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| Sunday, 22 May 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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POMS: The need of the hour
The proposed Post- Tsunami Operational Management Structure (POMS) introduced almost five and half months after the tsunami devastation, to bring relief and rehabilitation has been identified by most as the only institution which can expedite the rebuilding of devastated areas. But a few political parties and associations are agitating against it to gain political mileage, disregarding the plight of tsunami victims. by Jayantha Sri Nissanka and Deepal Warnakulasuriya A cross section of people whom the Sunday Observer spoke to commented that the government should go ahead with the decision to establish the POMS for the benefit of thousands of victims and disregard opposition by ultra nationalists. Otherwise the Government should be prepared to face an uprousing of tsunami victims. H. K. Harishchandra, Ceylon Government Railway employee: The tsunami victims will have a bleak future unless the Government helps them at this moment. As the government has no funds to assist victims, it should fully utilise the opportunity offered by the donors. The POMS is the need of the hour. Otherwise how are we going to assist the tsunami victims?. Political difference between parties should not be reflected on vital national issues. The tsunami was the major disaster of the country in the recent past. The lives and properties destroyed by the tsunami was far worse than the destruction caused by 20 years of war. If political parties are divided on the issue of assisting victims, what is the future of Sri Lanka? Whether we need political parities to run this country and help deprived sections, will be the question, people will ask in the future. L. H. Julisen, three wheeler driver: The UPFA Government came to power promising to help the deprived people in the country. This is an opportunity for the Government now. The coalition parties should stop fighting each other on the POMS issue and should reach a consensus on it to help the tsunami victims who are still languishing in camps. Enough is enough now. People should not suffer due to the political tug of war between the Government and the JVP. The Government should take bold action on this. Then the JVP will go to the political dustbin. Otherwise both Government and the JVP will end in the same place. People will take the right decision if the Government fails to address the problems of tsunami victims. A. K. D. Padmasiri, Telecom employee: The Tamil people will not trust us because of what we have done to them in the past. If we do not help those affected by the tsunami in the North and East on this occasion, our relationship with the Tamil community will further widen. Therefore, the POMS should be immediately established to assist these people. Otherwise, we are making another political blunder. If we cannot give tsunami assistance to them now, how can we search for a permanent solution to the North and East problem. N. Ranasinghe, an employee in the Private Sector said: The Government should first educate people on the POMS. That is why everyone has doubts. The Government should clear all these doubts through the media by publishing the content of the POMS. Then nobody can play politics with the issue. C. Jayawardane, Sanasa Bank employee: The Government should not lament its inability to establish the POMS due to the lack of consensus among the coalition parties. The coalition parties should come to an agreement on national issues disregarding political mileage. Only then the Government can muster the support of even opposition parties. Danushka Perera, student: It is alright to establish POMS if the LTTE is honest and committed to helping tsunami victims. The JVP should settle its problem with the Government on the POMS without making it a national issue. The people should not suffer due to political tug of war. We are fed up of opportunistic politics in the country. This country has many unwanted problems, which could have been avoided if the then Governments had taken the right decisions at that time. Vitharandeniye Padumasiri Thera: The political parties should stop playing politics on national issues. Somehow the Government should use maximum diplomacy to get donor assistance for tsunami victims. The proposed aid package should be disbursed among districts, depending on the requirement of each district. Miss. Z. F. Zaroon: The proposed aid package for tsunami victims should not go to waste due to the political tug of war between the Government and the JVP. This aid should be used under strict financial discipline for the benefit of victims, leaving no room for anyone to misuse. Mrs. T. Atigalle: People voted for this Government not to suffer due to the differences among the coalition parties. They should find solutions to the problems of people and stop the infighting. People should not suffer at the hands of politicians. Dumidu Punchihewa, Executive Director of the Setha Sri Lanka Foundation: The tsunami victims will rise against the Government, if no solution is found for their plight. Thousands of families are still living in temporary camps. The coalition parties of the Government should not test the patience of the tsunami victims any more and should not let other political parties over this issue. The JVP should not allow opportunistic political parties to use this issue to come to power. The JVP must come to a settlement or propose an another alternative acceptable to everyone. Otherwise, they should allow the Government to establish POMS. Dr. K. Vigneswaran, former EPDP MP and present Advisor to the party: After four and half months of the worst tragedy, the affected are still suffering. As we see it the reason is the lack of any mechanism to attend to the matter at an administrative level. Some kind of structure should be there definitely." Any proposal which is going to be implemented should have a balanced representation of all the relevant parties. That is the way to heal the woes of the innocent affected. P. Chandrasekeran, former Minister and Up-country Development Front Leader: A structure to provide necessary relief and reconstruction to the North and East is a necessity. I don't believe that the government alone can handle the issue. A structure with a mutual understanding should be there. It would also be an unexpected opportunity to find out a concrete solution to the country's ongoing problem for a long time. If we are to see petty political advantages at this time, future results would not be as good as we expect. M. R. Shah, Ceylon Bank Employees Union President: The responsibility of upgrading the lifestyle of affected people and developing the washed-off areas lie in the hands of each and every citizen of this country. For the time being, what we should do is set up any kind of structure which can benefit the affected. If anyone harps on only the bad side, we would never get a chance to solve the problem. Just after the disaster all political leaders pledged to rebuild the
nation forgetting all divisions, colour and race. However, nothing concrete
has taken place yet and as usual party politics is being played freely. What
we have to say is that if the government doesn't take up the matter under
its grasp and concerns itself with other matters, it would be an invitation
for the resumption of the war. |
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