Our top priority, safeguard civilian lives!....Minister:Rishad Bathiudeen
BY........... By Dhaneshi YATAWARA
With a huge influx of displaced people, the Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Ministry has undertaken the gigantic task of providing shelter until they are ready to return home. Minister Rishad Bathiudeen explained this most complicated yet feasible task in an interview with Sunday Observer. Here are excerpts of the interview:
Q: According to the information you have received up to now, what is the present status of the civilians entering the cleared areas?
Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishad Bathiudeen
A: Well, the most painful problem we face is the difficulty in getting the people out of uncleared areas, as the LTTE is holding them by force.
This is a very inhuman and unethical attitude on the part of the LTTE. Presently 2,254 people belonging to 837 families are with us in the Welfare Centres in Vavuniya.
And in Jaffna, approximately over 1800 people who had escaped recently have been sheltered in centres.
Q: Did the government expect such an influx of people?
A: At any rate we always welcome these innocent people. Actually we expected there would be at least 200,000 people coming out of the uncleared areas, depending on the statistics that were available.
Under the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa we have used every possibility to safeguard the lives of people.
We expect all the people still trapped to come out. Since the last quarter of 2008, the Government continuously invited the people to come out.Leaflets were dropped from air informing the civilians on `no war zone' areas, safety passage etc.
We have also informed them through UN agencies, District and Divisional Secretaries as well.
Q: Were we ready to face this challenge?
A: Definitely. We have good past experience in taking care of over 200,000 displaced people in the East and resettling them. It was a huge challenge. With the support from Presidential Advisor, Basil Rajapaksa and the Presidential Secretariat we have a very practical and sustainable plan for the welfare of the currently displaced people.
Q: How does the Ministry plan to provide these newly displaced people with their basic needs?
A: At the moment we have arranged to provide these people with cooked meals.
It is handled by our Ministry. Mobile health units are functioning with the assistance from doctors and the staff of nearby hospitals. This is going on without a break.
We have placed ambulances at the welfare centres. Water and sanitation facilities have been provided and we are in the process of building individual housing units for each family providing them with cooking utensils and dry food rations in the near future.
Q: What are the new measures taken in relation to the latest developments?
A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave a directive to release a total land area of 1000 acres in the Vavuniya district to build three villages for the displaced people.
Resettling programs can take a long time and will be laborious as the respective residential areas of these people are laid with LTTE's Anti Personnel Mines.De-mining and clearing these areas and then to obtain a Safety Assurance Certificate from the Security Forces need a considerable time considering the workload they have to perform.
Q: How will this novel concept be activated?
A: We have planned to build three relief villages - Ramanathan Relief village, Kadirgamar relief village and Arunachalam relief village. These villages will have facilities for people to lead a normal life. We will provide education for the children, water, electricity, telephones and other basic facilities.
Q: How will these services be extended to these people?
A: Though these people have become IDPs, earlier either they were government servants, businessmen, farmers, fishermen etc. They can contribute within their capacities. The State employees can play a major role. There may be school principals, teachers, directors, clerks etc. They need to continue with their work. We only need to coordinate this properly. This is not impossible.
Q: What is the status of resettlement programme?
A: In the East 95% is over now. The balance is in progress and definitely we will be able to finish it within this year. Resettling people in a war affected area is not that simple. First and foremost we need to assure that the area is safe.Then the rest will follow. With the recently liberated areas we will start from Mannar. De-mining process, especially in the Silavatura and Musali areas is in progress. Then we will move into Vavuniya, to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu as the Security Forces move on consolidating their positions.
Q: What are the obstacles?
A: Resettling had to be adhered to certain internationally accepted ethics. These are not really obstacles. We have to fully assure the safety of these people and their future. First and foremost, we need to check those who are willing to return to their homes because some may not be willing with the trauma they had gone through.We can't resettle people without their consent. After the areas have been de-mined the officials will have to evaluate the sites, establish Government offices and then restore the basic infrastructure facilities.
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