Ceylon Today Editorial

2nd wave of apparel investments

30 November 2016

Recent poverty statistics dished out by the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) shows that 56% (14 districts) out of the island's 25 districts, as per a 'poverty census' carried out last month, are mired in poverty.

This figure is unchanged from the previous month's (September's) poverty numbers. CSD for this purpose has taken the poverty cut off point as Rs 4,064 per capita.

On the assumption that all of the country's 25 districts have an equivalent number of people (which for practical purposes however is not) and that all of the districts which have been identified as being 'poverty districts' have all of its people's mired in poverty (which for practical purposes is not the case), that means of the island's 21 million population (as at middle of last year), 12 million are living in poverty.

The figure of 12 million is just a million short of Sri Lanka's total population of 13 million in 1971, according to CSD. The year 1971 was a significant year for the country. That was the year the island faced its first youth insurrection which emanating from the south, where undergraduates played no meaner part, and which in its wake left 13,000 mainly Sinhala youth dead.

The faces of the dead were tarred beyond recognition by the organs of the State and burnt, not cremated, in tyre pyres and if buried, more often than not, in unmarked mass graves, unsung and unmourned.

If the 12 million 'poverty' figure is a gross exaggeration, on the assumption that 10% of that number are in actual poverty, that means 1.2 million or 5.7% of the country's total population is in poverty...Currently the CSD is engaged in a poverty survey covering the period January to December of this year, so as to come up with an annual poverty number.

In the last of such survey done, which was in 2012/13, the country's poverty headcount figure was 6.7%. Therefore, if it's assumed that the poverty headcount for this year is 5.7%, then it's a one percentage point (15%) improvement over the previous survey figure.

If, on the assumption, that, of that 12 million number, 20% are mired in poverty, that will throw up a 2.4 million or a 11% poverty figure, a reflection that poverty in the country is on the rise, thereby reversing the gains the island made 'in its fight against poverty,' in the 10-year period from 2002 to 2012/13, where the poverty headcount fell from a massive 22.7% to 6.7%, a 16 percentage point (70%) gain.

In the context that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) raised the VAT rate by a massive four percentage points (36%) to 15% only this month to appease the IMF, in a bid to enhance revenue and thereby regain the heldback second tranche of US$ 168.1 million of its $ 1.5 billion Extended Fund Facility, such an increase will however, boomerang on the'poverty' battle because VAT, an indirect tax, is no respecter of persons, hitting the poor and the rich alike.

The IMF Board in Washington DC, was expected to make a favourable decision in this regard at their meeting recently.

Another piece of an indirect tax, as proposed in Budget 2017 presented by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in Parliament recently week was the levying of a 0.05% tax for every cash withdrawal above Rs 10,000. This works out to a Rs five tax per such withdrawal, equivalent to a similar charge levied by certain banks on ATM withdrawals, thereby doubling total charges to Rs 10 on such withdrawals.

With 1.4 million or 1.8 million of the country's population working overseas, the bulk of whom are engaged in blue collar jobs, or even worse, as lowly housemaids, their families in Sri Lanka live off the remittances sent by such persons. It's, such indigent beneficiaries who will be hit by this indirect bank tax. Though such a tax may not drive them 'further' into poverty, neither will this tax help them to be alleviated from poverty.

Meanwhile, a recent World Bank (WB) study on 'exports and South Asia' argued that the best way for South Asia to get out of the poverty trap is by enhancing its garment exports to the markets of the West, the main consumer, not only of garments, but virtually of every consumable under the sun.

Its hypothesis was that rising costs in East Asia would wean away Western buyers to the South Asian market. This hypothesis was a fact nearly 40 years ago in the Sri Lankan context. When the island opened up its economy in 1977, to take advantage of Sri Lanka's cheap, but educated labour, garment factory operators in East Asia translocated their businesses here, because of rising costs in East Asia even then.

Subsequently, these shifts also benefited Bangladesh, where that country enjoys duty free access in its exports to the West (USA and EU) as it's identified as an indigent State. The difference between 1977 and now, however, wasthat China was not in the game then. China, according to the WB, accounts for nearly 50% of total garment exports currently.

Therefore, the island may have to create the necessary conditions to entice a second wave of garment investments, similar to that which took place in 1977.

Daily News Editorial

The media and its travails

30 November 2016

Media freedom and threats to the media figured prominently in parliament on Monday when the subject came up for discussion at the Committee Stage debate on the media of Budget 2017. Attacks were also directed at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for allegedly making comments that were perceived as being threats to certain media institutions and editors, by the JVP and members of the Joint Opposition.

The Premier countered these with the argument that he was only verbally responding to the material that appeared in the media and never resorted to physical attacks on journalists or burning down media institutions.

The reference of course is to the many physical attacks on media personnel and the burning down of the Sirasa studios and the destruction of the Siyatha television station. Perhaps, the blackest episode in the persecution of media personnel was the killing of Sunday Leader Founder Editor Lasantha Wickrametunga. It is being sought to be implied in certain quarters that the investigation into the Lasantha murder is being hushed up today. Little thought is being given to the fact that no investigation, whatever, was carried out into the murder, when the individual who is implied to be behind the killing was within the Rajapaksa fold. Wickrametunga was killed in January 2009 and a full six years elapsed before the government changed. Why was no investigation carried out, except for dragging on the matter with endless court appearances that got nobody anywhere?

True, the UNP gave out the name of the alleged mastermind in parliament as has been mentioned right along. But why wasn't the matter being pursued with during those six years? Why wasn't the then Chief Opposition Whip not asked for any information in his possession implicating the name that was being mentioned?

Be that as it may, the media and media personnel were persecuted under all governments since 1970. The murder of journalist and human rights activist Richard de Soysa was the most horrendous incident that cast a gloom on the then UNP government, which was rightly or wrongly, accused of being behind the incident, while many journalists came under physical attack, with columnist Taraki killed and his body discovered near parliament, under the watch of the Chandrika government.

Attacks on journalists were turned into a fine art under Mahinda Rajapaksa, beginning with the Rupavahini incident, where a rambunctious politician, who was then the pet of the Rajapaksas, stormed the state run television station to manhandle a programmes officer for omitting a speech of the politician that vilified an opponent. The incident was not without a sequel, with some female journalists attached to Rupavahini being slashed with razors while traveling in public transport, by the goons of the politician in question, who was himself manhandled by the employees of the television station, for his trouble.

What followed thereafter was a journalists’ nightmare, when scribes were abducted in the notorious white vans, to be roughed up and tortured, for rubbing on the wrong side of the administration,.with the murders of Lasantha and Prageeth Ekneligoda capping up things for the leaders of a regime that portrayed themselves as being friends of the media.

Not just governments, but non state actors too harassed and persecuted the media in this country. The LTTE killed many media personnel in the North, who did not toe the line, and attacked media houses, for the same reason.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was vociferous in his attack on the government, for what he claimed was media suppression.

The JVP is hardly in a position to speak about media freedom and harassment of the media by governments, having threatened newscasters of the state run TV channels with death, if they failed to desist from reading news, during the outfit's second bloody uprising in 1989-90. That was a time when journalists feared to live in their own homes and sought refuge in the homes of strangers. An intrepid TV personality defied the threat, only to be shot dead in front of his residence in cold blood. Premakeerthi De Alwis is his name.

Hence the media has come to be the whipping boy of all comers. It is not just in Sri Lanka. In the recent US Presidential Election, the media that was seen to be partial towards Hillary Clinton came under scathing attacks from Donald Trump, while in more repressive regimes journalists have to undergo severe ordeals and have even paid the ultimate price for their efforts to inform the public. The situation in Sri Lanka, where media freedom is concerned, has not come to such a sorry pass - at least with the regime change in January 8, though there is scope for improvement.

The Island Editorial

Of those cyber hit men

30 November 2016

 

The Professional Web Journalists’ Association (PWJA) has lashed out at the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government for adopting the same repressive policies as its predecessor in handling the web-based media. It has taken exception to action against two web publications, which, it says, should have complete freedom to continue their operations.

We both agree and disagree with the PWJA. We agree with it that the government is trying to tar all web publications with the same brush and introduce draconian laws and regulations to keep them under its thumb. This move must be resisted with might and main. You don’t kill all dogs to tackle rabies, do you?

But, we don’t agree with the PWJA that web publication should be able to enjoy the freedom of the wild ass. Anyone who feels that a website has violated his or her rights must be able to seek justice as in the case of the excesses committed by the mainstream media. Regrettably, some of the web publications are behaving like sickos who, under cover of darkness, hurl stones at vehicles on expressways or moving trains, hurting people. Their victims suffer in silence.

The onus is on the PWJA, which has rightly taken up cudgels for media freedom, to ensure that web publications end the unspeakable practice of defaming people without facilitating the government efforts to muzzle the media.

The PWJA says that although the leaders of the present government complain of unfair criticism they encouraged the web-based media to mete out the same treatment to the Rajapaksa regime while they were in the Opposition. In other words, the powers that be are now condemning the brand of journalism they promoted for political expediency while struggling to capture power. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

It is said that the media, in providing information to the public, should act like a caring mother who nurses her baby rather than a crow that feeds its offspring. A mother picks her food carefully, consumes it and turns it into milk to feed her baby. A crow swallows rubbish and regurgitates it for its chicks. Sadly, most of the news-oriented web publications specialising in Sri Lankan affairs act like crows. (It needs to be added in the same breath that the so-called mainstream media is far from perfect!)

The mainstream media are much easier to control than their web counterparts. A government does not have to resort to violence to do so. It can bring pressure to bear on media owners in numerous ways including the cancellation of licences issued to television stations. Web publications are like guerrillas; they are difficult to tackle and certainly have a vital role to play in a society where freedom of expression is under threat. It is incumbent upon them to desist from abusing their freedom and conduct themselves responsibly. Power or freedom sans responsibility is synonymous with disaster.

Sri Lankan media practitioners ought to turn the searchlight inwards. There is something terribly wrong with the local media culture, where anything apparently goes. Boosting hits and sales has come to take precedence over the standards of journalism and professional ethics. The media have chosen to cater to low, vulgar taste of a section of the public so as to attract more viewers or listeners or readers and thereby advertising. They like the sellers of soap and shampoo tend to target the so-called bottom of the pyramid at the expense of quality, ethics and social responsibility. True, popularity is a yardstick for the success of a media outfit, but it should not be confused with quality.

Those who visit the websites which evince a voyeuristic interest in people’s lives and specialise in character assassination are also responsible for the deterioration of the web-based media. Socrates it was who famously said, "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people."

People, addicted to the nauseously scurrilous websites, are as sick as those who run them!