Jaffna ready to embrace a fruitful future

Dhaneshi Yatawara and Kurulu Kariyakarawana reporting from Jaffna

It was a busy, sunny morning. Flocks of schoolchildren, clad in bright white uniforms, hastily heading to their schools, shop vendors busy arranging their goods for the day which was starting, roads packed with buses carrying people to their offices and hundreds of bicycles ridden by men and women rushing for their routine work – these are the sights which would greet a visitor in this once strife-torn Northern capital of Sri Lanka. This was evidence that normalcy and peace have once again reached Jaffna, bringing back its old glory.

Most of the bunkers, sentry points and road blocks full of armed soldiers, a common sight a few years ago, are now gone. The reconstructed city roads manned by traffic police officers clad in sunglasses is an indication that Jaffna is now like any other regular city in the South.

Several Military Police officers deployed at the entrance and exit points of the now further shrunken High Security Zone was the only visible military presence in the town. Regardless of this, the people in great numbers freely engaged in their day-to-day chores, as if they have forgotten that this town was once terrorised by LTTE pistol gangs that claimed many lives in broad daylight.

Widened roads flanked by expanded and newly built commercial buildings, a chain of State and private banks, popular supermarkets, good restaurants and plush ice-cream parlours similar to those in Colombo render the impression that the normal citizen here is ready to embrace the vibes of the constant development of a fruitful future.

Listening to what the people have to say regarding this new culture, it is clear that it is not the 'tight' security or finding a place to live that worries them any more, but finding a better price for their vegetables and the development of rural infrastructure and roads to enhance their mobility.

Following are excerpts of face-to-face interviews conducted by the Sunday Observer team with people in Jaffna:

President, Gurunagar Fishing Development Society, Julian Sahayarajah

“Each fisherman or a group goes fishing three days a week. We catch 1,000 kilos of crab on an average day,” he said, explaining the present situation. A kilogram of crab is bought at Rs. 500 from these fishermen. Cuttle fish is Rs. 350 a kilogram and prawns are Rs. 500 per kilogram.

The infrastructure at the fishing harbour is very much improved now, according to Sahayarajah. “Those days, when the terrorist problem existed, there were only a few fishermen who operated in the lagoon – they were those who lived in the vicinity of the lagoon. However, as peace returned, fishermen from areas such as Trincomalee and Negombo are also coming to fish in the lagoon. So, now there are more fishermen trying to collect the harvest from the same area of the lagoon and therefore more competition,” he said.

Businessmen involved in the fishing industry in other parts of the country come to Gurunagar three times a week. “Unlike those days, as there are more people competing, the income of a fisherman has gone down,” he said. However, the entire harvest is sold at the end of the day without anything being left over.

President, Gurunagar Fishing Development Society, Julian Sahayarajah	Director, Agriculture Department, Sri Balasundaram

Today, there are more than 600 members in the fishing association. There are 190 one-day boats and 400 fibre glass boats operating from the Gurunagar fishing harbour.

Since April 1, the Sri Lankan fisheries authorities have restricted the use of trawlers to fish in the lagoon, said Sahayarajah, adding that about 1,500 families have been affected by this move.

As Sahayarajah explained, if the issue of Indian fishermen coming to Sri Lankan waters is not solved, the Sri Lankan fishing population in the North will diminish. “From 1975 till the late 1990s, no fishing boats from India came to Sri Lankan waters. It is from 1997 – 1998 that this problem started,” he said. In 2010, after discussions with the Indian fishermen, the two parties agreed on a settlement. “The Indian fishermen were given 72 days of the fishing season to collect the fish harvest in our waters. However, they never respected the agreement and until now, they have been fishing every day in our waters,” said Sahayarajah. According to him, illegal fishing practices employed by some Indian fishermen have resulted in the condition of Sri Lankan fishermen in the North going from bad to worse.

Director, Agriculture Department, Sri Balasundaram

The main component of Jaffna's economy is agriculture with more than 60 percent of the families depending on it.

Among the variety of crops that can be grown in the fertile soil in the Northern Peninsula are onions, chillies, grapes, tobacco, bananas and mangoes.

“Jaffna farmers produced more than half of the country’s total red onion production last year which was nearly 78,000 metric tons. We can promote onion cultivation up to 60,000 metric tons per year. Big onion cultivation is very low in Jaffna with 45 – 50 hectares used domestically. Now we are promoting big onion cultivation among the farmers and we are planning to distribute more seeds this year. Jaffna farmers have the capacity to increase their chillie cultivation up to 1,000 hectares”.

Coconut cultivator, Thambimuttu Sabaratnam	Businessman and President, Nelliyadi Traders Association, S. Agilathas

Another economic crop is tobacco, but the Agriculture Department doesn't promote this narcotic product. However, farmers grow it in about 300 acres. More than126 hectares are cultivated with grapes on a commercial level. In Sri Lanka, farmers grow grapes on a commercial scale only in Jaffna.

“In more than 900 hectares throughout the district, bananas are cultivated. These bananas are not the export variety, but we are trying to promote export quality banana varieties and organic banana cultivation among the traditional banana farmers. To increase the mango production, we formed a growers' societies recently. Through these societies, we hope to establish a network to open new markets.

“Our average annual production in paddy is 18,000 – 20,000 metric tons, which is enough for two months. Paddy is not an economic crop for Jaffna farmers. It is only for their own consumption. More than 60 percent of farmers use traditional rice varieties and mostly for domestic purposes.

“Marketing is the main challenge. To establish market channels, we set up a producers’ society through which we can form a link to the exporters. We recently organised a face-to-face discussion between exporters and farmers. Several leading fruit and vegetable exporters took part in the discussions. They were especially keen on organic products.

“To maintain the quality of export products, we as the Agriculture Department can assist the farmers. The exporters will assist the farmers with the marketing aspect. There is high demand for some of the fruits in certain niche markets – especially in Europe. These are countries where Sri Lankan expatriates live. Mangoes and red onions are very much in demand there.

“A special project we initiated was the Jaffna Chunnakam fruit industry. Through this, we try to promote traditional fruits such as papaya and mangoes. The industry is promoting farmers to make jams, cordials and other value-added products. There is a good demand for these from people in other areas of the country.

Chairman, Jaffna Regional Private Bus Company Association, P. Ganagadaran	Transport booking agent, Jeyakumaran Ganga

“We arrange training sessions for farmers at the Gannoruwa Agriculture Research Institute. We also have a training centre at Thinnaveli which was established in 1939. Now we have expanded the training centre to an agro-technical park.

“In Jaffna, the critical issue is ground water. Agriculture is a major ground contaminator. Over-extraction of ground water is another problem. To minimise the use of ground water, we have introduced micro-irrigation systems to farmers. We are trying to reduce the nitrogen content that is added to the soil through fertiliser. We are promoting the low use of pesticides, especially in grape cultivation. Now we are trying to disseminate technologies among farmers which minimises the use of pesticides.”

Businessman and President, Nelliyadi Traders Association, S. Agilathas

“Our association has been active since 1990. During the LTTE era, we had to pay taxes to the terrorist group in order to peacefully carry out our business activities. However, now with peace, we have a conducive environment for businesses.

“Before 2009, those who had a fair business managed their lives without being in debt to banks or other organisations. With peace, many finance and leasing companies came to the Jaffna district and many people, through these companies, bought expensive vehicles and luxury items. They had to repay the instalments and their expenses increased. Those who obtained loans to develop their businesses used those loans to tile their houses and buy luxury items, resulting in their businesses going bankrupt. Now they cannot repay the bank instalments. Now many businessmen can't get even overdrafts from banks because of their bad loans.

“With peace and development programs such as Wadakkin Wasantham, all communities in Jaffna started experiencing development in all sectors. With these development projects the Government expected the people to be more efficient. Yet, nearly 70 percent of businessmen in Nelliyadi have taken loans to upgrade their businesses and today we see a downturn in business development. I believe it is simply because people have a low buying capacity now and the businesses are not lucrative as expected. Particularly in our area, many people were misled by conmen in to believing that they can go to Australia at a low cost in boats. Many people lost hundreds and thousands of rupees, making their financial condition even worse.

“With these factors reducing the buying capacity of customers, there is an increase in competition in business as well. Though competition is good for businesses, the businesses some have established with great difficulty will find it quite a challenge and I have seen many closing down. Some of these businessmen have sold their goods below cost.”

Chairman, Jaffna Regional Private Bus Company Association, P. Ganagadaran

“Since 1980, I have been in the private bus business. Since 2002, I have been the President of the Association. Since 2011, I have been the President of the Northern Private Bus Association as well.

“We have 630 members. We have 15 branches in the Jaffna district. There are 600 buses in Jaffna. We have time-keepers to ensure that buses run on time. We have strict rules concerning bus owners, drivers and conductors. They cannot break rules or there will be heavier fines imposed by the Association in addition to police action. Because of this, we can run a disciplined bus service in Jaffna.

“There are 15 buses operating from Jaffna to Vavuniya. Buses operate between Jaffna and Batticaloa, Mullaitivu and Mannar. Jaffna had a good bus service even in the early days. In 1985, when there were buses running between Jaffna and Colombo, we had buses to Kandy, Batticaloa, Kalmunai and Trincomalee as well. With the conflict, these networks broke down. But with peace, we have again started bus routes to different parts of the country. We now have buses even to Embilipitiya, Nuwara Eliya, Tangalle, Moneragala, Mathugama and Passara.

“We are happy about the present progress of this sector, but there is a problem. Most outstation buses belong to owners from other areas. There are very few bus owners from Jaffna. Those were offered in the normal procedure after calling for tenders. Then our bus owners were not ready to put up tenders. There are rules and regulations to be followed regarding these offers. We hope that next time, we will be able to apply for these tenders and have more buses from Jaffna bus owners. At the moment, Jaffna buses are running at a loss because they do not own 'long distance' buses.”

Coconut cultivator, Thambimuttu Sabaratnam

Seventy-two-year-old Thambimuttu Sabaratnam is a coconut cultivator who had resettled in Ariyale, Jaffna. He is a retired employee of the Kankesanthurai Cement Corporation who turned in to coconut cultivation, but the conflict in the North had forced him to leave his native land and farms with his family in 1995.

Sabaratnam had to seek refuge in a relative’s house in Wellawatta until 2010 when they were granted access to their former lands. Recreating their livelihood was not an easy task, but with the assistance of neighbours, Sabaratnam now cultivates coconuts in his five-acre land.

Cultivation was started in 2012 where 400 coconut saplings were planted with the savings he had made over the years. It will take six to seven years for a coconut tree to be ready for harvesting and until then, it should be looked after with great care.

Sabaratnam has six employees working for him - four males and two females - who are paid daily wages.

He plans to pluck at least five coconuts from a tree monthly, a harvest of 2,000 coconuts. In the Jaffna market, a coconut is sold at Rs.20. He hopes to earn Rs.40,000 per month unless the price of a coconut does not fluctuate by six years.

Among the basic necessities for the cultivation is a water pump as the irrigation system in Ariyale is not completed yet. Several irrigation projects are already under way to support the farmers in the peninsula, but the farmers solely rely on rain water and agro-wells.

Sabaratnam is a member of the Small Scale Coconut Growers Association of Jaffna which has 20 others members.

Except for the water problem, another important aspect he pointed out was the dilapidated road system in Ariyale. The minor roads connecting small villages are still not being looked into by the authorities and the travelling and transportation of logistics are still issues.

Vegetable farmer, Krishnapillai Ranjithkumar

Krishnapillai Ranjithkumar is one of the many vegetable farmers in Thinnaveli who is initiating a cultivation of pumpkin, brinjal and chillies. Like many other farmers, he waits for rainwater to commence his new plantation in the coming months.

A father of three children and a guardian of three sisters, Ranjithkumar has an acre of land he wishes to cultivate by himself. He has already completed the ground work and dug an agro-well, but the ground water is scarce.

A water pump is among the essential items he requires to continue the cultivation of vegetables, which he believes he can harvest in three months. Pumpkin is a demanding crop, which has a fairly good price in the market, of Rs.50 a kilogram. Within his acre of land, an estimated harvest of 1,000 kilos of pumpkin is expected.

Chillies also fetch a price of Rs.150 in the market which he plans to grow amidst the pumpkin and brinjal.

Ranjithkumar and his family were displaced during the conflict and he fed his dependants working as a temporary labourer. His dream is to have a fine cultivation that would give him and his family a better way of life in future.

Transport booking agent, Jeyakumaran Ganga

With the reopening of the main connecting road, the A9 in 2009, the public transport system started luxury and semi-luxury buses bound in each direction between Jaffna and Colombo.

A number of buses was deployed to meet the demand of the daily travelling public. Because of this, a special service was introduced to book the journeys in advance and to facilitate the long distance travellers.

Jeyakumaran Ganga is a businessman who owns a transport booking agency in the Jaffna town. The service facilitated by his agency is to pre-book a journey for passengers who pay in advance,

Instead of the traditional way of getting on to a bus and buying the ticket on the way, the passenger can buy the ticket from one of these agencies with a seat reserved according to choice.

Jeyakumaran said that this facility was mainly introduced for women passengers who would like a seat next to another woman during the lengthy journey. The passenger can, not only book the ticket in advance, but decide the position of the seat on the bus by looking at a chart of seats, similar to booking an airline ticket with a designated seat.

A special representative of the agency will be sent along with the passenger to the bus following the purchase of the ticket.

There are about 15 such booking agencies in Jaffna; normally 15 buses are bound for Colombo from Jaffna at various times.

He said the problem with this trade is that none of the agencies had been registered with the National Transport Commission (NTC). They have written to the NTC, requesting permits to these agencies on numerous occasions, but no response has been received so far.

He believes that this service can be conducted in a more organised manner if they are registered with the NTC and obtain a permit to carry out their duties unhindered.

According to Jeyakumaran, this is a unique service that will facilitate the long distance traveller and to develop the public transport system connecting the North and the South in a conflict-free country.