May 3, 2008 Special Advisory Body
Appointed
for Sri Lanka's North By
P. Karunakharan
Colombo
An interim Special Task Force (STF), led by ex-militant Tamil party
leader Douglas Devananda, has been appointed to handle development
and resettlement related works in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged Northern
Province, official sources said.
"Cabinet granted approval to a memorandum submitted by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa to set up a Special Task Force to oversee
development initiatives in the districts of the Northern Province,"
Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.
He said this body would provide "advice to all ministries,
departments and statutory bodies of the state and will help
coordinate operations for the north".
"It will also oversee resettlement and rehabilitation work,
facilitate coordination between the executive and the consultative
board proposed by the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) and
if necessary provide proposals and ideas to the governor of the
Northern Province," Yapa said.
The APRC, set up in 2006 by Rajapaksa and tasked to suggest a system
of devolution to solve Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, gave its
recommendations that the government should first fully implement the
devolution package contained in the 13th amendment to the
constitution.
The government's move to set up the STF has come at a time when
government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
are locked in a fierce conflict. Their confrontations in the north
since August 2006 have left hundreds of people killed and several
more wounded.
Devananda, leader of the anti-LTTE Eelam People's Democratic Party
(EPDP) and STF head, said: "The STF will be in force until a
provincial council election is held for the north."
Devananda is also the minister of social welfare and social
development. He has survived several assassination attempts by the
LTTE. Others nominated to the body are Senior Presidential Advisor
Basil Rajapaksa and Minister of Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief
Rizard Badurdeen.
"Setting up a practical body with political authority is the result
of my 18-year-long tireless effort after the Indo-Lanka accord. I
think I have got the political authority that I asked for to look
after the affairs in the battered north," Devananda told IANS by
phone. He said the STF would also focus on resolving the day-to-day
problems of people in the northern province.
"The sky is the limit and my sky is President Rajapaksa," said
Devananda, who lost one of his eyes in an LTTE attack several years
ago. "The government of India has already welcomed this move. I am
talking to the Indian government at various levels to run this body
effectively," he added.
Asked about his plans for combating human right violations in the
northern province, Devananda said the provincial council "is
empowered with police powers and by implementing them the human
rights situation can be controlled".
"Human rights issues will be there as long as the war is continued.
So, we should stop the war first," he said.
The historically Tamil dominated Northern and Eastern provinces
remained merged following the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord. But they were
separated following a ruling by the country's Supreme Court last
year, which made the Indo-Lanka Accord virtually defunct. The
government is holding the maiden provincial council election for the
Eastern province on May 10.
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