terrorism and how it could emerge and how it could get spread. We are going to counter terrorism by every manner of it’s manifestation. At the same time we want to have a political process.

There is no offensive by the Government other than maintaining the security of our people. Clearing terrorism we’ll continue to do. At the same time we will encourage all parties to come for a negotiated settlement including the LTTE and this is how they have to shed terrorism and believe in the democratic process.

To prevail in all parts of Sri Lanka and the limited area they are now trying to hold on to in the North they must allow people to be free they must not suppress people Tamil people. The ordinary Tamil people are not Tigers. It is a handful of fascists terrorising the people of our country. There is harmony among all communities.

Q: What about a negotiated settlement? There was a ceasefire and there was intervention by Norway to broker peace. Basically what happened to the ceasefire ?

A: There was absolutely no ceasefire. During the ceasefire or what they called the ceasefire there were 740 deaths. That was committed by the LTTE.

The former Foreign Minister was killed in August 2005. And that is how the LTTE was observing the ceasefire agreement and that’s why we don’t believe that. What we want is overall peace for the country. We’ll be pursuing the goals of peace and to bring peace we need a democratic agenda.

That we are trying to encourage through a pluralistic process and creating the environment for that as we have done in the East.

The per capita ratio of development assistance that we will be providing to the East will be the highest in the country. We will see how much of effort and how much of commitment we as a Government hold to all part of Sri Lanka and to all people of Sri Lanka.

Q: Is there a lack of commitment when you are asking people to ban LTTE outside Sri Lanka but within Sri Lanka you are holding them as a negotiating party ?

A: We have the legal framework to deal with terrorism. We have counter terrorism legislation in the country. We are exercising that when the LTTE indulges in terrorist attacks. That’s how we have been able to respond to that.

Our legal framework is very clear on that. Where the outside world is concerned we are encouraging them to ban the LTTE as a terrorist organisation because otherwise they are raising funds from the outside world.

They have been collecting money to procure arms. In order to procure arms you need the resources and if we block the resources they will be facing difficulties in that direction.

That is what we are encouraging and it is good for the world at large to get out of the system through which terrorist could benefit. That is why we have asked for the proscription of the LTTE. It has been done in the US, Canada and in EU.

Q: Is there going to be any kind of peace?

A: Of course what we experience today in the East is a clear example and a manifestation of peace returning fast to Sri Lanka and to all parts of our country. It is another test for us to see how we are going to examine the North in terms of registering peace there as well.

And we have to have the success now and we have shown to the world how we are looking after the people of our country and the post conflict development. We will ensure peace.

Q: Are you doing anything on the declining Tourist arrivals ?

A: Yes obviously we are doing it just now. When London was struck by terrorist attacks recently Australia issued a travel advisory against travel to UK. Fortunately for Sri Lanka we have enough and more areas for us to demonstrate and show that the tourists have never been effected or attacked by the LTTE and they are quite safe to come to Sri Lanka.

And in Sri Lanka we have this problem particularly in the North and two and half districts of the country and we could always see that the rest of the country is opened up which is already happening for tourists.

We want get this message out and we are doing that to the best of our ability. The tour operators are now realising that Sri Lanka remains a very safe destination for travel. I think with that lot of tourists will start coming . I think the numbers will go up in the short term .

Q: Are there any plans to promote tourism ?

A: India has become a large market for us. Over 100,000 tourists have been now coming from India and also China. We have been receiving over 20,000 numbers last year alone from China in terms of Tourism.