Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:00
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Relief programs in Sri Lanka have historically been undermined by political involvement and it would seem that even the involvement of a foreign government changes the situation little.
A massive protest was organised by Internally Displaced People in the north against what they allege are moves by a powerful Cabinet Minister to deny them the opportunity to gain a house built by the Indian Government. The resettled IDPs of Northern Province held a massive protest on Wednesday in the Vavuniya town against the alleged malpractices taking place in the India funded housing scheme for the displaced persons.
The vast majority of the protestors were Tamil IDPs resettled in their hometowns in Vavuniya district and they protested against Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, who they say favouring the Muslims over the displaced Tamils to give houses built with Indian funds. They alleged that the allocation of houses was according to the whims and fancies of the Minister, a claim the Minister rejects.
Some resettled IDPs participating in the protest said that they still lived in temporary sheds after several years since resettling. They accuse that wealthy people have been given priority in allocating houses while poor people who have resettled after many times of displacement are ignored. This is not a new situation and was most poignantly seen during tsunami resettlement where huge discrepancies and corruption took place with almost no financial accountability.
India has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to build 50,000 houses for the IDPs of the Northern Province. In the second phase of the Indian housing project, construction of 43,000 houses under the owner-driven model was underway with more than 10,000 houses already completed in 2013 in the Northern Province.
The grant was a massive overture by the Indian Government to both soothe the Tamil Nadu faction as well as build stronger relations with the Sri Lankan Government. One would imagine that the involvement of the most powerful regional government would inspire greater interest in good governance but that does not seem to be the case.
The most important element of providing aid is that it should go to the people who need it the most. Selecting the most deserving in such a situation is incredibly difficult but it, at the very least, needs to be done with good faith. Sadly political factions in Sri Lanka have long preferred to subvert State handouts for personal gain and in fact have been allowed to get away with this time and again, thereby creating victims within the system created to help the vulnerable.
This is not just limited to the 50,000 housing program but rather a common thread that runs through all relief attempts. Since the end of the war billions of rupees have been funnelled to the north with the intention of providing development but the equality of this venture has never been independently evaluated. Have the people who really needed the relief received it? Or was it given with ulterior motives?
Election results thus have shown that the northern people are not swayed by such attempts and if the Government is truly sincere about fostering community ties, then it would immediately put an end to such manipulative behaviour that simply sets the background for more violence.
