Unemployment in the North and East – it’s time for action

Tuesday, 26 January 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The formerly war torn North and East of Sri Lanka have, for the longest time, been struggling with poverty and unemployment issues. Surveys have shown that, years after the end of the war, things have yet to change for the better, with unemployment rates in the two provinces remaining relatively high compared to the rest of the country. By the end of 2014, according to the Department of Census and Statistics, the unemployment rate in the Northern Province was reported to be around 5.3%, with under-employment at an unsettling but manageable 4.5%. Unemployment and under-employment was at 4.9% and roughly 2.3%, respectively, in the East. According to other, more ‘unofficial’ estimates, the figures are even higher, and scarier: By the end of 2013, according to one such survey, unemployment in the North was as high as 20%, with under-employment at an alarming 30%.

It is in this light that we welcome President Maithripala Siresena’s promise to resolve the unemployment issue in these battered provinces. Declaring open an apparel factory in Puthukkudiyiruppu on Sunday, the President announced a decision by the Government to launch a number of new investment projects in the country’s former war zone.

Speaking at the event, he said the future of the country is with the youth and the country can be built with their strength, utilising their energy and ensuring their democratic rights to build the nation, adding that many local and foreign investors have come up with investment plans for the North to help resolve the burning issue of unemployment among its youth. The problems among youth can be resolved, he said, by eliminating poverty and instilling spiritual development.

While it is true that economic well being is a major contributing factor in keeping the peace, it goes without saying that it takes a lot more to ensure that said peace is a lasting one. The President assured factory employees who attended the event that all their grievances would be addressed gradually, including requests to find missing relatives and release suspects held in custody without charges. The Government has taken measures, he went on to say, to prevent breaking out of another war, so that people in the South as well as North can live happily. Mere constructions and physical development would not bring satisfaction to public life, he said, adding that it was the Government’s responsibility to enhance ethnic ties and reconciliation and pledging not allow any room for another war in the country.

A noble sentiment, indeed, but the need of the hours is less talk and more work – literally and figuratively. Thus, it is heartening to know that the President has taken the issue of youth unemployment, particularly in the North and East, with the seriousness that it deserves, but promises have been made in the past. If this government is serious about doing its bit to ensure that conditions are not revisited for extremist elements to stir up anti-national sentiment leading to another long-drawn conflict, it is high time it turned its words into action.