AID/OTI OFFICIALS AGAIN VISIT KILINOCHCHI TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 002000 SIPDIS SENSITIVE AID/ANE/AA FOR MARK WARD, AID/ANE/SAA FOR BERNADETTE BUNDY, AID/DCHA/OTI FOR RACHEL WAX, AID/DCHA/GC FOR GARY WINTER, AND AID/ANE/JAKARTA/DIR SEAN CALLAHAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PTER CE LTTE SUBJECT: AID/OTI OFFICIALS AGAIN VISIT KILINOCHCHI TO RESOLVE LTTE "TAX" ISSUES REF: COLOMBO 01934 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Per State guidance approving operational/working level discussions with LTTE representatives and based on approval from the Embassy's Front Office, on December 9 a USAID Sri Lanka staff member had a meeting in Kilinochchi with the Officer-in-Charge of the LTTE's Revenue Unit and the Coordinator of the LTTE's Coordinating Office for INGOs and UN agencies. The meeting was requested by USAID as a follow on to a November discussion in Kilinochchi about a recent problem with USAID's tax-free transport of goods through LTTE-controlled territory south of the Jaffna Peninsula ("The Vanni"). The meeting lasted for two hours, was cordial but frank, minimally strayed from the operational issues at hand, and ended with no LTTE concession on the tax issue. As a result, the USAID staff member told the LTTE representatives that USAID reconstruction projects in Jaffna will be stopped. Emboff has raised this issue with the LTTE - linked Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which promised to look into it. END SUMMARY A New LTTE "Lorry Charge" on the A9 Highway to Jaffna -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In line with State guidance approving operational/working level interactions between U.S. officials and LTTE representatives, in late November USAID sought concurrence from the Embassy's Front Office to arrange another operational-level meeting with the LTTE in Kilinochchi. The meeting, the second in as many weeks, was needed to resolve problems related to a November 1 LTTE move to impose a "lorry charge" on trucks transporting goods on the A9 highway through the Vanni, the LTTE-controlled area that links the Jaffna Peninsula with government-controlled areas to the South. In the wake of a late 2003 meeting between USAID and the LTTE that put in place a duty-free system along the A9, for the past one year USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) has been using locally- rented trucks to transport project goods through the Vanni to Jaffna. Once the new lorry charge was put in place in November, the duty-free system broke down when drivers of the USAID-rented trucks were told by the LTTE Customs Office at the Omanthi checkpoint in Vavuniya to pay the charge. It transpires that only UN-owned trucks are not subject to this new levy. The First Round of "Lorry Charge" Discussions With the LTTE in November -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On November 24 two staff from USAID/OTI met with ¶M. Thiyagarajah, the Coordinator for the LTTE's Coordinating Office for INGOs and UN Agencies (Reftel). At that meeting, the lorry charge problem was discussed, and USAID/OTI staff walked away with the distinct impression that Mr. Thiyagarajah's office would deal with the issue in USAID's favor. Given that the meeting took place just a few days before LTTE's annual Heroes Day celebration, Thiyagarajah said he needed a few days to sort out the issue with the LTTE's Revenue Unit and that USAID staff should call him the following week. ¶4. (SBU) During the week starting November 29 USAID/OTI staff made ten phone calls to Thiyagarajah's office to get clarity on the lorry charge issue. Over the course of those conversations, it became clear that Mr. Thiyagarajah had not succeeded in getting the levy waived for USAID-rented trucks and that another meeting in Kilinochchi would be necessary. Given that Thiyagarajah was not able to deliver on the issue, USAID requested a more direct line of communication with the person best situated within the LTTE administrative structure to make a determination on the lorry charge. In the days leading up to the second USAID-LTTE meeting, it became clear that the Officer-in-Charge of the LTTE's Revenue Unit would be present at the meeting scheduled for December 9. The Second Meeting in Kilinochchi -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The USAID/OTI Sri Lanka Country Representative, accompanied by a local staff member who handles OTI's procurement for Jaffna, arrived in Kilinochchi at 11 AM on December 9 in a clearly marked diplomatic vehicle. After waiting approximately half an hour, the meeting started with the participation of the two USAID/OTI staff, two LTTE translators, two officials from the LTTE's Revenue Unit (including the Officer-in-Charge who did not give his name), and Mr. Thiyagarajah. While earlier meetings with Thiyagarajah had been all smiles, the presence of the Revenue Unit's Officer-in-Charge created a different, more sober dynamic, particularly because he was clearly the most senior level LTTE person in the room, and he maintained a fairly severe demeanor throughout the two-hour discussion. While he was always polite, he did not smile much and he struck the USAID/OTI Country Representative as one of the classic LTTE staff who as former cadres have been promoted without much training or education into a quasi-governmental bureaucracy. ¶6. (SBU) The USAID/OTI Country Representative started the meeting with a basic description of work in Jaffna, a brief history of the USAID-LTTE duty-free agreement, and a statement about the problem created by the LTTE's new lorry charge. He finished by saying that regardless of the reasons for the levy it was absolutely impossible for USAID to pay the charge and that USAID had not come to bargain over the issue. Either the charge would be dropped for USAID-rented trucks or USAID would stop transporting goods up the A9, in effect ending much of the USAID/OTI effort in Jaffna. ¶7. (SBU) The Officer-in-Charge replied with an explanation about why the charge was implemented, giving a lengthy explanation about the need to collect money to maintain the A9 in LTTE-controlled areas and provide security along it. He also described the charge system in a bit more detail, stating that Sinhalese-owned trucks traveling north to Jaffna are charged 6,000 Rupees per vehicle while Tamil- owned trucks traveling south from Jaffna are charged only 3,000 Rupees per vehicle. Later in the conversation and as the air became slightly more charged he talked about the large administrative structure maintained by the LTTE and the need to finance it through various means including the lorry charge. He also kept repeating that the charge was being levied on the transport company and not directly on USAID, emphasizing the point that in fact the USAID supplies continue to get duty-free privileges. The USAID/OTI Country Representative expressed some incredulousness at this line of reasoning and essentially responded by saying that of course it would be USAID money going to the LTTE and no company was going to absorb this cost of doing business on its own. He made it clear that no money directly or indirectly can go to the LTTE and that what the Officer-in- Charge was suggesting is that USAID turn a blind eye to what is actually happening (confirmed by a rare smile from the man). ¶8. (SBU) The meeting went back and forth in this vein for close to two hours and after some time it became clear that the Officer-in-Charge was not willing to give any ground. The only alternative suggested was that USAID buy its own trucks, in which case the charge would be dropped in the same way that it is waived for UN-owned vehicles. There was some discussion about the option of using trucks leased over the long-term by USAID but the Officer-in-Charge said the fee would only be waived if the vehicle registration was in USAID's name. When it was completely obvious that the LTTE position on the lorry charge was not going to change, the USAID/OTI Country Representative expressed his disappointment over the situation. He ended the meeting by stating categorically that since the USAID/OTI program is not in a position to transport goods on the A9 any longer the program will not be funding anymore reconstruction work in Jaffna. He received a "so-be-it" look from the group and left Kilinochchi. The Real Issues at Play -------------- ¶9. (SBU) In the opinion of the USAID/OTI Country Representative, there are a number of issues responsible for the LTTE's Revenue Unit's intransigence with USAID. First and most obviously, the LTTE controls a long stretch of the A9 and has decided that it is going to squeeze every rupee out of that control. It is unclear why the organization has waited so long to impose this lorry charge on top of the regular taxes it has been levying on almost all cargo since the A9 was re-opened in 2002, but it is clear that they are making a lot of money from the new charge. One LTTE realization is that Sri Lankan transport companies (dominated by non-Tamils) are making a tremendous amount of money servicing Jaffna and the LTTE sees it as their right to take a bigger slice of this pie. The point was made very openly by the Officer-in-Charge more than once. ¶10. (SBU) Secondly, the USAID position is weakened by the fact that as far as is known, with the exception of the German government aid organization GTZ, companies and organizations are going along with the lorry charge and paying it. This has to include non-profit international aid agencies and in some cases the UN. For example, in recent weeks the UNHCR rented a certain number of trucks to move supplies into The Vanni and these vehicles had to pay the lorry charge. Evidently UNHCR is unhappy about that particular incident but it appears to have made the payment. As noted by the Officer-in-Charge, the LTTE does not understand why USAID is pushing for an exemption when everyone else is paying the charge. This issue leads to the next point - no doubt the LTTE is extremely reluctant to make any exceptions to its new policy since it is nicely enforceable as it stands now and making an exception for any organization simply opens the door for other groups to argue for a special status. ¶11. Last, and in some ways most troubling, the Officer-in- Charge was at times dismissive of the USAID statement about its inability to directly or indirectly let money flow to the LTTE. On more than one occasion he mockingly talked about all the money the LTTE raises in the United States, presumably "taxes" on the Tamil diaspora community there that flows back into LTTE coffers in Sri Lanka. He seemed to be wondering why USAID is so worried about the material benefit issue if the U.S. government has not taken stronger steps to stop money flows from the United States. The USAID/OTI Country Representative made no comment on these statements and when the point was made two or three times in the course of the conversation each time he steered the dialogue back to the specifics of the lorry charge problem. Next Steps -------------- ¶12. (SBU) While the USAID/OTI Country Representative suspects that the LTTE people at the meeting think that USAID is bluffing on this issue and will eventually pay the charge, this notion is going to be dispelled quickly. At the moment USAID/OTI has four projects in Jaffna that need materials, and various options are being explored to get the supplies there. UNHCR has been helpful in transporting some of the items in their trucks but it is clear UNHCR is not in a position to transport all of the supplies. Shipping options will be explored and it has been suggested that possibly the Sri Lankan Navy might be able to help. A USAID/OTI grantee in Jaffna is talking to local government people to see if commercial shipping might be available. If it does not prove possible to get the remaining items to Jaffna, USAID/OTI will have no choice but to close the projects without completing them. For at least the time being, no new USAID/OTI grants will be signed for any kind of initiative in Jaffna. Unless the LTTE requests a meeting about the lorry charge USAID/OTI does not plan to speak to their representatives again about the issue. ¶13. (SBU) On December 13 emboff raised the taxation issue with G.G. Ponnambalam, a pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP from Jaffna. She reiterated to Ponnambalam that USAID/OTI will not pay the tax and warned that continued LTTE intransigence on this issue would mean the end of USAID/OTI assistance in Jaffna-a point that the U.S. Mission would not hesitate to make clear in its press statements announcing the unfortunate and premature closure of these projects. Ponnambalam undertook to convey the message to Kilinochchi. LUNSTEAD