Lankan Prez sets up task force for development of North

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has set up a high-level task force that will frame plans to develop the embattled North and resettle the displaced Tamil civilians.

With the Sri Lankan army poised to deal a final blow to the remnant Tiger rebels,President Mahinda Rajapaksa has set up a high-level task force that will frame plans to develop the embattled North and resettle the displaced Tamil civilians.

Rajapaksa has appointed 19 members to the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement,Development and Security in the Northern Province set up by him,an official said after a Cabinet meeting last evening.

It is mandated to prepare strategic plans,programmes and projects to resettle internally displaced persons and rehabilitate and develop economic and social infrastructure of the Northern Province.

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Other tasks assigned to it include coordinating activities of the security agencies of the government in support of resettlement,rehabilitation and development.

The task force will also direct and oversee the implementation of the said plans,programmes and projects of the relevant state organisations,including the provincial authorities.

It has also been authorised to liaise with all organisations in the public and private sectors and civil society groups for the proper implementation of programmes and projects.

The task force will seek,identify and apply innovative solutions to problems and constraints confronted in the execution of its mandate and regularly review the progress of the implementation of the said programmes and projects and will take immediate corrective actions where necessary.

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Senior Presidential Adviser Basil Rajapaksa,the brother of the President,has been appointed the Chairman of the Task Force with Essential Services Commissioner General S B Divarathne as its Secretary.

Other members of the Task Force include Secretary to the President,Lalith Weeratunge; Secretary,Defence,Public Security Law and Order,Gotabaya Rajapaksa; and Secretary,Ministry of Finance and Planning,Sumith Abeysinghe.

The Presidential directive appointing the Task Force with effect from May 7,2009 requires it to complete its mandate and report to the President within one year. The gazette containing this directive was published on Wednesday.

At the first meeting of the Task Force held on Wednesday,Basil Rajapaksa said that 90 per cent of the territory of the Northern Province had been cleared of terrorism by security forces under the guidance and leadership of the President.

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The highest tribute that can be paid to the war heroes is to provide the displaced persons with basic facilities,to resettle them in their original native places and to restore their livelihoods,he said.

Already,troops have taken steps to provide security to cleared areas and the government has drawn its attention to the security of the people,the Northern region and the country,Basil Rajapaksa said.

He said President had sent a directive on Wednesday to all Secretaries of Ministries to make arrangements to resettle displaced civilians in their original homes and to restore their lost livelihoods.

In the aftermath of the conflict in the East,the government had successfully resettled the displaced. In the near future,the internally displaced persons in the North too will be resettled in this manner,Rajapaksa said.