I have a dream

By Capt. G. A. Fernando

(February 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) So the defence forces have discovered a seventh airstrip in Tiger territory. With the existing 11 in this tiny island, that makes a total of 18! Obviously, six of these ‘rogue’ airstrips were so well camouflaged that they escaped detection by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). Iranamadu was the red herring that attracted all the SLAF’s bombs. But the other airstrips could have been detected - and destroyed - if SLAF aircraft got airborne when the LTTE’s ‘mosquito fleet’ was flying over the south at night, then stayed out of the range of Tiger missiles (above 15,000 ft) while waiting for the rebels’ airplanes to return to their clandestine airstrips.

Given the cover of darkness, and unlike their feline namesakes who can see perfectly well at night - the Tamil Tiger pilots would have had to be guided in to a landing by lights or paraffin flares on the ground, thus giving away the locations to the waiting SLAF airplanes above. But that is another story.

Like the late and great Martin Luther King, I have a dream: That in peace time, after these airstrips have been captured and rendered safe (instead of being wantonly destroyed), the military will hold on to them for more useful, peaceful purposes. In the post-LTTE war period, the country will need architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers and a host of other professionals and skilled workers to bring relief to the beleaguered masses of the north and east. These airstrips will cut down valuable travelling time, even enabling officials and helpers to fly to those regions and return the same day.

I have a dream: That in peacetime, in keeping with the spirit of winning hearts and minds, some helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft will be converted into mobile government administrative offices, surgeries, and clinics to bring much-needed relief to the people. Aircraft like the Lockheed C-130 Hercules could easily land on some of these airstrips. ‘...They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks’ (Isaiah chapter 2: verse 4).

I have a dream: That when peace returns permanently to Sri Lanka, some of those former LTTE airstrips will be developed to accommodate general aviation (GA) - i.e. light aircraft for pleasure flying. It was a mistake on the part of governments, past and present, to have well-regulated pleasure flying banned by the SLAF. Arguably, if not for the ban, the LTTE wouldn’t have had total freedom of the skies over Sri Lanka. Surely, if a strong GA environment was allowed to prevail, any entity that did not conform to rules and regulations would have stood out like a sore thumb, with any suspicious aerial activity quickly noticed and reported. But the authorities, in their so-called ‘wisdom’, chose to ignore and ground all GA operators, while harassing them with many unrealistic demands. On one occasion, Dr. Ray Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s grand old man of private aviation, walked out of a Ministry of Defence meeting, saying that by killing General Aviation in Sri Lanka we have lost the capability of destroying these ‘toy’ aeroplanes (meaning the LTTE aircraft).

I have a dream: That very soon, in peacetime, a passenger could buy a ticket say from London to Koggala, Trincomalee, KKS, Ampara, Weerawila - or even Iranamadu! He/she would fly to Katunayake and transfer to a domestic terminal for the final leg of a journey aboard a smaller airplane to one of those outlying airports. Almost without exception, passengers would gladly pay a small premium on their fare to avoid the hassle of travel by road.

I have a dream: That in peacetime, the main SLAF base will move out of Katunayake to a well defended location inland (say Hingurakgoda), now that the LTTE’s aerial threat is apparently no more. Thus, Katunayake could be developed to accommodate a second runway, to allow increased and unfettered movements of passenger airline traffic, with a GA terminal built on the north side.

I have a dream: That in peacetime the SLAF will also withdraw from Ratmalana, the country’s first civil international airport. The authorities could equip it with vital radio aids to Navigation, like an Instrument Landing System (ILS), while leaving the airport to civil flying schools to conduct flying training to world standards. This would, in turn, save valuable foreign exchange, while eliminating the difficulties currently faced by trainee civil pilots in travelling to and from Katukurunda airfield for their flight training.

I have a dream: That in peacetime the dangerous, high concrete wall at the Galle Road end of Ratmalana Airport will be removed and a frangible fence, built to international standards, will be erected instead.

I have a dream: That the ‘Ruhunu Open Skies’ will also include south of Ratmalana Airport and the authorities encourage other aviation activities such as Hot Air Ballooning, Paragliding and Ultra light aircraft operations.

I have a dream: That in peacetime the authorities will certify some of our vast network of reservoirs as floatplane ‘airfields’ to boost tourism.

I have a dream: That in peacetime, the Director General of Civil Aviation will update the Air Navigation Regulations of 1954 and exercise his authority in upholding them to the letter of the law.

I have a dream: That the long range Radar Station at Pidurutalagala (the highest point in the land) that has been unserviceable for over 18 months will be brought back into service for the benefit of both Civil and Military air traffic control. In those days it cost over eight hundred million rupees to install this Radar station.

I have a dream: The private and civil aviation in Sri Lanka will revert to the way it used to be.

-Sri Lanka Guardian