CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Exterminate the LTTE and Strengthen the Unitary Status for Self-Sufficiency in Water, Rice, Milk and Fish

Dilrook Kannangara

Fears of yesteryear have bitten us already. If the gravity of the situation cannot be apprehended both by the people and the policymakers at least by now, they will be faced with a major famine very soon. This nation is already struggling to feed its populace; protein malnutrition especially among children is extremely high and increasing in spite of being an island surrounded by the sea with an abundance of quality proteins; traders hoard rice stocks knowing very well that prices are going to be dearer in the near future; hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice come from other nations. On top of all that history dictates that Sri Lanka was the granary of the East. Our economy employs a very large number of its workforce in agriculture and agriculture is still the backbone of the economy.

What a big joke is this? What is happening and what really happened?

Sri Lanka ranks around thirty ninth (39) in population density ranking with an average of over 300 people per square kilometre which is very high. However, the North-East which is 37% of the total landmass of the country only has approximately 8% of the total population. This means the remaining 63% of the area accommodates 92% of the population. Therefore the true population density outside the North-East is over 425 persons per one square kilometre (equal to the rank of the 24th most densely populated country). This is a staggering number for a LDC like Sri Lanka. It has made many resources extremely scarce, including land. This has affected arable land to a great extent. On the other hand the population density in the North-East is less than 70 persons per square kilometre. The North-East provides enormous agricultural potential that remains untapped for decades. Widely available satellite images would show large extents of paddy cultivation in these areas. However, these fail to make any meaningful contribution to the nation. Additionally a very large forest cover is another salient feature of these areas. Although saving tropical forests is also a priority, a logical balance between agriculture and forestry should be maintained.

If Sri Lanka is to achieve sustainable self-sufficiency in rice, arable lands in the North-East must be included in rice production within a national agenda. This nation was fortunate enough to have leaders with foresight who planned for self-sufficiency long ago. Their projects were disturbed by racist elements that claimed the North-East as ‘Tamil homelands’. Their threats were furthered by LTTE terrorists. LTTE terrorists are solely responsible for frustrating the two biggest projects we ever had after 1948 namely the resettlement project of 1940-1960s and the Mahaweli multi purpose development project. Their economic contribution to the GDP would have been enormous than now and most importantly sustainable. It also could have uplifted the living standards of those involved from farmers to teachers.

The resettlement project was the first to suffer genocide by the LTTE. A very large number of arable land, farms (including Kent and Dollar farms), irrigation projects, economic infrastructure, livelihoods and personal savings and property were lost. Add to this their potential economic contribution that was lost, we are talking of trillions of rupees. Same with the Mahaweli project. Mahalweli settlements bore the brunt of terrorist activity and many abandoned all they desired for; terror threats even forced the diversion and curtailment of the Mahaweli project. These combined together spelt disaster for the nation. We had to go back to slavery-like industries just to survive.

Obviously, there were contributing factors that worsened the situation, however, the main reason for project failure was terrorism.

With all the major irrigation projects in disarray owing to the LTTE, how can we expect self-sufficiency in rice? As long as the LTTE survives Sri Lanka cannot attain sustainable self-sufficiency in rice.

The list of evils caused by the LTTE is increasing every year. In 2002 the LTTE threatened to genocide upstream water users. This was stated in the last condition of their ISGA proposals, which stated that since most waterways to `their territory` flows through GoSL controlled areas, water users should use this resource sparingly. It took only a few years to put his threat into action in Mahavil Oya (Mavil aru), Wedikanda and just a few months in the case of Manirasakulam. This opens up another debate that is raging. Water is a scarce resource and must be managed at the national level to avoid water wars (as happened in Mahavil Oya, Wedikanda, etc.), communal and regional clashes over water and to prioritise and broad-base conservation efforts. Although it may not sound serious today, becoming self-sufficient in water will soon become a challenge. The only way to achieve self-sufficiency in water is by taking all parts of the country under the direct administration of the government. Exterminating the LTTE and retaining the unitary status becomes imperative.

Milk and dairy production is also affected by terrorism. The North-East provides enormous opportunities in terms of grazing lands, water, large flatlands and other enablers for a successful milk and dairy industry. This is an industry that can employ a large number of persons with prospects of large-scale rural capital generation and expansion.

Exploiting oceanic resources including sea food stocks has been disastrous. Over 65% of the coastline is in the North-East and comes under constant terrorist activity. These areas have not meaningfully contributed to the national requirement of fish except for a few villages. Out of the remaining 35%, a large percentage is used up by other industries including tourism and places suitable for fisheries harbours are even less. In wide contrast the coastline in the North-East is very supportive of setting up fishing harbours. Large fishing banks off Mannar and Point Pedro have been lost for Sri Lankans for decades now and South Indian fishermen exploit these at will. Tamil Nadu has become the largest producer of fish in India. Interestingly the proposed Sethusundaram project will permanently destroy these valuable resources. In order to use 65% of Sri Lanka’s own coastline efficiently the LTTE should be destroyed in full. Until then talking about the connection between the sea and protein deficiency has little sense.

Not only these measures will help Lanka attain self-sufficiency in food but also expand its economy in a global trend of rapidly rising food prices. It can also lead up to rural capital creation in place of producing cheap labour. The only way to develop rural Sri Lanka is through rural capital creation which will have a snowballing effect.

Ironically peaceniks and surrender mongers argue that it is the war that has raised the cost of living! The war may have a short term effect but in the long run there is only one way to be self-sufficient in water, rice, milk and fish. Intermittent ‘ceasefires’ with the LTTE did not even brought up these matters as ceasefires were all about regrouping and rearming for the terrorists. A complete annihilation of the LTTE complimented by full integration of the North-East into a unitary Sri Lanka is the only way for sustained self-sufficiency.

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