POLITICS

By Amantha Perera

The LTTE may be still appearing to be dilly dallying over whether to step up to the negotiating table once again, but the moment it does so, it would be the one and only organisation in the north east that can take full advantage of the monies flowing in. 

Not that there ever was any doubt that any other organisation could challenge the hold the Tiger's have over the north east population.

The manner in which the North East Needs Assessment report was compiled  shows how the LTTE is in a position to control the situation.

Two week's back World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka, Peter Harrold told The Sunday Leader that when the report was put together, there most certainly were consultations with the ordinary people in the uncontrolled areas along with other parties. He was dismissing lingering criticism that report was just the reflection of the needs of the LTTE.

Sources who had a very close range view of the compilation of the report have now come forward to say that while the World Bank may have consulted the people, it cannot be said of the report as a whole.

The report was the result of the World Bank working with UN agencies, the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral agencies. Bilateral donors, meaning individual donor countries did not take part in the compilation but were involved in workshops.

The Needs Assessment (NA) was prepared at the request of the LTTE and the government. The agencies involved took it upon themselves to carry out the ground work on various sub-sectors and finally the research was put together as a report after consultation with the government and the LTTE. The first leg of the work was under taken in January this year.

The Asian Development Bank  handled the sub sectors infrastructure, micro finance and small and medium enterprise development, the World Bank  focused on education and housing,  FAO agriculture, livestock and fisheries, WHO health, UNHCR resettlement and protection and UNDP micro finance along with ADB. (UNDP was billed to compile the section on governance, however that section never appeared on the report. Critics have argued that the absence was at the insistence of the LTTE). ILO handled employment and training while UNICEF helped the World Bank in handling the education sector.

Each of these agencies had a team leader and teams worked under that office. The size of the teams varied from organisation to organisation but almost all hired experts were from outside. 

The teams were  given direction by a 'management team' representing advisors from the UNDP, team leaders and representatives from the government as well as the LTTE.

After the initial work that commenced in mid-January, the agencies were to present their reports at a meeting from March 19 to 22. Initially the meeting was to be held at a neutral venue close to the uncleared areas. The LTTE however let it be known that the 'validation meeting' should be held in Kilinochchi. So hundreds of participants from the teams, from the government and the LTTE, NGOs -  international, national as well as local ones from the areas under preview, representatives from multilateral as well as bilateral donors, academics and others flocked to Kilinochchi for the meeting.

Shift of venue

The LTTE got a windfall by the shift of venue, according to some sources that The Sunday Leader has spoken to. The payments reached the LTTE through SIHRN. Agencies taking part in the meeting bore the costs for meals, auditorium facilities and translators.

Thereafter two workshops followed during the last week of March and the first week of April. These workshops were at Pegasus Reef Hotel in Wattala and Trans Asia Hotel, Colombo. During the sessions each multilateral agency presented a revised draft of what each presented at Kilinochchi. At these meetings the LTTE was represented by J. Maheswaran and two other consultants drawing pay cheques  from a multilateral donor.

The government also made a request at the Kilinochchi meeting, a politically prudent one, given the bickering that takes place. The government requested  the agencies prepare a separate assessment for the areas outlying the north-east. These areas were from the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Monaragala and Puttalam.

In some of the sub-sectors these areas had in fact been looked into. But the agencies prepared a separate assessment for the areas following the government request.

The two documents, one for north-east and another for the adjoining areas - as requested by the government were presented officially to the government and the LTTE on April 7. The documents were placed by the government on its Peace Secretariat web site. The government also wanted the public to come forward with its views and observations on the reports.

Ironically despite some heavy criticism that the reports were lopsided, the government has so far not reacted to the public's reactions.

In late-May the multilateral agencies presented the final draft which was then presented at the Tokyo meeting.

Sources The Sunday Leader spoke to said that neither the government nor the LTTE gave any official feedback. Some felt that since it was an initiative taken by donor agencies, the government did not want to be identified too much with it.

"Although, the LTTE did not officially provide any feedback, two of their nominees were consultants to the NA and several LTTE members commented and gave information in the course of preparing the NA, making them an active party to the document," one source said.

Funny situation, considering that Anton Balasingham in one of his by now many missives to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe sent on April 21 had raised reservations about the Needs Assessment.

The LTTE is also using the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) to liase with multilateral agencies, NGOs and other entities who are flocking to the north east.

TRO is registered with the Social  Service Department as required by law. However, it is an open secret that TRO is an outstretched arm of the LTTE. One agency that is dealing with TRO is the World Bank.

Two weeks ago Harrold commented that the Bank has been working in the north east at least since three and a half years back.

Procedures

Harrold was referring to the North East Irrigation Agriculture Project (NEIAP). Though the project commenced three and a half years ago, according to sources familiar with the project, it only extended into the Wanni with the MoU last year.

The social mobilisation component of the NEIAP was handed over to TRO. World Bank procedure stipulates that local or national NGOs should be subcontracted to carry out the project. But whether it could have chosen another organisation other than TRO remains unanswered. Queries forwarded to the Colombo office last week remained unanswered.

Critics say that the World Bank and other organisations should not be dealing with TRO, with its LTTE affiliations. TRO according to them does not submit annual accounts to relevant authorities thus, not fulfilling required criteria.

Some of the criticism goes even beyond TRO. There is a charge that one of the district coordinators in the NEIAP is a close relative of a top LTTEer. This does not disqualify him from holding office. But such affiliations only add to the existing situation in the Wanni, where the population is held hostage by the LTTE.

While some researchers and aid workers lament that they are denied access to the Wanni populace, others are now charging that agencies like the World Bank might be  gaining unhindered access, as claimed by Harrold, probably due to forging relationships with the likes of the TRO.

But it is not only the World Bank that is establishing such links. UNICEF recently signed an MoU with TRO for the setting up of transit centres for the rehabilitation of child soldiers. TRO and UNICEF will co-manage the centres which would be overseen by local probation officers. Once again TRO's links with the LTTE have cast doubts over how successful such centres would be.  And also over dealing with those responsible for the recruitment of children - if ever such action is taken.

Save the Children is another organisation that is building a rapport with TRO. In May, Save the Children sponsored a Sri Lankan delegation attending an international conference in Stockholm in Sweden.

One of the delegates, representing TRO was not a Sri Lankan.

There are a few non-nationals now  working with TRO. Some are married to Tamils living overseas. And two such non-nationals were working on the NA - both sponsored by a multilateral agency. One was a retired Tamil expatriate who functioned as the LTTE representative in the management team. Sources who have had to deal with the two are of the opinion that both lacked professional competence to take part in the NA and have questioned the selection criteria used by the multilateral agency when footing the pay cheque.

The LTTE's all consuming authority in the north east is but one of the requirements for gaining peace. Whether the south is willing to acknowledge and accept such power is still unclear. Tiger's actions since the MoU is significant - that whatever the south would like to believe, peace or war - there would be but one thumb print of power.

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