Boxing Day tsunami - Lanka rising from the ashes

Trevor JAYETILEKE

While we remember the above victims who died as a result of the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, the Government of Sri Lanka and its people are still recovering from the devastating effects and its implications on the wider Sri Lankan economy.

The Tsunami itself was a result of a section of seabed about 1,000 km long rising up 30 metres at a spot 250km from the city of Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia caused by an earthquake 40km below the earth’s crust of 8.9 magnitude on the Richter Scale.

With the negatives and positives becoming more apparent, these unfortunate 40,000 individuals in my humble opinion may not have died in vain.

To the Sri Lankan people who have to live with haunting memories, the Tsunami in many ways could be perceived as a ‘Circuir Breaker’ that saved Sri Lanka from a worse catastrophe.

Sri Lanka was perhaps saved from imminent bankruptcy brought about by poor governance and financial mismanagement by the then President cum Finance Minister CBK. The country was on its knees not knowing where the next credit line was coming from.

The temporary debt moratoria arranged by rich countries to the affected countries like Sri Lanka helped to tide over difficult times financially, and the foreign exchange flows from benevolent countries and individuals rescued Sri Lanka from the abyss.

Even in the height of the Tsunami debacle CBK was spending all her time and energies trying to stay on an extra year which ultimately hastened her demise and swept MR into power on November 18, 2005, thus ending fifty years of the Bandaranaike Dynasty and its ‘Tintagel Misfortunes’ on the island nation.

The timely arrival of MR was also the death knell of the mighty Tigers who were finally vanquished on May 18, 2009, and while the wider world cheered with gratitude for eliminating the LTTE terrorism some remained in silent turpitude.

The ending of terrorism and the ushering in of leader with a fine balance of ideology, pragmatism and political shrewdness has seen the awakening of the entire Eastern seaboard which till then was given very little attention from the centre.

The Sri Lankan Diaspora overseas came rushing to help those affected by the Tsunami along with the friends of Sri Lanka from all parts of the world and this was the beginning of the re-engagement of those Sri Lankans who had left for greener pastures who responded spontaneously in the hour of their Motherland’s need.

In all probability not known to Sri Lanka but only to vested interest lies the Bonanza of seabed resources swept into our territorial waters by the Tsunami which could be harnessed for the future prosperity of Sri Lanka and its long suffering inhabitants.

With the changing dynamics of the Asian region as a whole due to the rise and rise of India/China whose ripple effects keep reaching Lanka like a Tsunami, the time has arrived for the Indian Ocean to play the centre role between the East and West and Lanka with its ‘Janus like Geography’ has become an invaluable asset of the region.

The Thurstan educated MR the ‘Man for all Seasons’ has the nous for this Task.

May the Triple Gem Shine on Sri Lanka, and a New Dawn for all its diverse people.