{"id":97079,"date":"2019-12-30T18:03:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T01:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97079"},"modified":"2019-12-30T18:03:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T01:03:59","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/30\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10d\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 10D"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Rehabilitation and\nresettlement would help to \u2018erase\u2019 the Eelam victory. Keerawella observed in\n2013 that despite the practical constraints the government was able to send\nmost of the IDPs back to their villages within a period of one and a half\nyears.   In 2013 the media reported that\n1299 families in Valikaman North had been resettled and that     12,000 were counseled and reintegrated into\nsociety, some have entered universities. We have even started resettling second\ngeneration of IDPs the government said in 2013.Sri Lanka Army said in 2014 that 98% of the IDP displaced due to\nthe war had been re-settled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inmates were sent\nto their families.  Most of them have\nfamilies.  We reintegrate people only\nwhen have an address of known relatives. We locate them and then only we\nreintegrate them to society, said the army. \nThis is being done by the military intelligence. We provide them with\nthe information given by the inmate. So, they are going back to the people they\nknow. There is no case of any individual being released without background\nbeing checked, said the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These individuals were not just cast adrift, observed Michael Roberts.\nThe process of resettlement was organized with the cooperation of   International Organization for Migration\n(IOM). IOM has been heavily involved in\nfinancially supporting the resettlement of civilian IDPs from the Menik Farm\nand other camps. IOC has been a conduit for monies channelled from the\ngovernments of USA, Australia, Netherlands, Norway, Japan and UK. Australia\nprovided funds through AusAid. Department of Immigration and Citizenship,\nAustralia (DIAC) became one of the agencies working through IOM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The returnees were\nhelped to re-start their lives. Most were in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu\ndistricts. Most were working as laborers, machine operators, carpenters and so\non. Commissioner General of Rehabilitation stated that the government had given\nloans up to Rs 250,000 at low interest, to 1800 LTTE cadres for approved self\nemployment projects.  Payment was through\na bank.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local banks were asked\nto grant low interest loans with grace periods and a repayment period of ten\nyears.\u201d Arrangements had also been made to\nget them employment in Middle East.   <\/em>IOM\nused donor funds to provide the returnees with equipment and tool kits. The\nprivate sector gave three wheelers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN Special Rapporteur\non Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was satisfied with the\nwork on resettlement of IDPs in north and east. Not everybody agreed with this\nassessment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study conducted by\nde Croos (2011) explored the subjective experiences of 15 former detainees. It\nshowed an alarming picture\u2019, said Roberts. Several stated that they had\nreceived little training. Not all had received IDs and everyone had been\ninstructed to seek permission if they travelled beyond their village All\nex-detainees stated that the CID and Army visited their homes at least\nonce a week or once every fortnight and checked on their whereabouts and\ndetails.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groundviews (2012) spoke of the bitter end to Menik Farm<\/strong>. <\/strong>Throughout August and\nSeptember 2012, people from Puthukudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu Divisions in the\nMullaitivu district, who had been living in Menik Farm, were dumped in schools\nand roadsides to find their own way home. Home\u201d was mainly shrub jungles, open\nair spaces under trees and destroyed houses with doors, windows, roofing, and\ntoilet equipment were looted. Some had to seek shelter in churches and schools,\nas their home\u201d was simply not habitable. Another group we met had been\ncompelled to stay in a small church as the Army was occupying their land.\nClearly, the government which had waited for more than three years to send\nthese people home, were now in a might hurry to send them home, without even\nclearing up jungles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana also disputed the rosy position given by the Mahinda\nRajapaksa government. There are a lot of things that we ought to do in the\nNorth and East especially and what we have done so far is building roads and\ninfrastructure. But there is a lot more that we need to do to ensure these\npeople are able to get on their own feet and survive.\u201d Said Yahapalana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In\n2016 Sampanthan observed that there were 31 welfare camps in Jaffna\ndistrict and 936 families of 3260 members. \n682 families did not own land or houses. In\n2018 it was observed that in the Jaffna District 34,248 families were\ntemporarily resettled in their own land and 721 families were yet to be\nresettled from 29 welfare centers. A further 8,987 families needing\nresettlement were living with friends and relatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana found that it was not possible to send\nthe IDPs back to their original homes   though the military had released 3,800 acres\nof privately owned lands back to their owners, because there were no houses.\n170,000 houses were needed. That included 60,000 houses for IDPs who have lost\nall their properties during the 3 decades of conflict said Yahapalana in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Yahapalana\nplanned initially to provide steel prefabricated dwellings from Arcelor Mittal\nbut this was objected to as most unsuitable. The plan was discarded. In 2018 Cabinet\napproval was given for the construction of 25,000 houses for the North and\nEast. under the first phase\nof this project, 15,000 houses would be constructed giving priority to the\ninternally displaced and those who have been living as refugees in India and\nare returning to the country. Then in 2019, Yahapalana said that it could not\nallocate money for this, but would set aside around Rs 8 billion in the\nforthcoming budget to fund 7,000 prefabricated concrete houses in the East.\nThese will be built by a recently incorporated local entity, Yapka Construction\nLtd. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 it was also announced that action had been initiated to\nconstruct 10,000 brick and mortar\/cement sand blocks type traditional houses.\nUnder the first phase, 1500 houses for Jaffna , 670 houses for Kilinochchi ,\n630 houses for Mullaitivu, 450 houses for Vavuniya, 350 houses for Mannar, 625\nhouses for Batticaloa, 400 houses for Trincomalee and 125 houses for Ampara\nwould be constructed. These houses have a floor area of 550 sq.ft, two bed\nrooms, kitchen, living room and toilet with Calicut titles. The estimated cost\nwas one million rupees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 2017, 48 model villages were built for the war\ndisplaced.\nThe\nNational Housing Development Authority will build 125 new model villages in the\nNorthern Province reported the media in 2018.  The model villages will be located in Mannar,\nVavuniya, Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts. Similar programmes\nwere being implemented in the Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee district in\nthe Eastern Province too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was landlessness in the\nnorth. 15,639 people were registered as landless in the Jaffna district alone\nin 2018. Landlessness is\nan issue all over the North and east, but it is most marked in the Jaffna\ndistrict where the population is high and State-owned land is scarce. Some are\non temple land, others on private land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 2018, Yahapalana made a special arrangement\nto provide Rs. 400,000 to buy a land and Rs 800,000 to construct a house for\neach extended family living in welfare camps in Jaffna.  In the same year, Yahapalana announced that government\nland has been divided and allocated to 25 families at Keerimalai. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Twenty five houses have already been\nconstructed in these lands with the local funding and distributed among 25\nfamilies. the balance 300 families have now given their consent to resettle\nthem in the alternative lands. Before\nthat In 2016, title deeds to lands in Sidhambarapuram in Vavuniya were given to\n190 families. Sidhamabarapuram was a camp that housed refugee families from\nJaffna who had been temporary settled there in 1990. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017 it was\nreported that after the war, there was a growing trend of families borrowing\nloans at high rates of interest, simply to survive. Loans are taken by\nmostly women to start a small business, buy a few cattle or chickens to earn an\nincome for the family. Due to restrictions from state banks to get loans, micro\nfinance companies, offering high interest loans have taken advantage of the\nsituation. These micro-finance companies are thriving mostly in Kilinochchi and\nMullaitivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 These micro finance companies were charging as\nhigh as 300 per cent interest. this is in addition to a fine when repayments\naccumulate. micro finance company employees go to the homes of clients at night\nto collect the installment. they use abusive language. t<\/em>he borrowers are committing suicide, families have broken up from\nthe social unrest arising out of the inability to repay loans said the\nnortherners. These insensitive micro finance companies must be brought under\ncontrol. they said. Residents urged that these finance companies should be\nbanned from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna. Pyramid-type businesses are\nalso springing up in the north, they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Sri Lanka\u2019s Central Bank will evolve a\nprogramme to help the country\u2019s war-affected communities tackle the mounting\npressure of household debt, promised Yahapalana. Central Bank was considering a\nthree-pronged strategy, a moratorium, increasing the maturity of the loans, and\nexploring how interest rates can be reduced, \nthereafter, Yahapalana decided to write off the loans. About 75,000 women\nwill benefit with the recent government decision to write off the\nnon-consumption loans granted up to Rs. 100,000 by registered microfinance\ninstitutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The returnees needed\nemployment. Yahapalana announced that 2018 budget had made provisions to help\nresettle former LTTE cadres, provide them with soft loans for businesses and\nprovide help in livelihood opportunities. In 2019 Commissioner General of\nRehabilitation stated that rehabilitated LTTE cadres were paid money in\naddition to the allowance paid during employment training,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media reported in 2019 that the Bureau of the\nCommissioner General of Rehabilitation has spent around Rs. 110,442,018 for the\nprovision of equipment for the rehabilitees to begin their lives and engage in\nself-employment after being reintegrated into society. Further assistance has\nbeen given to the rehabilitated ex-combatants through the relevant district\nsecretariats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For self-employment, Rs. 12,982,262 had been paid\nout in 2018 with Jaffna being allocated Rs. 7,650,726, Killinochchi Rs.\n1,000,000, Mullaitivu Rs. 900,000, Mannar Rs. 599,956. Vavuniya Rs. 2,131,580\nand Trincomalee allocated Rs. 700,000. For the\nprovision of agricultural equipment of Rs. 7,067,838 had been allocated, Rs.\n6,850,000 allocated for the provision of livestock for the reintegrated persons\nto carry on their livelihood and Rs. 899,900 allocated for the supply of\nfishing gear for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first hi-tech vocational training centre, in the north, spreading\nover 15 acres, was launched in 2019 at Ariya Nagar, Kilinochchi with German\naid. equipment valued at Rs. 350 million was donated by the Stassen Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017 Yahapalana spoke of micro enterprises for\nthe north and east. Plans are afoot to establish 1,785 micro-enterprises in the\nNorthern and Eastern Provinces under the Enterprise Based Village Development\nProject, said Yahapalana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that year Yahapalana announced that it\nproposed to establish micro-enterprises in 113 villages in the two\nprovinces and the project will be supported by a concessionary micro-finance\nfunding through the Regional Development Bank and SANASA. The total estimated\ncost is Rs.446 million. Each Micro enterprise will receive a maximum assistance\nof Rs.250, 000.  Twenty five percent of the estimated cost of each\ninitiative will be supported through a matching grant while 75 percent will be\nunder a loan agreement. The interest will also be backed by Government funds.\nThe sectors were fisheries, livestock, self-employment, micro\/small\nindustries, handicrafts and services. One hundred and thirty two women-headed\nfamilies were covered under the first phase of the programme. The total cost of\nthe programme was Rs.14 million.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were other forms of\nassistance too.  A new seed paddy variety Swayanhatha\u201d which can be grown\nwithout agro chemicals, insecticides or fertilizer was introduced to 64\nselected farmers in Kilinochchi. The National Integration and Reconciliation\nMinistry provided 85 bicycles to the schoolchildren of Mulankavil Maha\nVidyalayam and Nallur Maha Vidyalayam in Poonalari Divisional Secretariat to\navoid dropouts and increase school attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various industrial projects were started in the north. Special\nattention was paid to thePalmyra\nindustry. It was given a special allocation of Rs 100 million,   with the objective of increasing exports of\nPalmyra-based jaggery and other related sap products,   Yahapalana also took steps to revitalize and\nstrengthen the Palmyra Development Cooperative Societies in the Northern\nProvince  which had 7,500 members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the Palmyra Development Societies met Prime Minister Ranil\nWickremesinghe and asked for a toddy bottling plant to preserve the excess\ntoddy and to cater to the market during the off-season.\u201d   There are also  plans to set up a modern jaggery plant, a\nsweet toddy bottling facility, a toddy bottling plant, a sugar candy production\nfacility, and jaggery centres in the Northern districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi,\nand Mullaitivu. a Rs. 20 million project has been\ninitiated for a Palmyra-based food processing centre in Kilinochchi district.\nthe Palmyra Research Centre housed at Kaithadi would be given support. the\nnorth had lost four million Palmyra palms during the Eelam wars. the Board\nwould replace them. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second phase of\nAtchuvely Industrial Estate Development Project was implemented in 2018.  Yahapalana would invest Rs. 100 million for\nthis project, reported the media. This would be the second industrial zone for\nthe North East,\n50\npercent of the electricity costs of the industrialists would be reimbursed by\nthe government. The money required for this has been set aside in the 2018\nBudget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two coconut projects were   publicized.    There would be a Coconut rehabilitation\nprogramme where over 18500 acres of coconut land in north will be rehabilitated\nand 25400 new coconut lands created. Treasury will provide 650 million and\nbalance 2650 million be will foreign investments. there would also be a coconut\nplantation promotion project, collaboration with the Giriulla Silvermill Group,\nthe Coconut Development Board and the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pelawatte dairy would\ninvest Rs 1.5 billion in three fresh milk processing plants in North, there are\nseveral abandoned milk producing factories in the north east. He will turn them\nover and provide employment for 200 persons, said Pelawatte chairman.\nHirdramani opened Rs 450 million factory in Puthukkudiyiruppu. A Sri Lanka\ncompany headed by an Indian was given the green light from the government to\nstart a bamboo cultivation project in north in Vavuniya.  Buddhi batiks conducted a CSR project for war\nwidows in Batticaloa and Vavuniya to design woven shawls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGOs were \nactive in the north.  Daham Pahana\nFoundation, started by Brother Charles Thomas,  has facilitated many projects to donate school\nitems and bicycles in collaboration with the Jaffna Security Force\nHeadquarters. Under this initiative, 300 scholarships were awarded to deserving\nstudents on May 10, 2018, and again in June this year, another 100 bicycles was\ndonated. other NGOs gave water pumps.   \nThe Oxonian Heart Foundation launched a campaign in Colombo to raise\nfunds for heart surgery in northern and north central provinces.  Patients are sent to Kandy and Colombo at\npresent for the operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

App\u00e9 Lanka is a   project to uplift the people of Poonakary, a\nvillage in Kilinochchi .Its 20,000 residents, have been severely affected by\nthe civil war and are still struggling to regain a sense of normalcy in their\nlives.\u201d They are struggling\nto rebuild their lives after the devastation and anguish that they were subject\nto when living in the midst of a combat zone,\u201d said Appe Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

App\u00e9 Lanka, which\noperates under the banner of Awakening Lanka, was founded by Shaan Corea in\n2015. the project is further supported by a network of partners which includes\nMichael Ondaatje(Patron), Sampath Bank, Murad Ismail, D.L & F. De Saram and\nOlivia Bonnal Sansoni.  Three private schools run by the Church of Sri\nLanka, (Anglican Church)    joined as the\nschool partners.  They are Bishops\nCollege, S. Thomas\u2019 College and Ladies\u2019 College     The\nproject is endorsed by the Sri Lankan Government\u2019s Ministry of Rehabilitation\nand Resettlement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

App\u00e9 Lanka has\ncompleted a pilot project that has provided solar home systems to 28 homes. It\nhas donated bicycles for the children to travel to school.   all schools within Poonakary were equipped\nwith safe usable water through a water purification project. it has also raised\nfunds to donate 38 computers to 23 village schools. Next they plan to\nprovide water for all 19 Grama Niladhari divisions in Poonakary. (continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Rehabilitation and resettlement would help to \u2018erase\u2019 the Eelam victory. Keerawella observed in 2013 that despite the practical constraints the government was able to send most of the IDPs back to their villages within a period of one and a half years.   In 2013 the media reported that 1299 families in Valikaman North […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}