A two-day workshop was held on the government’s comprehensive development drive and strategy of restoring normalcy to the newly liberated Eastern Province, ‘Negenahira Navodaya’ (Eastern Reawakening), on September 22nd and 23rd, 2007 at the BMICH. 

The workshop, held under the patronage of Hon. Basil Rajapaksa was historic in that this was the first that that all government institutions and agencies came together to develop a single province. The East is unique for other reasons as well, since this is a region where all three major communities in the country live in roughly similar proportions. It is also a province that has suffered both natural and man-made tragedies.

At the inaugural session, the Governor, the Chief Secretary, GAs and Secretaries presented their needs to the line ministries. This was followed by six technical sessions, allocated to the line ministries, where the 37 Ministries presented status reports on ongoing projects and the work that remains to be done, emphasizing the constraints and difficulties. The Ministry of Nation Building and Infrastructure Development and the Presidential Secretariat together with the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) resolved to compile all the presentations and summarize the presentations under the three categories: What has been done? What needs to be done and? What needs to be coordinated among the Ministries in order to avoid duplication of work?

All stakeholders were represented at the workshop and it was a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, develop partnerships and linkages. Parliamentarians and the Ministers co-chaired the discussions and were at hand to offer clarifications where necessary to issues raised.

There was a consensus among the participants that development should focus on all three districts without prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, and the proceedings were launched with the common understanding and appreciation of the fact that safety and security in the province has been established, that civil administration is functioning and that a comprehensive development strategy is being implemented. It was agreed that follow up meetings will be convened in order to coordinate all the development projects to obtain maximum possible efficiency.

The members of the local authorities present were able to clarify their doubts regarding policies and implementation procedures.

SCOPP made a submission elaborating its new mandate and involvement in peace building efforts. SCOPP also requested the Secretaries of the Ministries to respond to the request made by the Secretary General in identifying a focal point to improve coordination. Finally SCOPP requested all those who are involved in peace building and development in the East to forward relevant information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to help them in their efforts at building Sri Lanka’s image abroad.