Ceylon Today Editorial

Act against CKDu before it’s too late

01 November 2016

The Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) has become one of the most prevalent diseases in the country, with patients being identified in over 12 districts. Although many a research material has been published and has made the limelight in public, it is rarely that the matter is given enough attention.

Recently, the Ministry of Health announced that the Chinese Government has promised to assist Sri Lanka to find reasons for the disease and its unknown aetiology in order to find a cure. This definitely is a welcome point in the matter as it is about time that our own government paid attention to serious research and development, which is something we lack as a country. If we are to become a developing country, that is taken seriously by other nations, research and development in any given field, especially medical, is a must. However, it is also a field where we lack in.

Sri Lanka is mostly dependent on outside research material. For example, for mental health research Sri Lanka obtains it mostly from the Indian National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences. Likewise, other research materials that are put to use (rarely) are from other countries.

It is not because we do not have our own researchers, scientists and scientific analysts. This is because we do not pay much attention to the contributions they make in form of scientific research. For example, as mentioned before, many papers have researched, analysed, dissected and thoroughly investigated into the origins of the chronic kidney disease that has run rampant in the country. Many a person has sought answers in order to find a cure for the disease. Yet, our authorities simply don't pay any attention to them.

When our local intelligence has proven more than capable in studying a disease, it is sad the government is being more and more dependent on other countries.

China is expected to assist Sri Lanka in determining the causes of the chronic kidney disease, find cures, develop the skills of health ministry officials, provide equipment that will help identify the symptoms at an early stage and to build a database on identified and diagnosed patients.

A team from China is due to arrive in Sri Lanka in December to help implement this agreement. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Minister of Health Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and Vice President of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Zhongli Ding.

Although this is commendable, the government should pay more attention to taking into consideration the local academics. Obtaining the assistance from China might not be a bad thing entirely, if it is implemented properly to strengthen the medical research and development facilities and for the overall improvement of our health care system.

President Maithripala Sirisena, being the vocal hero of the farmers, has always been vocal about the disease and the havoc it has wreaked upon the agriculture sector of the country -- with the main cause of the disease speculated to be chemical fertilizer use. It is good that the President has taken steps to show that he is not all talk and no work; the Memorandum with China to assist in medical research shows that at least he's doing something. But one can also argue whether this is enough and whether this surmounts all the talk he has done.

Obviously not and much more can be done with regards to the matter. After all, it is a deadly disease that is not only threatening our population, but also threatens our economic.

Imagine a scenario where the land has become unusable to the unregulated use of chemical fertilizer and weedicide, farmers and their legacy of a diseased generation who have been rendered useless for work due to their deteriorating health. It will surely be the end of our country.

At the end it will not be the forces of international conspiracies or conflict instigated by extremism and racism that will destroy our country – it will be our ignorance of a singular disease that we allowed to wreak havoc. This should not come to pass.

Daily News Editorial

Books on war heroes

01 November 2016

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was chief guest at the launch of former Army Commander Lt.Gen Gerry De Silva’s addition to the latest of the books on the war, titled, ‘War Heroes killed in Action” has commended all such books written about the country’s war heroes to be included in present day school syllabi. Rajapaksa may be having good reasons to make this request, as the leader who presided over the end of the three decades long war, where, a sizable portion of any book written on the war will no doubt be devoted to him as the commander-in-chief.

Be that as it may, this also leaves one with the question as to which war hero’s account is to be selected as deserving to be included in the school curriculum. Prior to the latest release there have been two accounts written on the war. There was the famous “Gota’s War” and “Road to Nandikadal” by Maj. General Kamal Gunaratne. Both books, as in the case of the latest one, featured the Rajapaksas and those close to the former regime, at their grand launches, which also gives one a clear indication as to their slant. Now we are told that Field Marshal Sararth Fonseka too is going to write his own account of the war.

Assuming that Rajapaksa’s request is carried out by the present government and schools are ordered to include the accounts of war heroes in their curriculum, which war hero’s book will be the choice? Will it be an account written about one single individual or all war heroes in general? Will the texts introduced to schools depend on which government is in office? Will a particular war hero’s book that is already made a standard text in schools, be withdrawn with the change of government and replaced by one where the accent is on the adulation of a single individual as against men on the battle field who waged the real war? Naturally there can be only one war hero’s book for the schools. Or will there be a special committee appointed by the government to decide which book is worthy of being introduced to schools?

Be that as it may, Rajapaksa, true to form, seized on the occasion to pillory the government for what he sees as the shabby treatment of the the country’s war heroes. Riding on his hobby horse, the former President accused the government of treating the war heroes like war criminals in the name of reconciliation. What was left unsaid was that the government was pandering to the whims of the west and the Tamil diaspora at the expense of the country’s war heroes. The general tone and tenor of the speech was that the the men who fought on the battlefield and liberated the country were today being hounded and made to suffer indignities like being hauled before courts or thrown behind bars.

No one will dispute the sacrifices made by the valiant men to rid the country of a malignant canker and saved it from disintegration. The book has quite rightly honoured heroes of the calibre of the late Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Wijaya Wimalaratne et al. But there have also been the odd ones out who had not only brought dishonour and shame to the men of the ilk mentioned above but also left a huge blot on the tri services by their acts of criminality, as the investigations are unraveling with each passing day.

Rtd. General Gerry De Silva, we are sure, will be the first to agree that the bad eggs should be dealt with according to the law. The newspapers these days are full of accounts of ex servicemen on the rampage involved in murders, extortion and even rape. If these elements are allowed to go unpunished, in the name of protecting the war heroes, it will only bring a bad name on the entire army and tarnish its image in the eyes of the general public as General Gerry De Silva himself will readily agree.

The former Army Commander would also not endorse the army being used by politicians to act as their storm troopers, and what is more, to bump off their political opponents or get rid of worrisome journalists or those obstructing the designs of VVIP brats. Less said about servicemen used to perform domestic chores at VIP homes or as kennel keepers in the homes VIP siblings, the better.

Gen. De Silva, no doubt, would have been appalled at the manner in which a former Army Commander - his one time comrade in arms, was dragged away like a common criminal and made to stand trial before a kangaroo court before being unceremoniously thrown behind bars, all because he dared challenge the reigning political king.

It is therefore doubtful if Gen. Gerry De Silva made the right choice for chief guest for the launch of his otherwise praiseworthy effort in chronicling yet another account of our redoubtable war heroes.

The Island Editorial

Municipal waste

01 November 2016

 

Unsorted garbage won’t be collected in municipal areas with effect from today, the government has announced. Inconvenient as this move may be to the public, it is a step in the right direction provided all other measures necessary to make the project a success have been adopted. Separate bins and bags for different kinds of garbage will have to be made available. At present the public haphazardly piles up bags of garbage at designated places to be picked up by municipal workers who also walk that extra mile to visit homes if their palms are sufficiently greased.

The question is what the government intends to do with the garbage duly sorted by the public and collected by local government institutions. Are there facilities to recycle glass, paper etc and turn perishables into compost? Or, will all garbage in different bags be simply dumped together in existing refuse dumps like the one at Meethotamulla?

It is no use streamlining only the beginning of the process of garbage collection unless the end thereof is properly managed. Successive governments have adopted the despicable method of shifting the problem of municipals waste to suburban areas. There have been public protests against the existing garbage dumps in the outskirts of Colombo and moves to remove the trash therein to new locations. The government is groping in the dark.

The government has to reveal how it is planning to tackle the garbage issue before forcing the public to sort garbage. The law is said to apply to one and all equally. After all, that is what the present dispensation promised before the last two elections. But, in reality this does not happen. Members of the public who happen to have mosquito breeding places in or around their houses are hauled up before courts and fined in the name of dengue prevention. Such stern action is, no doubt, called for if mosquito borne diseases are to be controlled; no amount of urging and pleading will make people keep the environment clean. But, why is it that no action is taken against the heads of local government institutions and their officials for clogged drains etc which are ideal mosquito breeding grounds, in public places?

The Executive President’s legal immunity came in for much criticism and action has been taken to reduce it considerably. But, local government politicians and bureaucrats responsible for breeding mosquitoes are above the law.

Similarly, if an ordinary person leaves a bag of garbage in a public place he or she runs the risk of being nabbed and prosecuted. But, the so-called city fathers and their officials get away with the serious offence of dumping garbage in suburbs and causing huge environmental problems including the contamination of ground water. People of Meethtamulla say many residents including children are afflicted with respiratory tract diseases owing to air pollution caused by rotting garbage and poisonous gasses emanating there from. But, no mayor has so far been arrested for having city waste dumped in that area. It is time new laws were brought in to make the politicians and officials paid with public funds accountable for causing environmental problem and endangering public health.

Meanwhile, Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Faiszer Muthapha ought to take action to hold local government polls without trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public any longer. One may wonder whether the garbage issue he has created is a ruse to distract public attention from the indefinite postponement of LG polls the government is wary of facing. The Joint Opposition claims even elections to co-operative societies have been put off as the government has lost many of those which have already been held.

Minister Musthapha should try to convince his political bosses suffering from ‘election phobia’ resulting from their poor performance and unfulfilled promises that ratepayers’ franchise must be respected.

People are waiting for LG polls to get rid of municipal waste of a different kind—inefficient, corrupt councillors who have been sponging off the public. They must not be denied the pleasure of disposing of political garbage, sorted or unsorted.

Ceylon Today Editorial

Sampanthan’s Hope

31 October 2016

A large gathering of distinguished guests participated at the Deepavali celebration held at Temple Trees on Friday (28) where the guests were treated with traditional Tamil cultural programmes and refreshments.

Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan accompanied by President Maithripala Sirisena, Chief Justice K. Sripavan, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister D.M. Swaminathan enjoyed the dance and musical recitals performed at Temple Trees premises to celebrate Deepavali.

In recent years Deepavali, which means the festival of lights, has gathered momentum internationally with even a celebration held at White House to mark the festival. First Lady Michelle Obama who is in her final days at the prestigious house in Washington as the US Presidential election is round the corner, celebrated the Hindu festival with the Indian community with dance and music.

A Deepavali celebration was also held at No. 10 Downing Street patronized by British Prime Minister, Theresa May, where in her address she outlined that the Deepavali celebration outside India is a celebration to unite all people as one global family.

Excerpts from some of the key aspects of British Prime Minister Theresa May's Deepavali address delivered at Downing Street are as follows: "For me, one of the most remarkable things about this festival is the sheer scale of its reach and the universal appeal of its message.

"Look at India – over a billion people, speaking hundreds of different languages, following various different faiths – united by this festival of light.

"Look at the rest of the world, and the colourful celebrations taking place from Singapore to South Africa, Australia to Nepal.

"And look at Britain, where, people were buying gifts on Leicester's Golden Mile and stringing up lights on Wembley's Ealing Road – all in time for five holy days that are such an important part of our national life.

"When we analyze the true meaning of Deepavali, its relevance extends beyond India, beyond the Indian diaspora and even beyond the Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists who, in different ways, mark the festival. Its messages apply to every single one of us – whatever our background, whatever our faith."

The British Prime Minister's Deepavali message has clearly highlighted the significance of unity and integrity of the people with different racial, religious and regional backgrounds.

The Deepavali celebration which was held at Temple Trees in Colombo last Friday was also of significance in several ways indicating the determination of the leaders of the good governance government in maintaining the unity and integrity towards peace and reconciliation through giving due importance to the festivals of various religions in the country.

The Deepavali celebration at Temple Trees was held a week after the whole of Northern Province staged a massive protest condemning the Police shooting which had led to the deaths of two innocent Jaffna University students.

Though the dark era, haunting the North and the East and the country at large came to an end seven years ago, peace and reconciliation still remain a challenge in the island.

People in the North and the East played a significant role in ousting the previous regime and paving way for good governance. The people in the North and the East have placed their confidence in the present government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe towards fulfilling their political aspirations as well as solving post-war humanitarian issues in the two provinces.

Despite the arduous efforts taken by the present regime to stabilize peace and reconciliation, several unpleasant incidents remain a stumbling block on the path of burying the adverse past.

It was in this backdrop Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sampanthan has placed his confidence in the present government and at the Deepavali celebration at Temple Trees, Sampanthan has said that he was hopeful before next Deepavali festival a durable solution could be reached to the Tamil question in the island.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his address responding to Sampanthan said that the Leader of the Opposition's expectations will be fulfilled before next Deepavali.

Let us hope the festival of lights will enlighten the leadership of this country to get rid of darker areas in the peace building process and live up to the hope of all peace loving citizens in the country.

Daily News Editorial

Towards a smarter Colombo

31 October 2016

Colombo, the country’s commercial capital, will see a rapid transformation under the Western Region Megapolis project currently underway. The city will look different in just four or five years – scores of high rise buildings are coming up, new flyovers are taking shape and unseen aspects such as sanitation are getting as makeover. Colombo is already home to nearly one million permanent and transiting residents and the figures will go higher as rural to urban migration continues.

The city is the pivot on which the economy revolves and in Colombo’s case, it is responsible for a good part of the country’s economic performance. But for all its importance, Colombo has basically been an unplanned city with ad-hoc developments that had not taken future population and other projections into account. The Megapolis project is an opportunity to correct these mistakes and build back better so that the entire city populace will benefit.

This is indeed the goal of World Cities Day which falls today. This year, the United Nations has selected the theme Inclusive Cities, Shared Development to highlight the important role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion. Planned urbanization maximizes the capacity of cities to generate employment and wealth, and to foster diversity and social cohesion between different classes, cultures, ethnicities and religions. Cities designed to live together create opportunities, enable connection and interaction, and facilitate sustainable use of shared resources. Local urban planners have now taken these concerns on board not only in the case of Colombo, but also for Kandy, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Galle among others.

This plan is likely to be aligned with the new framework adopted this month at the HABITAT III Conference held in Quito, Ecuador which will set the world on a course towards sustainable urban development by rethinking how cities are planned, managed and inhabited. The New Urban Agenda will set the pace on how to deal with the challenges of urbanization in the next two decades and is seen as an extension of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed on by the 193 Member States of the UN in September 2015.

It is a vision for cities that are safe, accessible, affordable, resilient and sustainable, which is just what we want to see in a city such as Colombo. Under this visionary framework, city planners will also have to address problems such as crime, pollution and poverty which have taken their toll on hundreds of millions of city-dwellers. Over the next few decades, urbanization will be driven by several key initiatives - the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Agenda for Humanity, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

In the words of the outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “cities are increasingly the home of humanity. They are central to climate action, global prosperity, peace and human rights. To transform our world, we must transform its cities”. More than half of all people live in cities and planned human settlements, and that proportion is projected to grow to two thirds by 2050 when the world population will reach nine billion from today’s seven billion. Urban areas already are hubs of energy, innovation and economic dynamism. Using these factors as a template, city planners must design cities for the future.

There is already buzzword for future cities – they will be “smart cities” where everything and everyone will be connected via the Internet of Things (IoT) concept, although many experts have raised security and privacy concerns. In fact, a recent report issued in the USA predicted that cities around the world could spend as much as US$ 41 trillion on smart technology over the next 20 years. The market for smart city technology is predicted to reach US$ 760 billion in just four years.

Traffic snarls will be a thing of the past with driverless cars that can communicate with road signals and with each other. With city roads becoming virtually collision free, there will be massive savings in terms of insurance and health costs. There will also be no need to own a car when you can call up a driverless car at any time – which will also obviate the need for most parking spaces.

Energy will be supplied mostly or only by renewable sources. New powergrids will use two-way communication between the utility and customers to make more efficient use of energy. All waste materials will be recycled via solar-powered trash compactors. Most people will be able to work from home via always-on connectivity, which will further reduce the need for personal transport.

It is clear that the public sector alone will not be able to accomplish all these, which will cost billions of dollars in the long run. There is a clear case here for Public-Private Partnerships – the Sri Lankan Government has already announced that such PPPs would be sought for several transformational projects. The authorities should form a broad network of stakeholders to turn our key cities to smart cities using such PPP synergies.

The Island Editorial

Bond theft and ‘Foot and mouth’ disease

31 October 2016

 

Bogus champions of good governance, all out to save the Treasury bond thieves, are suffering from the ‘foot and mouth’ disease as it were. They are trying to defend the indefensible by shouting at the top of their voices and through footnotes in the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) report on the bond scam.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has sought to describe the recently released COPE report as a victory for his government. He is only making a virtue of necessity. It would certainly have been a huge victory for the incumbent administration if the committee of UNP lawyers he first appointed, of course under political pressure, to probe the bond scam, had exposed the fraud. The UNP, has, as is known to one and all, gone flat out to cover up the scam and save the then Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

As for the COPE report, the government MPs’ footnotes stand on a foundation of sand. We intend to discuss them all, but for want of space, let only the footnote No. 2, the linchpin of the government’s defence, be examined. It claims, quoting a letter issued by an individual officer of the Central Bank, that the direct placement of Treasury bonds has not been valid since Dec. 2008.

This footnote has suppressed the fact that the Monetary Board (MB), on Oct. 07, 2008, approved direct/private placements for all captive sources without any time limit. It found the rate structure not feasible because the rates were dynamic and, therefore, the Central Bank (CB) could not make direct or private placements. The MB issued guidance as to how the rate structure for direct/private placements should be determined; it stipulated that the Treasury bonds be placed at a rate not exceeding five basis points above the existing secondary market rates. This guidance takes precedence over the previous rate structures approved by the MB and has been valid to date.

Thus, it may be seen that the aforesaid footnote contains a half truth, which has been misinterpreted in favour of the bond thieves. Interestingly, it has led to some gender confusion in that the official concerned is referred to first as a directress and then as a male superintendent in the same paragraph! The letter referred to in the footnote, was sent to the COPE without approval of the MB, which has submitted all other CB documents to the watchdog committee in keeping with proper procedure. The official has, therefore, acted in a high-handed manner presumably for political reasons.

It should be noted that out of 26 COPE members, 16 MPs, representing the UPFA, the TNA, the SLMC and the JVP, have rejected the footnotes inserted at the behest of nine UNP members. (UNP MP Ranjan Ramanayake has remained noncommittal.) Here is an instance where the government has been ditched by its ‘yahapalana’ allies!

The government has, in a bid to protect the bond thieves, adopted the same ruse as pickpockets. When a pickpocket gets caught his confederates join his irate pursuers in beating him and then remove him from the scene, vowing to take him to the police. The thief thus goes scot free with a few bumps and bruises. It will be a mistake for the government to be entrusted with the task of prosecuting the bond thieves.

No sooner had the COPE report on the bond scam been tabled in Parliament than Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made a suo motu statement that the Attorney General (AG) would be consulted on what should be done next.

The Attorney General’s Department has been reduced to a mere appendage of the government and what its opinion on the issue will be is not difficult to guess. Before consulting the AG, the government ought to explain what has become of the CID file on the bond scam it referred to him in June last year to look into the criminal aspects thereof. We are reliably informed that it was converted into a civil file and shelved. The COPE report is sure to face a similar fate if it is referred to the AG. Madness has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result!

We could have reposed our trust in the Attorney General’s Department if there had been an independent, intrepid official of the calibre of incumbent Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe at its helm.

We hope that President Maithripala Sirisena, who has taken a principled stand on the bond scam, will live up to public expectations and appoint a special presidential commission headed by a sitting judge to investigate the issue. Given the politicisation of the AG’s Department and the police, the government in power is capable of manipulating the legal process and taking the culprits off the hook.

We believe that it won’t be possible to bring the bond thieves to justice and recover the losses the public has suffered to the tune of billions of rupees so long as the present government is in power. It may be recalled that the murder of Thajudeen would have been treated as a road accident death but for the change of government last year.

Meanwhile, will COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti, who has hogged the limelight, or the JVP, which is basking in reflected glory, explain why the COPE report has chosen to black out the statement Mahendran made under oath before the watchdog committee that as regards the questionable bond auctions, he had acted on Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s instructions? This is a glaring omission which has taken the gloss off the report to a considerable extent.

Weekend Nation Editorial

Northern developments may hamper devolution of power

30 October 2016

The recent statements made by northern province chief minister Vigneswaran, Pongu Thamil rally, the sword attack on two state intelligence officers for which the responsibility has been claimed by Aavagroup, an incident where a police officer was attacked with a bottle while he was trying to control a crowd and other acts of violence, all seem to be happening unfortunately at a time most crucial to the Tamil community.

In the aftermath of a bitter war a new government is in power with a promise of reconciliation and new constitutional proposals are being made before a parliamentary committee. Some of the matters vital to the Tamil community such as the devolution of power are also likely to come up for discussion both in parliament and in the public domain.

There are organized groups behind some of these developments in the north while others are sporadic incidents that can take place anywhere, be it the north or the south. However, some of these developments are incited by irresponsible statements made by northern politicians in the recent past.

All in all, the net impact of these could be impediments for the reconciliation process and possible further devolution of powers to the periphery especially police and land powers. These undesirable and untimely developments have also provided an ideal platform for those in the south who want to block any further devolution by way of reconciliation.

This could also be the greatest obstacle to the ongoing constitutional process which has up to now received the support of all political parties in parliament. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all political parties in the north and all political and social groups that are genuinely interested in resolving the long-standing issues faced by the Tamil community to do everything within their power to reverse this trend.

Ideally they should refrain from taking any action or making public statements that are likely to encourage dissention or incite violence among particularly the northern youth. The law enforcement agencies also should be advised to exercise utmost caution when using power in the current difficult circumstances

Peace can be very fragile especially in a post-war period where every freedom is given to the citizen while maintaining peace can be more challenging during such periods than in times of war. Hard won peace, however fragile, should be maintained in the name of reconciliation and if we miss this opportunity, resolving the northern problem and other constitutional issues common to the whole country can never be done and the ultimate sufferers would be the economy of our country and the entire nation.

Sunday Times Editorial

Corruption and political agendas

30 October 2016

For the third consecutive week, the issue of corruption came to the fore of public debate. The President fired the first salvo referring to the ‘politicisation’ of the Government’s anti-corruption drive. His remarks caused consternation within the ranks of his National Unity Government, especially the main coalition partner, the UNP.

The President was being accused of trying to ‘politicise’ the process himself by sending smoke signals that he was unhappy with the manner in which his own SLFP ministers were being questioned by the Bribery Commission for past misdeeds. These were his close political fellow travellers who have abandoned his bete noir former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he needed their support very badly, after all.

This snowball has begun to roll gathering momentum and to all but knock over the UNP now with the 2015 Central Bank bond scandal. It is the widely held public view that the party hierarchy was straining every sinew to protect a family that was directly culpable in this mega scandal.

The double-standards in the Government’s anti-corruption drive have been badly exposed by both the SLFP and UNP leadership. (It was a rather nihilistic approach adopted in investigating the bond scam. So much so, wild allegations have begun to surface and circulate justifiably or not that the UNP itself benefited financially from what the Parliamentary Oversight Committee (COPE) has found was a massive racket directly involving the then Governor of the Central Bank and his son-in-law.)

Why only this particular matter had to go before a Parliamentary committee when others went to the specially set up Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) is a valid question. The Bribery and Corruption Commission began its own inquiry last year, never to be heard of again. Many felt, even then, that this was merely an exercise to sweep things under the carpet and spin out the problem hoping it would go away. It did not, and instead, the foul stench of rotting garbage permeates the air.

Others might argue that given the fact that the FCID and the Bribery and Corruption Commission were tainted with a political flavour at the time, a Parliamentary committee was the better option. The COPE report, however damning, is only limited to making its recommendations, contentious as they are, to the whole of Parliament. There it sits. Now come the calls for a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry (which can take another month of Sundays of investigations). (That report too will also be limited to making recommendations while the perpetrators of this monumental crime will be basking in the sunshine.)

The UNP hierarchy may want not to know it, but the party has received a huge setback in public confidence, its once pristine image in tatters. Some compare it to the Bofors scandal that enveloped and later ruined the reputation of the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as ‘Mr. Clean’.

One of the early mistakes the UNP made was not to investigate the Central Bank’s sordid affairs that took place before it took charge in January 2015. There was a basic reason to overlook this. The newly appointed man at the helm and his immediate family had cosy business dealings with the previous dispensation. Thus, there were no inquiries into bond scams of the pre-2015 times, the pyramid schemes, the Commonwealth Games and Greek bonds, and the hiring of lobby firms and purchase of property in the United States. Not for nothing did the Central Bank of yesteryear acquire the nick-name, along with the Colombo Stock Exchange, as ‘The Laundry’.

All this, by default, has come back to haunt the UNP, as its coalition partner in the Government of National Unity has openly, and now more vigorously come to distance itself from this particular sequence of events at the Central Bank.

The way some Cabinet Ministers spoke in Parliament this week when the COPE report on the 2015 Central Bank bond issue was being discussed must make it clear to the UNP that these strictures were surely under the direction of a ‘higher authority’ who has quite categorically said that he has given a ‘blank cheque’ to his party secretaries to work towards forming their own SLFP Government in the near future.

The UNP has painted itself into a corner on this issue, quite unwisely. What a fate to have befallen the UNP to defend one man and his son-in-law against all the odds.

More burdens on people,more perks for MPs

This week, Parliament approved a gut-wrenching blow on the ordinary people of this country by raising the Value Added Tax (VAT), an indirect tax that hits every citizen in many different ways.

Nobody likes taxes. Yet whether one likes it or not, taxes are needed to run a country. But finding revenue also comes with saving expenditure. When the humble citizens are asked to pay higher taxes, they expect it to be shared by all and that some people are not more equal than others.

Just as Parliament passes an enhanced VAT into law, its members from all sides of the floor have joined hands in stoutly defending moves not only to give to themselves duty-free vehicles, but allow any one of them to sell these vehicles pocketing the millions of rupees that ought to go to the Treasury and the common purse. The pithy Sinhala idiom “handa athey thiyanokota kaagen ahannada” (when the ladle is in your hand, whose permission do you need to serve yourself) is so apt. They seem to have no pangs of conscience to trouble them in doing what they do.

At a time when the call is for the common folk of this country is to tighten their belts even further than they already have, this is a pathetic, condemnable show by the very people who should set an example in sharing the burdens of the state.

Furthermore, MPs have been given the go-ahead to incorporate Foundations in their own name and collect “gifts” and “donations” –in other words, bribes, to collect money for their future political campaigns in the guise of doing social service work in their constituencies. This is the very culture that the UNP leader once frowned upon and banned in his party, while in Opposition. But that was once upon a time.

Some MPs have also been given the option of choosing an SUV or half a million rupees a month in lieu thereof for travelling. Are all these ‘santhosams’ to keep them happy, and earn their vote to pass the proposed new Constitution Bill, while the ordinary folk will be even more hard-pressed to pay their grocery, medical and phone bills?

Can the Finance Minister say to the public how much the ordinary people have to pay for the upkeep of their Right Honourable MPs. If not, why not?

Sunday Observer Editorial

COPE’s many plus points

30 October 2016


Our Parliament seems to have done its primary duty by the Constitution of the Republic: an important oversight body, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has successfully concluded its probe in the Central Bank bond issue and submitted a unanimous report to the House after months of division, bitter wrangling, and histrionics.

Most importantly, the report is not a cover-up or glossing over of the issue: surely the largest single case of maladministration and possible misappropriation in our State finance establishment to date. Rather, the COPE report attempts to clearly describe the problem, unambiguously point to accountability and firmly recommend remedial action that addresses multiple aspects of the case.

The unanimity of the Committee in drafting its final report is seen by many as being as great an achievement as the comprehensive scope and depth of its findings. After all, the COPE inquiry into the bond issue entertained Sri Lankans for months with the internal tussles among its members belonging to different parties – tussles sometimes ending in dramatic walkouts and verbal explosions, all indicating the intense divisions and differences on both procedure as well as the content of the probe.

And this COPE process on the Central Bank bond issue is but the second with a previous oversight inquiry losing its way in the vagaries of parliamentary schedules and electoral tenure. The whole matter took an almost surreal tinge with a public awed by the sheer enormity of the apparent financial scam and bemused by a web of seemingly interlocking business and political interests. The process dragged on for so long with such confusion that many Sri Lankans were reminded of the brazen cover-ups of similarly mighty – but yet to be proven – scams during the previous regime that was overthrown mainly on issues of corruption and authoritarianism.

Huge credit must go to the chairperson of COPE, Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti, for sticking to his arduous task of managing the proceedings and building consensus in the Committee when no one else thought it was possible. The fact that Mr. Handunnetti is a member of the Opposition perhaps helped in a situation where the two largest parliamentary parties, traditionally the competing rival power blocs, are both in government and subject to the ‘oversight’ of the Committee.

Adding to Mr. Handennetti’s historic role is that he represents a political movement that yet prides in its ‘revolutionary’ or social transformative mission and offers itself as a radical alternative to even the liberal democratic parliamentary system itself. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, however, does acknowledge that its current strategy is to establish its popular electoral credentials in the liberal parliamentary arena. Thus, Mr. Handunnetti’s accomplishment should be celebrated by citizens as a happy maturing of this once insurgent movement in its practice of the liberal democracy that it once rejected wholesale.

However, the COPE Chairperson’s management of the Committee process would not have succeeded if the bulk of the Committee’s membership, namely those parliamentarians of the SLFP and UNP coalition partners, had not negotiated hard among themselves to resolve party differences on this case in order to achieve consensus. But resolve the differences they did, much to the chagrin of those failed politicians and factions waiting in the wings to take advantage of coalition infighting.

Thus, ultimately, the Government, especially the Prime Minister as leader of the government parliamentary group, may also take major credit for the consensus finally achieved by COPE.

Proof of the pudding, however, is in its consumption and enjoyment. The COPE report now will be debated in the House and studied by the financial institutions as well as the law enforcement agencies. The whole world – including Sri Lankans voters, local business as well as foreign groups – will be watching to see how far the proposed investigations and prosecutions will go to bring about justice. And justice must be seen to have been done by a closely watching citizenry, ever ready through bitter experience, to believe the worst of the politicians whom they elect.

War on VAW

Can cricket heroism militate against real violence? We are about to learn as we watch two of our greatest cricketing legends bravely take up a burning social cause.

Violence Against Women is now a globally recognised social phenomenon which the United Nations is committed to curbing and, finally, ending. Perhaps the most significant dimension of this criminal phenomenon is that it is one which can be largely delineated according to gender in terms of perpetrator and victim. That is, by far, the vast number of cases of VAW is acts of violence perpetrated by men against women. Indeed, the reverse is so rare that the news media will seize on such an incident just as much as they would highlight ‘man eats dog’ over ‘dog eats man’.

Cricketing greats Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara need no introduction other than as the newly appointed brand ambassadors in the United Nations’. Both of them are recognised for their achievements as sportsmen and professionals. They are also known for their integrity in the face of the corrupting whirlwinds of the global sports industry.

Their fame as sports men will surely drive home the importance to other men to listen to their vital message against violence against women. May they be role models in their gentlemanly behaviour as much as they are emulated for their sporting endeavours.

Sunday Island Editorial

COPE and the bonds

30 October 2016
 

Predictably, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has attempted to put the best spin possible on the COPE report on the Central Bank bond scam that has seriously embarrassed both him personally and the UNP. But he is right when he says that such a report would not have been possible under the previous dispensation. That is why the majority of the country’s voters ousted the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and replaced it with the Maithripala Sirisena presidency. But while the existing order may be arguably better than what preceded it, there is no debate on the fact that it has woefully fallen short of expectations. Public opinion has absolved President Sirisena from the goings on in the Central Bank because he dug in his heels and refused to reappoint Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Bank despite the prime minister’s best efforts. It is fortunate for this country which sadly lacks good people for the jobs that must be done that Dr. Indrajit Commaraswamy, albeit reluctantly, accepted the position.

Whatever the connections, Mahendran should not have been appointed Governor in the first instance. If his son-in-law owned a company dealing in the bond market regulated by the Central Bank, there was a clear conflict of interest in such an appointment. Saying that former Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal’s sister was a director of Perpetual Treasuries owned by Arjun Aloysious, Mahendran’s son-in-law, does not in any way mitigate the offence. It merely demonstrates that bad appointments, unfortunately, have a long history in this country and both Tweedledum and Tweedledee must equally bear responsibility for that reality. Eventually the already overburdened taxpayer must pick up the tab for what their rulers, coming to office solemnly pledging to serve the people, do. Whatever the heat generated and hijinks that preceded the eventual presentation of the COPE report, the silver lining is that the oversight committee was chaired by an opposition MP. That was in the best tradition of parliamentary government - something that had been too often overlooked in the past.

Whether the promised debate on the COPE report will be possible before the presentation of the 2017 budget on November 10 is uncertain. The so-called joint opposition has pressed for this but whether it would be forthcoming remains to be seen. The country is only too well aware of the ongoing foot dragging on the long overdue local government elections and the skills of their leaders, of whatever political hue, in putting off what they’d rather not confront is very well known. Once the budget debate begins and it goes through all its stages with the prolonged discussions, a lot of time will pass. By then much of the heat generated in final stages of the COPE proceedings and the presentation of the report would have dissipated. According to yesterday’s newspapers, Mahendran has been held "directly responsible" for what happened. The recommendations, apparently, have been unanimously approved though the UNP members of the committee have included various footnotes that are part of the report. They have been accused of attempting to dilute the report by this device. Given their anxiety to protect Mahendran, this is not unlikely.

The prime minister said that the COPE report must be sent to the Attorney General and his advice on what must follow be obtained. There has been at least one complaint on the bond issue to one of the special bodies set up to investigate various frauds. But it is doubtful that the agency concerned acted with the same alacrity in this matter as it did in others involving personalities of the previous dispensation where statements were recorded, suspects arrested, taken to courts and remanded. Functionaries of the previous regime have alleged witch hunts against them and posed for the cameras displaying their manacles and broad smiles. Most of them have been bailed out after a few days in remand. While it was reported that Mahendran appeared before COPE and answered questions put to him, we do not know whether he was summoned by any other investigatory agency although a complaint had been made about the bond matter. He was certainly not arrested, manacled and remanded as were loyalists of the previous regime.

The COPE report will now be published and will include the Auditor General’s (AG) report on the bond issues. There have been allegations that there were attempt to pressure the AG to make changes in his report which was denied. In any event it is clear that there have been no changes in that report and the original stands. There are questions in the public mind on how billions of rupees had been loaned to Perpetual Treasuries without security to enable the company to purchase large tranches of government bonds to be re-sold very quickly in the secondary market. How this happened would have hopefully been explained in the COPE report. Whether the company had insider information or not will be very hard to establish. Patterns of purchases may be indicators but not conclusive proof. But the slightest doubt existing on these matters is unacceptable and that is why Mahendran’s appointment as Governor, while his son-in-law’s firm was a bond dealer, was highly improper. As threadbare as the cliché may be, justice must not only be done but be seen to be done. Given the published figures of the magnitude of the profits made by Perpetual running into the billions, suspicions are inevitable.

The media has been faulted for publishing details of proceedings of a parliamentary committee before its report had been released. There is no doubt that such information has been released by members of the committee itself. Before rapping the Press for publishing such reports, it would be useful for critics to turn the lamp inwards and deal with the sources of the ‘leaks’ who are no less than ‘honorable’ Members of Parliament. There has been talk that proceedings of parliamentary committees, like the proceedings of the House itself, will be opened to the press. But nothing tangible in this regard has happened. There are pros and cons on both sides of this matter that merits careful examination before any final decision is made.

Ceylon Today Editorial

Do what we can do best in sports

29 October 2016

Recently, the Education Minister was heard saying that the government was going to have more sports schools around the country. This would be immensely helpful for the nation if the programme was planned on some scale to benefit the country as well as those going to pursue sports.

The government has learnt that infrastructure is an immediate need to promote the country internationally. As with roads, airports, harbour building there are many more ways to show the world that a country is advancing and sports is an important aspect of this. Most Asian countries took a long time to realize this. If you look at countries such as Japan when caught in the 2nd World War and crushed by the Americans, they came out of it clinging on to their aggressor with an all-round plan that included embracing the American way of thinking. They also discovered sports the way Americans thought and played it. Soon Americans recognized Japanese sports stars especially their baseball players.

Sports were a very highly regarded activity in Japan and the Samurai, were a clan that were highly skilled riders and archers that happened to be paid handsomely for their favours to various courts that they agreed to serve. It was through them that martial arts became a widespread activity that could be regarded as a sport.

The Western sporting influence hit Japan in the 1870s with baseball, soccer, basketball and many more including cricket being introduced to no avail. But it was soon after the World War II that the Japanese took to professional sports with boxing at the helm. And they soon had many world champions by 1970.

By the 1960s Japanese sports culture had grown steadily to be recognized by world sports governing bodies like the IOC to allow the 1964 Olympics to take place in Japan. Japan was the first non-Western nation to hold the event.
Sri Lanka is an Asian country like Japan, Western sports being introduced there almost simultaneously in the early 19th century. South Korea is another Asian country which began professional sports quite recently but has grown in wide proportions due to the government helping with the sport culture with clubs encouraging sports lovers to join these and do serious sporting activity getting involved in it thoroughly.

South Korea became number three medal winner at the 2012 London Olympics. They first took part in an Olympic games in 1948 and since then have gathered 243 medals up to 2016. Even China who began Olympic activity after Sri Lanka is doing better today and advocates professional sports. All these three Asian giants are doing well due to one thing and that is thinking of sports purely from a professional point of view.

America by far is the place where the standards of any sport they indulge in is taken seriously and played professionally. Even when they play it in a park or on the beach games such as basketball, volleyball etc. they play it for money and that is how they improve their game getting better at skills, doing it with other professionals. America has the best sports infrastructure in the whole world at any level. Most of their schools have no shortages of infrastructure; it is good if the officials read this description given about the way America goes about attending to their sports activity to remain on top.

There is a saying that most professional international sports clubs would kill to have the facilities American Colleges afford. It clearly shows the interest they offer its students to become competitive in sports. A quotation from Quora on line news carrier says, "There's no shortage of sports infrastructure in the US. Everywhere you go, no matter how big or small the community, you'll see basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, football fields, soccer fields. Every middle school has a track and a big open space where you can play anything. Every high school has organized facilities – at the minimum, a big field that hosts football, soccer, field hockey, baseball, at the most, separate fields for each of those sports, with indoor training and practice facilities. And basketball courts, sometimes multiple courts, are a commonality.

The best sports offered by the American schools do not include track and field as with the Sri Lankans inter-house meets. Building athletes is the major issue, first was to have the infrastructure and then knowing their limitations the Asian giants chose the sport they could be competitive in at the Olympics and win medals. Table tennis, gymnastics, badminton etc. were the sports, and especially with their big populations they could easily afford to do this. Australia having a population similar to Sri Lanka, they too do well in events like swimming, team games, especially women's, because they are out to win medals. The programme for building sports schools should necessarily have the basic thinking on these lines to build up athletes as Sri Lanka did with the Susanthika case and got her to get that Olympic achievement, train the minimum best to achieve the maximum possible.

Daily News Editorial

Towards better economic prospects

29 October 2016

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made a very assertive and bold statement in Parliament that the Government will not let the debt burden fall onto the shoulders of the next generation. No Sri Lankan leader has made such a clear-cut statement on this vexed issue that has adversely affected the economy.

All Governments have obtained loans from foreign countries and agencies, mainly because financing is often not available locally. Governments resort to this practice to speed up development projects, lest they be delayed while waiting for local funds to flow in. However, it is generally understood that such loans should only be obtained for urgent and essential development projects.

This principle was violated with impunity by the previous regime, which borrowed heavily for “white elephant” projects such as the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and the Magampura (Hambantota) Port. Since these projects hardly make any money, at the present rate of payback it will take hundreds of years to end the loan commitment.

This is indeed a bleak prospect and some “thinking outside the box” was clearly in order. From the time they came to power in January 2015, both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have stressed the importance of turning these two white elephants to viable entities.

Now the Government has embarked on just such a step, with the Prime Minister’s announcement of initiating a Public-Private Partnership for the Hambantota port and the Mattala airport for developing the area as an international air-sea hub. Along with expanded the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo Port, Western Region Megapolis and the Colombo International Financial City, this is projected to save US$ 1 billion the country was about to lose, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has said. Chinese, Korean and Japanese investors have expressed strong interest in investing in the special economic zone to be put up in 15,000 acres in Hambantota.

Presenting details of the Government’s 1,500 day economic development programme, the Prime Minister added that a considerable share of the country’s debt could be reduced in this manner. This is a victory for the country’s economy and the people who expect some relief from the High Cost of Living. The Government has explained that the proposed VAT increase to 15 percent to partially offset the debt burden will only be a temporary measure, until adequate funds are generated locally, making indirect taxes such as VAT unnecessary. We hope that this day will dawn sooner rather than later.

This is not the only highlight of the Premier’s path breaking speech – he explained that revolutionary thinking, bold policies and initiatives are required to take forward Sri Lanka’s economy. We should let go of stereotype and hackneyed ideas and embrace bold new initiatives. Trade and investment will be the keys to a more prosperous future. This is where the proposed (and much misunderstood) Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, Free Trade Agreements with China and Singapore and the proposed restoration of the European Union’s GSP Plus facility for exports come into play. It is vital to develop our exports which are hovering around US$ 11 billion at present by using such initiatives. There will also be a campaign for securing more Foreign Direct Investment and tourist arrivals. The key driver for all these initiatives is Sri Lanka’s strategic position as a gateway to South Asia.

The Prime Minister, elaborating on what he called the “third generation” of economic reforms (after the first and second generation of economic reforms initiated by Presidents J.R. Jayewardene and Ranasinghe Premadasa), said the Government’s aim is to put the income potential of Sri Lankans on a faster trajectory by doubling the current level of Per Capita Income. However, at the current rate of 5% economic growth it will only be achieved in year 2033 – personal income levels can be doubled by 2025 only if the growth rate is 7% per annum. The above measures will go a long way towards achieving this target.

Sri Lanka must align itself with future trends to move forward – the digital and knowledge economy should be a priority. The modernization of education will play a key role in this regard. Hence the Government’s plan to distribute tabs among A/L students and also have a limited number of “smart classrooms” with digital interactive screens with a view to expansion islandwide. In parallel, the Government has already taken measures to make education compulsory until Year 13.

We must heed the lessons of the past in order to secure our future. As the Prime Minister has rightly pointed out, Sri Lanka has missed many opportunities to achieve truly viable economic success in the past 68 years following Independence. We should not let this opportunity before us slip once again.

In the Prime Minister’s own words, “we need to focus on the path forward, on our ability to compete successfully in a dynamic global market place and carve out our niche among the prosperous nations of the world”.

The Island Editorial

COPE report out; action needed

29 October 2016

 

The much-awaited COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) report on the Central Bank bond scam has been released at last. It is being described as damning, but, we reckon, it is not damning enough.

The COPE report has, as we reported last Friday, reveals that there has been a bond scam and holds the then Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran responsible. It has also called for legal action against the culprits and recovering the losses the state has suffered because of them.

The UNP members of the COPE raked us over the coals for reporting facts and even threatened to sue the editor of this newspaper for doing that. A UNP MP yesterday repeated the call for summoning editors and reporters and questioning them for reporting on COPE proceedings which were not open to the media. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya should have fulfilled his promise to open COPE proceedings to the media in time for the committee’s last few stormy sessions. Better late than never!

We believe that it is media pressure that compelled the government to act with restraint and come to terms with the inevitable as regards the COPE findings. Else, perhaps, the COPE report would not have seen the light of day or it would have been heavily watered down before being released.

COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti, presenting his committee’s report in Parliament yesterday, stressed what had been in the previous report (which we quoted from) remained unchanged. Interestingly, he revealed that 16 COPE members had taken exception to footnotes in the final report, but nine others had endorsed them. One member, Ranjan Ramanayake, has chosen to remain noncommittal. His silence is eloquent!

It is a pity that Handunnetti was prevented from revealing to the public his ordeal at the hands of the UNP members of the COPE. The government took cover behind parliamentary traditions and ethics to silence him. So much for its much-flaunted commitment to right to information!

The billion-rupee question is what will happen to those responsible for the bond scam.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe sought to scotch rumours that Mahendran had fled the country. He said the latter would return after attending a wedding overseas. It will be interesting to see whether complaints against the former Central Bank Governor will be entertained by the FCID, CID and other such outfits whose raison d’etre is to arrest the political opponents of the government. A bond fraud which has cost the state coffers billions of rupees is surely a far worse offence than keeping elephants without permits or misusing one or two state-owned vehicles, for which the backers of the former government get arrested.

One should not be so naïve as to expect legal action to be instated against Mahendra or others on the basis of the COPE report. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said the Attorney General would have to be consulted first of all. The AG’s department has been reduced to an appendage of the government and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa must take the biggest share of the blame for this sorry state of affairs. It has earned notoriety for helping further the interests of governments in power. Under the previous regime, it let the then Rajapaksa loyalist Mervyn Silva, who owned up to a cheque fraud off the hook. Any other person would have been sent to jail for that.

So, as for the damning COPE report and action to be taken against those responsible for bond scams there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.

It may be recalled that the COPE headed by Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, once, blew the lid off several illegal transactions under the UNP-led UNF government (2001-2004). Subsequently, the Supreme Court declared them null and void and the state took over the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and the Lanka Marine Services bunkering facility, which had been sold illegally. But, strangely, nobody was arrested and prosecuted for those illegal deals.

It is now clear that President Maithripala Sirisena was right in denying Mahendran another term as the Central Bank Governor even at the risk of the government breaking up on that issue. Will he go the whole hog and ensure that no one responsible for the fraudulent bond auctions will go scot free?

Ceylon Today Editorial

Jaffna’s crime wave

28 October 2016

Yesterday's lead story of this newspaper highlighted the rise of an allegedly armed criminal gang in the North by the name of AAVA. It further alleged that the AAVA Group was, recently, responsible for assaulting two State intelligence officers in the North.

The report added that this gang was mobile and its members riding on motorbikes were also involved in acts of extortion. The article said that the criminal gang was recruiting to its ranks, unemployed youth. One charge that this newspaper has often heard currently is that Jaffna, once famed for its industriousness, has since lost this sheen.

Easy money from the West is attributed to this state of affairs. During the Tamil terrorist war years which had its genesis post-1977, saw hundreds of thousands of Tamils from all parts of the country, particularly those of Jaffna and Batticaloa origin, seeking refuge in the West, India and Australasia in particular.

Those of them who were successful in obtaining refuge in the rich West and Australasia, almost regularly used to remit monies to their families still living in Sri Lanka. The beneficiaries of such largesse also included, Tamils living in the North.

As a result of this conduit of funds, which made access to easy money in the form of remittances possible, there was no reason for the youth remaining in the North, such as in Jaffna, to find work. They were reasonably, if not well looked after by their families living in better economic climes.

This has naturally resulted in 'plenty' of idle hands living in Jaffna, particularly among its youth. This idleness is caused not necessarily on account of the lack of jobs, but due to the need of having or wanting a job not arising as such youth are well looked after by the members of their families now living abroad. Such remittances sent in favour of these youth are generally denominated in US dollars or similar such high value foreign currency.

For example, a monthly remittance of US$ 300 as per yesterday's average buying rate for telegraphic transfer quoted by banks will have amounted to Rs 43,707, probably more than sufficient for a young man living in his own house in Jaffna to meet his needs.
Therefore, why work?

In fact, this newspaper is privy to reports saying that a number of these youth, used to receiving easy money from the West, are currently leading indolent lives, one of which features is drunkenness. There are also reports to say that not only drunkenness, but even the taking of other more dangerous stimulants such as narcotics by the idle youth of Jaffna is also on the rise.

Jaffna is a society which has been scarred by 26 years of war. A spin off from those war years and even before, for instance during the period 1977 and leading up to the Sinhala-Tamil riots of July 1983, was the rise, first, of economic refugees.

Subsequently, the substance mainly took the form of political refugees, some even fleeing from their lives. They were caught up in the war between Tamil terrorists and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). And, in between, not least by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), particularly in those 2½ years spanning the period July 1987, the month the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord was signed, to March 1990, the two poles in that calendar, when the IPKF, by force as it were, were first inducted to the war ravaged North and East of the country, followed by their subsequent departure, respectively, after being unceremoniously kicked-out by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

It was those remittances, sent by those political and economic refugees, mainly Tamilians of Jaffna and Batticaloa descent, that have become the sustenance not only to those idle Tamil youth in Jaffna and elsewhere in the country, but also in part, to Sri Lanka as a whole. Remittances are the island's number one foreign exchange earner. That also may be the reason for the alleged crime wave in Jaffna.

Therefore, the need of the hour is to strengthen the law enforcement agencies in the Northern Peninsula, backed by intelligence. The alleged crime wave in Jaffna may not necessarily be driven by want, but by idleness, that will also have to be treated, the burden of which would once more fall on GoSL.

Daily News Editorial

A pragmatic step

28 October 2016

More people are travelling today than at any time in human history and the numbers are only going to increase over the next few decades. In fact, tourism now accounts for 10 percent of the world’s GDP and employment. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region in terms of travel and tourism – Boeing and Airbus estimate the region will need around 13,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years.

All countries are vying to become attractive destinations as tourism dollars are vital to a nation’s economy. Sri Lanka earned US$ 2,900 million (approx) in 2015 from more than 1.8 million tourists. There is every sign that Sri Lanka would be able to surpass 2 million arrivals per year soon. In a few years, it could become the leading foreign exchange earner for the country, beating expat remittances, garments and tea.

Most countries do not levy any taxes on the tourism industry, since it is a vital part of the economy. Besides, tourists already pay certain indirect taxes such as VAT when they visit and stay in a country. (There are some countries that even refund this tax for tourists). Thus a tax-free or low-tax environment is essential for the tourism industry to thrive.

In this context, the Finance Minister has reportedly agreed not to impose any further taxes on the Tourism Industry from the impending Budget. As disclosed by Tourism Minister John Amaratunga at the Hotels Association of Sri Lanka’s AGM, this is a welcome move. Moreover, the government will also explore the possibility of providing duty free concessions for the refurbishment of old hotels. This is commendable, since there are many tourists who prefer to stay at old or heritage hotels. Free of extra tax burdens, hotels and other tourism operators will be free to grow and invest.

As the minister had pointed out at this meeting, Sri Lanka must also aggressively promote religious tourism, agriculture tourism and medical tourism. People in most other Buddhist countries have a very low level of awareness on our Buddhist culture and places of worship. There should be more organised pilgrimages from other Buddhist countries. Health tourism can also be improved as Sri Lanka now has many world class hospitals and health facilities. MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) tourism too is a growing trend – but Sri Lanka currently lacks a truly international convention facility. This lacuna must be rectified to secure a slice of the MICE pie for Sri Lanka.

For all these to succeed, Sri Lanka needs a solid “destination marketing” programme, but this has been on hold for many years, stunting the growth of tourism. Sri Lanka can stand out from the rest, with its unique mix of culture, nature and adventure as one slogan put it sometime back. Other countries spend millions of dollars for multi-media (inclusive of social media) country promotion campaigns and we cannot afford to lag behind in this intense competition. Any red tape that inhibits the tourism sector must also be removed forthwith and a worldwide marketing campaign initiated.

Sri Lanka will soon be having 45,000 rooms on offer for tourists (including major projects such as Shangri La, Grand Hyatt and ITC) but having rooms alone will not suffice if quality manpower is not available. Thus there is an urgent need for the hotel industry to recruit and train more students who can meet international standards.

If Sri Lanka is keen to receive four million tourists in the short term, there should be an increase in the number of airline seats into Colombo. With airlines such as Thomson (TUI) and KLM returning to Colombo after a long absence, there is every chance that this target could be achieved. More airlines are likely to call at Colombo once the BIA runway repair is competed next year. Sri Lanka should also try to secure a more pivotal place in the cruise industry. Hundreds of cruise liners go past our shores without calling at Colombo or Hambantota. The proposed cruise terminal at Colombo would be a major step forward. This is an untapped market that should be explored.

In keeping with Asia Pacific’s dominance of the travel market, there has been a shift in Sri Lanka’s tourism markets, with India and China overtaking Western Europe in recent years. This trend will be reinforced as the middle class in both these countries grow in numbers and wealth, coupled with the rise of Low Cost Carriers. In fact, it is now possible to travel to another country for as little as US$ 30 in some cases. Sri Lanka, however, should not rest on its laurels – it should strive to find more new markets such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The intense focus on inbound tourism should not be an excuse for neglecting domestic tourism. There should be a cohesive strategy for developing domestic tourism, with the same tax concessions and incentives in place. The objective should be developing both inbound and domestic tourism in tandem to make it the number one industry.

The Island Editorial

COPE dilemma

28 October 2016

 

The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) seems to have a couple of self-appointed spokesmen! Besides the officially appointed Chairman, Sunil Handunnetti, Deputy Ministers Sujeeva Senasinghe and Ajith Perera have announced what they call decisions of the watchdog committee.

Poor Handunnetti, following the last few COPE meetings and his dramatic walkout (or cop-out) looks as if he had seen a ghost. He has told Parliament that he will reveal his ordeal at stormy COPE sessions in recent times. He seems to have got an overdose of ‘yahapalanaya’ he and his comrades very enthusiastically together with the present-day leaders promoted before the last two elections.

Deputy Minister Senasinghe has told the media that there can be only a single COPE report. No individual committee member can issue a report, he has stressed. One is intrigued! There has been no separate report as such issued by any individual COPE member. The report we have been quoting from extensively in our recent news items is the one prepared by the COPE Chairman on behalf of the committee and endorsed by a majority of committee members present last Friday. There were 14 members and out of them eight endorsed the reports presented by Chairman Sunil Handunnetti; later three more members approved it. That is how democracy works.

Deputy Minister Ajith Perera claimed in Parliament the other day that eight MPs could not be considered a majority as the COPE had 26 members. If we are to conclude that nothing should be considered as being ratified by Parliament or a committee thereof unless it receives more than one half of the members then VAT (Amendment Bill) has not been passed. For, it has received only 112 votes out of 225. Resolutions, reports, Bills etc, supported by a majority of MPs present, are considered ratified unless the Constitution specifically mentions that they have to be passed by a majority of MPs including those not present. The bottom line is that the COPE Chairman’s report was passed last Friday and the UNP MPs resorted to strong-arm tactics to manipulate the committee process to dilute the document.

Let the COPE be urged to present to Parliament both its Chairman’s report approved by a majority of members present last Friday and the one with the UNPs observations, recommendations etc incorporated. After all, no less a person than Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the other day that everyone in the House had faith in the incumbent COPE Chairman!

Deputy Minister Perera, addressing the media last Friday, said the UNP MPs wanted to bring criminal charges against those involved in the alleged bond scams. He seems to have taken the public for suckers. If the government really wants to do so it ought to find out what has become of the file the UNP-led interim government referred to the Attorney General in June, 2015 on the questionable bond issues. That document must be gathering dust in the AG’s Department. Our information is that a pro-government bigwig in the department meddled with it to curry favour with the powers that be.

The big guns of the incumbent government, while they were in the Opposition, likened what the Rajapaksas were doing to the country after crushing terrorism to saving a damsel in distress and raping her. The damsel has again suffered a fate worse than death at the hands of those who ‘liberated’ her from the clutches of the Rajapaksas in January, 2015! The biggest ever financial crime has been committed on their watch with the champions of good governance shamelessly striving to shield the culprits.

Those who backed the present dispensation expecting a change for the better are disillusioned. The chief architect of the current administration, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera was disillusioned and disappointed towards the latter stages of his life. Had he been alive he would definitely have taken on the incumbent rulers. The movement he created to campaign for social justice is only a shadow of its former self after his demise. People are left with no one to turn to. Their choice at a future election will be between old thieves and new thieves!

Ceylon Today Editorial

STRANGE THINGS ‘HAPPENING’ IN THE NORTH

27 October 2016

Could the genesis of the killings of the two Jaffna University students last week have been the July 26 clash between Tamil and Sinhalese students at the Jaffna University ostensibly because the University heads had agreed to demands that a late entry application, be dismissed, for a Kandyan dance to be included in the annual traditional orientation programme of that University?

Interestingly, Minister Lakshman Kiriella casually played that incident down dismissively with the statement that 'these things happen everywhere'. Hardly the kind of response one expects from a responsible spokesman of the government.

While the mainline media failed to bring pictures of that clash to the public, several websites did so. The pictures were ugly. Among them were ones with Sinhala students brandishing clubs at the Tamil students and ample signs of blood being spilt. The Tamil diaspora and Tamil websites went to town with that incident before the first newspaper could hit the streets the next day.

That happened against the backdrop of still simmering racial tensions and a strident call for a Tamil Nationalist Renaissance spearheaded by the TNA and Tamil parties as well as the Tamil diaspora.

It also happened against a backdrop of pepped up efforts by the Tamils to turn the March 2017 UNHRC sessions into a lynch mob cry for the prosecution of former political leaders and services members for alleged war crimes at the end-game stages of the ethnic war back in 2009.

Getting things into perspective – let's record the fact that had this government not come into power, the scenario at the UN – and UNHRC level to be specific – would be one in which we will be seeing the former government leaders and services leaders dragged into the vortex of a damning war crimes lynch party led by the outgoing UNSG Ban Ki-moon. They are today running around using that freedom to very foolishly drag down the incumbent government and bring themselves to a place in which they will be vulnerable to prosecution by an international Court.

As things stand, President Maithripala Sirisena has adroitly made some deft moves in the face of massive international pressure to save not just those former political leaders and services commanders from a damning war crimes trial, but has in that process dragged Sri Lanka out of that potential cesspit of shame.

It's against the backdrop of this very real possibility that we saw five Policemen arrested over the deaths of two Jaffna University students last week, just hours after the visiting UNHRC envoy left after a week-long fact-finding visit to Sri Lanka, at the end of which she savaged the Lankan Government's reconciliation efforts as being wholly inadequate.

So, were these two deaths a sentence taken out of an odious choreography scripted by the pro-liberationist Tamils (formerly known as the LTTE) in which the Lankan Police played a part they did not know was scripted for them? Or will we later come to know, as in the Jeyaraj Fernandopulle assassination, that at least one senior SSP played a pivotal role in facilitating that assassination and coordinated it in fact with LTTE activists?

This could be why despite the CID working on the case, the Police Commission also decided to launch its own independent probe into those deaths/killings to establish whether in fact they were avoidable deaths in that the Police did not have to shoot to kill two ostensibly fleeing students after a night out with friends.

Wisely, knowing how the then government of which he was Acting Defence Minister, shoved crime by the score under the carpet, the President assured TNA Leader Sampanthan that he would order an independent probe into the incident. That independent probe is the one launched by the Police Commission.

Special Task Force troopers and Military Intelligence men had to be hurriedly deployed to ward off the danger of that violence pouring out into the streets.

In March this year, Tamil students were attacked by unidentified Sinhalese followed by Sinhala students in April assaulting a Tamil Security Guard at the University.

We then saw Sinhala students attacking Tamils at the Eastern University on 13 March this year too.
Could there be a subtle plan by extremist Sinhalese to use Sinhala university students as cat's paws to trigger a racial crisis once again as a political tool to drag the government into a crisis it cannot handle?

On a recent occasion we saw President Sirisena postponing his planned visit to Batticaloa in July 2016 after a Sinhala mob attack at the venue which he was to visit.

Last week's tragedy 'happened' just as President Sirisena was at a function with TNA Leader Sampanthan close by. Coincidence? It's beginning to look like there is a pattern to this 'coincidence'.

Daily News Editorial

Learning from past mistakes

27 October 2016

The Jathika Hela Urumaya has for the most part remained in the shadows since being part of the Unity Government, but from time to time it has come out with statements and comments that betrayed its past as an anti minority party in the days when it hitched its star to Mahinda Rajapaksa. Then it was the JHU’s proud boast that it was their party that goaded Rajapaksa to go to war with the LTTE following Mavil Aru or at least this was the contention of Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka. The party came in more than handy for Mahinda Rajapaksa who was launched on a rabid Sinhala nationalist platform but also due to its (JHU’s) support towards the continuation of the executive presidential system which Rajapaksa had anyway set his sights on.

The JHU who prided itself on having the ear of Rajapaksa, like when it persuade him to go to war with the LTTE, has now thought it fit to offer its counsel to the Yahapalanaya government. Party National Organiser Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe has prevailed upon the government to carry out a crackdown on the 12,500 or so rehabilitated LTTEers in the North and East who in all probability were behind the increasing lawlessness reported in the province. “The government should carry out a thorough check on all former LTTEers to determine their current circumstances and activities and have them arrested if found to be connected to criminal activities,” he told a media briefing. It was also his contention that the Aava and Baava groups with alleged links to criminal activity in the North were composed of Ex LTTE cadres who had come out of rehabilitation.

What Warnasinghe should realize is that the bulk of these LTTEers were released under the Rajapaksa regime which the JHU was supporting at the time and that they were doubly screened before being set free. Besides it was the proud boast of Rajapaksa that all these LTTEers were reintegrated into society after providing them with vocational training to enable them to seek employment not only locally but overseas as well. Only the most hardcore of them numbering a few hundred are currently being held under the PTI pending the hearing of their cases or to be released. There was a time in the Rajapaksa era when newspapers were full of stories and captions of rehabilitated and reintegrated LTTE cadres entering into holy wedlock, with one such event graced by Namal Rajapaksa in Jaffna.

True, there may be some among those released who had gone astray and engaged in criminal activities. This was even the case with the rehabilitated JVP cadres following the 1971 uprising. While some took to a life of crime, a whole host of them joined the mainstream of society, with a good many of them later entering politics and even appointed Ministers. As far as one may recall, there was no special call made to the law enforcement authorities by the government of the day to keep close tabs on the rehabilitated JVPers then and likewise there should be no cause for throwing a dragnet to net in the ex-LTTEers who have undergone rehabilitation. It not only smacks of discrimination based on race but also an act that would once again sow the seeds of suspicion among the Tamil community at a time moves towards reconciliation are gathering pace.

Let the normal law take its course without special surveillance cast on those deemed ex-LTTE cadres. If an offender arrested turns out to be an ex-Tiger so be it. There should not be mass hunting for former LTTEers. Besides, the government would not want a situation akin to that caused by Brigadier Tissa (Bull) Weeratunga in the early eighties. On that occasion JRJ granted carte blanche to Weeratunga to root out the nascent terrorist movement in the North by whatever means. The rest, as they say, is history. Bull Weeratunga who was a nephew of JRJ did exactly that. Using “whatever means” to deal with the youth in the North. The result. The terrorist movement snowballed almost overnight, with even those innocent bystanders joining the ranks due to the heinous atrocities that were committed before their very eyes.

The immediate mission was accomplished, but at massive cost, that was to see the country engulfed in a three decades long ethnic conflagration that claimed the lives of some 50,000 combatants.

The government, it is hoped, would act with circumspection and not repeat past mistakes. Thankfully, in the President and Prime Minister the country has two leaders who would not be given to precipitate action. The situation today has changed a great degree. There is no enmity and hostility towards the government that was prevalent among the Tamil youth then, aberrations such as the student shootings in Jaffna notwithstanding. There have been plenty of goodwill visits undertaken by the duo to the North since the new government was elected to office, cementing ties and building new bridges with a once estranged community. The government, no doubt, would not want to spoil this positive build up towards cohesion between the two major communities.

The Island Editorial

A wake-up call

27 October 2016

Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran has appealed for calm while protests are being held against the killing of two undergraduates in Jaffna. Had the police acted cautiously and responsibly, that unfortunate incident and the attendant problems could have been avoided.

It is wrong to drink and drive or ride and one asks for trouble when one defies police orders to stop, especially at checkpoints, but the two undergrads shouldn’t have been shot. For, they posed no threat to anyone. The guardians of the law would not have acted in that manner if a powerful politician or his son had defied their orders and driven away. There have been instances where armed policemen, roughed up by VVIPs’ sons, took it lying down.

The police have earned notoriety for opening fire on people for defying their orders to stop in other parts of the country as well and there have been public protests against them. It was only natural that undergrads and others took to the streets condemning the killing of the students and demanding justice. Protests are to be expected when such incidents occur.

The northern hartal was, however, different. The government, to its credit, ordered a probe and took prompt action against the police personnel concerned, who were immediately arrested. The matter should have been left to the judiciary thereafter. All right-thinking persons condemned the tragic incident unreservedly and demonstrations were held in Colombo as well against it. The government and the police got the message loud and clear.

But, some sinister political elements in the North seem to be fishing in troubled waters and advancing a hidden agenda. There have been attacks on policemen in some parts of the North. It looks as if the disruptive elements had been waiting for an opportunity to swing into action and wreak havoc. The shooting incident served as a trigger. They seem to be limbering up and the government must remain vigilant without lowering its guard.

Those behind the well organised protests have demonstrated their ability to cripple the entire North and stop the writ of the state from running there. Even the public institutions and the state-run bus service in the North did not function during the hartal. Were public officials under duress to stay away from work?

If only the people of the North and the East had taken to the streets and staged hartal when the LTTE started violently suppressing dissent, extorting money from them, abducting their children who were turned into cannon fodder. They chose to dree their weird without offering any resistance. It is a supreme irony that among the organisers of the hartal against the recent police shooting are some politicians notorious for commemorating dead Tiger leaders who once perpetrated heinous crimes against civilians, and making not-so-surreptitious attempts to revive the LTTE. How can they reconcile their new-found concern for human rights with their desire for reviving terrorism? They are sure to do everything in their power to provoke a backlash so as to give a turbo boost to their political project.

The government must not make the mistake of taking the situation in the North lightly. Most of those at the levers of power have a history mismanaging national security and appeasing terrorists and terror backers in the name of peacemaking. They should also realise that the country is in no mood for levity. That is why, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s jokes about the Ava group, which is active in the North, went down like lead balloons in Parliament instead of providing a moment of levity.

It is good that Wigneswaran has appealed for calm. However, he and others of his ilk have to act with restraint without resorting to rabble rousing to achieve their political ends. Their irresponsible utterances and actions are fraught with the danger of letting the genie out of the bottle once again. They ought to learn from the mistakes of the Tamil political leaders who created conditions for terrorism to thrive and paid with their dear lives for that.