A giant leap towards the development of the East

Negenahira Navodaya:

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Following the liberation of the East, especially the fall of Toppigala, the last bastion of LTTE in the East, Government is going to introduce a mega development project with the prime objective of developing the East as a vibrant economic zone.

Although the mega development project, 'Negenahira Navodaya' was declared at the victory celebration held at the Independent Square, little has been revealed in terms of contours of the mega development drive encompassing vital areas of infrastructure, Service Sector and livelihood.

East as a landmass of opportunities

It is pertinent here to consider the strategic position and economic potentials of the Eastern province which spread over the area of 9995 Square kilometres. In other words, Eastern province accounted for 16% of the total landmass of Sri Lanka.

Another significant aspect of the East is that it serves as a gateway to the North, the land mass connecting south with the North.

The province's military and strategic importance in terms of its natural positioning was affirmed by the fact that Trincomalee harbour, perhaps, the best natural harbour in the world, had been used by the Allied Forces during the Second world war as an important harbour for logistic purposes.

As thirty two major rivers reach the sea through the Eastern province, the East, has the potential of producing paddy and other commercial crops such as maze which is used basically to produce animal food.

Eastern province is endowed with natural resources such as large-scale minerals deposits and a copper deposit in addition to world famous natural bays such as Arugambay and Nillaveli which hold potential for a dynamic tourism industry, creating large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Those sun-lit beaches are peerless in their natural beauty with unique characteristics such as singing fish and wide continental shelf.

Minerals such as silicon which are readily available in the province are raw material for electronic industry and even for producing nuclear energy. Fisheries sector has been identified as vital sector for employment generation as the Eastern province has 420 kilometres long coastal area with unhindered access to sea, accounting for 26 % of the total coast of Sri Lanka.

Among the traditional industries are the animal husbandry, fisheries and agriculture as thousands of paddy fields stretching to the horizon were cultivated with irrigated water.

It was during Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake's regime that East saw the setting up of large scale settlements and agriculture flourished until the peaceful lives of the heterogeneous population was shattered by the brutal attach of the terrorists.

One of the unique features of the Eastern province is its heterogeneous population made up of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and in equal proportion. In terms of infrastructure, Eastern province is the only province with three air-strips at Batticaloa, Amparai and Trincomalee.

However, this harmonious co-existence in the province was an eye sore to the LTTE which had a master plan of making Trincomalee the capital of the illusive state of Eelam.

In order to achieve the sinister objectives, the LTTE used systematic terror by commencing Yugoslavian style ethnic cleansing and indoctrinating Tamil youth the ethnic hatred to make the East the LTTE's major recruitment base, ensuing steady supply of cadres for LTTE's operation including deadly suicide missions in the South.

Arantalawa massacre of Buddhist monks, Kent Farm massacre and killing of Muslims at prayer in the East including scores of killing of Sinhalese farmers in threatened villages are some of heinous crimes committed by the LTTE in their march towards an illusive state of Eelam.

The principle aim of the attacks on civilians, especially the Muslims and Sinhalese in the East was to change the equal demographic composition of the population and to instill a sense of fear and insecurity on the part of the population.

The culmination of the campaign to destroy the livelihood of the population was the siege of Mavil Aru sluice gate by the LTTE in total disregard of all civilized norms, blocking the life blood for thousands of farmers.

On the other hand the terrorists used the strategic towns of Vakarai, Sampur to mount sporadic mortar attacks on Trincomalee naval base which supplies essential provisions to the North.

However, in the aftermath of the series of crushing defeats at the hand of the Sri Lankan army, commencing from Mavil Aru to the liberation of the entire Eastern province with the fall of Toppigala or the Baron's cap, socio-political environment in the East is ripe for major development in the scale development in the area.

Brighter tomorrow for the people of East

According to former IGP Chandra Fernando who is also a senior adviser to the president, the mega development project titled 'Negenahira Navodaya' is poised to bring about prosperity to the war-ravaged region contributing substantially to the overall economic growth of Sri Lanka as the region holds the potential of not only self-sufficing the country in milk but also generating much-needed foreign currency with the kick start of the tourism industry and host of other cottage industries such as traditional garment industry of Maradamunai(famous for Sarongs).

Under the mega plan encompassing three major sectors; Infrastructure, Service and Livelihood, will address the issues concerning the overall wellbeing of the population to make optimal condition to lead a decent life.

Apart from the traditional industries of the region such as livestock, poultry, animal husbandry, fisheries and agriculture new industries will come up in exclusive industrial zones.

For instance, Kapalthurai has been identified as potential area for the development of industries. Already local and foreign investors have expressed their willingness to set up industries in and around Trincomalee. The investors who are willing to invest substantially in the region will be granted a comprehensive package of incentives including 15 year tax holiday with other BOI facilities.

In order to facilitate the speedy recovery of economy in the region, a major infrastructuring development project is underway and road structured will be re-done. Plans are afoot to develop number of roads including Ambepussa-Trincomalee road connecting the Central and North Central provinces by land. A4 road Polluvil, Ampare will be renovated along with A15 that runs to Trincomalee.

A5 Chenkalladi-Badulla, Veeramunai- Ambalanturai road, Morawewa-Pullmuddai road have been opened up for traffic and the half of the roads have already been renovated and will soon be upgraded to fully fledged highways increasing the connectivity of the East to the rest of the country.

One of the important roads which will be developed is the road from Trincomalee to Nilaveli facilitating development of Nilaveli tourist zone. So far three major bridges on the Trincomalee- Kokilai road, including the bridge at Poddukatuvan, have been developed. It should be mentioned here that Kokilai is the largest natural bay in Sri Lanka.

The ADB aided project Alley Scheme will develop the drainage system in order to cultivate more lands. A bumper harvest is expected if favourable weather conditions prevailed.

In addition to paddy farmers are encouraged to cultivate short term crops such as maize between the major seasons of paddy cultivation, Yala and Maha. Prima has already agreed to purchase maize as it is used for producing animal food.

As the province is liberated by the army, Easterners can breathe sigh of relief and look forward to prosperous future enjoying the fruits of freedom and standard of life equal to any metropolis of the globe.

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