Ceylon Today Editorial

No plan B for power

20 October 2016

The new Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) elected by the masses of this country nearly two years ago, on 8 January 2015, has failed in one of its mandates, i.e. of providing uninterrupted electricity power supply to the people of this country.

The present crisis began on Monday, when, at least certain suburban areas of Colombo were deprived of electricity for hours due to an unannounced power cut. This situation was much like a terrorist attack, coming as a shock to a number of households.

Nonetheless, within 24 hours, Power and Energy Ministry announced islandwide power cuts due to a malfunction in the transmission system of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant on Saturday. (Ceylon Today of 18 October 2016)

The duration of the power cuts will be 1½ hours, comprising one hour during the day and half-an-hour in the evening. Colombo District will be exempt from power cuts, the article said, though the contrary took place on Monday, when certain suburban areas such as Mount Lavinia were deprived of power for 2 ½ hours in the morning, from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and again for half an hour in the evening.

The article also said that factories and hospitals would be exempt from such power cuts. The report quoting Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that repairs to Norochcholai, which apparently has the capacity to supply 900 MW of power, will be completed in five days time, ostensibly that by then, uninterrupted power would once more be restored to the country, islandwide, i.e. by next week.

The question is, to meet this contingent situation, was there no way, other than by resorting to power cuts, available, to tide over this situation? What about the purchase of emergency power?

Electricity is a right. While it's commendable that GoSL, according to that article, has assured that Colombo District, hospitals and factories would be unaffected by these, apparently temporary power cuts, GoSL, the Ministry and Siyambalapitiya should know that Colombo is not Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka comprises a total of 25 districts and Colombo is just one of them. While it's true that Sri Lanka's industrial hub, not forgetting its commercial and political powerhouse is also centred in Colombo, that however doesn't mean that Colombo should get preferential status over all other 24 districts in the island.

It's not that this newspaper is advocating that the power cuts be distributed equitably over all 25 districts on the island, far from it. The question is: Whether, GoSL, looked at all other possibilities to ensure uninterrupted power to the country? And, after having exhausted all of those possibilities, was it then that it resorted to these power cuts?

Did GoSL pursue the possibility of buying emergency power from private power suppliers who generally are foreign and who supply such power as offshore operators before resorting to power cuts?

In an era of the internet, there wouldn't have been that difficult to call for 'emergency' quotations from such contractors and awarding the same to the best possible bid. Probably, supplying of power to certain parts of the island for only five days may not have been economical to such vendors. Also, if sailing time is considered, such emergency suppliers, in proximity to Sri Lanka, may be based in hubs such as Singapore and Dubai.Probably, the sailing times from such hubs to Colombo, to ship the equipment to provide emergency power may take as much as five days. By that time, if what GoSL/Ministry/Siyambalapitiya says is true, power by then would have been restored. Under such circumstances, emergency power may not have been an option.

Nonetheless, Norochcholai Power Project, the apparent cause for the present crisis, per se, is controversial. It was executed by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, sans tender call. It was built by the Chinese on foreign commercial loan terms. Virtually from the beginning, it was beset with problems. Once commissioned, it was unable to provide power. As recently as 2013, i.e. during the Rajapaksa era, after Norochcholai had been commissioned, then too, the country faced blackouts because of such breakdowns.

Therefore, the unreliability of Norochcholai is at least three years old. Knowing this, what the public would want to know from the new government is, what were the contingency plans it had in place if Norochcholai failed once more, if such a backup plan was available, to assure the provision of uninterrupted power? Going from the current power cuts, it appears that GoSL had no such plan B for power.

Daily News Editorial

Round one to GMOA?

20 October 2016

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) may be giving itself a pat on its collective back having elicited and received a draft copy of the National Trade Policy from the Government. It was reported yesterday that the GMOA had received the draft of the NTP from Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama. The Policy was prepared at the instance of the GMOA and no doubt it has much cause for celebration having scored a victory of sorts against the Government against which it had a running battle in recent times over ETCA.

Still, the medicos are a difficult lot to please. They say that those responsible for preparing the NTP are the very ones who are opposed to it and has called for the appointment of a Presidential Commission to prepare and implement the NTP. However, given the hostility it has displayed towards the government, it is moot that the GMOA will now sue for peace. It is bound to pick holes in the NTP proper and even find fault with the composition of the Presidential Commission, if and when the government accedes to such a request.

Which begs the question as to why the government considers itself to be obliged to the GMOA, or any other body for that matter, to go to the extent of giving into the dictates of what is after all a trade union where it (government) is made to compromise on something important such as its national trade policy. What has trade agreements, entered into by the government with India or any other country, to do with the medical profession which ought to be far removed from such issues? What if a local Engineers’ association or an Architects’ body demand from the government not to enter into this agreement or that agreement, that relates to the government’s economic and trade policy to promote investment and generate employment? Is the government going to cave in and do their bidding?

One may not agree with the late President J.R. Jayewardene on many things. But one has to admire his uncompromising stand on many issues. It was JRJ who ventured to say “Let the robber barons come”, at a time there was a surge of protests and opposition, particularly by the left parties to the concessions being granted to foreign companies to set up business locally. This, at a time when the government was confronted with a massive unemployment problem, a legacy of the just departed United Front government. In JR’s book the end justified the means and the unemployment problem was solved to a large extend with the opening of the economy.

Similarly, the government should pluck up courage to tell nosy trade unions where to get off and get on with its business. Besides, the doctors should not be allowed to shove their oar into matters of state. They should confine themselves to ministering the sick. The government should also cease the practice of consulting with every Tom, Dick and Harry for their inputs prior to preparing the national budget. Recently Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake was seen requesting folk in Trincomalee for their ideas to be incorporated in the upcoming budget. This has been the practice even with former Presidents CBK and MR although whether these were merely publicity stunts only they will be able to tell.

Budgets are a serious business that chart the government’s fiscal policy and the economic path. There is no place in it for inputs by laymen. Similarly no trade union should be allowed to dictate government policy. A government has a duty to do what is best for the country and its people and if the GMOA’s demands go contrary to this, the government should tell it where to get off.

DEW says a mouthful

Veteran Communist Party stalwart and former Minister DEW Gunasekera said a mouthful when he opined the other day that the popularity of a leader or political party cannot be gauged by crowds at public rallies. He pointed out that if that was the case Donald Trump would be currently leading in the opinion polls in the White House race. It would have been better if this advise was proffered to his erstwhile boss former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to whom crowds are everything.

It is this Achillele’s heel of Rajapaksa that made him believe that the Presidential Election was in the bag. When Rajapaksa visited Polonnaruwa, the electorate of his main rival, he was so overwhelmed by the crowds jana ganga that he proclaimed that was the largest crowd ever assembled in that historic city and that victory for him was a certainty. When the votes were counted, Rajapaksa had lost Polonnaruwa by a majority of 30,000 plus.

DEW cannot also be unaware that the Reds in their hay day attracted the largest crowds for their May Day rallies, but unless it contested in alliance with the SLFP, the CP or LSSP did not make any headway electoral wise and was completely erased from the electoral map at the 1977 General Election when it went it alone. Therefore, like DEW said, crowds are no barometer for popularity, particularly in this day and age of the communication revolution.

The Island Editorial

Conspiracies galore!

20 October 2016

Western Province Chief Minister, Isura Devapriya, has, speaking at a school function, defended President Maithripala Sirisena to the hilt over the latter’s recent swipe at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Devapriya, who is beholden to the President for his appointment as the CM, has also claimed there is a conspiracy to destroy the SLFP. Politicians usually ‘see more devils than vast hell can hold’!

The SLFP is being destroyed from within and not from without. Its downfall began the day its General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena decamped and joined forces with the UNP to contest the last presidential election. After securing the much-coveted presidency last year he sacked the UPFA government which had about 130 SLFP MPs within its ranks to install a UNP-led administration. Subsequently, he ruined the SLFP’s chances of winning the last general election as he wanted to prevent his bête noire, Mahinda Rajapaksa from becoming the Prime Minister. He also deprived the SLFP of the post of the Opposition Leader through political manoeuvrings.

Sirisena’s gain was the SLFP’s loss. The debilitation of the SLFP is mainly due to the running battle between the Rajapaksas and the Sirisenas, representing the two power centres within the party. They are jousting for dominance. So, the question is whether the party needs any external enemies to destroy it.

There is no love lost between the UNP and the SLFP though their leaders, for political expediency, have formed a joint administration. The UNP used Sirisena to bring down the Rajapaksa government, expecting him to fade away after serving one term. The UNP has realised that it made a big political miscalculation as regards the incumbent President’s political ambitions. It has been craftily using Sirisena’s antipathy towards the Rajapaksas to debilitate the SLFP by targeting his rivals, Its strategy is clear; it knows the debilitation of the SLFP will automatically weaken Sirisena’s position in national politics, enabling it to win the next parliamentary and presidential elections with ease.

Having apparently seen through the UNP’s strategy the President is adopting counter measures to prevent his isolation within the SLFP and its support base. He may have thought an outburst against the FCID, CID and the CIABOC would help him shore up his image among the party supporters.

The Rajapaksas, while in power, weakened the UNP systematically by engineering crossovers and dissension within its ranks. The boot is now on the other foot. If the not-so-cold war between the UNP and the SLFP (Maithri Faction) in the ruling coalition comes to a head with the latter pulling out the former will be left with no alternative but to spring crossovers to muster a working majority in Parliament the way the Rajapaksas did prior to 2010 to remain in power.

The JVP also wants the SLFP divided. Its slain founder leader Rohana Wijeweera’s strategy was to cripple the SLFP, eat into its support base and then take on the UNP to capture state power. It expects the internal strife of the SLFP to drag on at least until or the 2020 general election. A thaw in the relations between the Sirisena and Rajapaksa factions will help the SLFP bounce back. This is a worrisome proposition for the JVP.

Political parties the world over are busy trying to weaken their opponents so as to gain or retain power. That’s their raison d’etre. So, as long as politicians and political parties are around there won’t be any dearth of conspiracies. The SLFP crisis is of its own making and others are only capitalising on its woes to gain political mileage. That is the name of the game in power politics.