TRANSFORMING NORTHERN PROVINCE INTO MULTI BILLION ECONOMY – by Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam

At present, northern province is the most economically backward region, resulting from economic embargo for 25 years and war related destruction, coupled with post conflict neglect by governments. Unfortunately, there are no Tamil politician with initiative, knowledge or capability to get the region out of this situation into a zone of plenty and uplift the people to a life of prosperity. Growth index is calculated as a sum of consumer spending, state spending, investments and trade. All these aspects will be considered to transform the economy. With an intelligent, industrious and frugal population, it will not be hard to achieve this dream if proper guidance is given

Development projects can be classified according to necessity, as immediate, short term or long term or according to magnitude, as minor, intermediate or mega. Immediate needs of people of northern province are housing, release of lands for agriculture, provision of potable water, and job creation, either through state ventures or small scale self employment. Housing becomes a priority, as several dwellings were destroyed by aerial bombardment or bull dozing by security forces, leaving the people to live in makeshift homes. Houses will be built either as detached or as flats, phased out over the years. Provision of drinking water is next priority, which can be met by investing on number
of de-salination plants using the surrounding sea and inland lagoons in the peninsula.

Agriculture and animal husbandry are the mainstay of most people in the northern province, which needs to be given special attention. It is dry zone farming throughout the province, with water supply got from wells in the peninsula and from tanks through channels in the mainland. Precision farming method of Coimbatore University will be applied to increase the yield threefold, and pumps and sprinklers will be made available to the farmers. Advice on dry zone farming would be got from Israel and Tamil Nadu, both very successful in this. Breeding of livestock, especially cattle and poultry would be supported to produce milk and eggs at reasonable cost, as these are essential for growing children. Factories for bottling of milk and dairy products like curd, will be established.

Attention would be given to growing of rice, coconut and others like potato, chilli and onions which have ready market in other regions. There are vast areas in the peninsula, where the soil is of high salinity, and to cultivate them, saline resistant variety of paddy and coconut would be obtained from abroad. Produce from coconut such as water, milk and flakes would be value added for export. Sugarcane cultivation will be done in the mainland, and factory built to produce sugar and molasses. Export of fresh fruits like banana and mangoes, canned fruits, jam and cordials needs to be explored. Cultivation of sunflower and sesame for oil and peanut and cashew for packing would be done in the mainland. Palmyrah found in abundance would be used to produce arrack and jaggery.

With sea surrounding most of the province, fisheries and other marine based products should be encouraged. Help on fishery including canning, would be obtained from Japan and Norway, both very successful in this. Fishermen should move from present single day fishing to deep sea multi-day fishing, and deep-sea trawlers need to be given to fishermen at reasonable cost. It is said that UK is the leading country that imports fish from Srilanka, both fresh and preserved, and this market must be tapped to help northern fishermen. Production and export of salt, both bulk and packeted, would be started as in pre-war years. Generation of electricity by erecting windmills along the coast, as well as harnessing of waves be done, in addition to installing solar panels at various places.

Textile and garments – Export of garments from Srilanka are mostly to USA, UK and Germany, which market can be captured by lobbying the purchasers by Tamils living in those counties. There are few garment factories in northern province, and this number could be increased. Main problem about garment industries is that textiles for making garments need to be imported, which reduces the net export income. Growing of cotton trees should be considered particularly in the Vanni area, for which expertise will be got from agriculture university of Coimbatore. Together with this, textile mills will be built in collaboration with Coimbatore firms, famous for quality textiles. These textiles
can be marketed to garment factories in other areas or be exported to other countries.

Electronics and Machinery – South Indian states are leaders in electronics, and effort must be made to get companies to invest, to manufacture electronic chips. This needs skilled labour, and for it, institute to teach electronics must be set up either as part of Jaffna university or as independent body. Ten information technology institutes will be started, six in peninsula and one each in Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Killinochchi districts, giving free training to students in software. Similarly, an institute to teach automobile mechanism will be set up as independent body in Jaffna, providing free training to students. With assistance from Tamil Nadu, factories to produce scooters, trishaws and motor cycles would be built in the peninsula to supply local market in the country.

Industrial plants both large and medium sized would be set up in areas where raw materials for production is found. Cement factory at Kankesanthurai and Chemical factory at Paranthan were built in those places on this principle, but during the war they were deliberately neglected to ruin and not commissioned after war, with machinery pilfered by members of security forces and taken to the south to be sold for scrap iron. These factories will be resurrected there, and another cement factory built around Mannar, for cement based industries. Paper factory will be built in Killinochchi, the centre of rice belt of northern province. Consideration will be given to set up steel and hardware factories in the Vanni region, as these would be essential for infrastructure projects.

Medium and small scale industries will be encouraged. Tannery will be established to turn out leather products. Factories would be built in Mullaitivu and Mannar to manufacture ceramics, where clay is found. New metal based industries to produce iron and aluminium utensils will be supported throughout the province, in addition to existing ones. Wood based industries such as production of furniture, will be set up in the mainland, and reforestation in place of trees felled will be carried out. Production of biscuits and toffees, soaps and toiletries and bottling of mineral water from springs in the peninsula will be started. Storage, milling and packaging facilities for rice, chillies and spices will be made available. Instruction on benefits of value addition will be given to producers.

Tourism has high potential in northern province, which was neglected by the government even in the pre war days. Islands off the coast of Jaffna would be developed with cabanas, similar to those found in Maldives and Caribbean. Casuarina and Chati beaches and beaches along east coast at Point Pedro and Mullaitivu and along west coast at Poonagari and Mannar will be turned into resorts with star class hotels. Water sports such as wind surfing, skiing, yachting and boat rides will be started in shallow seas around Jaffna peninsula from Kilali to Ariyalai and from Pannai to Kayts. Cruises would be organised from Gurunagar to Myliddi, through Nainativu and Sambilthurai. To transport tourists from island resorts to Jaffna, sea plane service will be inaugurated from Pannai lagoon.

Infrastructure projects – Kankesanthurai harbour will be deepened to receive large ships. New international airport will be built in Pooneryn to land large aircrafts, which is equidistant to all major towns in the province. It will be linked by highways and rail to Jaffna peninsula and mainland towns. Four lane highways will be built, from Karainagar to Point Pedro, Kankesanthurai to Pooneryn and Nallur to Paranthan. It will be extended from Pooneryn to Mannar and from Paranthan to Vauniya and Mullaitivu. Jaffna to Kankesanthurai road will be widened to six lane dual carriageway. Existing railway will be double tracked to Killinochchi and branch line constructed from Navatkuli to Mannar. Light railway system with four corridors would be built to cover most of the peninsula.

Health facilities would be improved to international level, particularly in specialities of kidney, cardiac, eye, stroke and cancer, in attracting elderly expatriate Tamils to translocate to the province. Jaffna hospital would be upgraded to tertiary centre, offering services on the above and other fields. Hospitals with secondary care in all specialities will be established in Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Point Pedro, Chavakacheri, Tellipalai and Chankanai. Centres for shopping and leisure, similar to those abroad, would be built at all important town centres, in order to increase consumer spending, thus contributing to the growth. With concerted endeavour of local Tamils, supported by expatriates, northern province will certainly be transformed into multi billion economy.