Sooriasegaram, a Tamil expatriate, tells his experience of his visit to Sri Lanka in August 2009 – Part Two

I am a Sri Lankan, resident in the UK since 1965. This is a narrative report to give my personal experience, observations and thoughts. It is intended to throw light on the social realities of today in Jaffna and in the plantations, the two areas I had chance to observe closely.

By Sooriasegaram

Problems facing people in Jaffna

(November 11)I travelled on foot, by bicycle, motor cycle, 3- wheeler and bus and never encountered any problems except once when I was stopped at 11pm by a police man and fined Rs500 for not wearing a helmet while riding a motor bike. I could not get angry for he was extremely polite in discharging his duties and I was committing a very serious offence for which I could have got fined in London £500, which was incidentally my return fare to Colombo!

The infra structure in Jaffna is falling apart or has fallen apart. Most municipal buildings are in dire state – flattened or damaged or scarred by the war. The once impressive Jaffna Town Hall, which used to stand proud like the “white House” is out of sight, not even a trace left behind. Roads, bridges, culverts, drainage system and the network of interconnected ponds and lakes forming the flood relief system for Jaffna are not in a functional state. The road surfaces have more areas of pot holes than plane surfaces. Even a cyclist cannot dodge the potholes! Many houses, shops and cinemas are in ruins. So infra structure rebuilding and restoration is a huge task and a top priority. At the request of the newly elected Mayor of Jaffna I have taken on the task of advising her on infra structure restoration on a voluntary capacity. With the help of a very able Municipal Engineer, I have prepared a schedule of urgent and essential projects and cost estimated them and the Mayor has submitted her request for urgent funding to the President based on these estimates.

Opening of A9 to construction traffic and a concrete batching plant are vital for reconstruction work in Jaffna. I visited Karainagar causeway reconstruction works including 10 bridges by a local contractor, who is severely hampered without these facilities nearby.

Jaffna Co-operative

This was once the pride of Jaffna under the leadership provided by V.Ponnampalam. Now it is corrupt at the top level. The man at the top used violence and intimidation to scare and rule the lower tier officers. The man at the top, who had swindled millions or billions over many decades, has been sacked by Douglas and is now under investigation. The co-operative branches I visited appear to be run badly. The range of products is limited and prices are not always lower than private shops due to restrictive practices and poor management.

Kokkuvil Technical College

This is a valuable asset for young people. It provides good facilities to learn essential technical skills leading to employment opportunities – automobile engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, building engineering, carpentry, masonry, electrician, electronics, welding, lathe work etc.

Serious mismanagement at this establishment has lead to a strike by the students. The strike had been called off following the intervention of Minister Douglas Devananda at whose request I visited this college and spent nearly a whole day meeting the vice principal, many of the lecturers and students class by class in order to understand the real issues faced by them. I got quite involved in this matter. I feel it is essential to be present there full time and engage in constructive discussions with all the stakeholders to resolve the issues so that this college can begin to serve the needs of the students effectively. There are very difficult issues requiring in depth trouble shooting and problem solving w/o being divisive. This college has the potential to be developed into a major technical education and training centre for Jaffna peninsula catchment area.

Restoration of rule of law and public participation

People are not assertive. Their views and feelings could not be expressed and their voices have not been heard for nearly 30 years. Their lives have been governed through fear and intimidation. Although the space for democratic expression has opened up people are hesitating to come forward to assert themselves. The people in this region have been silenced for too long.

Corruption and anti-social activities are rampant in courts, co-operative societies, Technical Colleges etc.

Postponement of cases in courts with the collusion of judge and Attorneys at Law representing the defendant and plaintiff is the daily practice today. While this brings additional fees to the Attorneys it causes enormous hardships to the poor clients, who cannot afford the additional fees. This scandalous practice must be stopped.

New bye laws have to be introduced requiring public consultation on issues affecting the people. Voice of people, their active participation and their empowerment must be encouraged. People have to be made confident to claim their villages, towns, schools, colleges, universities, temples, churches, mosques, streets and all public places so that eventually they can take ownership.

A public complaints system needs to be put in place so that people can redress their grievances.

A colleague of mine, an Attorney at Law has also returned to Jaffna permanently to serve the people. He has now been appointed to advise the Mayor to deal with legal reforms, also on a voluntary basis.

Cast oppression and marginalisation of socially weak communities are still practiced by the upper cast and socially and economically powerful families. I will give you one example of this, which I came across during my stay in Jaffna. About 100 young and socially disadvantaged people formed themselves into a sports club and have been playing various sports in a derelict land over the last 20 years. The owner of this land is from a high cast living in the west. He had made an informal agreement with the members of this club that if ever he decides to sell this land he would give the first choice to this club. However recently under pressure from the velalar community in the area, he quietly sold this land to a velalar person, who erected a fence around this land, preventing access to the club members. Following an incident during the erection of the fence, trumped up charges were brought up and 15 of the youngsters were put behind bars. They now face both criminal (alleged violence) and civil (trespassing) charges.

A serious management dispute between two Christian denominations at Uduvil Girls School has resulted in the alleged unfair dismissal of the very popular principal and students’ boycott of this school.

The same Attorney at Law, referred to above, is taking up all the above legal work on behalf of the accused, free of charge.

Contrary to the image that has been painted about Douglas by many, I found that he is doing really good work among the people. I do not know the rights and wrongs of his past but he is the only Tamil leader today in the North who is with the people, facing their day to day problems. He lacks professional backing. A great deal of work can be done at grass root level to empower people.

Health care in Jaffna and the surrounding towns and villages

In spite of the ravages of war, health care in Jaffna is very satisfactory, meeting well above the standards set by the WHO. The preventive measures including all the vaccinations (immunisations) are well carried out with excellent record keeping. No one is missed out as they are done at source – maternity homes, nursery, primary and secondary schools. Jaffna hospital, together with all the Rural District Hospitals Services under the very able direction of Dr.Ketheswaran, Director of RDHS, is meeting the medical care requirements remarkably well. Dr. Ketheswaran has introduced the first comprehensive provincial ambulance service for the Northern Province with the help of NGO’s. Under this system he has established several ambulance stations through out the peninsula, managed by the central control unit in Jaffna hospital. Anyone needing emergency ambulance service will simply dial 110 free of charge to get this swift service. Control unit will alert the ambulance station nearest to the patient and bring the patient direct to Jaffna hospital or any other hospital to suit the need of the patient. Payment for this service is entirely voluntary. The system is already in operation and is the first in Sri Lanka. Dr Ketheswaran proposes to recommend this system to be introduced to all the provinces. This will be as good as first world service!

Reciting the Jaffna Hospital out of the present noisy, congested and environmentally unfriendly site is also receiving attention. It is actively supported by Dr. Ketheswaran, Director of RDHS but opposed by the hospital consultants, who are minting money by walking across Hospital Road during tea and lunch breaks to do private practice in the numerous private clinics in the area. Vested interests are at play!

Kurunagar Fishing Village

It is a very large village, much larger than I anticipated. The fishing community here were severely trampled by the Ltte and their livelihood destroyed. I spent one full day meeting many families in this area to understand their problems. Most of them are very poor and their living conditions are also very poor. This area is devastated. However fishing is permitted by the security forces through the persistent efforts and negotiations between Douglas and the Security forces. The fishermen do not have to pay any taxes to the Ltte any more! No more extortions either. However, access to the sea and unloading facilities from boats, are severely curtailed. I took part in a joint inspection with the Navy Commander, facilitated by Douglas and the Jaffna Mayor, during which Douglas submitted about 12 requests on behalf of the fishermen and their councillors. Amazingly the Commander, who was a very clever man and also sympathetic to the fishermen, straight away conceded to 9 of them. He promised to discuss the remaining 3 requests with the ministry of defence and give his decision.

For the fishermen these were big break throughs indeed.

We are also exploring the possibility of securing building land in this area belonging to the Sivan Kovil Estates to build flats for the homeless fisherman families. Discussions with the Lawyer representing the Sivan Kovil are now in progress. Funding for this project has already been submitted to the President.

Schools in Jaffna

The schools are springing back to life and educational competition is once again back in Jaffna. Tuition centres, which are scandalous and must be eliminated, are also thriving. Future for educational excellence is looking very good.

Incidentally Standardisation, which triggered the Eelam outcry, is now working in favour of Jaffna Tamils! See research papers of Sarvananther, Point Pedro Economic Research Institute.

Jaffna University is plodding along with poor leadership and lack of funding. The absence or shortage of qualified lecturers and professors is preventing the University from advancing. But it has all the faculties except an Engineering Faculty, which is now being mooted. The government is fully supporting the inclusion of an Engineering Faculty in the Jaffna Campus. It has even faculties for Media Studies and Drama and Theatre. I have met senior lecturers from the Faculty of Media Studies. They are enthusiastic about the future. The structure is in place for developing the Jaffna University into a University of international standard. It is an area that interests me a great deal.

Professor Tissa Vitharane addressed a public meeting in the Jaffna campus, organised at short notice against a lot of pessimism expressed by the VC and many others. This is the first public meeting for decades, where people came and took part w/o the fear of the gun culture. 235 people attended and took part in the discussions when I expected only 125 while the VC expected only 50. We announced that such meetings are going to be a regular feature at this University from now onwards so that people can again hear the voices of reason. The University belongs to the people and they are going to claim ownership from now onwards. This meeting was confidence boosting, opening a new democratic era in Jaffna.

Sports

A massive sports festival took place at Thuraiappah stadium with all the pomp and glory. All the schools in Jaffna took part. A few from the Vavunia IDP camps also were brought under security to take part. I spoke to them and they were sad that they had to return to the camps afterwards. The cultural display was of exceptionally high standard. So was the sporting display. Attendance was impressively high. Governor Chandrasiri and Douglas opened the festival.

In athletics, Jaffna schools performed extremely well. Three students from Arunadaya College, Alaveddy, snatched 3 gold medals in pole vault at the all island competition held in Colombo. One girl, Thanusha, broke the Sri Lankan record in pole vault! I met her and all the athletes from this school at Sugathathasa Stadium in Colombo. Thanusha has the potential to go much higher! I donated Rs10, 000 with which the school has bought personalised sports bags to all of them. I was told that they were well pleased and encouraged.

At the central college a new swimming pool is being constructed with government funding. I met the vice principal and visited the construction site and met the contractor (Blue Water Ltd) and the also the workers. There is no concrete batching plant in the Northern Province! They have to make concrete in several small concrete mixers (drums) in small quantities. Such constructions are very tedious because they do not have any modern construction plant in the Northern Province. Literally hundreds of people are working on a single concrete pour! Opening a concrete batching plant is essential for reconstruction of Jaffna but it is capital intensive. Opening A9 to construction traffic is even more urgent.

The swimming pool, when completed, will be open to the public and other schools.

What is urgently needed is a good sports centre with all indoor sports and Gym facilities in Jaffna for the use of all schools and members of public. This is a project the Diaspora should consider funding. If money is made available I will be happy to take the challenge to deliver this project.

People living in the west, whose children are grown up to stand on their own feet, should seriously consider returning to Sri Lanka to live and work. I am convinced that you can make a big difference to Sri Lanka. To begin with, it will be a harsh and a less comfortable environment after having lived a relatively comfortable life style in the west. But if you compare the job satisfaction and happiness factor, you cannot beat the life in Sri Lanka.

Social make up of people

I was quite surprised at the statistics from the last census. Majority of people in Jaffna are Christians. This must be a new phenomenon. The majority of people in Nallur are Hindus. Virtually no muslims in Jaffna! The best person to provide an explanation for this is Prabakaran when he rises from the ashes to address the next Marveerar Thinam!

We are not a Portugese or Dutch or British colony any more but the church is still powerful – perhaps more powerful in some ways, especially in view of the wealth at its disposal.

Occupationwise – majority are the fishing community, then farmers, then white collar workers. There is also a sizable section of people, not employed but living comfortably at the mercy of Tamils living in the west, who prop up the TNA through proxy action. This explains how TNA picking so many votes in Jaffna w/o setting foot in Jaffna.

Transport in Jaffna

Bus transport in Jaffna is good and frequent. You could never drive as fast as the bus drivers! It cost Rs 21 to travel about 12 miles – say from Alaveddy to Jaffna. This is only 2p for us here but prohibitively expensive for the people there w/o any livelihood.

Political Strategy

It is my view that unity in the first place between EPRLF, EPDP and PLOTTE must be forged so that they can all work at grass root level effectively. It is essential to bring the TNA and TULF also into this alliance to ensure they work with us and that they do not go into an alliance with the UNP. With such an understanding, I think, we have the best chance to push the President to implement the best possible devolution proposal within a united Sri Lanka. A political solution devolving substantial and meaningful powers to the provinces is what the people need and that is what they want. A bipartisan agreement between the government and opposition on such a devolution proposal is vital.

It is essential to take serious note of current pronouncements by TNA Member of Parliament, Sri Kantha, on devolution of power. For the first time using the democratic space created by the absence of Ltte, Sri Kantha is engaging constructively on this matter of great importance to the Tamil speaking people living in Sri Lanka. I sincerely welcome this development and I hope that he will enter into a dialogue with the government and the APRC chairman, Professor Tissa Vitharane so that a national campaign for meaningful devolution of power to the provinces can take place. It is my view that all the people, barring the extremists on all sides, can be persuaded to accept devolution of power to the Tamils within a united Sri Lanka.

The Tamil and Muslim parties must realise they cannot think along ethnic lines only and now begin to engage with the majority Sinhalese community. After all, the fundamental social and economic problems, which keep our people poor and unemployed and exploited, are common to all the communities. If all the communities are united no government can divide and rule. Nationwide consensus is required to make the essential constitutional changes for the benefit of all the communities.

Conclusion

Generally it is going to be an up hill task to rebuild a violence free and democratic Sri Lanka, which involves infrastructure improvements, social, cultural and political institutions, rule of law, return to democracy, good governance, inter-racial harmony, upholding human rights, journalistic freedom and a just and fair society. We must never underestimate these tasks and the numerous hurdles we have to jump over. I feel these can only be achieved through public discussions and empowering and engaging the people to act rather than depending on leaders, who have always failed and will always fail. Top down rule must be replaced by bottom up democratic rule.