Secretary Defence Meets Religious Dignitaries, Administrators & Civil Society Representatives during Tour to the East

Secretary Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa met religious dignitaries and civil society representatives in the Eastern Province on Thursday (23) during separate interactive meetings in Batticaloa.

Secretary Defence was accorded a Guard of Honour upon his arrival at the Sri Lanka Air Force Base in Batticaloa before he was received by the Commanding Officer of the station, Wing Commander G.S.N Priyadarshana.

As the first phase of the itinerary, the visiting Secretary Defence met a cross section of religious and civil dignitaries from Batticaloa area during a luncheon meeting organized at hotel East Lagoon at Batticaloa. Governor, Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentarians and members of the Eastern Provincial Council and civil leaders were present at the occasion.

Speaking at the event, Secretary Defence attributed the major development activities and the economic boom of the region to the prevailing peaceful environment. He said that the Eastern region which was also severely affected by the 30 year long terrorist conflict is now enjoying the dividends of peace brought under the President's leadership.

He emphasized the commitment on the part of the people to preserve the hard won peace. 'Last four years we have been working to make the situation normal especially in the Northern and Eastern provinces', he said.

He also said that at the end of the war there were 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons, about 12,000 combatants and also a large area of the land to be demined, but as of today most IDPs have been resettled and the demining process is almost complete. Further, irrigation systems, road networks and railway tracks have been restored and upgraded in the two provinces.

He said that some groups were given arms by the government during the span of terror for their own protection from the LTTE, but as the war ended those groups willingly returned the arms following a government request.

Mr. Rajapaksa also said that the government had removed all travel restrictions in the North and East while removing the number of road blocks in those areas. 'We drastically reduced the military presence in the North and East except for a few areas where the security is of paramount concern', he added.

He pointed out the government's efforts to overcome the communication gap by recruiting Tamil speaking police officers and utilizing them in areas where their presence was much required.

Speaking about the tourism boom he said that at present tourist arrivals have increased and foreign investors are showing much interest in investing due to prevalent peaceful situation in the country.

He noted that the best way to solve problems is through dialogue and no external forces could solve our problems and their intervention would only make matters worse. He said that we have proven wrong all those who said that we couldn't win the war.

The Secretary said that some interested parties are all out to tarnish the country's image by undermining the peace and unity prevalent today. All communities can live in harmony and the President's wish is also the same, he added.

Those present including religious dignitaries and civil society members praised the Secretary's contribution in eliminating terrorism and initiating major urban development projects in the country.

A memento was presented to Secretary Defence in appreciation of his services to the nation during the occasion.

Later on, Mr Rajapaksa visited the Mangalarama Temple at Batticaloa town and paid his homage to the Buddha before holding friendly discussions with the incumbent at the temple. Minutes after that, he called on the Bishop of Batticaloa at his residence and exchanged views with him on matters of relevance to the East.

Prior to his return to Colombo Mr. Rajapaksa met with some tri forces officers who were present at the Air Force Station in Batticaloa and inquired into their work and welfare matters.

Religious dignitaries, Eastern Province Governor Rear Admiral (Rtd) Mohan Wijewickrama, Chief Minister Najeeb Abdul Majeed, provincial council members, Commander Security Forces Headquarters (East) Major General Lal Perera, high-ranking military officials and state officials were also present at the occasion.