President draws the map

Trinco under Eastern Re-awakening
 

by Rohan Mathes

Trincomalee has been an unique, natural and deep-water harbour, ever known to mankind. In cognizance of its potential and value, our colonial invaders, the Portuguese, Dutch, and the British and even the French had captured and occupied its territory at various points in time. Our senior citizens could well reminisce the pre-independence era, Japanese bombings of the Trincomalee harbour.

This sun-rise city of East coast Sri Lanka, has yet to assert its true potential in its scenic beauty, natural resources, sandy beaches, archaeological and historical heritage, bio diversity and ethnic harmony among its Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities. Strategically located Trincomalee is predominantly a port city in the north east coast of the country.

The town is built on a bold peninsula which divides inner and outer harbours. It is renowned as a popular holiday and tourist destination among both locals and aliens, and attracts around 4000 tourists per mensum.

Despite the abundant blessings bestowed on Trincomalee by mother nature, successive governments in the past have dismaly failed to come-up with a holistic approach and a development plan for Trincomalee.

Ad-hoc and haphazard development planning and the absence of a clear resource mobilization policy, made the region a mini Ethiopia. Adding insult to injury, the ethnic conflict and its related issues of displaced persons among others, have steered Trincomalee and its surroundings to further devastation.

Vibrant industrial base

President Mahinda Rajapakse however, as envisioned in his ‘Mahinda Chintanaya’ is determined to stall this insidious destructive process and transform Trincomalee into a vibrant industrial base, incorporating the optimum utilization of the inherent resources available therein.

“Trincomalee should now be transformed and developed into a new land of renaissance, with new local and foreign investment, leading to economic prosperity of the region and the country” President Rajapaksa had said.

In the aftermath of the security consolidation of the war-ravaged East including Trincomalee, by our gallant armed forces in the recent past, President Rajapaksa himself has taken initiatives to forge ahead with the Trincomalee district development plans under the ‘Eastern Re-awakening’ (Negenhira Navodaya) programme, as envisioned in his ‘Mahinda Chintanaya’. He had recently summoned his relevant ministers along with their respective secretaries to Temple Trees and discussed the modalities, offering timely solutions where necessary. The feasibility of the project reports in question had been assessed and the mandate given to expedite their implementation sans bureaucratic bungling and red tape.

Under the auspices and guidance of President Rajapakse, Trincomalee is to be developed as a prime tourist attraction. All development initiatives including port development, industrial development, air force and naval base activities, roads and infrastructure facilities are to be integrated to re-shape and tailor-make the end product of tourism. These plans when implemented, would create the maximum economic opportunities, generate employment to the local community and promote quality recreational and accommodation facilities for the leisure-seeking visitor.

Eco-friendly development

The proposed plans based on the premise that development should be eco-friendly and environment sensitive, would undoubtedly create the framework for ocean and nature based tourism activities, while stimulating both foreign and local investment in the region. Wide support for the production of renewable energy, incorporating wind, solar power and tidal waves among others is also envisaged in the process.

The potential tourist attractions yet under-developed and untapped to its optimum, such as the Hot Springs in Kanniya, Mari Amman kovil, Buddhist shrines in Tiriyai, just 29 miles North of Trincomalee, Verugal temple in Kallady, Vilgam Vihara temple, Kuchchuveli Girihandu Saya, Kantalai Tank, Dutch Fort, Naval Museum, Koneshwaram temple, bird watching in Kokilai Lagoon, whale watching, elephant viewing the Marble Bay beach, Robert Knox Tree and lighthouse in Muttur, Pigeon Island in Nilaweli and wide sandy beaches with facilities for surfing, scuba diving and fishing in Passikuda, Uppuweli and Nilaweli are to be developed, promoted and marketed.

In order to meet the anticipated extensive new development goals, Infrastructure facilities issues such as water and electricity shortages, poor road network, lack of proper garbage, sewerage and water disposal systems among others are also to be addressed, in the programmes.

The hotel accommodation facilities currently available, is far short of the demand, as only five hotels with 177 rooms and nine small guesthouses with 75 rooms, are available for occupancy.

It is therefore estimated that there is a need for 500 more rooms for both local and foreign visitors. Plans are underway in terms of the massive interest shown by the local investors in the sphere of room development, to encourage cottage type, basically single floor accommodation facilities to merge with the natural environment.

Plans by the BOI

The BOI too has its proposed plans for industrial development, to provide opportunities in starting up a diverse range of industries and services, focused on the natural Trincomalee harbour and mineral resources. Its proposed industrial activities would be based on port related activities such as ship repair, dry dock and dry port activities, boat building, entreport trading activities, warehousing and other heavy industries.

An oil refinery, power generation, fertilizer and LNG storage, fisheries based industries and agro processing, mega projects such as cement plants, oil storage facilities, petroleum based products, fertiliser manufacture, light industries and local resource based SMEs, knowledge based industries based on information and communication technology are some among them.

Their objectives are to create an entrepreneurial spirit by encouraging long-term investment, to create a new industrial culture by promoting public and private partnerships and to be a leading provider of port related products and services to international markets, by maximising the potentials of Trincomalee port and its environs.

Public-private partnerships

Their development strategies seek public-private partnerships in the implementation of the proposed Investment Promotion Zone (IPZ), and induce private investment for the provision of infrastructure facilities while attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).

The Fisheries Ministry has also identified their priorities for development within the Trincomalee district, in the fisheries sector. Fisheries harbours development, inland fisheries and aquaculture development are some of the proposed projects.

The Irrigation ministry too have put forward their plans for the Yan oya reservoir project, the rehabilitation of Allai Extension scheme and the rehabilitation of the Janranjana Wewa project in the district of Trincomalee.