Northern development goes on apace without discrimination

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister and Eelam People’s Democratic Party leader Douglas Devananda says that the Tamil National Alliance is hell bent towards making yet another attempt to drag the solving of the ethnic question by dragging more countries into it through their planned visits to US and Canada.

“What they plan is to worsen the problem but not to solve it”, Minister Devananda, in an interview about the current situation in the North told the Sunday Observer.

Accepting the fact that the process of finding a solution for the ethnic question has been delayed more than expected, he expressed his optimism that the issue will be solved very soon as a conducive environment to reach an agreement on this is now being created in the country.

He also says that despite the fact that many of the Local Government bodies in the North comes under the TNA, the Government is continuing the development process without any discrimination.

Following are the excerpts of the interview.

Q:The UPFA secured a comfortable victory at all three stages of the Local Government elections this year. How do you see the victory of the UPFA and its impact on the future of the country?

A: We can see that the majority of people in this country are supporting this Government. Therefore, it is easy for the Government to solve the national issues. This will also help the Government to solve the ethnic issue that has become a big burden to the country for decades. Our position with regard to solving the ethnic issue is 13 plus. On that basis we have recommended the Parliament to appoint a Parliament Select Committee to reach consensus among the representatives of the political parties elected to the parliament. Therefore the victory of the UPFA at the Local Government election will also add strength to the Government in its effort to find a solution to the problem.

Q:In the North many of the Local Government bodies are now run by the Tamil National Alliance. How is the Government continuing the development activities in the North in cooperation with these LG bodies which are run by the TNA?

A: The administration of the Local Government bodies by the Tamil National Alliance will not be a hindrance for the development activities in the North. When we consider the history of the Tamil National Alliance their objective has always been to drag the problems for their survival without making effort to solve those issues. That is the only objective behind their politics. Therefore they do not care about development or any other activities. What they want is to turn the problems of the people an eternal problem.

Q: Then how will the Government initiate development activities in the North if they are not supportive of Government activities and no interest in development activities at all?

A: TNA has always acted as an opposition political party. Therefore they have not worked with any Government and have not participated in any development activities with any Government. They do not have such experience. Therefore we cannot expect any support from them and the Government is continuing its development activities in the North on its own whether they support it or not.

Q:But they are complaining that they have not been invited for the District Development Committees and other development activities in the North ?

A: If they are telling that we have not invited them for these District Development Committees and development activities that is a complete lie. We have invited them and they have also participated in the development committees. They have created a lot of problems after participating in these committees. This has been reported in newspapers also. So they cannot deny this. When participating in these development activities meetings, they present their ideology and disrupt some of these development activities.

Q:Some observers say that Government is allocating more funds for the Local Government bodies run by the UPFA. Don’t you think that it will lead to discrimination in development activities?

A: That won’t be a problem for the development in the North. We have taken steps to allocate adequate funds for other Local Government bodies also for them to run development activities. So there won’t be any discrimination.

Q:The resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the North has now reached its final phase. What is the Government’s plan on providing facilities for these resettled people in their own villages?

A: At present these people have been resettled in their villages after clearing their lands and constructing their houses on their own or with the assistance of the Government. To have a livelihood for their living we are creating a lot of self employment opportunities for them. We are assisting them to cultivate their own lands, to have livestock farms, fisheries activities, handicraft and other domestic industries. We are providing loan facilities and other relief for them to improve their income level and stand on their own. As you know resettling them in their villages is not an easy task as there were lots of problems to be addressed. Like that it will take time for them to have a better life as they have to restart their lives again. So it will take time and the Government is doing its best to create an environment for them to lead a normal life in their villages.

Q: The government of India has promised to construct 50,000 houses for the resettled people. What is the progress with regard to these housing projects funded by the Indian Government?

A: As a pilot project the Indian Government has started constructing 1000 houses in the North and that pilot project is now reaching its final stages.

Q:What about the balance houses that are to be constructed under this program?

A: We have identified the beneficiaries for this program and we are solving the problems relating to their lands problems as they have problems about the land ownership. Once we identified the beneficiaries and solve the problems regarding the land ownership, I firmly believe that the project will be started to construct the balance houses under the Indian Government assistance.

Q:As you mentioned the people who have been resettled in the North are facing a lot of problems with regard to the ownership of their lands. What sort of actions has the Government taken to solve the land disputes of the people?

A: All the resettled people are not having problems with regard to lands. For those who are having land disputes the Government has taken steps to solve those issues. The Government has also initiated a program to survey all the lands in the North and allocated lands for the people and to provide them titles. The Government has initiated this project with the consent of the land owners and the people living there.

Q:What is the progress regarding the resettlement of people in the High Security Zones. Are you going to remove all the High Security Zones and resettle people there or will they keep some of the High Security Zones. What is the Government’s policy regarding this situation?

A: People have been resettled in many of the High Security Zones maintained by the Government earlier. Some High Security Zones still remain. Systematically people will be resettled in those High Security Zones also.

Q:What are the steps taken to resettle Sinhalese and Muslim community who have been displaced from the North during the conflict?

A: The Government will not hesitate to do anything for the progress of the country. It is doing its best to resettle all the people who have been displaced from the North. Things are happening in the North in the same manner as things are happening in the South. If there are High Security Zones in the South, similarly there will be High Security Zones in the North too. The Government is of the opinion that people should be resettled there in the North without any discrimination to any community, considering their presence in the North prior to the conflict situation. Therefore there will be no discrimination to Sinhalese or Muslim community. If they lived in the North prior to the conflict they will be given their places in the North. There is no doubt about it.

Q:But the Tamil National Alliance is staging protests against the resettling of the Sinhala community in the North and also against some changes made in the administration system in the North. How do you see this situation?

A: Politics of the Tamil National Alliance always depend on such protests and political activities for their political survivals. There is no such situation there for them to protest. What they are trying to do is to show the international community that there are problems in the North. But in reality there is no such situation in the North for them to protest or perform Satyagraha. They are doing all these things for their political survival as they fear that they will not be able to survive if they do not create any protest or Satyagraha in the North.

Q:At the same time a large number of people who had jointly worked with the LTTE has also been reintegrated into these areas after the completion of their rehabilitation process. Do you think that there will be any problems due to their presence in their villages?

A: People have some sort of hate towards them as they were engaged in LTTE activities and some people try to distance them from the normal society. But when time passes that hate will disappear. So far, these rehabilitated LTTE cadres are behaving very well and there is no complaint. They will also become normal citizen and will be a part of the society very soon. We do not need to bother about them.

Q:Two and a half years have already gone since the end of the war. The resettlement of the IDPs has also reached its final stages. But, the most sought political solution to the North East has not been evolved yet. The proposed Parliamentary Select Committee to reach consensus among political parties representing the Parliament has not yet been appointed. Why is there such a delay in this process?

A: I also agree that these things should have been done much earlier. The Government has submitted a proposal to the Parliament with regard to the Parliament Select Committee and this will be taken up at the next Parliament sessions. Like we need two hands to clap, we need the support of the other parties to make things happen speedily. Then we can accelerate this process and see an end to the problem. I strongly believe that such a situation is now been created to speed up the process.

Q:There may be delays on the part of the Government. At the same time the disunity among political parties representing the Tamil community is also one of the factors for the delay in this process. What do you have to say about this situation?

A: I agree that is also one reason for the delay in evolving a political solution for the North East problem. The Tamil political parties also should unite in this issue and talk in one voice to get the Government to act fast.

Q: As a Minister representing the Government you also can play a leading role to get all Tamil political parties together to evolve a solution for the problem. How are you going to play this role?

A: We as a political party are representing the Tamil community whether we are having a big vote base or not. We are continuously engaged in this process as we consider this should be solved soon. We are making this effort continuously. If we can get rid of this situation we will be able to find a solution to this problem very soon. As a political party we are devoted to this process.

Q: Based on this problem the Tamil National Alliance is meeting western nations. They have decided to meet US Government representatives and also Canadian representatives. How do you see this tendency?

A: The Tamil National Alliance used to do such things in the past and also do such things at present too. What they did was to arouse the people and bring them to the streets. Having done so, they escaped to foreign countries when people were in trouble. They are trying to do the same thing at present.

Q:Do you think that the internationalisation of the problem would help solve it ?

A: We should solve our problems ourselves. By taking that problem to other parties there won’t be any solution. By taking this problem to the Western nations and seeking their mediation will make this problem worse. It will drag on further and the finding of solution will delay further.

Q:Many pro-LTTE organisations are taking many actions against the Government and its representatives at international level. As a Minister representing the Tamil community, in which way do you plan to counter such situations?

A: As a political party EPDP also has its international wing in many countries. Through these EPDP international branches we are also taking steps to counter these pro-LTTE activities.

Q:In your estimates how long will it take to find a solution for the North East conflict under the present circumstances?

A: I have a strong feeling that we can find a solution to this problem very soon. Because the situation prevailed earlier was different to the current situation. We did not have a government with two thirds majority earlier. Now we have a strong Government with a two third’s majority. The Government also has

a strong commitment to solve this problem. Earlier we had the LTTE problem and they used to block the political parties and political leaders evolving a solution to this problem. Now we don’t have such a problem.

The Government is going to appoint a Parliament Select Committee and it has a time frame to reach a consensus among political parties. Therefore, this situation will lead to finding an early solution to the problem.

Q:The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the President is due to come out with its final report soon. Do you think that process will also help solving problems faced by the Tamil community ?

A: That report has no relevance to the Parliament Select Committee to be appointed. But it will be advantageous to evolve a solution to the problem.