Wigneswaran: Unemployment rate in North remains high

COLOMBO: “It is time that you granted self-government to the North and the East and allow us and our diaspora to help you and us economically,” Jaffna MP C.V. Wigneswaran told Parliament recently.

He made this appeal during speech on the budget debate.

He said: “The government must therefore focus more on the North and the East, which lag behind the other provinces in terms of development due to the war that lasted for nearly 30 years.

“Even 11 years after the end of the war, the Northern and the Eastern Provinces remain the regions with the highest poverty headcount ratio.

“While the country’s poverty headcount ratio, that is, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line, was 4.1 per cent in 2016, the Northern and the Eastern Provinces had poverty headcount ratios of 7.7 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively.

“According to data from the Department of Census and Statistics, all four districts with double-digit poverty headcount ratios are in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces.

“The unemployment rate in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces remains high, indicating the lack of job creation during the post-conflict era.

“Almost after a decade since the end of the war, most of the districts in the Northern Province have the highest unemployment rates in the country.

“According to the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Department of Statistics in Sri Lanka, the unemployment rate in Jaffna remains high, higher than elsewhere.

“The need of the hour, therefore, is a change of heart among the powers that be among the Sinhalese.

“A change of heart on your part would have immense, pleasant consequences. You must take us into your confidence.

“Today’s position as far as the Tamil-speaking are concerned is pathetic.

“After 11 years since the war ended, the war-affected provinces still lag behind the rest of the country economically.

“So, it is time that you granted self-government to the North and the East and allow us and our diaspora to help you and us economically.

“Let us together move this country towards peace and prosperity,” said the MP.