Found memories of Delft Island – By Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne

(Retired from Sri Lanka Navy) Former Chief of Defence Staff

In 1986, as a 23-year-old naval officer, I received my first sea command as Officer-in-Charge of P 432; Colombo Dockyard-built Coastal Patrol Craft in Karainagar, Jaffna. It became my third consecutive appointment in the Northern naval area. I thought that someone in Naval Headquarters didn’t like my face! Anyway, I really enjoyed my time in the North and sailed the length and breadth of Northern waters, besides visiting all tiny islands and local channels in restricted waters of the Jaffna lagoon and gathering information about amphibious landing sites. That stood me in good stead when I operated with Indian Marine Commandos (MARCOS) during “Operation Pawan” in 1988/89 and subsequently commanded the Special Boats Squadron (SBS), planning and executing “behind-the-enemy-line’ operations.

So, as a very junior naval officer, patrolling the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and Delft Island area, which has a very large stock of fish and export quality tiger prawns, I always wondered why the Dutch rulers who controlled our coastal areas had named Neduntheevu (Tamil name) as Delft.

When I visited the Netherlands, in 2010, on a study tour, I found that a 750-year-old Delft town (also called Prinstenstad) had almost the same shape as Delft Island.

Now, I know why Rijckloff Van Goens, Governor of Zeylan (Dutch Ceylon) and Governor-General of East Indies, who served three terms here, from 1660 to 1675, named eight islands in the North after Dutch cities. (I thank Professor KM De Silva for his History of Sri Lanka).

The Dutch city, Delft, is famous for Delftware, Dutch blue pottery, inspired by famous Chinese porcelain and Spanish pottery and associated with the Dutch Royal family. The city of Defft is internationally known, today because of its technical university.

The name, Delft Island, was first used in a Dutch Government proclamation on 16th May 1665, providing protection for the pearl banks and chank bed fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Bay and the Palk Strait.

Delft Island is a remote fishing village, which is home to 4,800 people, belonging to approximately 1,468 families. Most of them are Roman Catholics. Hindus and devotees of the Christian Church of India are also there. The mainland is about 30 km away, and a ferry ride from the Kurikattuwan jetty to Delft Island takes about one hour; the sea may be very rough at times. The island is 8 km in length and 6 km in width; with a land area of approximately 50 square kilometres. It is located a few nautical miles from the IMBL.

Delft Island is the ONLY place in the world where we can see wild ponies, believed to have been brought by the Portuguese for breeding. I have seen some enterprising youth catch and train them for riding. So, you may see local ‘cowboys’ riding phonies on Delft Island. These wild ponies are mainly found in the Delft National Park, which encompasses about 4,562 acres.

When I was appointed the Commander Northern Naval Area (Comnorth), in 2010, I was determined to develop Delft island and help the people there. The Commander Northern Naval Area is a very prestigious and important appointment in the Navy.

The first Northern Naval Commander (then known as Commander Northern Area or CNA) was Commander Rajan Kadirgamar in 1955 (elder brother of the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar). Late Lieutenant Commander (C) E P Wickramasinghe, father of former First Lady Shiranthi Wickramasinge Rajapaksa, was CNA in 1965/66.

My staff, led by my deputy at that time, Commodore (then) Piyal De Silva (who is the Commander of the Navy now) conducted a very good research. We found the biggest issue in the Delft Island was unemployment. The majority of men in Delft Island are fishermen. Indian poachers catch export quality tiger prawns much to the consternation of the Delft fishermen, who stopped going to sea for three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) because big Indian trawlers crossed Indo-Sri Lanka IMBL and poached in our waters during those days.

The SLN arrests or chases away these Indian trawlers but still they come back in large numbers. Further, the Delft fishermen have their fish catch being depleted fast due to bottom trawling by Indian fishers. Very soon we will be left with a “Dead Sea” South of Delft Island, thanks to bottom trawling. That has already happened on the Indian side of IMBL.

My staff decided to help the women of Delft find employment. The Parish priest of the Roman Catholic Church, on Delft Island at that time, my dear friend, Rev Father Amalaraj, promised his fullest support. We erected a large aluminium prefabricated building near the Delft jetty. Part of the land belongs to the church but approval was granted by His Lordship Jaffna Roman Catholic Bishop for us to use it. We brought some used sewing machines which were removed from the Naval Sewing Centre (South) at Boossa, Galle. Our idea was to run a Naval Sewing Centre on Delft Island to stitch uniforms for the Navy and provide employment to women.

There were many applicants, but only 35 could be provided with employment. They were sent for a two-week training at the Naval Sewing Centre (South), Boossa.

Out of these 35 women, 30 had never travelled beyond Jaffna. Their excitement on seeing Colombo and Galle was unbelievable. Some of their parents accompanied them. They learnt to how to operate Juki sewing machines. Their instructors were Sinhala women, but language was not a barrier for them. They became friends. I was there on the last day of their training at Boossa. They cried, hugging each other.

The Naval Sewing Centre (North) was opened by the then Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake on 2nd Aug 2012. It was a happy day for all Delft Islanders.

The Navy Commander was kind enough to give a bicycle each to all employees. During the one hour lunch break they rushed back home on their bicycle, cook lunch, feed the children and returned to work.

Our Delft sewing team started stitching simple things like bedsheets and pillow cases at the beginning. They graduated to stitching overralls and camouflage uniforms soon. I invited my friend, Rev. Father Amalaraj, as Chief Guest, on their first pay day.

I asked the priest what they would do with the money. He had this to say: “If they were Delft boys, they would take the next ferry to Jaffna, spend all their money on drinking and partying, and return home empty-handed. But these girls are different; they will buy food for their families and frugally manage their money. In a few months, you will see them wearing gold necklaces and earrings.”

Since August 2012, the Naval Sewing Centre (North) has been the ONLY employment generating project for the Delft women. Whenever I visit the Centre, I remember Rev. Amalaraj, whose prediction has come true. We installed brand new Juki machines within one year to increase the productivity of the women and help them earn more.

Our internal audits have questioned the economic viability of the Naval Sewing Centre North because of the transport costs. But I consider it a very profitable venture. Its profit, in my opinion, is the economic wellbeing of the women in that part of the country and the happiness of their families. It is the responsibility of the state to look after such people in abject poverty if we are to achieve national integration.

You can visit the Naval Sewing Centre North, at Delft Island, when you visit Jaffna next time.