By Easwaran Rutnam
Politics is threatening the development of the Northern Province, particularly the Jaffna Peninsula, with urgent humanitarian needs being put on the back burner.
Among the immediate issues which need to be addressed in the North are the issues of housing, resettlement, and land.
“Nearly 16,000 people need documentation including birth certificates, marriage certificates, land deeds, etc.,” Northern Province Governor Suren Raghavan told The Sunday Morning.
A serious shortage of clean water is also a critical issue in Jaffna. Raghavan further stated that, if the issue is not addressed soon, it could result in islands around Jaffna experiencing a colossal water scarcity.
“This is a primary issue in Jaffna and other parts of the North. This includes portable water, industrial water, and water for agriculture.
Jaffna has enough water with rainfall, but rain falls where it wishes to fall. We need to harvest the rainwater and store and manage it properly. If we don’t address the water problem in Jaffna, I feel the islands can turn into a near Darfur,” he said.
He said that since the water pump system was introduced to the North several years ago, ground water has been drained out and sea water is seeping in. The bitter 30-year war destroyed ponds in the North and this added to the water crisis in the area. Rapid development in the North has also had a negative impact with filling of land further affecting ground water flow.
The Governor said that temporary measures are being taken to address the water issue and one proposal is to take water from Vadamarachchi and move it to Jaffna and recharge the ground so that wells will have water. Another proposed project is to tap water at Elephant Pass and transport it to Jaffna.
The Governor also noted that Jaffna is faced with is a serious shortage of human resources to fill some key vacancies. He said that Jaffna has the largest migration in Sri Lanka with the most qualified youth often moving out and seeking employment in Colombo or out of the country.
“So we are working with international agencies to address this issue. But it will take time,” he said.
Justice vs. humanitarian needs
The humanitarian needs of the people in Jaffna and other parts of the North very rarely receive attention as local politics supersedes all other issues. The human rights issue and rift between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran are among the political issues which grab the headlines in the media these days.
The Northern Province Governor said that he feels justice and humanitarian needs must go hand in hand. “Unfortunately, in northern politics, there is an inclination towards seeking justice at the cost of addressing humanitarian needs. Sri Lanka needs to address these issues. But this cannot be prejudiced; it cannot be for political gain. If we are serious about healing ourselves we must be candid and honest about ourselves,” he said.
He noted that the Government has taken remarkable steps over the past few years to address the post-war reconciliation issue by establishing the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and Office for Reparations and making efforts to draft a new constitution.
However, President Maithripala Sirisena had just recently criticised the establishment of the OMP and Office of Reparations and raised concerns over moves to draft a new constitution.
When asked if comments made by the President will harm the reconciliation process, the Governor said that while he cannot respond to anything that the President has said, he recalled that the President has called for mechanisms which have wide consensus in the recent past.
“These cannot be one sided. It is like what happened in Geneva. The President is saying keep me informed,” the Governor said.
Northern Provincial Council (NPC)
With the NPC dissolved, the Governor is handling the roles of the ministries which operated under the NPC.
There were allegations that under Wigneswaran, the NPC did very little to make use of the funds allocated by the Government and address the pressing needs of the North. The Governor agreed with the concerns and said that when comparing what the NPC did and the Government did, one finds that the Government did much more than the NPC for the Northern Tamils. He said that even now, the Government is fast tracking development of the North.
However, there have been concerns that development is focused only on some areas while families living in the village areas are not experiencing the fruits of post-war Sri Lanka.
The Governor said that post-war recovery requires huge sums of money. He said that while the former Government obtained loans to reconstruct the main roads and infrastructure in the North, little was done to invest in establishing money-generating facilities.
“That is what we are looking to do now. We are going to improve tourism in the North. We are improving the harbour and domestic airport,” he said.
The Governor also revealed that a domestic flight service will be launched between Colombo and Jaffna over the next few weeks under a public–private partnership (PPP) agreement involving the Air Force and a private company. Hotels will also be improved to meet the requirements of the tourists.
Diaspora urged to invest
Governor Suren Raghavan also reached out to the Tamil Diaspora and urged them to invest in developing the North.
“We need a lot of investments. So I appeal to the Diaspora,” he said.
Raghavan had also met some of the Tamil Diaspora members in Geneva last month on sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council session. He said that, at this discussion, he had appealed to them to return to Sri Lanka and help the people of the North. The Governor said that any Diaspora member willing to return will be given assistance by way of accommodation and other facilities.
Photos by Indika Handuwela
Politics is threatening the development of the Northern Province, particularly the Jaffna Peninsula, with urgent humanitarian needs being put on the back burner.
Among the immediate issues which need to be addressed in the North are the issues of housing, resettlement, and land.
“Nearly 16,000 people need documentation including birth certificates, marriage certificates, land deeds, etc.,” Northern Province Governor Suren Raghavan told The Sunday Morning.
A serious shortage of clean water is also a critical issue in Jaffna. Raghavan further stated that, if the issue is not addressed soon, it could result in islands around Jaffna experiencing a colossal water scarcity.
“This is a primary issue in Jaffna and other parts of the North. This includes portable water, industrial water, and water for agriculture.
Jaffna has enough water with rainfall, but rain falls where it wishes to fall. We need to harvest the rainwater and store and manage it properly. If we don’t address the water problem in Jaffna, I feel the islands can turn into a near Darfur,” he said.
He said that since the water pump system was introduced to the North several years ago, ground water has been drained out and sea water is seeping in. The bitter 30-year war destroyed ponds in the North and this added to the water crisis in the area. Rapid development in the North has also had a negative impact with filling of land further affecting ground water flow.
The Governor said that temporary measures are being taken to address the water issue and one proposal is to take water from Vadamarachchi and move it to Jaffna and recharge the ground so that wells will have water. Another proposed project is to tap water at Elephant Pass and transport it to Jaffna.
The Governor also noted that Jaffna is faced with is a serious shortage of human resources to fill some key vacancies. He said that Jaffna has the largest migration in Sri Lanka with the most qualified youth often moving out and seeking employment in Colombo or out of the country.
“So we are working with international agencies to address this issue. But it will take time,” he said.
Justice vs. humanitarian needs
The humanitarian needs of the people in Jaffna and other parts of the North very rarely receive attention as local politics supersedes all other issues. The human rights issue and rift between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran are among the political issues which grab the headlines in the media these days.
The Northern Province Governor said that he feels justice and humanitarian needs must go hand in hand. “Unfortunately, in northern politics, there is an inclination towards seeking justice at the cost of addressing humanitarian needs. Sri Lanka needs to address these issues. But this cannot be prejudiced; it cannot be for political gain. If we are serious about healing ourselves we must be candid and honest about ourselves,” he said.
He noted that the Government has taken remarkable steps over the past few years to address the post-war reconciliation issue by establishing the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and Office for Reparations and making efforts to draft a new constitution.
However, President Maithripala Sirisena had just recently criticised the establishment of the OMP and Office of Reparations and raised concerns over moves to draft a new constitution.
When asked if comments made by the President will harm the reconciliation process, the Governor said that while he cannot respond to anything that the President has said, he recalled that the President has called for mechanisms which have wide consensus in the recent past.
“These cannot be one sided. It is like what happened in Geneva. The President is saying keep me informed,” the Governor said.
Northern Provincial Council (NPC)
With the NPC dissolved, the Governor is handling the roles of the ministries which operated under the NPC.
There were allegations that under Wigneswaran, the NPC did very little to make use of the funds allocated by the Government and address the pressing needs of the North. The Governor agreed with the concerns and said that when comparing what the NPC did and the Government did, one finds that the Government did much more than the NPC for the Northern Tamils. He said that even now, the Government is fast tracking development of the North.
However, there have been concerns that development is focused only on some areas while families living in the village areas are not experiencing the fruits of post-war Sri Lanka.
The Governor said that post-war recovery requires huge sums of money. He said that while the former Government obtained loans to reconstruct the main roads and infrastructure in the North, little was done to invest in establishing money-generating facilities.
“That is what we are looking to do now. We are going to improve tourism in the North. We are improving the harbour and domestic airport,” he said.
The Governor also revealed that a domestic flight service will be launched between Colombo and Jaffna over the next few weeks under a public–private partnership (PPP) agreement involving the Air Force and a private company. Hotels will also be improved to meet the requirements of the tourists.
Diaspora urged to invest
Governor Suren Raghavan also reached out to the Tamil Diaspora and urged them to invest in developing the North.
“We need a lot of investments. So I appeal to the Diaspora,” he said.
Raghavan had also met some of the Tamil Diaspora members in Geneva last month on sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council session. He said that, at this discussion, he had appealed to them to return to Sri Lanka and help the people of the North. The Governor said that any Diaspora member willing to return will be given assistance by way of accommodation and other facilities.
Photos by Indika Handuwela