By

Rasika Jayakody

The Northern Province Investor Forum, held last week, was a landmark event for the Jaffna peninsula for many reasons.

It was the first time the business and financial community gathered in Jaffna to support the region’s economic development. Coming out of a three-decade long war and years of military occupation, such an event, needless to say, was a great opportunity for Jaffna to reinvent itself as a potential economic hub.

The investor forum also coincided with the famous Nallur festival – a major attraction for local and foreign tourists visiting the peninsula. The event was a clear indication that the authorities were swiftly moving away from the Colombo-centric business mentality, which restricts the country’s business and economic gains to the capital city and suburbs.

Another objective of the forum was to attract the Tamil diaspora to invest in the economic prospects of Jaffna. Since the end of the last stage of the war, a section of the Tamil diaspora always wanted to ‘give back’ to the province but never really got a chance from the previous administration, which looked at them with a modicum of suspicion.

After the new government’s ascension to power, communication channels were re-opened with the Tamil diaspora and they were encouraged to come back and support the economic machinery of the country. The investor forum was also designed to lay a strong foundation for long-term partnership with diaspora members who are willing to do ‘business’ with Sri Lanka.

The forum was initiated by Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, an SLFP stalwart who started his political career as a Leftist activist.

Many political observers dubbed Cooray’s move a commendable effort to uplift the living standards of the Northern community who silently bore the brunt of a thirty-year conflict. That was one reason why many business leaders and professionals supported the investor forum.

When Governor Cooray first spoke to the media about the event, there was a question as to how the TNA-led provincial administration would respond to the forum.

There were multiple allegations that the Northern Provincial Council was not making any effort to resolve real socio-economic problems, on the grounds.

Their focus was more on passing resolutions to push the central government to devolve more power to them, and to investigate alleged war crimes and human rights abuses during the final phase of war. Unfortunately, they had no genuine interest in the effective functioning of the provincial administration and addressing day-to-day issues faced by the people.

When asked by the media if Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran would support the forum, the Governor said the Chief Minister did not have any issue with the event:

“When the Chief Minister met me I told him that we are holding an Investor Forum and the CM said ‘good’,” Cooray said, adding that invitations had been sent to Chief Minister Wigneswaran and other Tamil politicians in the area.

During the event, however, Chief Minister Wigneswaran was the notable absentee.

This came as a disappointment to many as Wigneswaran is the key political figure when it comes to matters concerning provincial administration. Sources close to the Northern Province Chief Minister told the Sunday Observer that Wigneswaran chose to stay away from the forum, in protest of what he termed as the government’s repeated moves to undermine the provincial administration of the North.

Despite Wigneswaran’s conspicuous absence, several other TNA parliamentarians including Mavai Senathirajah, E. Saravanapavan, Dr. Sivamohan and provincial council members including Chairman of Northern Provincial Council (NPC) C.V.K Sivagnanam, Provincial Minister P. Deniswaran, K. Sayanthan and Sugirthan were present at the event.

Representing the government, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. Swaminthan, Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy and several others senior officials attended.

They were welcomed by the Northern Provincial Governor, who facilitated the event.

The Chief Minister’s issue, however, once again demonstrated the tug-of-war between provincial administration and the Central Government when it comes to critical matters concerning the province.

On the other hand, it reflected badly on the Northern Province Chief Minister who occupied a very senior position in the judiciary, as a Supreme Court judge, before taking to politics.

Courtesy:Sunday Observer