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Letters & Speeches
As prepared for delivery;
Remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Evan A. Feigenbaum at the opening of Arugam Bay bridge
Mr. President, Honorable Ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I've come nearly nine thousand miles to be with you this morning to help celebrate the opening of a bridge in which we hope every Sri Lankan and American takes pride.
This bridge is a symbol of our cooperation.
But more than that, it is a concrete example of partnership and perseverance, an example of Americans and Sri Lankans pulling together in the wake of a very human tragedy and at a time of great national need.
Ours has been a long and rewarding relationship. The United States and Sri Lanka have been friends for more than fifty years.
And so in the wake of the devastating tsunami of 2004, the American people reached out to help.
They did so in ways both large and small.
Small grants helped to rebuild the livelihoods of Tamil and Muslim fishermen.
Americans sought to help repair structures, restore communities, rebuild lives.
Many of those projects are at last coming to fruition: Earlier today I learned about the construction of a water treatment plant that will serve the Pottuvil-Ulla-Arugam Bay area — a $6.2 million project that includes construction of the plant itself but also a system to distribute safe, treated water to local homes.
All around us, we see the evidence of lives renewed and communities rebuilt.
And so we trust this state-of-the-art bridge will serve the people and communities of Ampara for many years to come. We hope it will be a symbol for future generations of how Sri Lankans and Americans pulled together at a time of need.
Now, as I said, our countries have been close friends for fifty years. And so as friends, we also want to help build bridges across and among communities.
We want to help Sri Lanka end its long conflict.
We want to help it strengthen its democracy.
We want to help by promoting economic prosperity and market-based solutions to the economic challenges of our time.
This is a beautiful country for which thousands and thousands of Americans have great affection. Some have come here for business, some for tourism. But all have been touched by the people of this country, sometimes in very personal ways.
We want to help all of Sri Lanka's citizens realize the bright hopes of so many of its American and other friends.
Our vision for an end to the conflict remains a political solution that meets the aspirations of every Sri Lankan, including Tamils and Muslims, and an end to hostilities.
Strong protection of human rights by state, government, and society is vital to the future of a robust, democratic Sri Lanka.
We want to do what we can to help foster economic prosperity here:
We seek to promote trade and investment.
We seek to help individual businesses to prosper.
We seek to help entrepreneurs.
We seek to promote new opportunities for Sri Lankan and American companies to trade, provide employment, and offer opportunities for the local population, including here in Arugam Bay.
So it's an honor, Mr. President, to help my American and Sri Lankan colleagues open this bridge. I offer my thanks to Rebecca Cohn and all at the U.S. Agency for International Development for their dedication and hard work. And I congratulate the people of Sri Lanka.