People's predicament first says LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 September 2002, 22:19 GMT]
(Feature) The first round of formal peace talks between the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) began Monday in the Sattahip Thai Naval base on a positive note though the head of Colombo’s negotiating team laid down in his opening speech non-negotiable elements which, according to him, should be constant in “determining the parameters of the negotiations." The Liberation Tigers, however, desisted from any reference to ‘irreducible principles.’

Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the LTTE said: “The deepest aspiration of our people is peace, a peace with justice and freedom; a permanent peace in which our people enjoy their right to self-determination and co-exist with others."

Despite efforts by Sinhala hardliners led by President Chandrika Banadaranaike Kumaratunga to throw many a spanner in the works, the LTTE and the GOSL moved cautiously but inexorably towards finalising the arrangements for the first round of talks this week.

Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham and his Australian-born wife, delegation secretary Adele Balasingham at the opening of peace talks, 16 September 2002. (Photo: REUTERS)

The Sinhala nationalist litany that Sri Lankan Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s regime is conspiring to permanently divide the island by handing over the northeast to the LTTE on a platter has failed to provoke the expected reaction from the Singhalese.

The general apathy of the Sinhala masses and their apparent refusal to be provoked as on many bloody occasions in the past is largely derived from the belief that the Sri Lanka army is no match for the LTTE militarily despite the extraordinary backing it got from countries across the global political spectrum, including the US, China and India, to prosecute the war in the northeast.

The formal talks have been immensely bolstered by direct discussions between senior officials of the LTTE and the GOSL both in Colombo and in the Vanni.

President Chandrika and Sinhala hardliners have also been pushing the line that the GOSL should take up ‘core issues’ such as devolution, territory, demobilisation etc., and should reach an agreement on human rights and the safety of the Muslims in the east.

“The war may be over but the problem is still military in nature. Decades of Sri Lanka army operations, the unbridled application and abuse of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and the provisions of the Emergency Regulations, the dense presence of the Sri Lanka military in the northeast and the forced eviction of thousands of Tamil families from their homes have created immense social distortions which have to be corrected first before we can meaningfully approach fundamental political issues,” an LTTE official said.

“We cannot put the cart before the horse,” according to him.

Meanwhile the political weekly, Northeastern Herald, quoting LTTE and Tamil National Alliance sources in its latest issue this weekend said: “The Sri Lankan government should come up with concrete proposals to rehabilitate the agricultural and industrial sectors of the northeastern province during the initial rounds of talks in Thailand. The first and foremost confidence building measure at this juncture is to rehabilitate these key sectors of the Northeast’s economy, ruined by more than 15 years of deliberate neglect and military operations."

“Tamashas, exhibitions and regular visits by ministers to the north are falsely being publicised as confidence building measures. Our people cannot be fooled by these. Real confidence building measures should be in the form of monies actually released by the treasury through the relevant ministries and agencies for rehabilitating the dilapidated major irrigation schemes in the northeast, such as the Iranamadu Tank in Kilinochchi, the Giant’s Tank’s in Mannar and the Valukkiyaaru Basin Scheme in Jaffna. There should be concrete proposals with definite and clear commitments to rehabilitate the Paranthan Chemical Factory, the Kankesanthurai Cement Factory and Valaichenai Paper Company," an LTTE official said.

Both Iranamadu and Giant’s Tank are in danger of breaching their bunds during the coming monsoon, due to 15 years of disrepair.

“But the Ministry for Irrigation and Water Management is yet to release a cent despite several appeals by local farmer’s bodies and officials," the Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, Sivasakthi Anandan said.

“The Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction is shamming. If you look behind its flamboyant claims about the north, you will find little or no monies actually released for specific rehabilitation works," TNA sources said.

Six hundred million rupees are required to complete works started by the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in the northeast in 2001. The government allocated 295 million for this but has so far released only 160 million in funds which did not include 93 million rupees the implementing agencies, such as the district secretariats, still owe to project contractors. Many works are stalled because of the outstanding payments on rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in the northeast.

The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that the government has sharply undermined provincial level rehabilitation and reconstruction in the northeast. The Northeastern Provincial Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction has been shorn of its powers to work in the north; and in the east its priorities are largely set by central government agencies such as the Divisional Secretaries and the Road development Authority.

The central Ministry for Eastern Province Rehabilitation and Reconstruction allocated 77 million rupees this year to the NEPC under a crash program. The NEPC Ministry of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction has completed works worth 44 million. But only 30.5 million has been released in actual monies by central ministry, which is under SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem. The 77 million earmarked for the NEPC this year is much less than last year’s allocation, officials said.

Tamil politicians have charged in the past that the allocation of funds by Ministry for Eastern Province Rehabilitation and Reconstruction has largely been in favour of Muslim areas in the east.

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, TNA MP for Jaffna said: “Nothing seems to have been done to rehabilitate and reconstruct the north. The government allocated 1400 million rupees for the rehabilitation of the north. This year it has been pruned down to just 400 million rupees. This is one of the reasons why the TNA did not vote on third reading of the budget. There was a one billion cut in defence spending this year which could have been put into rehabilitation and reconstruction of the north. Even out of the four hundred million allocated for this year we do not know how much is being actually spent or on what it is being spent. We do not see anything being done in the north. The minister comes to Jaffna almost every week with his entourage and promises to do this and that. But government officials in Jaffna say that the ministry is waiting for foreign funds to reconstruct the north. It is during the time of ceasefire reconstruction can be done best as a confidence building measure."

Sri Lankan government chief negotiator G. L. Peiris (R) sits next to his Tamil Tiger adversaries (R-L), Jay Maheswaran (development expert), V. Rudrakumar (legal expert), Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham and his Australian-born wife, delegation secretary Adela Balasingham at the opening of peace talks, 16 September 2002. (Photo: REUTERS)