Dwindling Aid Slows Sri Lanka

By Amantha Perera Beneath a veneer of development, reflected in this newly laid railtrack, Sri Lanka's former war-zone is plagued by poverty, debt and lack of jobs !redit" #mantha $erera%&$

'&L&()!*!*&, Sri Lanka , (ov + ,-./ 0&$S1 - When the first trains in almost two and a half decades started running through this war-ravaged town in Sri Lanka in mid-September, Sinngamuththu esudasan could not resist the temptation to go and have a look ! repeatedly" #he last time the $%-year-old had seen a train on the track in &ilinochchi was somewhere in the late '()*s" +#hey suddenly stopped,, esudasan told -PS, staring motionlessly at the blue train speeding on the track towards &ilinochchi" .e was not alone" #he first trains on the &ilinochchi track, declared open by President /ahinda 0a1apaksa, attracted do2ens of fans every time they sped by on the northern line" 3athers brought young kids on bicycles closer to the track to see the train, and at least during the first few days, schoolchildren lined up at the newly refurbished &ilinochchi station, the train4s final destination on the northern line, to get on to the carriages" -t is impressive isn4t it,, esudasan asked as he watched the train pass by" -mpressive indeed ! the northern rail track is part of a multi-billion dollar infrastructure development undertaken by the government" By the 5entral Bank4s account, since the end of the war in /ay %**(, over three billion dollars have been spent in the 6orth on infrastructure development" #he changes are visible to all" #he A( road that runs through the 6orthern Province is a si7-lane highway, a far cry from the pot-hole infested dirt track it was for most of the last three decades" #here are new hospitals, new electricity distribution systems and

new banks" #wo recent 8"6" surveys, one by the 9ffice of the 8"6" .igh 5ommissioner for 0efugees :86.50; and another by the 9ffice for the 5oordination of .umanitarian Affairs :95.A;, finalised in une this year also found impressive progress in the former war 2one, especially in infrastructure works" Similar sentiments were e7pressed by 8"6" .igh 5ommissioner for .uman 0ights 6avi Pillay soon after she toured the region in August" But 1ust beneath the veneer of development lie the lingering issues of unemployment, poverty, food insecurity and mass debt" #here are new roads, but they don4t seem to have brought in new riches" <espite the impressive development spending, in the last three years, Sri Lanka has been struggling to harness donor funding for humanitarian work in the former war 2one" Since %*'*, three successive 1oint appeals for work in the region have run into a collective shortfall of =>* million dollars" #he 8"6" has undertaken a new needs evaluation and the ne7t appeal is likely to be released during the first ?uarter of %*'=, 95.A officials in 5olombo said" #he era of cheap aid is over" -ncreasingly it will become tougher and tougher for the government to look for development aid at concessionary rates,, said Anushka Wi1esinha, research economist at the national research agency Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka" Part of the aid slowdown has actually been blamed on the country4s economic progress" -n early %*'%, the World Bank categorised Sri Lanka as a low middle-income country, effectively limiting access to concessionary funding" #he middle-income status directly affects donor contribution towards post-war reconstruction, rehabilitation and remaining humanitarian assistance,, stated the 95.A survey that is yet to be made available freely" -t also pointed out that there were regions of e7treme poverty and vulnerability in the island" 9ne of the most vulnerable regions is the war-hit north" #he 86.50 survey that interviewed ('@ of the '>),$A' families that have returned to the si7 northern districts since the war4s end found that only nine percent had regular wages" 9ver AA percent said their income was based on irregular work, and over => percent of the families earned a paltry 0s A*** :>) dollars; a month ! less than onesi7th of the national average monthly income" And debt seems to be rampantB +A% percent of the respondents report a total household debt of 0s A*,*** C>)* dollarsD or less, and a total =@ percent of respondents Creport aD total household debt at 0s '**,*** C@$* dollarsD or more,, the survey found" E7perts say the slowing down of funding now puts the onus on the government to step

in to carry out the remaining humanitarian assistance work" #he issue of assistance is definitely one of the current dominant problems to addressing the IDP [internally displaced persons] problem,, said /irak 0aheem, who recently authored an e7tensive research study on protracted war displaced in Sri Lanka" +<onor financial support has played a crucial role in humanitarian work and now it will be incumbent on the government to fill the gap", 5handana &ularatne, an economist with the World Bank in Washington, told -PS that the government should first use the massive investments in infrastructure to foster growth in the region and build transport links" <evelopment pro1ects such as the building of roads are e7pected to improve connectivity and hence economic activity,, he said" Attracting new investors would work as a great boost to the two main income generators in the region ! agriculture and fisheries" 9ver (* percent of the provincial population4s income is linked to the two sectors, and over A* percent of the provincial economic output comes from them as well" .owever, both sectors still crave outside buyers who can negate the impact of middlemen who drive down prices" Wi1esinha said that government should be much more astute with development spending and should also look at ways of e7panding domestic ta7 revenue so that more funds could be generated within the island" #he 95.A survey said that its ongoing needs assessment survey will give a clear picture on the most vulnerable communities to help set priorities for aid and assistance" -t also said that things should change from the last three years, when there was a distinct separation between development and humanitarian work, with the government taking over the bulk of the former, and the humanitarian agencies taking the lead in the latter" #he remaining and current humanitarian needs should be addressed concurrently with the development assistance,, the survey said" But before all that, there should be sufficient funds to carry out the work, something that has been lacking"