Financial Times
No investment to 'regain' Jaffna
From Suren Gnanaraj in Jaffna
Business chambers in Jaffna
have expressed their disappointment at the negative attitude of all financial
institutions in the region and have accused the government of wide scale discrimination
by failing to afford compensation and relief to businesses in the region.
Jaffna Chamber of Commerce
President N. Jeyasegeran said that despite repeated appeals to several government
ministers to provide businessman in the north with some form of grant, compensation
or soft loan to restart their businesses, a positive response had not been received.
As soon as the floods affected
the southern region, several ministers rushed to the area to provide people with
necessary aid, and immediately arranged for compensation to be paid to both families
and industrialists who were affected, he said.
"We have suffered for 20 years,
with our factories and houses being levelled to the ground, yet no minister has
felt that we deserve any financial compensation," he said. "Where has all the
much publicized aid gone?" he asks.
In 2000, the navy sank a cargo
ship off the coast of Mullaitivu after it was captured by the LTTE. Jeyasegeran
said that nearly 250 traders lost Rs. 500 million worth of goods as a result of
the vessel being destroyed, but to-date compensation had not been ranted, despite
a letter of appeal being sent to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Senior Jaffna Chamber of Commerce
official K. Poornachandran said that the ultimate reality was that the government
had no proper plans to develop the north.
He said that despite having
appealed to government ministers and donor agencies for a grant of Rs. 200 million,
to help resuscitate 20 factories in Jaffna, the response has been mediocre.
"I received only a solitary
reply, from the Prime Minister's office, acknowledging my letter and saying that
it would be carefully scrutinized," he said.
He added that even the LTTE
was reluctant to take any positive steps towards economic development until an
interim administration is established in the region.
Poornachandran explained that
the current loan schemes offered by banks at high interest rates were unreasonable,
given the fact that most of the people were returning to their damaged homes with
very small amounts of money.
"How can we provide collateral
when all our buildings have been turned to rubble?" he queries, adding that the
banks were unwilling to accept their lands as collateral due to its low value.
Poornachandran said that many
of the industrialists were keen on re-starting their businesses, but were desperately
in need of the initial start-up capital.
"In Colombo, banks offer special
loan schemes to help small and medium scale entrepreneurs, but none of those schemes
has been introduced in Jaffna,' he said.
Yarlpanam Chamber of Commerce
president M. Ramadasan was equally critical about the negative attitude of banks
towards lending to small and medium scale industries.
He was of the view that
the environment was conducive for high investment industries to be established
in the region and scoffed at the idea that the political climate was still uncertain.
"We must take risks
and invest now, otherwise we cannot aim to regain Sri Lanka," he said.
However, Poornachandran
was of the view that prior to attracting large scale investors to set up new
industries in the north, it was essential to help local industrialists revive
their existing businesses.
Ramadasan was also critical
about the government's approach in drafting development projects for the region,
by isolating the people of Jaffna from the discussion process.
"We need to be absorbed
into the decision making process, because we are more aware of the problems
and requirements of the region than any individual of Colombo," he said.
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