Palaly and beyond
The reopening of the Palaly airport in Jaffna and converting it to an international aerodrome have been a long time coming. It was once a gateway to the world through India for many, only to revert to a military airfield for three decades of lost opportunities due to the northern separatist insurgency.
While the national carrier is not to be seen, it is hoped it will soon operate an air service that could promote greater connectivity between the two South Asian neighbours and spread its wings from there to South East Asia. Unlike in the case of the Mattala international airport, the entire cost of the Jaffna project has been funded locally and SriLankan Airlines has not been ‘ordered’ to fly in and out of Jaffna, but there must be commercially viable operations to explore for the beleaguered debt-ridden airline.
For instance, in June this year, this newspaper published a feature on the hugely untapped destination for Sri Lankan tourists of the state of Odisha in southern India where Emperor Ashoka waged his final battle and was influenced by the great Buddhist environment that prevailed in what was then Kalinga in ancient Orissa.
Using Jaffna to hop across the Palk Strait to the sub-continent of India should be an attractive proposition for Sinhala travellers to visit Bengal from where King Vijaya set sail to Lanka and other such places long neglected in Indo- Lanka relations. Similarly, Jaffna should be attracting middle income tourists from the southern states of India opening new vistas in bilateral relations rather than the hitherto established links with only the state of Tamil Nadu. Efficient rail links to the south of Sri Lanka will bring those tourists to fill the hotels there.
If the previous Government rushed into developing an international airport at Mattala with the hope of opening up southern Sri Lanka for trade, investment and tourism, this Government made a rash and irresponsible move in turning that otherwise unused airport to a rice storage dump. It was a case of humiliating the previous Administration politically, and cutting one’s nose to spite the face, economically.
That kind of cheap politicking must cease in Sri Lanka and whoever wins the presidential election, must carry forward the development of the Jaffna airport. The development of the Hambantota area might get a leg-up with both main candidates being representatives from the district, but that does not mean Jaffna has to be neglected.
Indo-phobia remains characteristically high in some quarters. Decades ago, a TAFAII ( anti illicit immigration task force) patrolled the Palk Strait to prevent Indians coming to this island. In the 1980s, the traffic went the other way with Sri Lankan refugees fleeing the ‘war’ on the island. Today, there are scores of Indians working in restaurants, farms and in the construction field here. Indian citizens can apply for visas online, but there is no such reciprocity for Sri Lankans visiting India. Jaffna’s international airport must not be just one-way traffic.