Joint Mechanism will work within a democratic framework –Dhanapala

Jayantha Dhanapala , Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat said in his presentation to the International Development Forum in Kandy , the structure of the proposed joint mechanism will work within a democratic framework. He said “ It will make key policy decisions over the optimum utilization of resources and address there construction requirements of the tsunami-hit areas of the six districts. All the finances will be handled by Government agencies. The structure will be called the 'Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure'.

Explaining the structure of the mechanism he said “This ‘mechanism’ would comprise three tiers: national, regional and district level. The high level committee will have equal representation from the Government, the Muslim community and the LTTE. The regional committees will have five representatives from the LTTE, three from the Muslim community and two from the Government. The District Committees are already in place.”

“There would be water-tight safeguards in place to protect the interests of the minorities, whoever they may be in each of the Districts” assured Dhanapala

Dhanapala also said “With Norwegian facilitation we have reached some finality to establish a structure to address the post-tsunami needs of the six districts in the North and East. This administrative mechanism will see to the infrastructure needs of the area within two kilometers of the coastline based on needs assessments without any discrimination whatsoever.”