Equal development as a key to peace

IT should relieve many a lover of peace, brotherhood and unity in this country to learn that rehabilitation and reconstruction is proceeding apace in Government-controlled areas of the North-East.

Inasmuch as indifference and inhumanity towards the disaffected and disenchanted has driven the communities of this land apart, development on an equal basis, coupled with power-sharing, could bring them together and promote a sense oneness among all Lankans.

Accordingly, we warmly welcome a statement by North-East Governor Tyronne Fernando that reconstruction and rehabilitation in districts such as Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee are being steadily pursued. Thus is disinformation that "nothing is being done" effectively defeated.

Mullaitivu, apparently, is not covered by this exercise on account of it being an LTTE - controlled area, but we hope steady progress would be made towards establishing an administrative mechanism for rebuilding LTTE - controlled areas too in which the Government and the LTTE would figure.

Hopefully, this fruitful exercise in cooperation would be a spur to the reactivation of the stalled peace process.

At this juncture it would be important to bear in mind the lessons of history which tend to be effaced with the passing of time.

The Government has no choice but to take the development process to all those regions of Sri Lanka which need it, irrespective of ethnicity, language and religion. This may need to be done as a matter of cherished principle if the currents of separatism are to be defused and defeated.

In fact, it is conveniently forgotten that it is the lack of equitable development and the reluctance to share power between the centre and regions, in the past, which aggravated this country's ethnic conflict.

We hope these lessons would not be lost on veteran politicians, such as North-East Governor Tyronne Fernando, who are today tasked with taking development to our war -ravaged peripheries.

As indicated in our lead story yesterday, much is being done by the centre to bring material relief to the North-East populace. Some of these projects relate to, education, health, agriculture and livestock, water and sanitation, fisheries and irrigation.

It is the callous neglect suffered by the peripheral regions of Sri Lanka, such as the North-East and the deep South, which provoked the explosive emergence of bloody youth rebellions.

Frankly, if these peripheral regions were sufficiently developed and empowered the flames of war and rebellion would never have emerged in this land.

So, one could rejoice in the fact that wise counsel is holding sway among our rulers. Websites and other information methodologies should be further developed to keep all sections of the people fully informed about the good work being done to build bridges and bring peace.

A trunk call

WE normally tend to think that parrots are the masters of imitation, but they now appear to be having competition from some unlikely species: Elephants.

African elephants have an excellent ear for imitation, say biologists who have recorded tuskers copying the roar of passing trucks and the chirpy sounds of zoo stalemates.

Mlaika, a 10-year-old adolescent female elephant living among semi-captive orphaned elephants in Tsavo, Kenya, imitated trucks as they passed her stockade, even though it is three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the nearest road, the researchers report in Nature, the British science weekly.

Calimero, a 23-year-old male African elephant who spent 18 years in an enclosure in Switzerland's Basel Zoo, proved to be excellent at imitating their characteristic chirping calls. The audio frequency of the two elephants' imitations are spot-on.

The authors of the study suggest that thanks to mimicry, elephants are able to identify themselves distinctly to friends within a shifting social group.

This is an interesting discovery indeed. But elephants and parrot are not alone: Various other animal species, such as bats and dolphins, have long been known to be able to learn new vocalisations.

With this discovery, elephants have the honour of becoming the first terrestrial mammal after humans to be known to have the skills.

Scientists are still debating as to why animals, at least the primates, cannot speak. The complex arrangements of the human larynx, along with a highly developed brain, are often cited as a reason.

But the fact that some animals can learn and repeat sounds points to an innate ability in advanced animals to come near humans in terms of advanced vocalisations. It is also well known that certain animals, including whales and dolphins, have languages of their own. These languages are still being deciphered by scientists.

We boast that Man is the most complex animal on Earth. But every species is complex in its own way and it will take decades of study before the animal kingdom yields its best secrets. We know that elephants never forget; Now they'd be able to tell you why.