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by S. Selvakumar and Elmo Leonard

In the aftermath of the euphoria of receiving an unprecedented quantum of aid at the Tokyo donor parley, business leaders and financial consultants have urged the government to ensure that the funds are used for meaningful development. They have also called for transparency and accountability to ensure no room is left for corruption and misappropriation of funds.

Minister Rauff Hakeem, who attended the Tokyo conference as a member of the Sri Lanka delegation said that on the completion of the need assessment now being carried out by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, the US$ 4.5 billion aid will be used to rehabilitate and develop the country. The three organisations commenced the need assessment six months ago. Hakeem said that every district will benefit from the program and said that in his own assessment the North East would get around 30 per cent of the aid for rehabilitation and reconstruction. "This is only my personal assessment," he said.

He said that the government in partnership with the LTTE will implement the development and rehabilitation in the eight districts in the North and the East and added that the welfare of the Sinhalese and the Muslims in the districts too would be met with. Business leaders, though delighted with the US$ 4.5 billion aid, however cautioned that much needed to be done to ensure that the funds are used for meaningful development. A leading foreign investment consultant and former senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who did not wish to be named, said Sri Lanka currently lacked the right machinery to absorb the $4.5 billion, into meaningful development.

"In the past and even today, a large portion of the funds secured for development goes under-utilised. When small funds go abegging for want of human software, how could such a large sum of money be diverted for gainful purposes?" he questioned. The high bureaucratic structure in the country must be erased for the acceleration of development work, the consultant said.

Rohith Udalagama, Managing Director, Lanka Com Services said the unknown factor, is on what projects the $4.5 billion would be absorbed into. Government should have the liberty of using the funds on schemes it deemed the most important. The infrastructure of the north and east must be developed, including telecommunications, water and so in the south.

The money must also be used to clear landmines in the north and east. Here, for immediate socio-economic uplift, the industries which existed before the outbreak of war, such as the cement factory, Paranthan Chemicals Corporation, the multi-million dollar fisheries exports as shrimp, crab and also the other lucurutive fisheries should be restarted. The minerals in these areas should be commercially exploited. If constraints arise in utilising the funds in the north and east, the funds should be redeployed in the south, Udalagama said.

Cubby Wijetunge, director corporate affairs, Nestle Lanka Ltd said that political stability is vital for the development of the whole country. Sri Lanka secured the highest quantum of aid from donor agencies since independence, backed by the United States, Japan, India, Norway and other nations, in recognition of the commitment to the peace process of the President, Prime Minister and the people of Sri Lanka. Also, in appreciation of the ongoing campaign of `Regaining Sri Lanka.'

Wijetunge was of the view that the $4.5 billion could be fully utilised. The secret of success of the utilisation of the funds would be transparency, which could be achieved by putting all the cards on the table.

The Mahaweli project, telescoped into five-and-a-half years, in 1979, was a tremendous success. This history of accomplishment could be repeated. The peace process would hold and the donors would release the full quantum of money, Wijetunge said.

Priority, rather than politics should be the deciding factor for the development of the north and east and the other parts of the island, Kingsley Bernard, who has achieved much in the discipline of marketing in the private and public sector said. The development of the infrastructure of the north and east must get top priority. The north and east has been dormant for 20 years and everything including agriculture and tourism and exploitation of minerals should be started immediately, Bernard, who is also Senior Vice President of the National Exporters Association said.

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