“A vociferous minority cannot stop peace moves”– President tells Development Forum

[May 16, 2005 - 11.00 GMT]

The 2005 Sri Lanka Development Forum opened this morning in the capital of central Sri Lanka. The opening ceremony was at a plush downtown hotel nestled in the lush green hills four kilometers from Kandy. President Chandrika Kumaratunga was the chief guest. Regional Vice President of the World Bank for South Asia Praful Patel heads the World Bank delegation. A special recorded message from President Bill Clinton, the Special UN Envoy for Tsunami Relief was screened at the inauguration.

The delegates from over fifty countries and international donor agencies moved to another hotel fringed by the majestic River Mahaweli not too far away for the technical sessions. The two day forum comes at an opportune time to review and strengthen the relations between Sri Lanka and the international community as the country moves beyond the initial emergency and relief efforts following the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

President Kumaratunga thanked the donor community for their continued support to Sri Lanka in the past and the pledges made for future development. Kumaratunga said she was deeply grateful to the world community for the magnanimous and immediate response in the aftermath of the December 26th tsunami disaster. She said this perhaps was the first occasion where the people across the globe made bigger donations than their governments. She then briefed the audience on the various steps taken by the government in the past five months towards recovery.

The President explained the development activities in Sri Lanka in the past decade under her leadership. She said, “Sri Lanka could look back with a sense of satisfaction that it has moved forward despite the challenges of globalization, modernization and global market forces.” She was of the view the Kandy Forum would provide an opportunity to review Sri Lanka’s development strategy. “My Governments for the past 11 years engaged in developing key sectors of the economy. Its development goals are focused more on the country’s poor that is about 40% of our population. We have to develop them not only economically but also socially.”

“The Government’s six-year economic development plan with its development goals would be made available to the donor community. The President said these are in keeping with the UN-declared Millennium Development Goals. The Government’s strategy would focus on making state enterprises profitable and to bring in the private sector into the development activities in a more effective and constructive manner.”

Kumaratunga explained the Government continues its development in education and health sectors. “The planned reforms will bring new technology to the education system and the research sectors will be enhanced. Rural communities are to benefit from various essential infrastructure facilities. Sri Lankan entrepreneurs now enjoy a wide range of incentives. The free trade agreements with India and Pakistan will boost our small and medium enterprises benefiting rural communities. Sri Lanka’s strategic geographic location provides a good opportunity to maximize benefits accrued from aviation and marine transport. Great strides have already been made in these directions.”

“Our poverty alleviation strategies viz. the Samurdhi movement and the recently launched ‘Gemi Pubudu’ and ‘Jana Pubudu’ programmes are now in place with the assistance of the World Bank, ADB and the IMF. We believe that these too would be successful”, she added.

She also emphasized that unless there is peace and political stability, Sri Lanka cannot gain the benefits of its development programs. “We respect the fundamental rights of each citizen of this country. The Government has assured that. The majority alone should not enjoy the privileges of the country’s economic and social development”.

“Development should reach the peripheries”, she stressed.

“Sri Lanka has not been able to achieve what it might have, because of an ethnic uneasiness prevalent since independence in the past 56 years. For the past twenty or so years this led to an armed conflict in Northern and Eastern parts of the island. It affected not only those two provinces but also the entire socio-economic fabric of the country. It has left many people in this country psychologically traumatized. A political vision is vital to move forward. Successive Governments have attempted to resolve this ethnic issue with varying degrees of success. There were shortcomings as well.”

“Our objective is to move towards a path of negotiation and a path of democratic engagement. Every component of the present Government is for a negotiated peace with the militants. “This, you will agree, is certainly a good sign because it augers well for economic development”, President Kumaratunga said.

Referring to the Sri Lanka’s reconstruction efforts the President said within three weeks of the December 26th tragedy the Government’s post-tsunami rebuilding taskforce (TAFREN) completed its needs assessment, estimating it at 1.5 – 2 Billion USD for recovery and reconstruction. ADB and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) also did their independent study which too amounted to more or less a similar sum. The Government has identified the roles of various ministries and the regional administrative agencies.

President Kumaratunga taking on a solemn tone said “nature’s fury which devastated parts of our country on December 26th last year has opened new avenues for all of us. Coastal areas of six Districts in the North and East were severely affected by the tsunami. The LTTE has now for the first time expressed its willingness to engage in a common rebuilding exercise with the Government.”

Kumaratunga revealed that the LTTE has been very supportive of the Government’s development activities of war ravaged areas in the North and East Provinces even before the tsunami came about.

“We now therefore have an opportunity to get them involved in a common transparent administrative mechanism to rebuild the lives of tsunami hit people of those six districts. There would be a fair representation of all communities who live in the coastal districts who suffered the ferocity of the tidal waves.”

President Kumaratunga cautioned, “There will be objections to this from outside of the Government and also from within. However a vociferous minority cannot be allowed to hinder the forward march of a nation towards peace and economic prosperity”.

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Last Updated Date: May 16, 2005 - 11.00 GMT