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.