Development imperatives

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in a hard-hitting speech yesterday, explained the rationale behind the Government's drive to weaken the LTTE militarily and bring them to the negotiating table. This will silence critics who maintain that the Government believes in a military solution.

As the President says, the LTTE must realise that it cannot sustain its destructive terrorist campaign for ever. The international community is firmly against its diabolical plans. Its funding sources are drying up. Its arms shipments have been destroyed on several occasions.

The best option for the LTTE would be to accept President Rajapaksa's call to enter the negotiations process even at this late stage. That will spare the country of bloodshed and mayhem.

However, the LTTE must not try to take the Government and the international community for a ride during any such peace talks. It must be sincerely committed to the cause of peace. Its conduct so far has not indicated such a commitment.

Even as the search for peace goes on, the Government cannot afford to neglect development and thus lag behind the rest of South Asia.

To its credit, the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government has never trotted out the conflict as an excuse to stop or delay development activities, even though the people would have accepted such a course of action.

Despite a rising defence expenditure, the Government has not curtailed funds for development. On the other hand, it has increased funds for development, health, education and welfare measures.

The widened Mahanama bridge opened yesterday in Matara amply illustrates the Government's commitment towards development, not just in terms of tsunami rehabilitation but also in terms of projects islandwide.

The Eastern Reawakening programme launched in the liberated East as well as a myriad other projects in Southern under-developed provinces also bear testimony.

The Government has received millions of dollars for tsunami and other development projects from foreign donors. The President's recent visits to Iran and Japan were especially significant as Sri Lanka would receive funds exceeding US$ 2 billion as a result. These funds would help spur development on an unprecedented scale.

Stimulating development while fighting a ruthless terrorist group is no easy task. If the Government's plans to bring in peace succeed soon, development activities will receive more funds which will lead to faster completion and greater benefits to the masses.

Lessons from the flood

On the third anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the country is facing another major challenge: Floods. Incessant rains during the last few days had left many areas of the country flooded, leaving at least 30,000 homeless.

The Government has responded swiftly to the emerging situation, assessing damage, granting relief and ensuring accessibility.

A unique feature of this year's floods is that dry zone areas such as Dambulla and Polonnaruwa, which rarely experinec rain, leave alone floods, have been severely affected.

It is still too early to definitely say whether this is a freak result of climatic changes experienced by the whole world or just a temporary aberration.

In fact, several countries which have rarely seen floods have experienced floods recently. Thus it could be an indication of an emerging trend.

Nevertheless, floods seem to have become an annual, or even more frequent, event across the country. The economic losses stemming from damage to property including agricultural crops, lost productivity and relief efforts are substantial. Recent events show that no part of the country is truly safe from the threat of floods.

One of the prime reasons for floods and flash floods is the filling of water retention lands both legally and illegally without considering the environmental impact.

Without these natural 'reservoirs' there is no place for the excess rainwater to flow into.

This, coupled with the blockage of many storm water drainage inlets in Colombo and major cities creates instant floods that take hours to recede. It is thus very essential to retain the remaining marshy lands in and around Colombo without allowing residential or commercial development.

They should be declared 'sanctuaries' to prevent filling up. The Government's Disaster Management Centre is playing an active role in mitigating the effects of floods and coordinating the relief effort.

The Health Ministry is ensuring that no epidemic is able to gain a foothold among the affected population. Sri Lanka has an enviable role in this regard as no epidemics were reported even after the tsunami.

With a tsunami warning system coming into force, it will be just as vital to have a flood/storm warning system in place.

Many tend to disregard weather warnings issued by the Met Department. It is advisable to educate the public on this issue so that would-be victims have adequate time to prepare evacuation plans. The media can play a major role in this exercise. This could help minimise the physical damage and the mental trauma.