People in N-E and CP yearn for palpable change – Ven. Sobitha Thera

by Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

People in the North, East and the Central Provinces are waiting for a palpable change to take place in their lives. A long-awaited vibrancy is the need of the hour, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera said.

The Thera told a forum on the “Resurrection of war-affected North, East and North Central Provinces” held in Colombo recently, that with the change of Government, aspirations and expectations have reached higher levels and people seek justice for their long wait.

“There should be palpable development to make the change a reality and it is necessary to set up economic units to accelerate development. Although the war is over, problems are still not over. There are thousands of war-widows, a large number of orphans and an equal large number of differently-abled persons.

We should shoulder the responsibility of providing a comfortable living for them.

It is necessary to identify the problem and causes and make a collective effort to solve it. As a first step, education, housing, healthcare and livelihood aspects could be looked into”, the Thera said.

The biggest problem is the lack of drinking water. Rehabilitating and restoring tanks is vital in this regard. Already over 30,000 people have died due to kidney disease. We should not consider race or political affiliations when assisting those affected, the Thera said.

It is important to harness the goodness in people after a 30-year war which destroyed the country. The work towards re-building, rehabilitation, re-construction and reconciliation must be the priority. Poverty could be eradicated in two years meeting the 10 basic human needs through Dharma shakthi, jana shakthi and danda/raja shakthi, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne of the Sarvodaya Movement said.

We should sink petty differences and citizens should have equal rights in a preserved value system. Let us move forward and build a new nation, he said.

The forum was organised in the backdrop of a two-page advertisement on January 5, 2015 published three days before the election, in support of the Common Candidate. It was paid for by Cornel Perera, a veteran hotelier, in all Tamil newspapers.

It received a wide response from those affected. Now with the regime change, especially the war affected North, East and North Central Provinces people are looking forward to realise their dreams.