Mittal and sharing the post-war housing pie :

GL’s ‘Tiger card’ over out-dated munitions find

The ‘Tiger card’ was the trump card constantly trotted out by the Rajapaksa regime, especially when they faced crucial elections during the last five years of its rule. With the collapse of that regime, the pro-Rajapaksa camp, over the past year, had different ways of pulling out the ‘Tiger card’ in attempts to turn the tables on its political opponents.

On the one hand, they promote a constant ‘gratitude’ to the former President for the defeat of the LTTE by the armed forces in 2009. This ‘gratitude’ to one personality ignores or belittles the other major players who brought an end to the Eelam insurgency and the numerous other factors that also contributed to its defeat. The Rajapaksa followers would claim ad nauseam on electoral platforms was that it was the Rajapaksas who allowed the country and its citizens to ‘breathe freely’, liberating them from the clutches of terrorism.

On the other hand, they also use the ‘Tiger card’ to create a fear psychosis among citizens, claiming that any reduction of Rajapaksa influence would make way for the resurgence of Tigers. Highly sensitive terms such as ‘national security’ are often invoked by the pro-Rajapaksa politicians to try to preserve the image of the top brass of the past regime in the face of serious bribery and corruption charges now being leveled against them. Such Tiger claims were often heard during periods of elections when rabble-rousing was needed to garner the support of segments of the more conservative Sinhala voters.

The elections of the Western and Southern provincial councils in March 2014 clearly showed the Rajapaksa regime’s downward trend in terms of popularity. It was crystal clear that the UNP, the JVP and the Democratic Party led by Sarath Fonseka were turning out to be a force to reckon with. In the run up to the two Provincial Council elections, a large section of the news media, including the state-owned ones, ran a story saying there was an attempt to revive the LTTE. They attributed this attempt to a former LTTE cadre named Gopi and two of his close associates, namely Appan and Theiveegan.

All three were members of the LTTE who had not undergone rehabilitation after the defeat of the Tigers in 2009. They fled the country after the LTTE’s defeat and had the option of leading a comparatively safe and comfortable life abroad. They had returned to Sri Lanka a few years later with the hope of reviving the defunct Tiger organization. They were, needless to say, amply supported by pro-LTTE elements in the Tamil diaspora.

Journalist and columnist D.B.S. Jeyaraj, who wrote about the revival attempt of the LTTE at that point, said, “The money sent from abroad has been used by the Theiveegan-Gopi-Appan trio to help finance the LTTE revival attempt in Lanka. Lands and houses were acquired and also vehicles had been purchased. Equipment like computers and cameras had been bought. Leaflets and posters had been printed. More importantly money had been liberally used as an incentive to recruit people. The abject poverty of many former LTTE cadres and families of ex-LTTE operative had been exploited. Some had been co-opted through lure of financial rewards and remuneration.”

Intelligence

Although the three ex-LTTE members evaded law enforcement authorities, intelligence members were well aware of their movements. The police later offered Rs one million as a reward to any information, which could lead to the arrest of Gobi.

After two months of surveillance, the Army embarked on a mission to arrest the three suspects. The arrest attempt however ended in a gunfire and all three suspect got killed at Nedunkerni. It was the first clash between the Army and members of the LTTE since the end of war in May, 2009.

Following further investigations, the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) recovered an arms caché including mortar and RPG type live ammunition, three hand grenades, 2.5 kg claymore bomb and ammunition for T-56 weapons. It officially marked the end of the three ex-LTTE cadres’ attempt to revive the organization, which was militarily crushed five years ago.

The Rajapaksa government, which was in power at the time, never dubbed Gopi’s attempt as a threat to national security. They constantly maintained that it was an ‘isolated’ incident and there was no threat to civilian life. The public was relieved that the Army had nipped the ex-LTTE members’ attempt in the bud and the country moved on.

The United National Party, the main opposition party at the time, never tried to politicise the matter either. As the government launched the military onslaught against the LTTE, the then government spokespersons described the UNP as a party with what they termed as “treacherous” leanings.

The UNP could have exploited this opportunity to turn the tables on the Rajapaksa government in terms of propaganda. However, the UNP acted as a responsible political party and did not try to create a fear psychosis among the public, with claims of ‘threats’ to national security.

Two years after this incident, the Police last week recovered a stock of high explosives from a house in the Chavakachcheri area. They found a suicide kit, four claymore mines, three parcels of C4 explosives and ammunition weighing 12 kilos in a house in Vallakulam, Chavakachcheri, during a search operation conducted early last week. A team from the Intelligence Unit searched the suspect location on Vallakulam Pillaiyar Kovil Street after the Jaffna Division SSP received information regarding the explosives.

Police said that around 100 rounds of 9 mm. ammunition and two packs of batteries used in claymore mines were also recovered from the house.

Before the Police conducted the raid, the owner of the house had fled the area and he was later arrested following a search operation by the Special Task Force (STF).

Hours after this search operation, the Police also recovered another stock of explosives, including a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher, in Mannar. They were hidden inside a well at Illupukadavai in Mannar. Illupukadavai was an LTTE controlled area before the war ended in 2009.

GL’s claim

The man who made headlines after the recovery of the stock of explosives was not the main suspect arrested by Police in connection with the incident but an-ex Parliamentarian and a well-known person in academic circles. He is none other than Professor G.L. Pieris who is now functioning as a ‘theoretician’ in the pro-Rajapaksa camp.

“The Government must find out and reveal when this started, and how far this has spread,” Prof. Peiris declared, addressing a press conference in Colombo last week, soon after the detection of these explosives and weaponry. Peiris also went on to demand that the Government should, without any delay, disclose what plans it had in response if these explosives were to be sent to Colombo or Wellawatte.

Peiris also accused the Government of attempting to “hide the truth” about the incident. In effect, he implied that the explosives were to be brought to Wellawatte.

The ex-Minister’s remarks, quite understandably, stirred up a hornets’ nest. His pronouncements came even before the CID launched investigations into the explosives. Pieris’ statement suggested that he had access to information that was not accessible to the CID or the country’s law enforcement authorities.

It was in this backdrop that the government said ex-Minister Peiris should be questioned by the CID over the remark he made about the possible use of the Tiger explosives. Although the CID questioning had not been fixed at the time of writing, government sources confirmed that the CID would record a statement from the former Foreign Minister.

The ex-Minister’s pronouncement was a clear sign that the Rajapaksa camp wanted to ‘politicize’ the detection of left-over LTTE munitions for short-term gains. Unfortunately, the cat’s paw the group used for this was Prof. Pieris, a well-known academic who has been involved in politics for more than 22 years. The Professor had not realised how such a pronouncement – if proven wrong – would bring his credibility into question in the eyes of the public.

The government, however, maintains that the explosives belonged to the conflict period and they had been hidden before the end of war. Defence Ministry Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi who addressed a press conference on the same day said there was no threat to national security. However, the official also added that the government had not relaxed security measures by any means and that there was no chance for terrorist activities in the country.

The Defence Secretary’s statement on the issue, however, came under fire from National Freedom Front Leader MP Wimal Weerawansa who rushed to claim that Hettiarachchi was trying to trivialise the matter.

“We should thank our stars that we did not have a Defence Secretary of this nature during the time of war,” Weerawansa told reporters in Colombo.

Dinner party

Former President Rajapaksa met his ally Wimal Weearwansa on Wednesday night during a party held at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. At the dinner party however, Weerawansa hastened to offer some “security tips” to the former President in the light of the recovery of the Tiger explosives and firearms.

Weerawansa urged the former president to be careful about his security and think twice before participating in public events. In reply, the former President told Weerawansa that the government was ‘concealing’ the truth about the explosives and firearms. However, there was no discussion between them about how this detection differed from previous instances where explosives and firearms were recovered from the Northern province during their regime which they had downplayed at the time.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe too shared his views on the matter. “A sudden recovery of arms is not an unusual in a country that faced a three decade long war,” he observed.

In another interesting revelation, the Prime Minister said many parties, including former President Rajapaksa, telephoned him and urged to carry out an investigation into the recovery of arms. The Prime Minister made an open invitation to every party to assist the government in investigations.

Mittal

Ending months of speculation, the Sri Lankan government clinched a deal with global steel giant ArcelorMittal headed by Indian industry magnate Lakshmi Mittal for the construction of 65000 houses in war-affected areas in the Northern province.

Although ArcelorMittal, the global leader in steel manufacturing, was recommended for the project by a Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC), some local contractors also wanted at least some pieces of the pie. They were the first ones to raise concerns over the mega housing project in the North and East saying it would offer nothing to local industries.

Then the project faced salvos from some civil society groups who raised questions over the quality of the houses given to IDPs. The estimated cost of each house was approximately 2.1 million rupees.

“Apart from the fact that the basis for this costing is unclear, it is also four times the amount in the Indian housing project and significantly more than all other housing programmes completed or currently underway,” said a statement issued by civil society organizations three months ago. This civil society group was also supported by a group of engineers and researchers who shared similar views about the project.

Meanwhile, the same housing project was also criticized by some hardline political elements in the North for entirely different reasons. They thought giving houses to war victims in the North would jeopardize their political campaign largely based on pro-Tamil communal sentiments. Therefore, they too were looking for chinks in the mega housing project.

Pressure

Amidst all these developments, a local group of contractors were also attempting to secure a stake in the mega project. It was obvious that they were trying to capitalize on claims made over the ‘quality’ and the cost of houses proposed by the Indian industrial giant.

They argued that local industries too should benefit from a mega project such as this one. As a result, there were many parties who wanted ‘pieces of the pie’ and they exerted pressure on the government to secure their stakes.

It was in this backdrop that President Maithripala Sirisena along with Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan, visited the housing project area two weeks ago and observed some model houses to get a first-hand understanding of the quality of the houses being offered to the one-time IDPs. The President and the Minister were happy about the quality of the model houses and they also exchanged views with those representing IDPs.

Even though the key decision-makers of the government were satisfied with the quality and the cost of houses, Major Constructors of Sri Lanka (MCSL) submitted a concept paper to the Department of External Resources (DER) of the Finance Ministry on March 24th, outlining the consortium’s ability to build 65,000 housing units for the IDPs, using local expertise and personnel.

It was a strong sign that the local contractors were not ready to let go of the project easily, although the government was more inclined to proceed with ArcelorMittal.

Representatives of MCSL also met Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials on 20 March, to handover the concept paper and to initiate a discussion on the proposed project.

“We want a back-to-back guarantee from the ADB and the government, so that we can raise funds to initiate this project with local participation and expertise,” CEO of MCSL, Brig. M. Wijeyewickrema, told the Sunday Observer last week.

The eleventh hour local bid however did not change the government’s position on the matter. Despite the local bid, the government gave the green light to representatives of ArcelorMittal to arrive in Sri Lanka on March 31 to finalise finances relating to the project.

Representatives of Mittal then came to Colombo to negotiate with the Cabinet appointed tender board to give the finishing touches to the agreement. Thereafter, the agreement is to be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers for formal approval.

Meanwhile, the government also arrived at an understanding with the local conglomerate without upsetting the equation with ArcelorMittal.

They agreed to give local constructors the opportunity to engage in another mega construction project elsewhere.

“There are over 140,000 IDPs who require houses. Some of them still live under trees. The project to construct 65,000 houses will not fully address their requirements. We will need nearly 70,000 more houses to fully address their housing needs.

Therefore, local constructors will have ample opportunities in the future,” a senior government spokesman told the Sunday Observer on Friday.

Cabinet

The Cabinet meeting this week was significant because of the presence of Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne who was in Singapore for a few weeks for a heart surgery.

As the Cabinet ministers met Senaratne they asked more details about the surgery and wished him good health.

Senaratne told everyone that he had become younger by at least 10 years, after the surgery. Many observed that Senaratne had lost weight during the time he underwent treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

One of the key topics the ministers discussed at the Cabinet meeting was the sporadic power interruptions reported in almost every district over the past few weeks. Many Cabinet members insisted that the government should take every possible step to prevent power failures during the forthcoming Avurudu festive season.

The President asserted that some sections of the news media were blowing it out of proportion. He even showed some newspaper reports to the Cabinet members to prove his point.

“These reports say there was a power outage at a function where I was the chief guest. This report has painted a wrong picture about the whole incident,” the President said, directing his criticism at the news media. At this point, the Prime Minister intervened and said some newspapers and TV channels only think about their market share and ratings.

Liquor licences

Following this brief discussion, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake presented a report to the Cabinet on politicians who had liquor licenses. Karunanayake said 45 politicians had obtained liquor licenses under the previous regime. It was also revealed that a politician representing the Kurunegala district owned 13 liquor shops. This politician is now a staunch supporter of the former President and Cabinet ministers said it was not a surprise at all.

The Cabinet was also informed that nearly 10 current Parliamentarians had liquor licenses. However, there are many politicians who operate liquor-related businesses through proxies. They often use their family members and relations to run these businesses, without exposing their names at any point.

Finance Minister Karunanayake said he would present another report to the Cabinet next week on family members and relations of politicians who operate liquor businesses in every district.