Sri Lanka-Japan friendship ties :

Lighting up lives in the North

by Nilma DOLE

After the dawn of peace, rebuilding shattered lives and lighting the candle of hope for our brothers and sisters in the North will require collective effort. Despite the psychological damage, the least that can be done is to give a better tomorrow for the children of the North by lighting their lives. It is with the spirit of friendship in their hearts that Japan has come forward with arms wide open to help not only as a foreign aid donor but as a friend.

Japan, having a friendship with Sri Lanka from 1952, has pledged their support by providing aid for the power supply system from Vavuniya to Jaffna after the dawn of peace. This will not only give light to many of those affected by the war but will rebuild their lives and give a better tomorrow for the children.

Speaking to Sunday Observer the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Kunio Takashi said, "Sri Lankans are clever and smart but I believe that people should be confident of themselves." He explained that the friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan is good because there are many similarities between the two island nations. "I would like to emphasise that the best resource that both countries have is the human resource. With the exchange of mutual ideas and working together, Japanese and Sri Lankan engineers and experts can work together to build a lasting friendship and develop the two nations" he said.

So far, 1.278 billion Yen has been promised to the Power Supply Project in the North aiming to place 70-80 kilometres of transmission line connecting the key villages. "We started this project in 2005 but it was hampered due to the conflict situation but today, after peace, we can safely say that this project is steadily taking off the ground with the assistance of the ADB (Asian Development Bank)," said the ambassador. He said, "It will contribute to the development and livelihood of the people in the North."

Giving more to the Northern Province will be Japanese assistance for the Jaffna Teaching Hospital where its central functions will be improved at a sum of 2.298 billion Yen.

"By pledging support to the North, we have not forgotten the East as they too have suffered greatly in the war" said the Japanese Ambassador.

The project for reconstructing five major bridges in the Eastern Province was kindly offered at a sum of 29 million Yen.

Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project

In keeping with the clean energy policy and with the present climate change problem, Japan has also introduced a 0.86 billion Yen solar electricity project that generates a maximum of 400 MW of power. "After paying a courtesy call on the new Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka, we discussed and agreed that power and energy should go hand-in-hand with the environment through the solar electricity project since he was the former Environment Minster," said the ambassador, who has served in the UK before taking up duties at the Japanese embassy in Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, research an energy diversification project for the city of Colombo is also being looked into with Japanese expertise to see if there are ways of tapping alternative energy sources. "There are two points to understand when executing a project, the first is to look at the purpose of the project like construction and the other aspects and secondly, you need to hire the right personnel for it. Sri Lanka has good human resources and this can be seen because both our people can work together."

According to the statistics, the extended Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan for the four major projects last year have amounted to a total of about 36.7 billion Yen. The projects encompass the Provincial/Rural Road Development Project (13.121 billion Yen), the Eastern Province Water Supply Development Project (4.940 billion Yen), the Kandy Wastewater Management Project (14.087 billion Yen) and the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Project (4.552 billion Yen).

The people of Japan have donated a cumulative amount of grant aid of 192.932 billion yen (provisional, E/N basis) in 2009.

With a priority area targeted at humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance, the government of Japan has helped in the 'Mine Free Sri Lanka' policy too. Steering the quick resettlement of IDPs, Japan has provided US Dollars 19 million (approximately Rs.2, 250 million) in total for the cause.

Like Sri Lanka, Ambassador Takashi said, that Japan has also suffered immensely because of the war but rapidly developed eventually without regulations. "Sri Lanka can take an example from other nations in sustainable development without adding to the global warming problem," he said. Expressing that it would take 15 to 20 years or sooner for Sri Lanka to develop, the envoy said that globalisation has made a more developed culture and Sri Lanka has the potential to shine too.

The Japanese ambassador said, "Sri Lanka is a bountiful country that need not depend on foreign aid because of the hard working people.

Even though there are many ethnicities, unity in diversity will make Sri Lanka into a prosperous nation because of the good human resources." He further commented, "Sri Lanka only needs self-confidence and the rest will result in success."