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| Sunday, 3 February 2002 |
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De-mining of A-9 route under way with UNDP aid by FRANCES BULATHSINGHALA Rehabilitation and Refugees Ministry will go ahead with the de-mining project in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as soon as the Government and the LTTE sign the Memorandum of Understanding, Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena told the Sunday Observer. Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena said that the government was very cautiously moving in the confidence-building process and added that everything was being done for the welfare of the people, and that it was personally "my primary concern". Excerpts of the interview with Minister of Rehabilitation and Refugees Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena Q. Could you specify the development plans you have for the Jaffna peninsula ? A. Our main aim is to strengthen trade links with Colombo and Jaffna and arrange for the agricultural produce of Jaffna to reach Colombo without a problem and as regularly as possible. As a measure that will complement this, we have identified the possibility of organising a trade fair where trade links between Colombo and Jaffna could be strengthened. In the health sphere, a team of plastic surgeons from UK will be visiting Jaffna on February 13 for a week. Q. Could you indicate the statistics of those internally displaced as a result of the war? A. There are 170,000 persons in government welfare centres throughout the island, mainly in the North and East. There are 528,000 internally displaced persons residing with friends and relatives, receiving food assistance from the government. There are also 66,000 Sri Lankan refugees in camps in India and thousands more outside camps. Q. What are your immediate plans for the internally displaced population? A. First, we want to obtain an accurate picture of the IDP and refugee population in terms of numbers, demographic profile, location and living situation. My ministry is already in the process of identifying current problems, potential for durable solutions. We also hope to establish a comprehensive database to support the government's policy and its development programme, the UN and the non-governmental organisations. To focus on all these aspects, the ministry of rehabilitation and refugees have embarked on a joint project with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to begin the database where a national survey of all IDPs living in the country will be undertaken. This will be a base for us to identify the basic problems IDPs face. Q. What plans have been taken with regard to IDPs living in Southern areas such as Wattala and Negombo and other areas such as Puttalam and Anuradhapura where a vast number of IDPs reside ? A. Our immediate plan for IDPs living in these areas is to facilitate re-settlement for those who wish to do so in the areas they were displaced from. Q. Could you specify the immediate plans you have for the uplift of the internally displaced population and those undergoing hardships in the uncleared LTTE controlled areas ? A. Our main priority is to restore the health service in the uncleared areas. We hope to immediately improve the facilities at the Madhu hospital and the five peripheral hospitals in the Vanni area. A solar power generator will be provided to the main hospital in the Vanni shortly. Our chief concern is to get doctors appointed to these areas. We have already begun consultations with the Health Department and the Health Ministry in this regard. As malnutrition is widely reported especially among children, it has also been decided to conduct a medical survey for the 37,000 schoolchildren in the Vavuniya region. Under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) a special plan will be implemented to restore the irrigation tanks and support an agricultural plan to be initiated by the ministry to reap the maximum benefits from the Vanni region, which is an agricultural zone. Q. What are the other overall measures taken to improve the lives of the people in the uncleared areas ? A. As part of the one-hundred-day development program of the Government, I have met all the district secretaries in the Vanni region and the North and East to obtain a detailed list of shortcomings the people in the areas face and the suggestions of the district secretaries to grant them redress. Following this discussion held last week, we have already taken steps to establish 14 welfare centres in Vavuniya. A one-month time frame has been set for the inauguration of a bus service by UNHCR within the area of Vanni. Plans in this regard will be made soon after the UNHCR team of officials meet the LTTE. Q. Could you cite the facilitation undertaken by your ministry for the re-opening of the A9 land route to Jaffna? A. Initially, we hope to complete the de-mining in the area of this road. The officials of the UNDP have met with me and my ministry officials in this regard and have agreed to carry out the de-mining as soon as the government signs the Memorandum of Understanding with the LTTE. According to discussions held so far, it is likely that the UNDP will agree to bear the full cost of the de-mining. Q. There is a feeling that the government should be more cautious in its present leniency towards the embargo and other 'pro-peace factors'. What is your opinion? A. We are cautious. Not that the government is not taking pre-cautions, but it is also a trust-building process and everything that is being done by my ministry is for the welfare of the people, and personally that is "my primary concern." |
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