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| Sunday, 21 March 2004 |
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Arne Fjortoft inspired Norway-Sri Lanka friendship by W.T.J.S. Kaviratne - Ambalangoda special correspondent Scandinavians by nature love adventure from time immemorial and they possessed an inherent desire to cross seas seeking the exotic beauty and charm of distant lands and explored the rich diversity of culture, religious beliefs, and pristine glory of ancient civilisations of Asia. Arne Fjortoft, a key personality behind Norway-Sri Lanka friendship, first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1967. Arne Fjortoft started his life as a radio journalist in Norway. During this period, three Sri Lankan youngsters from Jaffna visited Norway to obtain technical knowhow on fisheries industry and Arne Fjortoft had the opportunity to interview them to produce a radio programme to be broadcast over Norwegian Radio. These three Sri Lankans with Norwegian assistance ventured on fisheries industry in Karainagar in Jaffna but ended in failure. Arne Fjortoft with his inherent amiable qualities became friendly with the three Sri Lankans and, on hearing their plight, Fjortoft volunteered to come to their rescue. As a result, Fjortoft said that he had to give up his journalistic career in Norway which he enjoyed immensely. During his six-month stay in Sri Lanka, Fjortoft was seriously involved in the fisheries project and expanded it throughout the coastal belt of the country under the name of 'CEYNOR'. Under CEYNOR, every aspect of the fisheries industry in the country gained a fresh impetus. Arne Fjortoft, the founder of 'CEYNOR' project was successful in obtaining the assistance of the government of Norway and its firms to further expand and improve the project. Affiliated to CEYNOR, numerous other projects related to the fisheries industry were also established in Sri Lanka. Factories manufacturing fishing gear gradually came into existence providing jobs to thousands of unemployed persons and a majority of youngsters trained under the CEYNOR project, obtained employment even in Middle East countries, Fjortoft said. Fjortoft personally attended to the infrastructure development programmes initiated for the benefit of fisherfolk living along the coastal belt of the country. In Karainagar, poor toddy tappers were denied even a plot of land to build houses by the higher caste community of the area, but Arne Fjortoft came to their rescue in obtaining land for housing. The CEYNOR project was handed over to the Fisheries Ministry in the year 1983. The Finance Minister of the then SLFP government, the late Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike, a close associate of Arne Fjortoft, had shown an interest in obtaining Norwegian assistance for development projects in Sri Lanka, especially on Information and Mass Media. A few developed countries in the world monopolised the sphere of Information and due to this unhealthy trend, the Norwegian government established the Worldview International Foundation in 1978, in response to a United Nations's resolution of a New World Order on Information.In 1978, Arne Fjortoft founded the Worldview International Foundation (WIF) in Sri Lanka, a unique organisation with experience, knowledge and the capacity to cover the entire gamut of communication and media activities for development. These range from participatory grass roots projects to production and dissemination of the latest virtually reality products. The WIF struggled to be in the forefront of the communication revolution by the constant application of new technology to support sustainable human development. Arne Fjortoft said the goal of WIF was to reach the largest possible number of people by using 'group media' and 'mass media' to create awareness and mobilise people for action, to establish new networks and strengthen media for development. He said the policy of WIF was based on the fundamentals of training and networking, using multi-media technology, grassroots projects, community radio and global television networking, reaching out to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to raise awareness and empower people to solve their basic problems. Arne Fjortoft, a strong proponent advocating that access to information and education is the foundation of human development, said that parallel to the economic divide, the knowledge gap was widening dramatically faster with even more serious consequences. He said that while all the stored knowledge in the history of mankind was increasingly available at the fingertips of the privileged, the majority of the world's population lived in the past. "While the communication revolution is rapidly transforming the economically privileged part of the world into knowledge based societies, the less developed are left out of the process, light years behind the rest of the world." WIF had directly and indirectly trained more than 50,000 development workers from 45 countries in the use of communication. 1600 professionals in video and TV production, executed 650 grassroots projects in 23 countries and produced more than 3000 TV and Radio programmes on development issues. Worldview International Foundation( WIF) was the first international Non-Governmental Organisation which established its head office in Colombo in 1979 and later affiliated branches were established in 45 countries in South Asia, Africa, South East Asia and Europe. Arne Fjortoft, a renowned print and electronic media person, during his career worked for the State Radio and TV of Norway. Fjortoft had also played a key role in Norwegian politics as the Chairman of Liberal party, considered as the oldest party formed in 1885. He is also a close friend of the present Prime Minister of Norway. Fjortoft, who had the rare privilege of working both with the leading Norwegian and Sri Lankan politicians, also played a significant part in getting Norwegian assistance for the peace process since its inception.In recognition of the numerous humanitarian projects launched by him in Thailand, Fjortoft was conferred the coveted 'Order of the White Elephant' award. Fjortoft, a youth leader in Norway, lamented that the rights of youth in Sri Lanka had been denied over the years and their human resources wasted. Affiliated to WIF, Fjortoft formed the Young Asia Television, popularly known as 'YA-TV', in 1995. Young Asia Television is a pioneering venture created for and by Asian youth. YA-TV programmes are produced by Youth with a talent for creativity and concern through the powerful medium of television. |
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