This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS MGOWER; TREASURY FOR SCHUN; MCC FOR 
DNASSIRY AND EBURKE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON CE ECONOMICS
SUBJECT: NEW SRI LANKAN RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 
AGENCY PRIORITIES: FIRST - FIGURE OUT WHO SITS WHERE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Ambassador met with the newly formed Sri 
Lankan Reconstruction and Development Agency's newly 
appointed Chairman, Tiran Alles, and COO, Saliya 
Wickramasuriya, on December 5.  While neither offered 
significant insight into the operations of this new entity, 
which will absorb the duties currently held by the country's 
tsunami and conflict-related agencies and task forces, 
 
SIPDIS 
Wickramasuriya noted that a bill will be presented in 
parliament in January giving the agency "authority" status, 
thus giving it significant political power.  The Ambassador 
reviewed US observations about the reality of concluding an 
aid sharing deal with the LTTE.  Alles confirmed that the 
coastal "buffer zone" would be relaxed signficantly. The 
Ambassador praised this decision, but said it was important 
to move quickly on implementation.  Alles will be a new 
contact for the Embassy, while Wickramasuriya is well known 
to us in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Investment. 
 Both are highly capable managers with strong reputations. 
The tasks confronting the new reconstruction agency, however, 
are significant, and will not wait for organizational charts 
and personnel shifts.  The upcoming one year anniversary of 
the tsunami and implementation of the relaxation of buffer 
zone requirements will pose the agency's first major test. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On December 5, the Ambassador paid a courtesy call 
on the newly appointed chairman of the newly formed Sri 
Lankan Reconstruction and Development Agency, Tiran Alles, 
and Reconstruction and Development Agency COO-designate 
Saliya Wickramasuriya.  The agency will assume all the duties 
currently held by the Task Force for Relief (TAFOR), the Task 
Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN), and the Ministry of 
Relief, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (RRR). Alles, who 
is currently (and will remain) head of the Sri Lankan airport 
authority, and Wickramasuriya, who is immediate past Chairman 
of Sri Lanka's Board of Investment (BOI), told the Ambassador 
they had literally just come from a briefing on what their 
empire consisted of and were very much in the initial stages 
of setting up the new operation, including finding office 
space and determining which GSL ministries and agencies would 
come under their authority (the meeting took place in Alles' 
private office in the building that houses his private firm). 
 While neither had much substance to share at this juncture, 
both expressed a strong desire to continue a close working 
relationship with the US on reconstruction issues, for both 
tsunami- and war-affected areas. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
¶3. (SBU) Alles gave the Ambassador a copy of the presidential 
decree that establishes the agency and names a board of 
directors.  Wickramasuriya explained that a bill would be 
presented to parliament in January 2006 to give the new 
entity "authority" status, thus giving it fairly broad powers 
and control over Government agencies and operations.  The 
authority would seem to be President Rajapakse's instrument 
to push more decisionmaking and operational arrangements to 
the local level (Note: Alles suggested that the agency would 
come under a newly formed Ministry of Nation-building and 
Development, which would be headed by the President. End 
Note).  The President has previously blasted the tsunami 
reconstruction efforts in particular as being too 
"Colombo-centric."  When the Ambassadors asked how the 
authority would move forward on establishing a joint GSL-LTTE 
aid distribution mechanism for the north-east (in place of 
the now defunct Post Tsunami Management Operating Structure 
(P-TOMS), aka the "Joint Mechanism"), Alles demurred, asking 
the Ambassador, "what would you suggest?" 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador said that the situation had to be 
considered on two levels.  On the political level, the 
political atmosphere is becoming more and more "poisoned." 
On the working-level, the LTTE and the working-level GSL 
agencies had been working well together.  Whether those 
relationships are still fruitful is unclear.  Whatever 
solution is adopted, however, it almost certainly will have 
to come from the bottom-up, as the current climate is not 
conducive to conclusion of an overarching agreement.  The 
Ambassador outlined US concerns about the LTTE and described 
the US Foreign Terrorist Organization designation process and 
consequences.  He suggested that working with the LTTE is 
particularly difficult, because one always has to keep two 
contradictory ideas in mind: the LTTE's brutal, thuggish 
behavior on one hand and the fact that it exists as a reality 
on the ground that has to be dealt with.  Often people want 
to go too far in one direction, suggesting that you either 
engage the LTTE and forgive all their wrongdoing, or that you 
don't deal with them at all because of the their terrorist 
activities.  Neither is the right answer, but neither is a 
solution easily identifiable or implementable in the near 
term. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The USAID Mission Director also attended and briefed 
Alles and Wickremasuriya about USAID post-tsunami assistance. 
 During this conversation, the Ambassador sought 
clarification about the status of the 100m/200m coastal 
conservation "buffer zone" that has created signficant 
confusion and delays in the permanent housing rebuilding 
process, noting that the President had told him the buffer 
zone would be "relaxed."  Alles said it would be relaxed 
considerably, but the final details were still to be worked 
out.  Ambassador suggested that whatever is done, it was 
critical that the decision be broadcast as clearly as 
possible, as widely as possible, to ensure that interested 
parties are able to move ahead quickly. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Alles has not previously been a main 
Embassy contact, though his work as Chairman of Airport 
Services has been positively highlighted recently as the 
airport has gone through a significant expansion and upgrade. 
 Alles is also rumored to be a close confidant of the 
President, and is reportedly a liaision with the LTTE (this 
is unconfirmed and he did not discuss it with the Ambassador 
during this meeting).  Wickramsuriya is well and favorably 
known to the Embassy in his prior capacity as Chairman of the 
Board of Investment.  He has a strong private sector 
background, having spent the bulk of his career with the 
petroleum giant Schlumberger.  While having two such capable 
people at the helm should help the organization overall, 
there are numerous issues confronting the agency that need to 
be sorted out quickly.  There will not be time for a top-down 
review and restructuring, while keeping its main work on 
hold.  The implementation of a relaxed buffer zone policy and 
the first anniversary of the tsunami will prove major tests 
for the new agency in just its first few weeks of operation. 
End Comment 
LUNSTEAD