Strong leadership led us to victory - Defence Secretary

Strong leadership, proper planning and clear directions took the government to success in its battle against terrorism, Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. He said the President, as the Commander in Chief, gave clear directives to the military and also personally visited many parts of the conflict zone during the operations. “Had we backtracked on our aim during difficult times, we would be still embroiled in war,” the Defence Secretary said.

He was addressing the Intercontinental Chapter Meeting of the Young President’s Organisation on Saturday at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies in Colombo.

The Defence Secretary said even though the size and the strength of the military was increased, the government never compromised on masses’ welfare issues.

He said public support was a vital component in the fight against terrorism. The Defence Secretary said the high standard of the professionally qualified military officers with foreign training and experience, was exemplified during the operations.

Secretary Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka was plagued with ruthless terrorist attacks which caused immense suffering to the entire population.

He said when President Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected in 2005, he had a mandate from the people to end the terrorist conflict once and for all, a daunting task which many previous governments failed.

“The LTTE terrorists had no interest in peace, instead, they exploited the respite given through peace talks and ceasefires to kill its opponents and strengthen its offensive capabilities,” he said. The terrorist did not allow any democratic freedom in the areas they dominated and the President was keen to resolve the conflict and his first priority was to do so through peaceful means, Secretary Rajapaksa said.

He said the government launched an initiative to construct over 78,000 houses in the North and East, including houses constructed with donor assistance.

The Sri Lanka Army alone renovated more than 7,500 houses and constructed nearly 4,600 new permanent and 6,000 semi-permanent houses for civilians being resettled. Under the government’s Northern Spring programme, most infrastructure development work, including building of roads, minor tanks, public buildings, hospitals and schools and provision of electricity, water supply and sanitation, upgrading of healthcare facilities were undertaken, the Defence Secretary said.

He said within three years and four months after the defeat of the LTTE, all Internally Displaced Persons in welfare camps were successfully resettled.

The successful completion of the resettlement programme and the closure of the IDP camps in such a short period is a significant and laudable achievement by any standard, Secretary Rajapaksa said.