Private sector support for IDPs

Shirajiv Sirimane

The private sector has assured its assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in revamping their resettlement activities in the North.

Chairman Maubima Lanka Foundation, Ariyaseela Wickramanayake said that North is a 90 percent agri based economy and the government must introduce new technology, and provide other facilities for these IDPs to get back and engage in their professions.

In addition to fruits like mangoes and grapes, onions, potatoes, chilies, grains and maldivefish are specialties of the Northern farmer.

Dairy production too is famous in that sector. Sri Lanka is annually spending Rs. 50 billion to import these commodities, and if this money can be diverted to the North the per capita income of a person would be higher than of an average South Asian.

“People in the South must decide not to import these items so that certified prices could be guaranteed to the Northern farmer,” he said.

Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, (CCC) Jayampathi Bandaranayake said that the membership of the CCC, together with several other chambers have over the past several months, spontaneously, responded to needs of the IDPs, by way of providing relief to ease the suffering of fellow brethren of Sri Lanka.

“We see this movement gaining ground with all segments of Sri Lankan society now engaged in the same endeavour,” he noted.

In the medium term, the Business Chambers will continue to assist in the resettlement and rehabilitation process by contributing their skills and organizational capabilities to supplement the efforts of the Government which is spearheading the relief initiatives.

The private sector will also offer to share their knowledge and skills to overseas agencies who wish to participate in this relief effort.

“We need to work speedily to have the displaced resettled in their own homes so that the country can benefit from the accelerated economic development of the country that the defeat of terrorism will surely bring,” Wickramanayake said.

Chairman of Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) Newton Wickremasuriya said that they highly commended the Government for the action taken to eradicate terrorism from the soils of our country.

“At the same time we strongly condemn external influences which are hell bent on scuttling those effects,” he said.

“We believe the Government should immediately launch a well executed plan to resettle the internally displaced persons in their homes and also to facilitate the continuance of their livelihood without hindrance.

We also note with concern that most of these people specially the young, had been without a proper education and particularly the technical skills required to make a decent living and also to make a meaningful contribution to the progress of the society in general. Towards this end, we suggest to mobilize resources within both the private and the public sectors to launch a crash course in skills development.”

“Masonry, carpentry, plumbing, light metal work etc are few of these that came to mind. It is with deep satisfaction we note the exemplary success of the crash courses in skills development that took place soon after tsunami. We strongly believe that imparting skills to make a living with dignity will resolve most of the issues.”

It is our view that an accelerated scheme to rebuild the roads, communication and availability of reliable power in these areas will usher in new investments as well as economic prosperity.

It is also to be noted that these areas had a strong agricultural culture which will provide sustainable growth provided a network of marketing is established for the farm produce.

All assistance should be given to rehabilitate the ancient tanks and irrigation systems which had gone in to ruin due to negligence.”

“Although this may not be the opportune time for foreign direct investments in the absence of adequate infrastructure and reliable power, there is no doubt that once normalcy returns and with the development drive, new ventures will be marching in to the region.

Availability of large extents of land and manpower would certainly be a plus factor,” he added. President Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCISL) Kosala Wickramanayake appealed to the International Community and donor agencies to assist the government to resettle the IDPs in their traditional homes and Villages by providing aid which is urgently required for resettlement.

“The genuine need of Tamil people from the North is immediate resettlement for them to resume their disrupted livelihood, and the children to go back to school as soon as possible.

The government and the international community should facilitate resumption of businesses especially the SME’s in the North.

The banks and financial institutions should provide loans and other financial facilities required with the intervention of the Central Bank.

Equipments and materials needed for supply of water by constructing tube wells, water purification and sanitation is a major requirement. The duty of the international community is to supply these requirements which will ease the suffering of the Northern Tamil community than talking about political settlements which is not practical at this moment.

We take this opportunity to thank India and other countries and donors who have pledged financial support for IDPs.