Chamber chiefs on the ceasefire

Heads of business and industry chambers believe the CFA has resulted in some economic developments in various sectors but it has failed to realize a significant economic dividend in the northern and eastern regions.

Chairman of the National Chamber of Industries A.K. Ratnarajah said the CFA was a temporary arrangement to make it possible to reach the ultimate objective of a permanent solution of the conflict. He added that all the international goodwill, the tsunami and the hope of a nation, prospects of better standards of living and economic advancement could not overcome the breaches of the CFA, unwillingness to compromise, adherence to unrealistic objective and the divisive politics, resulting in the formal abrogation of the CFA which in any case had by then become a piece of paper.

The 2002 CFA raised a lot of optimism in business and economic fronts with tourism and investments picking up and markets in north and east becoming accessible. Reconstruction of houses, schools, hospitals, roads, etc commenced and local tourism especially to the north and east become very active. “Larger numbers of our own expatriates started to come and many of them invested in the country,” Ratnarajah said. “There was much optimism and hope about the future in the entire country.

There was also lot of goodwill internationally,” he said. Ratnarajah pointed out that it was not long before breaches of the CFA commenced and so did divisive politics. These started eroding the spirit of the CFA as well as the optimism that had been created.

President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Navaw Rajabdeen said the then UNF government signed the CFA with the LTTE with good intentions but it has failed to bring the expected results. The Tiger organization has breached the accord for many times while the then government followed it to the letter. The LTTE has used it as a passport to kill people and a group of parliamentarians and officers had used peace talks to travel overseas frequently. Rajabdeen noted that there was no significant improvement in tourism during the CFA as claimed by some interested parties. The hospitality industry is thriving in the island even after the abrogation of the Cease Fire Agreement despite some travel adversaries, he said. He emphasized the need to implement development activities in cleared areas in the north and east to bring economic benefits to the people who suffered a long period due to the ethnic conflict. This will only be possible through a negotiated political solution. Rajabdeen asserted that there was not much of economic growth during the ceasefire period.

Former Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne said the CFA has provided benefits to Sri Lanka and its people and it had the potential to benefit the country on a sustainable basis. He said the CFA has created an opportunity to leverage aid and grants and the goodwill of the international community to invest in improving the infrastructure while empowering and creating opportunities for disadvantaged people in disparity ridden areas in the island. He pointed out that the truce paves the way for Sri Lanka to become a preferred destination for investment and travel. With the low investment in defence and additional aid the key macro management challenges were being approached on a professional basis.

Post-CFA private sector investment in the north and east has also significantly increased in respect of certain sectors, such as banking, retail trade, and ICT. He noted that the CFA has provided an opportunity to exploit value adding regional networks especially in South India.

It was a window within which the parties to the conflict could have been pressurized by the international community and civil society to negotiate an equitable and acceptable to majority solution to the conflict.It has also provided an opportunity for all Sri Lankans to look at issues from the perspective of the others and reconcile to work under one umbrella within accepted national values.