COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
Chinese were due to commence a road building programme within the Jaffna District, which
apart from upgrading current roads would include the building of a coast road between
Mullaitivu and Point Pedro. He told us that the fishing industry was beginning to flourish,
harbours were due to be developed and agriculture was increasing. He added that the local
workforce would need to build up skills and capacity, particularly IDP returnees. Once the
infrastructure was in place this would encourage more tourism and one leisure company had
plans to build a 5* hotel in Kuyts.
A Senior Government Official for Jaffna said that the opening up of the A9 meant easier access
to other Sri Lankan markets but this had increased fish prices as much of it could be sold in
Colombo for a higher price. The cost of living in Jaffna had dropped since 2008 and most goods
were available in the shops having been brought up from the south. He mentioned that the
building of a new bridge on the A32 re-linking Mannar to Jaffna would open up a further trade
route. He was looking to develop light industries and saw opportunities in agriculture, fishing
and garment industries. One garment manufacturer had already sent groups of employees to
Colombo for training. He also hoped that an industrial estate would be reactivated, adding that
road development was already helping the local economy.
A Human Rights spokesman based in Jaffna said that the building trade was booming but
added that local workers were not being employed.
A Vice Chancellor from the University of Jaffna stated that Jaffna was becoming a consumer
society. He added that not one project was providing employment of benefit for Jaffna, with all
of the income returning south.
A Senior Government Official in Vavuniya said that there were proposals for an urban
development plan in the district. This would comprise of redevelopment of the A9 road into a 6lane
highway, a new rail terminus, the building of factories and a push to increase tourism in the
area. She added that the government have approached UNDP to invite suggestions as to what
to do with the Menik Farm camp once it was empty.
Tourism
A Senior Military Official in Jaffna stated that many tourists were visiting the peninsula, mostly
from the south of the island. He added that some ‗southerners‘ did not respect Tamil culture and
often upset the locals by camping outside, which is frowned upon by the local community. The
army had begun to hand out leaflets to tourists at Elephant Pass (the A9 causeway to the
peninsula) explaining Tamil tradition and etiquette.
A Senior Government Official in Jaffna said that the district was welcoming many tourists, up to
20 buses a day. They were flocking to the area from the south to visit Hindu and Buddhist
temples and other points of interest. This was putting a strain on the community as there were
insufficient facilities to accommodate them. Cultural differences had arisen which caused
concern and he had quoted that the tourists had been cooking under trees and sleeping
outside. Jaffna was not yet receiving many overseas tourists and he accepted that the district
did not yet have the investment to provide satisfactory accommodation or comfortable transport
facilities.
A group of TNA MPs said that Jaffna was receiving up to 15,000 tourists per week. They
complained that there were sanitary problems caused by such an influx and no hotels to
302 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.