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!