Ceylon Today Editorial

TIMES OF UTTER SHAME!

20 December 2016

Last week it was reported that the government is taking drastic measures to address a drought that is expected to threaten the country in the near future. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake meeting with the media noted that the President has received an expert report on the predicted drought that will affect the country's agriculture sector for an undisclosed period of time.

For reasons unknown, the government without informing the people, who depend so much on our country's agriculture sector, has decided to address this threat by importing rice from several other Asian countries. The Finance Minister, Minister of Agriculture nor the Minister of Disaster Management has breathed a word about the drought matter but we assume, continue to believe that importing the rice is the best solution.

It might just be the solution to the prolonged rice problem of the country which has not seen a break since of late. Every government that has secured the power seats of the country has not been able to provide a solution to this issue and every year, a number of farmers are faced with a crisis. It is not just the normal consumers who have to face the problem of cost of living but also the producers of the essential good – rice in this matter.

Government is expected to import a huge quantity of rice as a contingency move against possible shortages arising out of a long drawn out drought as warned by the Meteorology Department. Accordingly, a concerned President and Prime Minister had submitted a rushed Cabinet proposal to import rice from three Asian countries in order to create a buffer during the drought season. The imported rice that will hedge against any shortage will be stockpiled in bonded warehouses, according to the Finance Minister.

The government will import rice for up to Rs 200 million which can be used by consumers for up to one-and-a-half-months. The imported stocks will be utilized only if a black market situation affecting consumers arises.

Following this, the All Ceylon Canteen Owners' Association announced that the price of a packet of rice and curry will be increased by Rs 10 from yesterday, owing to the dramatic increase in the price of rice over the past few weeks. Adding to that, the Association also noted that leading rice mill owners and wholesale dealers have stocked large quantities of rice and have created an artificial price hike in the market.

Whether these claims are backed with substantial evidence we still do not know. However, from the Association's allegations, it seems that the alleged 'leading rice mill owners and wholesale dealers' have been privately notified of the upcoming drought.

If so, this action is tantamount to creating a black market for rice in the country and it is essential that the government takes steps to addressing the matter. Creating the buffer stockpile will not be enough once the impending drought arrives. More so, the current stockpile of rice needs to be released into the market in order to avoid the creation of a black market. For, there will be a lack in the product in the market, the longer the stocks are held inside warehouses.

Therefore, the government should take immediate steps to gradually release the rice stocks before unnecessary economic implications arise and most importantly, before the stockpiles expire. If the stocked rice is infested with lice or remains stagnant for a long period of time and becomes expired, responding to the upcoming drought will be almost impossible.

Furthermore, we think, that it is safe to investigate the claims made by the Associations of rice mill owners and wholesale dealers selling rice stock at a higher price. The necessary authorities should be motivated and deployed to inquire into this and if necessary, raid shops and warehouses.

It is well about the time we see to solving the rice crisis the country is facing. From what was the rice warehouse for the South Asian sector during the age of kings, we have fallen so low, that we are importing rice from other countries. It is indeed times of utter shame.

The Island Editorial

A monster in the making

20 December 2016

 

Apologists for the incumbent government claim that some powers of the executive presidency have been curtailed. True, there has been some tinkering with the JRJ Constitution. But, the fact remains that the pledge to abolish the executive presidency has been reneged on and the promised radical break from the past has become will-o’-the-wisp. We are being made witness to gross abuse of power, political interference with vital state institutions including the judiciary, the suppression of media rights, corruption, nepotism, cronyism etc.

The 19th Amendment has manifestly failed to yield the desired results. The President can still have a finger in any pie of his choosing. Local government polls have been postponed indefinitely for political reasons and the National Election Commission is helpless. The less said about the police the better! The IGP has been caught with his pants down; he made a public display of his servility to his political masters by promising a minister over his mobile phone that a suspect would not be arrested. The big mouths of the government have made a bigger mess of the issue by trying to defend the IGP and the minister concerned.

The brave knights in shining armour who looked for journalists in distress to save under the previous regime, are now defending attacks on the media. Many thought the Navy Chief would come in for rebuke from the yahapalana leaders for roughing up a beleaguered journalist the other day in Hambantota. Instead, he has received bouquets from the government! The self-proclaimed champions of good governance have thus shown signs of graduating from verbal attacks to assault in their efforts to suppress the media.

The culture of impunity prevails. Pro-government racketeers have got away with their billion-rupee corrupt deals such as the fraudulent release of hundreds of super luxury vehicles taken into custody by the Customs for undervaluation etc, the Central Bank bond scams, paying Rs. 21 million as monthly rent on an unused building and the mega coal racket which even shocked the conscience of the apex court. They have made a mockery of the government’s much avowed commitment to good governance.

The CID, the FCID and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption have chosen to steer clear of some powerful ruling politicians, who have risen above the law. There have been instances where courts were kept open till midnight to remand Opposition politicians and their lackeys; they have also functioned during weekends to bail out government politicians who had to be arrested owing to media pressure. Strangely, civil society groups who helped bring the present regime to power are still unashamedly singing hosannas for the powers that be. If Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera were alive today he would take to the streets. His successors are mere puppets on strings.

Nothing has, however, damaged the image of the yahapalana dispensation more irreparably than its efforts to create a super ministry with a view to bulldozing its way through on the pretext of accelerating development. It is feared that the proposed ministry with a host of draconian powers to be vested therein will be more powerful than the executive presidency in some respects. Some of the Provincial Councils have already taken exception to the dictatorial provisions in the draft Development (Special Provisions) Bill, which envisages the super ministry. People have suffered at the hands of many a mad monkey with a straight razor since 1977. They must be spared any more suffering.

It is unbecoming of a coalition which secured a popular mandate by promising less government and better governance to create draconian institutions on some flimsy pretexts. President Maithripala Sirisena, who was instrumental in engineering last year’s regime change and undertook to usher in good governance, is duty bound to put paid to some of his subordinates’ attempts at self-aggrandisement. He cannot shift the onus for doing so to anyone else.

It is hoped that political parties will sink their differences and make a concerted effort to abort the super ministry monster in the yahapalana womb.

Ceylon Today Editorial

Tragedy on A-9

19 December 2016

Eleven persons, including two women, died in a major accident on the A-9 road, at Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna Peninsula, on Saturday (17).

The head-on crash involving a Sri Lanka Transport Board passenger bus and a mini passenger van carrying holidaymakers from the South resulted in the death of eleven innocent passengers. Since the A- 9 highway reopened for public transportation in 2010, after several years, Saturday's Chavakachcheri accident was the biggest so far considering the number of deaths.

The renovation of A-9 highway, which links the Jaffna Peninsula with other parts of the country, was given priority to enhance North-South relations through more economic oriented activities. The perfection in the road worthiness of the A-9 has led to more business activities taking place targeting the Jaffna Peninsula. However, in the past seven years, since theA-9 highway was opened for public transportation, several accidents have occurred leading to loss of lives.

Last Saturday's major accident in Chavakachcheri, in which ten passengers died instantly, and another on admission at the Hospital, had occurred in broad daylight at 1.15 p.m. The preliminary investigation has revealed there were 12 passengers in the minivan which was going to Jaffna. The accident occurred when the driver lost control of the van and it crashed head-on with an SLTB bus, heading towards Vavuniya from Jaffna, carrying nearly forty passengers.

The A-9 remains one of the longest highways in the country, linking North and South and it has also been identified as one on which motorists are noted for speeding and reckless driving. Despite the presence of the Traffic Police at several key points on the A-9 highway to take action against errant drivers, accidents on the highway have been reported frequently.

The government has decided to adopt stringent measures following the increase in the traffic offences in the country at large. In the recent past, several accidents have taken place throughout the country with manifold increase in motor transport.

Following the talks involving the Ministers of Finance and Transport along with the Police and representatives of transport sector unions, two weeks ago, the necessity of imposing a minimum fine of Rs 25,000 for seven traffic offences, such as 1. Driving under the influence of alcohol, 2. Driving without a valid driver's licence, 3. Allowing a person who does not have a valid driver's licence to drive a vehicle, 4. Excessive speed, 5. Overtaking from the left, 6. Violating railway crossing rules and 7. Driving without an insurance certificate was found inevitable.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, commenting on the increased fines, said the intention of introducing stringent measures was to update the system and to reduce the number of accidents. So, the big accident, which had occurred in Chavakachcheri last Saturday, as the year 2016 was nearing completion, has indicated the necessity of streamlining the country's transport system to be free of accidents and traffic offences in the years to come.

While paying attention to the errant drivers and the traffic offences, the government should also focus its attention on the Department of Motor Traffic and its operations, such as conducting examinations and issuing driving licences. Several complaints have also come up with regard to malpractices in the conduct of examinations and the issuing of licences by the Department of Motor Traffic.

Therefore, while taking decisions on regulating the traffic system, by adopting tougher measures against the errant motorists, the government should also work out a strategy to regularly monitor the operations of the Department of Motor Traffic to ascertain whether the right hands are given the licences to drive.

Daily News Editorial

Crossovers at crossroads?

19 December 2016

Reported moves to annul crossovers in parliament no doubt will be welcomed by all right thing people in this country who yearn for a decent political culture. According to a news report in our weekend publication the Sunday Observer, Constitutional Council members are currently debating the possibility of annulling the parliamentary seats of crossovers and holding a by election, in order to discourage unethical crossovers. This no doubt will be a deterrent to those who cross over for personnel gain. In any event there have been public suggestions to the Lal Wijenaike Commission in favour of by elections. Hence it is hoped that the proposed new constitution will incorporate this feature in the election laws.

The Observer report also states that even the legislators were strongly in favour of introducing provisions in the new constitution to discourage crossovers between political parties after elections. It was also pointed out that laws outlawing crossovers were still there, as applied in the instance of Lalith, Gamini duo who lost their seats following their decision to quit the Premadasa government.

But since then, the practise has been for the renegades to obtain restraining orders from the District Courts to stay their expulsion, which process could even outlast their parliament tenure, with the MPs concerned filing for extensions of the Stay Orders. Hence something drastic needs to be done to stop MPs taking their electors for a jolly ride after entering parliament to represent their very interest. What has been happening all along is the MPs looking after their own interest instead.

Sri Lanka's legislature has a long history of crossovers. SWRD set the ball rolling when he together with a few others in the D.S. Senanayake government crossed the floor of the House, ostensibly to take up cudgels on behalf of the majority Sinhala Buddhists of the country. Hence the crossover was deemed to promote a cause, and a noble one at that. Therefore there was hardly any talk of this been an unethical crossover, at least from the point of view of the majority, though it was debatable if the whole affair was grounded on altruism. In any event, that crossover was subsequently justified by many due to the social revolution it ushered in this country.

However since then, the crossovers that took place were hardly motivated by the kind of altruism SWRD sought to portray. They were all grounded on selfishness, to reap in the bounties that the spoils of office afforded. Of course there was the famous mass crossover in 1964 led by Leader of House and Minister C. P. De Silva - one of the rare instances where the members of the government crossed over to the Opposition. Even here too there were murmurings that some of the crossovers were bought over in order to thwart the passage of the Press Council Bill. This mass crossover saw the fall of the Sirima Bandaranaike government and the eventual defeat at the hustings that followed. Another instance where a mass crossover precipitated a general election and a change of government was in 2001 when many heavy weights in the Chandrika government switched allegiance, paving the way for the UNP led UNF to come to power.

Since then, crossovers in parliament have been strictly one way traffic, from opposition to government, with members elected from one party, that lost at the elections, shamelessly betraying those who elected them, to sit in the enemy camp. What is more, despite the existence of a specific law banning crossovers, the Supreme Court under Sarath Silva validated the crossovers of messrs. Sarath Amunugama, Wijayapala Mendis, Nanda Mathew and Susil Moonasinghe from the UNP, where the whole electoral system was made a mockery of, with the foursome continuing to claim that they were still dyed in the wool Greens while holding ministerial office in the Blue camp.

But the country was yet to see the last of this spectacle. Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008 engineered the crossover of 18 UNP stalwarts to help him pass the 18th Amendment with the required two thirds majority. All the crossovers were rewarded with ministerial office and other perks and privileges, while most had their pending cases before courts withdrawn and others having their outstanding bank loans written off. The UNP, needless to say, did not get much encouragement from the law to have the renegades unseated.

The symphony is bound to continue into the unforeseen future if some drastic measures are not taken to rein in prospective crossovers. It is a betrayal of the people's franchise. There are those who argue that provisions should be made for “conscience crossovers” either way. But today the system is so corrupt and mired in sleaze, no one in their right minds will believe that a crossover was made for altruistic reasons. As suggested by the Constitutional Council a member who crosses over should be made to stand for a by election as in the old days. Let the voters’ judge the authenticity of the crossover's claim that what he/she did was done on their behalf.

The Island Editorial

Yahapalanaya blossoms!

19 December 2016

 

Victor Lustig is said to have ‘sold’ the Eiffel Tower twice to unsuspecting scrap metal dealers. Frank Abagnale became known for mind-boggling trickery and deception and Spielberg used his autobiography, Catch me if you can’ to immortalise him in celluloid. We have also heard of P. T. Barnum, who was a US huckster, showman and con man rolled into one.

But, the much-publicised feats of the aforesaid con men pale into insignificance in comparison to what the present government of Sri Lanka has achieved. It has got a Chinese company to pay the price of a harbour for a swimming pool! Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was of the considered view before last year’s elections that the previous government had built the world’s biggest swimming pool in Hambantota. Having sold it, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe adminstration is on the lookout for a foreign buyer for a ‘paddy storage facility’ packaged as an airport at Mattala. It derisively wrote off the Mattala airport as a liability and used it for storing paddy, didn’t it?

The government’s biggest feat, however, is, as a popular saying goes, showing a man an attractive woman and duping him into marrying her not-so-attractive elder sister—nangi pennala akka denawa. It is doing exactly the opposite of its pre-election pledges. It promised to chase the Chinese away and protect the people, but, today, it is chasing the people away to protect the Chinese!

The yahapalana leaders who wept buckets for the media and pledged even to lay down their dear lives to protect journalists when they were in the Opposition, are today unflinchingly condoning assaults on hapless scribes.

One’s gorge rose the other day at the sight of Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne handing over a report on the recent Hambantota Port incident, where he pounced on a journalist, to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. The Joint Opposition (JO) has called it an instance of seeking the help of a female clairvoyant to catch a thief who happens to be her own son—horage ammagen pena ahanawa. The JO has got it wrong. Why should anyone’s mother be dragged into this? What the Navy Chief has done is tantamount to consulting a crooked clairvoyant over a theft he himself has committed!

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has defended the naval action in Hambantota and faulted the journalist who suffered at the hands of the Navy Chief. If only the Navy had received that kind of encouragement to counter the Sea Tiger menace during the UNP-led UNF government (2001-2004)! The then Navy chief incurred the wrath of the UNF leaders for attacking two LTTE arms ships. The PM has also demanded to know why the victim went all the way to Tangalle to lodge an entry with the police over an incident in Hambantota. This is not the first time a victim of assault has done so.

Following a UNP goon attack on a protest conducted by Democratic United National Front (DUNF) leaders including Lalith, Gamini and Premachandra opposite the Fort Railway Station in 1992, journalists assaulted with clubs and bicycle chains went to the Fort Police to make a complaint. The OIC stood his full height, blocking the entrance to his police station, which he audaciously declared closed! (The trusted lieutenants of Lalith and Gamini have joined the UNP!) In the same year, the Piliyandala police refused to entertain a complaint from the DUNF leaders and journalists mercilessly assaulted by UNP thugs at a protest in the Piliyandala police area. They had to go all the way to the Police Headquarters, which luckily remained open, to make a complaint albeit in vain! (The mastermind of that cowardly attack is now a prominent member of the JO!) So, our provincial correspondent, Roshan Gunasekera, who was roughed up by the Navy Chief, may have thought the Hambantota police station was closed on that day!

The despicable manner in which the government pundits have chosen to handle the Hambantota incident reminds us of the antics of King Kekille. That Bovine King, according to legend, once flew into a rage on finding a palace wall jerrybuilt. Hauled up before the king, the bricklayer concerned pleaded not guilty; he blamed a buxom woman who had gone past him several times a day distracting him from his work. The woman summoned by the King said she had been compelled to make many trips for several days to a goldsmith who had delayed the delivery of an order. Finally, the king had the goldsmith put to death. Yahapalanaya has blossomed into a Kekille rule!

We thought it was the executive president who was constitutionally empowered to deploy the armed forces in his capacity as the commander-in-chief. That was why President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to take all the flak—and rightly so—for the bloody military crackdown at Rathupaswala, where the army went on the rampage in 2013. One of the allegations against President Rajapaksa was that his family members had arrogated to themselves some of his executive powers. It looks as if the executive powers of President Maithripala Sirisena were being exercised by others with or without his knowledge!

The government has graduated from appointing UNP lawyers to investigate scams i. e. the Central Bank bond theft, to getting culprits to probe themselves as in the case of the Navy Commander manhandling a journalist! Regrettably, it does not care two hoots about legal principles such as nemo judex in causa sua (no one should be a judge in his own case) and audi alteram partem (let the other side be heard as well). At this rate, the day may not be far off when criminals are allowed to investigate their own crimes and submit reports thereon to politicians.

Meanwhile, the incumbent Navy Chief can rest assured that he has really impressed his political bosses by assaulting a journalist. If he carries out some more peacetime attacks of that nature he might even be promoted to the rank of the Admiral of the Fleet, appointed to Parliament through the backdoor aka the National List in his retirement and made a Cabinet minister. Anything is possible in Sri Lanka, a country like no other!