Douglas tells TNA : Don’t derail Northern development

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda yesterday called upon TNA Parliamentarians not to stand in the way of the Government’s development initiatives to uplift the living standard of the people, particularly in the North and the East who had suffered the most due to the prolonged conflict. Speaking at the Committee Stage Debate of the Budget estimates of the Economic Development Ministry, Minister Devananda said the actions of the LTTE have caused Tamils to lose what they already had, physically as well as politically.

Although the TNA is not directly involved in violent activities, their political speeches are always pessimistic and embedded with a message of mistrust, he said.

The Minister said the continued distrustful speeches of the TNA may induce violence and hinder the reconciliation process and finding a political solution.

He requested the TNA to desist from making such speeches.

He said the development initiative of the government is not confined to resettlement and infrastructure development.

The Divineguma program is another brainchild of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for reviving the home-based economic activities under the guidance of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The people of the North benefit most under this program.

These initiatives of the government have started yielding results. The paddy harvest is on the rise. Fish production is on the increase.

The overall GDP of the North is growing steadily. The GDP share of the North has also increased from 3.4 percent in 2010 to 3.7 percent in 2011.

These are some of the areas of progress made in the North between 2009 and 2011.

However, the real prosperity of the region will be unveiled once the mega development drive undertaken by the Economic Development Ministry is completed towards the end of 2015, he said.

Minister Devananda said we witness the successful completion of the relief, humanitarian assistance and resettlement of 142,230 families consisting of 469,838 members in the Northern Province and 78,916 families consisting of 282,276 members in the Eastern Province.

The demining to date of 1,330 million square metres out of confirmed hazardous areas of 1,418 million square metres in the North was a huge task the Government completed prior to resettling the displaced,” he concluded.