“We have to find an alternative route to provide food for the internally displaced people since road transportation is impossible,” S. Divaratna, the commissioner general for essential services, said late yesterday in Colombo, according to the Defense Ministry.

Two vessels will leave the eastern port of Trincomalee as early as today to supply people taking refuge in a 12-kilometer (7-mile) coastal strip north of Mullaitivu, the commissioner said.

An estimated 250,000 civilians are in combat zones in Sri Lanka’s northern Wanni region and about 30,000 have taken refuge in no-fire areas declared by security forces, the United Nations says. The army says it has driven the Tamil Tigers from their main bases since January into a 100-square kilometer region in the northeast.

The government plans to send a second delivery of aid, including flour, milk, sugar and medicines on Feb. 19, Divaratna said, adding the sea route will be used until roads to the safe zones are opened.

The shipments will be sent under the flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has used one of the vessels three times in a week to bring wounded civilians to Trincomalee, the commissioner said. More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Feb 17 21:25:06 EST 2009

The government similarly declared victory here in Eastern Province 18 months ago. Though there are clear hints of reconstruction, the fear and lack of development apparent in the area reveal just how far the government still has to go to win the peace, even if its forces ultimately prevail on the battlefield.

“What the victor does after the battle will determine whether you win or not,” said Rohan Samarajiva, a former government regulator who is now a business consultant. “It’s appalling to see how little things have improved in the north and the east.”

The government has yet to address the cultural and political grievances that fueled the insurgency among the ethnic Tamil minority, analysts say. But more than that, the northern and eastern regions that have been the scene of most of the conflict are several decades behind the southern areas that are home to the Sinhalese majority in terms of wealth and development.

Without addressing the gap, analysts say, there is little hope of securing a peaceful and prosperous future for Sri Lanka’s 21 million people. “They lost their investor class, they lost their physical assets, their infrastructure,” said Sirimal Abeyratne, professor of economics at the University of Colombo. “People lost their skills.” More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Feb 17 21:28:15 EST 2009