Vigilance vital to reap benefits from aid deal- paper
[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 June 2005, 01:30 GMT]
Calling on the Tamil people to temper the euphoria related to the successful signing of the post-tsunami aid deal by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) on Friday, popular dailies in Jaffna in editorials Saturday cautioned the NorthEast residents that serious challenges still remain in enforcing the agreement and to be vigilant against being misled.
Saturday papers in Jaffna pointed out that Colombo relented to sign the agreement only after realizing that if the deal failed to materialize then International community was ready to afford recognition and was prepared to deal directly with LTTE. "The growing strength of the opposing chauvinistic voices and the propensity of the Sri Lanka Governments to buckle under the sentiments of the Buddhist monks and extreme nationalists do not augur well for a smooth implementation of the agreement," daily Uthayan said.. "The agreement can be easily sabotaged to run its time out by delaying tactics of GoSL. Although the Trust Fund will operate independent to Sri Lanka's Treasury, the MoU has left open issues related to the chain of authority to allocate and approve moneys from the Trust Fund for project use," Uthayan added. This would pose a serious problem, Uthayan contended. "Tamil people must not be swayed by the accolades from the international community and from the progressive forces in the South on the signing of the agreement," the paper said. Jaffna daily Valampuri, however, commended Ms Kumaratunge for standing firm against the extremists, and said that the Tamil National Alliance has the moral responsibility to support Ms Kumaratunge's Government to carry out the agreement. "Verbal assurances have finally taken a written form. Tamil people led by the Liberation Tigers must exercise extreme vigilance, insist on transparency and expeditious action, and safeguard themselves from being misled or defrauded," Uthayan admonished.
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