Ceylon Today Editorial

Inclement weather

07 November 2016

With the onset of the present inclement weather condition in the country, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) has issued a warning to the people in the hill country and coastal areas to be on the alert for earth slips, rough seas, floods and lightning strikes.

Six people have already been hospitalized with injuries following an earth slip in the Nuwara Eliya District, according to Police sources. The DMC has announced that 30 persons belonging to 16 families, from areas prone to earth slips and floods in Gonapitiya and Hanguranketha, in the Kandy District, have been relocated to safer places. The DMC has also alerted the Galle, Matara, Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts.

According to reports from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, several areas have been threatened by floods and lightening. The DMC has had to face an arduous task in recent years following earth slips in the hill country area. The earth slip in Meerayabedda, two years ago, in 2014, had led to a huge catastrophe, where dozens were killed and several hundred people rendered homeless.

The DMC which is closely monitoring the situation, in coordination with the Meteorological Department and the Government Agents of regions affected by the inclement weather condition, has identified the areas which could be disastrous in the event of earth slips.

Right from its inception, the DMC has been on the watch for natural calamities and has issued prior warnings to prevent human casualties. However, the ignorance and negligence on the part of civilians, has led to disastrous consequences.

Thus, the constant monitoring of the weather pattern, by government agencies, becomes the need of the hour and is inevitable. Apart from the announcements, made by the DMC, alerting the public on the flash floods and earth slips, warnings have also been issued on heavy misty conditions in the hill country area. So, the motorists are compelled to be extra cautious in the mountainous areas.

According to the Meteorological Department, 100mm showers are expected in the Western, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. In the North, rains and thundershowers have been indicated in Mannar. Several areas in the Eastern Province have been inundated due to heavy showers. The DMC has also warned the fisherfolk islandwide over the low pressure zone, which is emerging about 1,000 km away from the North-Eastern area.

As far as Colombo and the suburbs are concerned, heavy showers and flash floods had created enormous problems in the recent years, compelling proper management of the drainage and canal system in the capital. Compared to the adverse conditions, which occur due to natural disasters, Sri Lanka remains very much less affected compared to other countries in South Asia.

The timely warning issued by the DMC should be given due consideration and all government agencies should be put on alert to adopt precautionary measures in the best interest of the innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, reports from the Northern and Eastern Provinces have outlined the pathetic state of the Internally Displaced Persons, who are still living under difficult conditions, in their makeshift shelters, due to rainy weather condition. The government should also focus on the welfare of the IDPs and efforts must be made to expedite resettlement in their original places.

The government has released lands and new houses have also been built in the Northern Province to resettle the IDPs. However, a large number of IDPs are still living under pathetic conditions, particularly when the North and East monsoon escalates. The DMC and other government agencies, at this juncture, should ensure that the people, who had become IDPs due to separatist war, should not continue to remain so due to the inclement weather condition.

Daily News Editorial

A sound strategy

07 November 2016

Sri Lanka, which has emerged as a Middle Income country, is moving into an era where it is becoming less dependent on foreign loans and aid and more dependent on trade and investment. This is the correct approach, since loans, sometimes obtained on commercial rates, have to be paid back eventually by the people. On the other hand, trade and investment generate funds that can be used for development without being tied up in debt servicing.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has become a firm proponent of trade and investment for Sri Lanka and has stressed the case for the country at many recent international forums. However, instead of being confined to the traditional economics of export of goods, he has expanded the ambit to include a digital and knowledge economy.

Taking part in the Ministers’ Dialogue Panel Discussion at the 15th Asia - Pacific Conference of German Business held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre a few days ago, the Prime Minister said the Government has recognized the need for a digital economy and is taking measures to digitalize the administration in order to successfully face future economic and social challenges.

The Prime Minister said Sri Lanka is inviting investors to the country is an effort to bring a digital economy. Although some sections of the industry like the apparel industry have been fully or partly digitalized, there are many other sectors that still lag behind. Hence the need to attract more investment in that direction.

The Premier mentioned two steps taken with regard to digitalization - free Wi-Fi zones have been set up throughout the country for the benefit of younger generation and Advanced Level students will be provided with free tablets loaded with their curricula soon. Moreover, university students will be provided credit to purchase laptops and special attention has been focused on providing vocational training in various fields to school leavers. With school education being made compulsory till Year 13, GCE Ordinary Level will no longer be a watershed examination that leaves a large number of students in the lurch, unable to proceed further with higher education.

Another factor mentioned by the Prime Minister was the priority accorded to Information Technology (IT). There is a need to increase the number of institutions giving IT training. IT and higher education will be a viable area for foreign investors looking for new opportunities in Sri Lanka. The latter will help Sri Lanka to gain foreign exchange from overseas students.

The Prime Minister was able to convince the affluent global audience present in Hong Kong on Sri Lanka’s new dynamism in its quest for a digital and knowledge economy. He is likely to repeat this message also in Hong Kong next month as the Keynote Speaker at the “World in 2017” event organised by the prestigious Economist magazine at the JW Marriot Hotel. This will be another opportunity to highlight the fresh opportunities available in Sri Lanka in IT, education, BPO and other emerging sectors.

The Premier has also emphasised time and again the significance of Sri Lanka’s geographical location, almost at the centre of Dubai and Singapore, Asia’s twin commercial hubs. Sri Lanka is around four hours flying time from both cities and is ideally poised to become another financial hub given its strategic position as the gateway to the one billion plus SAARC market. Even from Hong Kong, Colombo is only around five hours away. Sri Lanka’s participation in the “One Road, One Belt” modern Silk Road initiative that will eventually link 60 countries in Asia and Europe is another plus point for investors from the region.

It is also vital for Sri Lanka to cut the red tape further to facilitate Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). There has been a downturn in global FDIs due to the recession in many markets, the oil glut and price fall and several other factors, but Sri Lanka can still attract quality FDIs if the right conditions are provided.

Sri Lanka has the unenviable rank of 107 in the Ease of Doing Business rankings and aims to be within the top 70 by 2020, which is essential to boost investor confidence. Under this plan, the Government will streamline the processes of starting a business, registering property, paying taxes, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, trading across borders and regulating the labour in addition to establishing a single window for FDI. Sri Lanka’s upcoming trade agreements with India (ETCA), Singapore and China will also be a boon for trade and investment.

The Budget 2017, to be unveiled on Thursday, is expected to contain a bevy of measures aimed at spurring local and foreign investment including lower tax regimes. The Government must also invite more foreign business delegations to visit Sri Lanka and see for themselves the investment opportunities available. Sri Lanka in turn must make its presence felt at more foreign trade shows. A combination of strategies will be needed to make Sri Lanka shine brighter on the world investment stage.

The Island Editorial

They deserve pensions

07 November 2016

 

Several disabled military personnel, engaged in a fast in Colombo, demanding pensions which have been denied to them on the grounds that they had not completed 12 years in service by the time they had to retire due to injury, have been admitted to hospital. Our limbs are intact because those protesting men risked theirs in battling terrorism, which is thankfully a thing of the past. It is heart-rending to see their prosthetic arms and legs beside them. Having offered a solution which is not acceptable to them, the government is apparently determined to wear them down. Shame on it!

Ironically, the disabled military personnel are conducting their protest in Colombo, which they helped render safe for one and all; the LTTE carried out many terror strikes in the city and its suburbs killing hundreds of civilians. It blew President Ranasinghe Premadasa to bits and almost succeeded in assassinating President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Among the high profile targets it took are the Central Bank, the Army Headquarters, the Pettah Central Bus Station, the Town Hall, Thotalanga, Galadari Hotel, the CTO and the Kolonnawa oil tanks. Civilian targets were blasted at such a rate that spouses used to travel in buses and trains separately lest their children should be orphaned in case of terror attacks.

Today, those who suffered permanent disabilities while fighting terrorism have been left on roads!

The disabled soldiers’ pension issue, however, is not of recent origin. The blame for it should be apportioned to all Presidents who have ruled or misruled this country since the beginning of the war in the early 1980s. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa could and should have solved the problem once and for all after the conclusion of the war in 2009. He had more than five long years to do so, but unfortunately he, too, let the grass grow under his feet. He was seen pledging solidarity with the protesters the other day!

Now, President Sirisena, who secured the presidency by promising the people the sun and the moon, has been left carrying the baby, so to speak. That his predecessors did precious little to redress the grievances of the disabled military personnel who had to retire before completing 12 years in service cannot be cited in justification of his failure to solve the issue. He obtained a popular mandate to do what others hadn’t done, didn’t he?

Leaders of the present government wept buckets for former war winning army commander Sarath Fonseka, incarcerated by the Rajapaksas, granted him a full presidential pardon, elevated him to the rank of Field Marshal, appointed him to Parliament, made him a Cabinet minister and allocated a whopping Rs. 70 million for a super luxury car for him. It is a supreme irony that they have turned a blind eye to the plight of the disabled armed forces members crying out for pensions.

Political dregs including anti-social elements who get elected to Parliament become eligible for full pensions upon the completion of only five years as MPs. They have done nothing for this country. Instead, they are sponging off the public and engaged in various crooked deals to line their pockets. Therefore, the question is why the disabled soldiers’ demand for pensions cannot be granted.

All disabled armed forces, police and Civil Defence Force personnel deserve full pensions irrespective of the number of years they were in service. What needs to be stressed is that they would have completed 12 years in service but for their disabilities which they suffered in the line of duty. The country owes them pensions and the government must bring in new laws, if necessary, and allocate money for that purpose. If it is without sufficient funds to do so, it ought to seriously consider cancelling the order for a fleet of super luxury vehicles for its leaders and channel the money so saved for disabled warriors’ pensions.

If the government big guns cannot give up their vehicles, let them recover the losses the state coffers suffered due to the Treasury bond scams to the tune of billions of rupees or take action to bring back USD 18 billion which, they said, the leaders of the previous government had stashed away in offshore accounts. And fast!