Ceylon Today Editorial

High time we learnt a lesson!

30 May 2017

It becomes incredibly uninteresting when one has to repeat everything. When one harps on the same thing over and over again, it becomes tiring and unfortunately, the same can be applied to the persistent flood situation in Sri Lanka. This disaster situation that can easily be labelled now as a naturally occurring incident in Sri Lanka has become more of a bore than something someone should care about. But that particular notion drowned when floods led to landslides which take lives and the government institutions are nowhere near to address the matter.

The increasing nature of unpredictable weather patterns observed around the world, with Sri Lanka being no exception, has led us to this point in time. The entire world is privy to climate change, despite whether world's political leaders believe in it or not, it seems as if climate change is here to stay. As a result, natural disasters have become somewhat of a norm to the country with increased attention being on matters discussing how to address the matter, recovery and protection of resources, avoiding the occurring of natural disasters and of course, avoiding eventual casualties.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2015 Accord de Paris on Climate Change aim just to do that: seek solutions through the wide cooperation and participation of countries around the world. While this is all well and good, signing a piece of paper can only do so much when the ratification itself is merely a media stunt and should only be taken at face value. Out of the 175 nation States that signed and ratified the agreement only a handful of them would be actually funding research into finding solutions to climate change, avoid or reduce the damage caused by natural disasters, establishing new city planning procedures, among other things. And the United States, which has not as of yet ratified or signed the accords is currently being led by an administrator who has no interest in funding research and development and has now paved the way to a prolific independent scientific movement aiming to address matters of science, which are majorly ignored by their State.

In Sri Lanka, we being one of the many countries which had signed accords, we do little to absolute nothing when it comes to addressing these matters. Hence, we see almost the entire island submerging under flood water and landslides at least twice a year. It is in this context, adding insult to injury the Ministry of Disaster Management admitted that it was not prepared to face this catastrophe. The subject minister himself, had left the country for an international seminar on climate change, the day before the rains started and has not returned as of yet. We hope that it is not just us who have noticed the irony of this situation.

The minister left, it rained for two days straight, floods came in several parts of the country and it was then only the landslides started occurring. In exactly 24 hours the number of casualties from both floods and landslides rose above the hundredth mark and all the ministry could do was plead guilty and wave the white flag. Good for the minister being MIA, all the blame could be put on the ministerial secretaries!

The pattern was obvious. Unfortunately the weather forecast that had predicted heavy rain at the end of this month was ignored by the populace and, it seems, by the relevant government institutions. We should have seen this as a pattern that Sri Lanka, over the last few years, has suffered from rain causing flooding with the situation worsening every year. Last year we should have learned our lesson, yet we are still in a scenario as if we are responding for the first time!

Daily News Editorial

Floods and its aftermath

30 May 2017

More rains have been predicted while this is being written adding to havoc created by the worst flood to have hit this country in decades. Already over 160 lives have been lost, dozens reported missing and thousands displaced with the numbers likely to escalate. Over 1,200 houses have been completely damaged and according to latest reports nearly half million persons have been affected by the flood disaster. Adding to the woes of the affected are the lack of essential supplies such as food and water, with large areas still unreachable due to the raging flood waters. The government however had moved in promptly to mitigate the disaster ably assisted by the tri-forces with an Air Force officer even losing his life during the mercy mission. Ratnapura and Kalutara bore the full brunt of the flood disaster with the majority of deaths and displaced reported from these two districts. Schools have been closed in the disaster areas where life has all but come to standstill. There is also the very real possibility of an outbreak of disease that always follows a major flood and the government should be prepared to meet this challenge as well.

More disaster was averted by the Ceylon Electricity Board which promptly cut off power supplies to the affected areas but for which the death toll would have risen due to electrocution of the already stricken flood victims. Sluice gates too were opened in the many reservoirs to mitigate the effects of the raging floods while prompt evacuation of persons in the landslide prone areas and those living on the river banks too helped in arresting the death toll.

The disaster no doubt rallied all citizens of the country to the assistance of the victims which has always been a hallmark of Sri Lankans during times of crisis. This was seen in ample measure prior to this too such as during the Tsunami catastrophe although there were vultures too who preyed on the victims. The various media organisations too deserve praise for mobilsing the public in providing assistance to the flood victims, an opportunity that that did not lend itself prior to the advent of the electronic media in the days bygone, another instance where the communication revolution had stood the public in good stead. Both the President and Prime Minister are monitoring the situation firsthand and have deployed the full force of the government machinery to deal with the aftermath of the disaster. The President has also ordered that all red tape be dispensed with in the provision of relief to the flood victims while daily briefings are been arranged to handle fresh crisis situations that might crop up affecting the victims. The President also has issued instruction to grant the maximum compensation to the next of kin of those who perished in the flood disaster.

The Opposition too, it has to be mentioned, has not thought it fit to fish in trouble waters and have extended support to the government to deal with the emergency situation. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appealed to all countrymen to put aside all differences and rise to the occasion to provide succor to those affected. The clergy of all faiths too have appealed to their flock to rally at this moment of crisis. Dry rations and relief items are being collected in churches and temples countrywide as during the Tsunami with the public lending their unstinted assistance. The Mahanayakes in the meantime have appealed to all Buddhists to consider setting off a part of the funds earmarked for “Amisa Pooja” on Poson Poya day to help people affected by floods and landslides. The victims therefore are assured of help from all quarters but what is important is getting them back on their feet following their harrowing ordeal.

The flood waters not only claimed lives but also the very future of the survivors. In the deluge were washed away all their possessions and meagre belongings. All electrical goods in the homes consumed by flood waters cannot be salvaged and so are the books and clothes of school going children. Most of the half a million affected are now living in temporary shelters, some with only the clothes on their bodies. For them providing cooked meals and other forms of sustenance alone would not suffice. They need to start life afresh after the flood waters recede and here is where the government and also voluntary organisations will have to step in. The corporate sector too could assist in this noble endevour. A herculean task awaits the government in helping to rebuild the lives of the unfortunate victims and a collective effort is called for. A similar scenario that prevailed in the aftermath of the Tsunami now confronts the nation and the government will have to be equal to the challenge the like of which confronted the Chandrika administration in the wake of the Boxing Day catastrophe. On that occasion that was a national outcry for unity among all disparate forces and a similar call is warranted in this instance too if the country is to overcome the monumental natural disaster that has visited upon it.

The Island Editorial

Who grieves over Afghan civilians?

30 May 2017

A savage terrorist attack marred the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan in Afghanistan the other day. More than 20 persons including children died when the Taliban carried out a suicide blast near a bus station. This incident went almost unnoticed by the international community, which is still mourning the victims of the Manchester concert blast. No world leader cared to condemn the incident or offer condolences to the families of the victims. Why? If such a blast had occurred in a developed country heads of state the world over would have lost no time in condemning it and offering condolences. The number of Afghans killed in the latest terror strike has, as usual, become a mere statistic.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to induct more American boots in Afghanistan. He has not been moved by the suffering of the hapless Afghans troubled by terrorism. If US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent statement on Afghanistan is anything to go by, what has caused concern to the US is the ability of the Taliban to carry out attacks in other parts of the world. In other words, if the Taliban had limited their terrorism to Afghanistan the developed world wouldn’t have bothered to fight them.

Trump seems to think that the strengthening of US military presence, bombing and drone attacks will help neutralise the Taliban once and for all. Terrorism, no doubt, must be fought with might and main and military action is a prerequisite for any anti-terror campaign. Terrorists don’t understand any other language. But, the fact remains that the success of the ongoing military campaign against the Taliban hinges on the ability of the US-led forces to prevent the terrorists from recruiting combatants. The ISIS, al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists have fertile recruiting grounds in trouble-torn countries like Afghanistan. Decades of neglect, deprivation and violence in such societies have enabled the elements like the Taliban to brainwash the frustrated youth and produce human bombs in large numbers. When children, denied access to education and fed on a diet of bigotry and hatred grow up in an environment where violence is a way of life it is only natural that they take up arms later in life and fight for various macabre causes.

The US may drop thousands of bombs on Afghanistan and induct hundreds of thousands of soldiers to conduct ground operations there but still fail to realise its goal of eliminating the Taliban. For, it has not concentrated on other fronts. The need for creating an environment where the Afghan children and youth will receive a decent education and learn to cherish the value of democratic freedoms and human rights cannot be overemphasised. It is hoped that President Trump will take action to redouble the efforts being made to educate Afghan children and improve the economic conditions in that war-ravaged nation. Unless the socio-economic swamp in Afghanistan is systematically drained, the Taliban will continue to thrive. This is, in fact, something the US should have done decades ago after achieving its goal of driving the Russians away with the help of Afghan guerrillas. Had it invested in education, rekindling democracy and economic development in Afghanistan the meteoric rise of the Taliban wouldn’t have been possible.

Ceylon Today Editorial

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES AND DEATH BY DROWNING

28 May 2017

When the last major flood created a massive emergency in the country back in January 2011, it caused damage aggregating Rs 50 billion causing then External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris to consult the heads of missions of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) based in Colombo at the Ministry to discuss relief measures for persons affected by that one specific flood disaster damage.

The government then spent US$ 10 million to provide cooked meals and dry rations for people in all affected areas and the Ministry of Disaster Management released US$ 1.5 million a day for relief operations which continued for three days. That would amount to US$ 4.5 million. Taken together, according to statistics given at that time, subject to correction, that would amount to an aggregate US$ 14.5 million or just over Rs 16 billion, still far behind the amount needed to restore the destruction. The ultimate figures were not released to the public. The point we make is that the country has never been prepared in advance to rapidly and adequately deal with a national natural emergency.

True to form the Indian Government has always been willing to help in such natural disaster situations and Premier Narendra Modi immediately sent two ship loads of relief supplies for the flood affected people numbering about 100,000 or more as the count increased.

The Government then appealed to the UN's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (ISARAG) and neighbouring countries to provide assistance to the people affected by flash floods and landslides.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has made the appeal for immediate assistance to the affected, especially, in the areas of search and rescue operations. New Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake's first big job in office was a domestic one and he was quick to immediately activate the Emergency Response Unit of the Ministry to coordinate rescue and relief measures in flood affected areas, in coordination with the Disaster Management Ministry. Appeals were also sent out to our neighbouring countries.

Few people know that Sri Lanka is among the countries that have taken out insurance to protect its citizens from the destruction caused by natural calamities. The National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) has under Sri Lankan government sponsorship insured all uninsured Sri Lankan citizens and uninsured properties by obtaining a Catastrophe Reinsurance Cover of up to Rs 10 billion from major reinsurance companies in London and other parts of the world, through Crescent Global and its subsidiary Strategic Insurance Brokers (SIB). The reinsurance cover spreads across 2016 and 2017. It even covers fishermen's families up to Rs 1 million for loss of life due to natural disasters while fishing at sea, and all citizens are covered for up to Rs 100,000 in the event of death due to natural calamities. This was mooted by former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and was meant to serve the objective of helping the Treasury to absorb the impact of a 'significant' but not major, natural disaster.

Family members of the deceased of the Meethotamulla tragedy were to be paid Rs 100,000 from this NITF insurance cover in addition to the compensation given by the government.

The same insurance cover would pay up to Rs 2.5 million for property damage caused in the garbage dump collapse. But that too was not considered 'major' by any stretch of imagination. Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has ordered that all unauthorized structures on the embankments of the Kelani River, especially in Colombo, Kolonnawa, Kaduwela, Wattala and Kelaniya areas be immediately demolished by the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation. The point is that several hundred families living in those unauthorized structures will have to be paid compensation and provided with alternate housing. All that would cost many millions. Obviously that is not a natural disaster and hence not covered by the NITF policy.

The warning for people to evacuate flood-endangered areas came that much too late and was not enforced. That resulted in over 100 lives being lost – lives of men and women who won't be trekking to polling booths anymore!

What were the Provincial Council men in their super-luxury cars and Prados doing while there was still time to enforce an evacuation order? What were the MPs in Colombo doing while they waited for even Parliament to be closed due to the inclement weather? Thank goodness that the nation's MPs are safe and sound, and will live another day to run around in all these Rs 50 million super luxury cars imported for them and return to their super luxury homes.

Thank goodness there was just enough time to squeeze through another Rs 350 million additional supplementary estimate for still more super luxury cars and Rs 17 million supplementary estimate to effect minor repairs to those super luxury homes they live in, even as reports poured in of their voters' bodies being fished out of the flood waters.

The Nation Editorial

Share with care…

28 May 2017

Quite a few things happened during the past week. What started with a Cabinet reshuffle, ended with a few lives lost due to landslides and incessant rains. In between there were also developments on actions taken against those who attacked Muslim religious places.

In most cases, the public has been mere spectators simply because of the fact they are not in a position to do anything.

Many people use the social media sites to vent their frustrations while some try to move on with their lives regardless.

Some voice their concerns through statuses but do nothing more. Some take the extra step by using internet to gather people to help for a cause. Many never fail to share the information through their respective social media accounts to others.

This is the world we live in. People seem to be more helpful and sharing on digital world than in reality. But that’s how it goes now an we hav to face th reality an liv with it. Any thing i good, or bad, depending on howmit is used., and social media is no exception. Last week we saw at least two situations where people used thee social media to share information.

The video of a private moment of a former cricketer went viral on Facebook. Many shared it for the fun of it while some posted messages to respect the privacy of individuals, which too resulted in people searching for the clips just to watch it at least.

On the other hand, as the past week drew to a close, several parts of the country were affected due to inclement weather conditions. At least 23 lives were lost due to landslides and floods in the Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts last Friday.

The public largely depended on information circulated in social media platforms to assist the affected people.

Information such as items required, number of affected people, location of affected people, and help routes were shared through the very social media platform that shared the controversial video clip.

This is a clear example as to how one platform could be used for something which is of no use, and the next day, how it could be used to save lives.

Even a knife, used by the right person, could be used to save a life. But if it gets into the wrong hands, the end result could be chaos.

It all boils down to the individual who uses the knife, or in this case, the social media platform.

Among the many gossips and scandals, many inspirational stories are also shared on these platforms. Look for them, get inspired, and help the nation become better.

Sunday Times Editorial

Whither merit in public service reshuffle

28 May 2017

After months of struggling and straining to implement a Cabinet reshuffle, the President eventually delivered on his promise. Whether the answer lies in changing pillows for a continuing headache, i.e. the economy, however, is left to be seen.

For some time now, it had been known that the President’s main intention was to change his Finance Minister. However he required the concurrence of the ‘other party’ in his National Government, the UNP, to do this. There seemed to have been some initial resistance to the move from the Minister’s party, but it now seems that certain influential elements within the Prime Minister’s own ‘inner circle’ did him in, and worked on the swap – one FM for another.

While there’s no gainsaying that it is a comedown for the former Finance Minister to be removed, his replacement was quick to say the shoes he inherited are too big for him. He has said this before — when he took over as Foreign Minister in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the peerless Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005. He grew into those big shoes reasonably well, though he seems to have lost them in the past two years holding the same portfolio. He was probably getting stale on the job and with foreign policy being dictated from outside his Ministry, he took a laid back approach to the affairs under his watch.

As for his dual role as Media Minister, which came as a surprise, one would only hope his second innings in that portfolio would be more pleasant for himself, the Media and the Government he serves than the disastrous period during his previous avatar as Media Minister in the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government.

One might feel a tad sorry for the dismissed Finance Minister, but he must be held partly responsible for his own downfall. No doubt, he had to pay for the collective sins of others, not least having inherited a Treasury heavily debt-ridden with loans taken by the previous Rajapaksa Government. But then, this Government wanted to run the country and the Finance Minister, the job of managing the empty Treasury; these jobs were not thrust down their throats.

To begin with, the Finance Minister received an emasculated Ministry sans the Central Bank. In order that his party won the Parliamentary elections of August 2015 on a polar headwind, he piloted a Rs. 10,000 pay hike for Government servants, reduced petrol prices and took the credit for some populist measures that the country could ill afford. A botched attempt at collecting revenue through VAT and a familiar trek to Washington to pay homage to the IMF and World Bank for bail-out loans and to Beijing and New Delhi in search of investments were the hallmarks of his stint at the Ministry of Finance. Ironically, the first act of the new Foreign Minister was a familiar one to him – asking for foreign aid, this time for flood relief.

Then he was identified with those who were involved in the massively roguish, hugely unpopular Central Bank Treasury Bond scam of 2015 and 2016. That was not good for him as much as it was not good for the country. Within his own party, he tried to make out that he was their main fund-raiser, but he won no brownie-points with the party leadership when in a second castration of his powers, the state banks and several other institutions were taken out of his control, and he refused to get his appointees to stand down to make way for new nominees.

Consequent to this mini Cabinet reshuffle on Monday, one is to expect some heads to roll and fresh faces to be inducted to the support staff of the Cabinet of Ministers – the Public Service; the men and women who execute the political decisions of the Government.

One of the expectations of the new Government in 2015 was that not only would there be a group of competent Ministers at the helm of the country’s affairs, but also that the Public Service would be better oiled (not in the bribery and corruption sense), independent and efficient.

In fact, the Government announced that there will be a high-powered committee headed by no less than the President and the Prime Minister to select political-appointees to high office on what they themselves called “a scientific basis”. That has become one of the biggest jokes of recent times. Take the classic case of the Ports Minister who removed a Ph.D qualified financial expert who had returned from Britain to serve his country, and replaced him with the Minister’s brother who had less educational qualifications than is required from a port security guard.

The SriLankan Airlines board is a miniature example of the dysfunctional Government. Its members have been appointed by the Prime Minister and former President Kumaratunga and there has been in-fighting from Day One. Differences of opinion is one thing, disagreeing on everything is another. The line minister is often kept out of the loop. It is a public secret, and nothing is seen to be done to remedy the hopeless situation of the continuously loss-making national carrier.

Relatives and party hangers-on were appointed, no different to Governments before, even by the President as Secretaries to Ministries and as Ambassadors and Corporation heads and to their directorates. This week, the Parliamentary High Posts Committee published a list of persons so appointed and called for public petitions, if any. The Committee is supposed to check on their suitability for the posts, some of which these people have been holding already for years.

Not since, the Select Committee headed by then Prime Minister R. Premadasa found the most suitable Upali Wijewardene as unsuitable to hold the post of head of the then GCEC (Greater Colombo Economic Commission now the BOI – Board of Investment) and President J.R. Jayewardene ignored the politically motivated findings, has the High Post Committee found anyone unsuitable, unsuitable. It has become a mere rubber-stamp limited to checking if the appointees have paid their income tax.

When the Government therefore proposes Parliamentary All Party Oversight Committees to go into the administration of the Government, it must be serious about its own proposal. It is understandable that ‘jobs for the boys’ — i.e. jobs for those who supported the ruling party into office – are a political necessity. But so too is the proper administration of the country. There have to be hand-picked apolitical persons for state jobs. The good and bad in appointments is best illustrated in the appointment of the former Governor of the Central Bank (bad) and the present appointee (good).

This week, in the backdrop of the Finance Minister asking for statutory bodies un-related to his new Ministry (and further castrating his old ministry), the UPFA General Secretary and Minister says “institutions will be allocated on a scientific basis”. Haven’t we heard this bovine excreta before?

Sunday Observer Editorial

Nature strikes back

28 May 2017

Nearly one hundred Sri Lankans, mostly the poor, have been killed so far in sudden landslides and flash floods and, with over 150 still missing as at yesterday, the death toll is expected to rise. If the onslaught of this unusually ferocious South West Monsoon rainy season continues unabated and the disaster-affected area widens, then more human casualties are likely. And the scale of social and economic damage will also worsen.

Already, in anticipation of further heavy rain in the hill country, the authorities are warning of the continued threats of flash floods across many parts of the country, especially, low-lying areas adjacent to rivers flowing down from the hills. People living along river banks have been advised to temporarily seek shelter on higher ground. Special facilities are being prepared to accommodate the tens of thousands of disaster refugees.

Kalutara and Ratnapura districts, zones of the highest annual rainfall, are now beset with tragedy and disaster as just a few days of torrential rain caused widespread flooding and a rash of earth slips. Even though the population of these districts and the local authorities are familiar with the natural disaster risks in such traditionally heavy rainfall areas, the unexpected scale of the floods and earth slips and, the speed with which the disasters were caused by just a few days of severe rains, caught everyone off-guard.

Less than two days of intense rain was enough to cause nearly a dozen earth slips in these two districts alone. Although none of them were massive in scale, they were close enough to homes and hamlets and, sudden enough to catch people by surprise, resulting in this tragic human toll.

Landslides have been a feature of long bouts of very intense rainfall, but not remotely as frequent as today. Usually, occurring in the South West Monsoon season that covers the central hills and southern and western regions of the island, in the past, since the time such natural occurrences began to be recorded, the incidence of such landslides was infrequent and isolated. In the recent decade, earth slips began to be a regular and very frequent occurrence even for bouts of rainfall that, in the past, would not be considered disaster-inducing.

The location of these frequent earth slips is revealing. They occur close to human settlements or, even right in the middle of settled areas. Significantly, the increased risk of earth slips is in areas of newly expanded and intensified human settlement. As the population has increased, and people began migrating to economically dynamic areas, areas around many towns and villages in the hills became quickly settled in unplanned ways.

Vegetation on hill slopes was cleared and hillsides cut into for housing and shops or other buildings, with little supervision and pre-planning to take into account the impact of such human assaults on the natural environment. Worse, in some areas, whole hills and parts of mountains were ruthlessly dug up in stone-quarrying while rivers were dredged in sand mining.

Traditionally, the peasantry would have known the dangers of deforestation and too dense a settlement on hillsides. If the earth is loosened by the loss of vegetation, the weight of new buildings too densely built on hill sides merely quickens the disastrous collapse of the topography so affected. If rivers are dredged too much, on the one hand, the loosened riverbed further breaks up causing erosion, while silting results in shifts in water flow both of which result in rivers breaking out of their natural courses, thereby causing more than normal flooding. On the other hand, the deepening of rivers due to sand mining causes rivers to flow faster, resulting in rain-induced increases in river water becoming dangerous flash floods.

Mother Earth simply cannot bear the weight of us, predatory humans, anymore. Thus, Nature is striking back.

The local authorities in these areas were either unaware of the risks arising from such unplanned human settlement and mining activity or have been too lethargic or corrupt to decisively cope with these new challenges. Warnings of rustic village elders, living close to Nature, were often ignored.

In urban and semi-urban areas too, it has been a parallel scenario of spontaneous human settlement and economic expansion without guidance and preparation by the relevant authorities and their political leadership. The poorest people cannot afford housing developments and have resorted to unauthorized settlement wherever some space can be found. Thus, river and canal banks are now dense shanty towns or, shanty towns ‘developed’ as equally dense, low-income housing still occupying those same locations with little protection from flooding by rivers damaged by sand mining and other human activity upriver.

Sadly, the increasing occurrence of widespread landslides and floods in precisely such areas of newly intensive human activity has yet to spur governments and local authorities toward genuinely effective environmental planning and protection.

Despite the expertise and equipment now available in the country, stringent regulations are yet to be enforced in relation to new settlements, clearing of vegetation and other crucial land management practices as well as the regulating of economic activity that damages nature. Instead, politicians continue to ignore the depredations of people, especially, those who lavish political support in return for favours. And bureaucrats, hardened by such political apathy, remain apathetic themselves.

India's swift supportive response in rushing naval units and disaster logistics must be appreciated as a fulfilment of a neighbour's responsibility.

Does Mother Nature have to continue to prompt us in such a tragic manner?

Sunday Island Editorial

After the drought, the deluge

28 May 2017

After the drought, the deluge is becoming a more common experience in this island nation of ours blessed by two monsoons every year. Although Colombo did not on Friday have the heavy rainfall that overcast skies foretold, and there was no rain in the metropolis as this is being written yesterday, the news of the havoc caused by recent weather in many parts of the country was most depressing. By Friday night the government had a figure of over 200 people dead and missing due to floods and landslides resulting from the bad weather in many parts of the country. As is often the case there are parts of the country, particularly within the drought-hit coconut triangle, that have not yet had the rain they are desperately waiting for; but the reservoirs supporting hydro electricity generation have done better with some the smaller storage reaching spill level though the big reservoirs are still less than half full.

There is no escaping the reality that changing weather patterns and climate, not only in our country but globally, has been man-made for the most part. Fifty or sixty years ago, it was possible to predict the arrival of the monsoon here virtually to the day and Goolbai Gunasekera, the well known educationist and popular writer, has said in one of her books that her father would tell her that the rains would break on her birthday! But that is now no more the case. The three forces are throwing their weight behind the ongoing relief and rescue effort and arrangements are being made to house and feed those compelled to evacuate their homes in high risk areas. Both the president and prime minister have ordered maximum relief for the victims, there has been an appeal for assistance from UN agencies and foreign countries and the first of two Indian relief ships docked in Colombo last morning. Undoubtedly Sri Lankan people will also rise to the occasion as they always do in times such as these as demonstrated most recently at Meetotamulla when a garbage dump descended on urban homes and at Aranayake where a huge landslide buried dozens of people alive in the rural countryside.

While meeting immediate requirements is the instant need, we have also to think of long term necessities. There has still been no solution found to Colombo’s garbage disposal problem and there have been talk and protests about the possibility that a part of the Muthurajawela wetlands will be used for this purpose. There is still no proper segregation of waste into their various components – organic, plastic, glass, paper etc. and lack of civic consciousness in the reckless use of non-degradables like shopping bags. Thoughtlessness, greed and corruption has led to filling of wetlands whose capacity for absorbing excess rainfall has been reducing alarmingly over the years as a result of skyrocketing land prices. What this means is that these natural sponges of nature have been destroyed and continue to be destroyed with the responsible authorities falling flat on their regulatory faces. So also with wanton jungle clearance, partly spurred by land hunger and also due to illicit felling of valuable timber that has for too long been a fact of life in what was once a green and pleasant land. While some flood protection schemes in the Nilwala and Gin Ganga basins have been constructed in the past, we are not aware of any major ongoing projects. Once the emergency is past and the sun shines again all will be forgotten until the next disaster hits. That is human nature and not restricted to any particular country though we surely must be among the bigger offenders.

Since time immemorial we Lankans have exhorted devo vassatu kalena (may the gods bring rain in due season) to bless all living beings on this earth. That beautifully memorable stanza at the beginning of the pirit potha also invokes blessings on all that inhabit this planet and ends with the evocative line raja bavathu dammikko calling on the rulers to be just. There are those who believe that nature’s fury descends at times when the rulers are not just and this has time and again been used as a political hatchet. The present weather is certainly the result of a late breaking monsoon and what rain we’ve had, despite inevitable flooding in areas naturally prone to that, is needed for our crops which have suffered much due to prolonged dry weather. It is also a respite from the heat which seems to get worse each year. The currently high tea prices are mostly due to drought-hit crops in most tea growing countries including ours. Coconut prices too are unusually high, hurting the consumer and not overly profiting the producer hit by low crops and small nuts as a result of inadequate rainfall.

The right balance in nature is what mankind needs, enhanced by human genius that enabled the creation of this country’s ancient hydraulic civilization that once made Sri Lanka a granary of the East. Converting from a self-sufficient food economy to cash crops with the denudation of forest cover on the mountain slopes to grow first coffee and then tea had inevitable climatic consequences that continue to this day. We have to perforce live with what has happened in the course of history; but at times like this it is necessary that we must sock into our consciousness anew the need to desist from further depredation of nature and repair damage already done as far as possible by reforestation and proper land use strategy.

Ceylon Today Ediorial

Promotions, Demotions

24 May 2017

 

Monday's Cabinet reshuffle centred round four key portfolios, though there was double that number involved.

Those were 'Ports', going under the expanded version of 'Ports and Shipping,' 'Media', 'Finance' and the creation of a new portfolio called 'Development Assignments.'

In these aspects, Ports and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga was demoted to be Petroleum Resources Development Minister, Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilaka to 'Lands and Parliamentary Affairs' and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to Foreign Affairs.

And the promotions: Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera as Finance and Mass Media Minister and UNP's national list MP Tilak Marapana, PC, as the minister of a new ministry especially created for him, i.e. that of 'Development Assignments' Minister.
Samaraweera's promotion rests not in him being granted the 'Finance' portfolio, but rather the 'Mass Media' portfolio.

Mahinda Samarasinghe's re-assignment from Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister to Ports and Shipping Minister, more than being a promotion to him, may be classified as being a punishment to Ranatunga, the former Ports and Shipping Minister.

Among Ranatunga's sins is opposing the leasing of one of several of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's white elephant projects, the Hambantota Port to the Chinese for US$ 1.1 billion to get over the current debt trap. Nonetheless, Ports and Shipping is a key ministry portfolio in the Cabinet. Forty years ago, President J. R. Jayewardene appointed an unknown MP called Lalith Athulathmudali as Trade and Shipping Minister to usher in his dream of making the Colombo Port the hub port in South Asia. There was no separate Ports Ministry then.

Athulathmudali, hearkening unto 'his master's voice,' made this dream a reality with Japanese aid, given as one of several marks of gratitude, due to Jayewardene's plea for mercy for war defeated Japan, in the dock at San Francisco in 1951 and which plea won the day.

'Media' is a sensitive portfolio. Samaraweera as the Unity Government's Foreign Minister, successfully steered the country to regain the lost GSP+ duty free facility in exports to Sri Lanka's largest market the EU, lost in August 2010 due to Rajapaksa's blunderings. Samaraweera, who in part was responsible for the controversial October 2015 Geneva resolution which called for foreign jurists to interfere in the internal affairs of the country vis-à-vis alleged human rights violations committed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) in its 26-year war with Tamil terrorism, nevertheless, helped GoSL to get a reprieve till at least 2019 to implement these recommendations. Nonetheless, GoSL and its Cabinet cannot run away from the responsibility of co-sponsoring this resolution together with the USA, Sri Lanka's largest export market, countrywise.

Under these circumstances, the media portfolio plays a key role, being Sri Lanka's voice, overseas, in this era of globalization, GSP+, Geneva and human rights and all that. For that purpose, Sri Lanka needs an articulate voice. Samaraweera, who had been the Media Minister before, i.e. in the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga government of August 1994 to December 2001, fits the groove.

It was the UNP which won the day at Monday's Cabinet reshuffle, by getting one of its MPs, Marapana, once more into the Cabinet.
Marapana served in the National Unity Government's Cabinet for two months previously, from September to November, 2015, before resigning over the Avante Garde affair. This affair now appears to have had died a natural death.

Samaraweera, Karunathilaka and Karunanayake are also all from the UNP, whereas Samarasinghe, a former UNPer, crossed over to the SLFP/UPFA during Rajapaksa's tenure.

Ranatunga is also from the SLFP/UPFA. As far as the other ministers who were subjected to yesterday's reshuffle, namely W. D. J. Seneviratne, Mahinda Amaraweera, S. B. Dissanayake and Chandima Weerakkody, are from the SLFP/UPFA and were Cabinet Ministers even before Monday's reshuffle.

Nonetheless, Karunanayake, the Unity Government's Finance Minister from January 2015 to Monday, has presented three budgets, appointed his brother-in-law as one of two managing directors of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd. and was responsible for increasing the VAT, a baby of the IMF, by four percentage points to 15% whilst also making supermarket retail transactions VATable. Nevertheless, there is collective Cabinet responsibility over the VAT hike.

If J. R. Jayewardene, as Finance Minister in 1953, was responsible for the hartal after raising the price of a measure of rice by 50 cents to 75 cents, resulting in the resignation of Premier Dudley Senanayake, the demotion of Jayewardene from Finance to Agriculture Minister and the UNP losing the Parliamentary Election three years later, there are similarities to Karunanayake's demotion 64 years later.

The first budget which Karunanayake produced in January 2015, no sooner the Unity Government was instituted to power after Maithripala Sirisena's presidential election victory of 8 January, 2015, was an election budget targeting the parliamentary elections, subsequently held in August 2015.

His second budget held soon after, was checkmated by his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as being austere. And his removal took place seven months after the presentation of his third budget in November.

Nonetheless, Karunanayake, in his new role as Foreign Minister should take advantage over the terrorist bombing at Manchester on Monday, by issuing a message of condolence to London and Whitehall over this tragedy as his first positive move in his new role. UK, USA and the rest of the West played key roles in drafting the controversial October 2015 resolution involving Sri Lanka.

Daily News Editorial

Padeniya’s company tells a tale

24 May 2017

In journalism it is an axiom that a picture tells a thousand words. This truism was brought home starkly by the front page picture captions depicted in almost all daily newspapers yesterday showing GMOA President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya brushing shoulders with stalwarts of the Joint Opposition outside the Supreme Court premises where a Contempt case was being heard against the God Father of government doctors. In the picture with Padeniya was a Buddhist monk, notorious for his rabid nationalism and visceral hatred towards the minority community and an avowed loyalist of Mahinda Rajapaksa who even went to the extent of conferring him high government office when the latter was President. Among the others in the picture were a learned medical Professor, known for his rationalist views and who is often in the news, but barely concealing where his loyalties really lay.

This is not the only occasion where Padeniya was seen in such company. He was pictured a few weeks ago at the launch of a book, said to have been authored by Wimal Weerawansa during the period the latter was behind bars, occupying the front row with the JO front liners. With such glaring evidence only a nincompoop will believe that the GMOA is an apolitical body and detached from party politics, as often claimed by Padeniya and his minions and that it was not carrying out a political contract for Mahinda Rajapaksa, their former benefactor.

Padeniya and his ilk of the GMOA are entitled to their political views and the right to support any political party or Opposition group. But they cannot hold the public to ransom by playing political games in their bid to bring back to power vanquished political leaders through whose largesse they benefited in the past. It is against the Hippocratic Oath nay immoral. It goes against the very tenets of the medical profession which is looked up to with much regard and respect by the general public. It behoves the doctors to give their first preference to the care of the patients, if they are not to lose the respect of the general public who funded their education. But what do we see? The GMOA holding media conferences, almost on a daily basis, threatening strikes and disruption of the medical services. All because of one private medical institution when there is another operating on the same lines, with not a murmur of protest from the doctors. All this no doubt will reinforce public belief that the doctors are bent on promoting their vested interests of a political nature.

Padeniya has already displayed his colours in this regard. Addressing a meeting, amidst a doctors’ strike, he not only castigated the government in very uncomplimentary terms but also singled out two government Ministers for a vituperative outburst. He got so carried away with his rhetoric that his diatribe extended to the country’s courts of law, which has now landed him in trouble.

The GMOA once again staged a 24 hour token strike on Monday throwing patients into severe hardship, for reasons other than SAITM, their main bone of contention, though this too was in the package but not in the order of merit. One of the reasons given for the strike was the ‘police brutality’ inflicted on medical students protesting against SAITM. The solidarity expressed thus with the medical students no doubt is a craftily thought out strategy to engage them and others in the planned protests earmarked by the doctors in the near future on matters nothing to to do with the medical profession. The strike initially slated for a short duration was suddenly extended to 24 hours at the eleventh hour, putting patients, who would have come to seek treatment even during those limited hours, into great hardship. This, from an organisation which claims that their raison d’etre for the anti-SAITM campaign was purely in the interest of the patients, to ensure they receive quality medical treatment. But this altruistic feelings were nowhere to be seen on Monday given the fact that as much as 600 operations were not performed on that day and hapless patients who reported for their Clinic Day milling around hospital premises with no succour coming their way.

The GMOA spokesmen addressing a media briefing also stated that the work stoppage was also to protest against plans to arrest their friend, guide and philosopher Dr. Padeniya, a reference to the Contempt case now being heard against him for insulting the courts. Padeniya is an ordinary citizen of this country and is subject to the law like any other citizen. He cannot be above the law merely because he is a doctor and the President of the GMOA. Doctors, professionals, Buddhist monks and even a member of the Anglican Church were made to suffer for their crimes and felons in the past. Padeniya cannot be an exception and the sooner the GMOA members come to terms with this reality the better they would be prepared to accept the court verdict with equanimity if and when the guillotine falls.

The Island Editorial

A gruesome finale

24 May 2017

The latest terror strike in the UK has killed 22 persons including children and left scores of others injured. The cowardly attack must be condemned and the criminals responsible for it brought to book. Thousands of terrified music lovers were seen running helter-skelter following Monday’s blast at the conclusion of the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. The gruesome finale of the musical show must have evoked, in all Sri Lankans, horrible memories of numerous savage terrorist bomb attacks on civilian targets from the mid 1980s to 2009.

Mega events extend an open invitation to terrorists who are looking for the slightest opportunity to strike. True, life must go on in spite of terrorist threats and terrorists must be denied the pleasure of having civilians life crippled, but people must not be exposed to danger unnecessarily. Foolproof security is not within the realms of possibility and the organisers of the Manchester concert should have been more careful. It is reported that the bomber gained access to the venue when doors were opened shortly before the end of the concert.

Terrorists have once again demonstrated their ability to strike at will anywhere in the world by carrying out a bomb attack with ease in Britain, which has been on red alert. Brainwashed and bent on plunging the civilised world into chaos, they won’t baulk at anything to achieve their macabre goals. No country is safe.

Unfortunately, the world is not united in tackling terrorism. The less said about the UN the better. It allows its human right arm to be used by certain strategic alliances as a tool to advance their agendas on the pretext of protecting global democracy much to the disappointment of the victims of terror.

Addressing a group of leaders from the Muslim countries, US President Donald Trump declared on Sunday: "No discussion of stamping out this (terrorist) threat would be complete without mentioning the government that gives terrorists ... safe harbour, financial backing, and the social standing needed for recruitment ... I am speaking, of course, of Iran." Ironically, among the leaders in the audience were friends of the US, responsible for creating the ISIS, which blasts civilian targets in the West! He may have struck a responsive chord with terror victims the world over if he had, instead of venting his spleen on Iran, lashed out at all countries which provide safe haven, financial backing and social standing to terrorist groups.

Can the US and its allies deny the fact they themselves have sponsored savage terrorist outfits to further their interests? Afghanistan would not have been plagued with terrorism today but for US backing for some ragtag armies which, after driving away the Russians, evolved into formidable terror groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The self-righteous western powers also backed militant groups in Libya though they were fully aware that there were many Jihadist fighters among the armed combatants to get rid of Gaddafi. Having sown the wind, they are now reaping the whirlwind.

In 2009, the then British PM Gordon Brown stressed the need for fighting the Taliban terrorism in Afghanistan so that the streets of London would be safe. (Ironically, he was promoting war on terror with gung-ho zeal while his government was trying to confer pariah status on this country, which had just defeated terrorism and made its streets safe for one and all.) Terrorists have over the years opened new fronts and rendered British cities as vulnerable as their counterparts in other parts of the terror-stricken world.

Unless the powerful nations abandon their despicable policy of promoting terrorism on the sly against other nations to further their interests, and make a concerted effort to root out the scourge of terror in all its forms and manifestations wherever it occurs the world will become an even more dangerous place.

Ceylon Today Editorial

High time constructions regulated and streamlined

22 May 2017

The site of the five-storey building which collapsed last Thursday (18) by the Wellawatte canal near the Savoy cinema resembled a debris site of a collapsed building in a Hollywood movie!

In the backdrop of fire engines, Police cars and ambulances, men were seen working day and night to clear the debris of the collapsed building. Apart from efforts to clear the debris, they were also seen searching for those still missing following the mishap.
The building which collapsed was famous for wedding receptions and other social events. People gather there in their hundreds to take part in these functions. Fortunately, there was no major loss of life at the time the building collapsed.

Colombo's skyline has changed drastically with the influx of people on a mega scale, finding shelter in the capital city. Lands where sprawling, single houses were found in various parts of Colombo and the suburbs, replaced now with condominium flats with several houses.

These flats and other high rise buildings began mushrooming on a large scale following the turbulent conditions in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

As the situation took a turn for the worse in the two provinces and with the flow of foreign remittances from expatriate Tamils, the affluent from the North and the East were targeted by unscrupulous building constructors in Colombo.

In the backdrop of clashes in the North and the East spreading to Colombo, utmost concern was paid towards the security in the South and hardly any attention was given to unauthorized constructions dominating the Colombo skyline on a large scale.

Following the Wellawatte mishap Megapolis and Western Development Minister, Patali Champika Ranawaka made a startling revelation that the Urban Development Authority (UDA) had identified 10,000 unauthorized constructions in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia and Kolonnawa.

The Minister's revelation seems to question as to what the UDA was doing when not one or two but 10,000 unauthorized structures had come up and ironically not far away from the capital but within the capital city!

From the Minister's revelation it could be seen how underhand dealings have played a huge role in sanctioning the 10,000 constructions.

Most of developed and developing countries pay much attention when approving new buildings: Prioritizing human safety and other essential aspects such as the environment. Proportions of the new constructions are taken into consideration when permission is granted for new constructions to come up in urban areas.

It is interesting to note that age-old systems were still in place when the new constructions are carried out in the UK. It is pleasant to see houses built in the UK in a manner where more attention paid to environment and infrastructure.

However, in Sri Lanka no proper system is adopted and ad hoc constructions are the order of the day, with waste management being overlooked.

Condominium flats are built in Wellawatte and other suburban areas in Colombo with various fake dealings with banks. Several people who have bought these apartments in Wellawatte do not have proper title deeds.

As Minister Ranawaka has clearly pointed out that not a mere handful of buildings but 10,000 unauthorized constructions have been put up in Colombo and the suburbs, the pertinent question is how the UDA will deal with the situation in getting rid of these buildings constructed illegally and nabbing the culprits responsible for sanctioning these unauthorized constructions.

If the Minister is seriously concerned about bringing down these unauthorized constructions, his Ministry should join hands with the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) to identify those behind the underhand dealings in sanctioning these unauthorized structures.

Daily News Editorial

New beginning for Iran

22 May 2017

In giving a strong mandate to reformist Hassan Rouhani to continue as President for a second term, an overwhelming majority of Iranians have rejected isolationism and fundamentalism and opted for closer integration with the rest of the world. This is a great result for the people of Iran as well as the International Community.

According to Iran's Interior Ministry as reported by Iran’s Press TV, Rouhani (68) won about 57% of the vote with more than 23.5 million votes against his main challenger conservative Ebrahim Raisi's 15.7 million. In a live speech carried by State TV, Rouhani said on Saturday that the vote showed Iran's willingness to work with the international community and a rejection of hardliners.

Indeed, the tenure of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was an unmitigated disaster for Iran, which faced crippling Western sanctions for continuing its Uranium enrichment programme. Rouhani knew more about the effects of sanctions than anyone else - after all he was the country’s chief nuclear negotiator who reached a deal with European nations to halt Uranium enrichment back in 2004. However, differences between the two men led to Rouhani’s resignation and the recommencement of the nuclear programme, which resulted in sanctions.

Rouhani, who grew up in Sorkheh, a small town in Iran’s northern Semnan province, is from a conservative family. As a young law student, Rouhani was heavily involved in the Islamic Revolution that saw the ouster of the Shah. He rose rapidly through the ranks of power in Tehran and later met an inspiring leader who would change his outlook on the world.

President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, under whom Rouhani served as National Security Advisor, is his mentor and inspiration. Rafsanjani understood the importance of opening up to and working with the West and Rouhani too followed in his footsteps. After winning the Presidency in 2013, Rouhani oversaw Iran’s participation in a multilateral initiative in 2015 to halt the nuclear programme. It began with a telephone conversation with then President Barack Obama, the highest-level exchange between the two countries since the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis in Tehran.

Despite new US President Donald Trump’s initial promise to rip up the nuclear agreement, it is still holding on and so far, there is no sign that either side will dishonour the agreement that has lifted the sanctions imposed on Iran. Although there is no immediate sign of a further thaw in US-Iran ties, the country is already reaping the benefits of the lifting of most of the sanctions.

To cite an example, both Boeing and Airbus have signed multi-billion agreements to supply hundreds of new aircraft to replace Iran Air’s ageing fleet. It has also benefitted the economy by increasing oil production and exports. The oil sector alone expanded by a staggering 65.4%, thanks to higher crude production and exports following the lifting of sanctions. Iran is one of the top oil-producing countries in the world, ranked number seven.

Enforcing this agreement and seeing the rest of the sanctions off is just one challenge facing Rouhani. Rouhani will have to work hard to push his reform agenda which has seen the resumption of the publication of reformist newspapers, release of imprisoned journalists, expansion of 3G and 4G networks for smartphone usage and many other beneficial moves. He will no doubt have to keep in mind the fact that ultimate power in the country rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held the title since 1989. Khamenei controls the country's Security Forces and can veto any presidential policies. In fact, Khamenei has challenged some aspects of Rouhani's rapprochement with the West. Rouhani will thus have to engage in a finely balanced act on the international stage.

The sluggish economy which took a major hit from the international sanctions remains a major concern, with youth unemployment at a staggering 12.7 percent (mid-2016). Iran is basically a “young” country and this could lead to discontent among the youth. Inflation is down, but this has slowed down the economy. The IMF has projected that Iran’s economic growth will stabilize at 4.5% over the medium-term, as the country’s recovery broadens. Real GDP growth is expected to reach 6.6% in 2016-17 and to ease to 3.3% in 2017-18.

The export and production figures too are not very positive. Rouhani has already talked of a workforce training programme aimed at ending joblessness that has left the electorate largely disappointed with his promise of economic recovery. Years of sanctions have kept foreign investors at bay and with the new developments in the US, most investors are unwilling to take the plunge in Iran. The country’s disorganised banking system is another cause for worry. Iran's dual foreign exchange rates regime is also seen as an obstacle to the country's reintegration into the global banking system and payment networks.

Rouhani will have to grapple with all these issues and his job will not be an easy one. But under his reformist drive, Iran has the potential to become a beacon of hope for the region.

The Island Editorial

Left right?

22 May 2017

It looks as if the UK were emulating Sri Lanka where attractive promises in election manifestoes are concerned. Instead of addressing core policy issues the UK is faced with, Conservatives and the Labour Party are busy trying to endear themselves to voters by offering to liberate the masses from the clutches of big businesses; they have also promised enhanced welfare measures. As the article on this page today points out, their manifestoes resemble shopping lists, as it were, and are indicative of a swing to the left.

The Labour Party has gone so far as to promise free university education, the nationalisation of most of the public utilities and proofing state pensions against inflation, among other things. Conservatives, in power, have been somewhat realistic and cautious in making promises, but they, too, have undertaken to grant relief to the public such as a cap on utility charges. Any incumbent administration is wary of making the same promises as the Opposition at elections. However, measures promised by the Conservatives such as streaming in education, which allows successful pupils to enter selective schools, requiring universities to sponsor secondary education and setting aside funds they raise from course fees to fund schools can be considered progressive.

If Jeremy Corbyn got elected by any chance with the Labour Party getting its act together and turning the tables on the Conservatives, he would find himself in the same predicament as Sri Lanka’s yahapalana leaders who promised a massive pay hike in a bid to win the last presidential election and got into trouble later on. Whether the Labour Party will be in a position to nationalise utilities companies in the event of coming back to power remains to be seen. However, Corbyn can rest assured that his offer of free university education will go down well with the voting public, especially the young voters. The party which wins over the youth usually enjoys social media backing, which is a prerequisite for winning elections in today’s world.

Intriguingly, while the main Opposition party in the UK is promising to abolish university fees and nationalise some businesses the yahapalana government here is promoting the establishment of fee-levying universities to cater to the increasing demand for higher education and mulling over the divestiture of some state ventures! Are we witnessing, in this country, the opposite of the left swing in Britain?

It will be interesting to see the reaction of the international lending institutions, which frown on nationalisation and free education, to the Labour promises.

There have been some misconceptions about free education and free healthcare. It is being argued in some quarters that nothing should be given free of charge. What the critics of these welfare measures have failed to realise is that social expenditure which was once erroneously considered detrimental to capitalism is, in fact, supportive of capital accumulation. Social expenses create an environment conducive to the growth of capital as the seminal works on economics such as The Fiscal Crisis of the State by James O'Connor point out. The state, O’Connor et al have argued, seeks to achieve this objective through two kinds of expenditure—social expenses and social capital. Social expenses are necessary for law and order purposes, social security, rehabilitation etc to maintain social order and legitimacy: social capital is essential for the promotion of capital accumulation either directly in the form of social investment designed to lower the cost of constant capital such as spending on economic infrastructure or indirectly in the form of social consumption such as spending on housing, healthcare etc. What would happen if free education and free healthcare services were to be scrapped in this country? Besides the attendant social upheavals which would inevitably dislodge the government responsible for such a move, the cost of labour would increase with workers demanding higher pay; the quality of the workforce would also suffer without ready access to education and healthcare. This is why most private sector institutions consider their expenses on healthcare facilities etc for workers a worthwhile investment.

As for the recently unveiled ‘shopping-list’ election manifestoes in the UK one may ask whether the former colonial power which used to consider socialism as evil as the devil himself has come to realise that the left is right.

Ceylon Today Editorial

HOW DEEP IS LANKA IN THE GLOBAL LEAGUE?

21 May 2017

There's no argument about the fact that President Maithripala Sirisena has a heck of a lot on his plate...too much perhaps for one man to handle considering the fact that at Cabinet level or otherwise he has hardly any SLFP men worth their salt who can step in as effective advisors. The wretched unpalatable fact he also has to live with is that he is vexed with the option of having to trust, at least to some extent, his SLFP Ministers in Government and in Provincial Councils. An empirical analysis would reveal the fact that it's the UNP side of the Government that has men of comparatively higher intelligence and knowledge. Detractors argue that the UNP is elitist in a bid to drag it down in the eyes of the common masses, but then by the rule of logic that stupid criticism in itself condemns these critics because to drag another down one already has to be below that person's level. Detractors planted by the Opposition in Sirisena's administration have from day one been trying to drag him and the government down – it's the country that has suffered through this selfish strategy of the guttersnipe class.

There's this avalanche of attempts to drag down the Government that's been going on from the moment it took office. The President has to unfortunately contend with the truth that the Opposition's malice will only worsen in the weeks and months ahead.

We now come to the pith and cortex as it were of the manifold crises that all of this portends for Sri Lanka over the next few years and more. The pith is the domestic component of this catalyst for crises while the cortex is the foreign/regional geopolitical elements converging in our immediate Indian Ocean region, and because of several bilateral agreements and MoUs, will make it obligatory on the part of this Government to commit itself and the nation to emerging big power conflict situations in areas to the east and west of the Indian Ocean. Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed had the former in mind when he said recently in Colombo that it was high time for Sri Lanka to take the lead in Indian Ocean affairs.

We draw attention to this because President Sirisena in his short address to the nation at the War Heroes Commemoration ceremony in the Parliament premises on Friday, manifesting much foresight, came out with a mild reminder to the armed forces to be poised to answer any sudden call to service either in the domestic or regional theatres. This is the Government's rationale for planning to convert the armed services into fighting machines capable of meeting such demands in a major regional conflict situation.

What he was essentially telling the armed forces was that Sri Lanka has majored into a proactive member of the global, especially regional, comity of nations and needs to have armed services as elite and technologically advanced as any potential enemy who decides to strong-arm us or sees fit to challenge our sovereignty and national integrity in any manner. With our ports and airports speedily coming under supposedly commercial control of China and India, access to these ports can swiftly be converted, surreptitiously, into military enclaves, with objectives inimical to Sri Lanka's broader regional and global commitments to uphold national security interests of other nations, including India.

The potential militarist significance of the Palaly Airport being modernized to meet regional airport standards has not been lost to military attaches at foreign missions in Colombo just as the significance of the larger portion of the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm has not been lost on them.

Analysts were quick to pick up the significance of Indian Premier Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, touted as Vesak Visit, but as Minister Amunugama let slip in China a few days ago, "Was a grand success that enabled both countries to finalize a number of projects including the Trincomalee Port Project" as pti reported from Beijing.

In tandem with India, the Government could well be taking out insurance for the future security of the country's sovereignty and security as well as committing itself deeper to Indian security fears.

Viewed against the backdrop of this overall emerging domestic and global scenario, it's no wonder then that President Sirisena's government has decided to strengthen the armed forces, introduce state-of-the-art military technology to their armouries, give them intensive foreign training and go in for a blue-water Navy, which mean transforming our Navy into a maritime force capable of operating globally; essentially across deep waters of open oceans. Some countries define this as being a Navy possessing maritime expeditionary capabilities.

It is this wider regional role to which we are morally committed that the President had in mind when he alerted the forces to be primed for an emergency, domestic or regional.

The Nation Editorial

Do not live in the past, learn from it…

21 May 2017

May 18 is a special day for Sri Lanka because that was the day that the guns were silenced eight years ago.

Many things have happened over the years, some positive and some negative. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also faced international pressure in terms of allegations of war crimes, to which a mechanism is yet to be formed.

But even today, there are those extreme elements which look at the slightest of opportunities to trigger some sort of unrest even if it is on Facebook. Eight years have gone by and the powers that be are still grappling to seek a way out of the problem.

There are many problems to be looked into. The issue of the disappeared is one of them. The families continue their search even after eight years have gone by. They need answers. Some may look at these protests as politically motivated. But still, they are mothers, and they need all the support to bring out their grievances out in the open and grab the attention of the authorities.

Then there is the issue of those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The TNA has constantly held discussions with the government on the matter. While some steps have been taken on the matter, the overall progress is indeed slow. While the country has made strides over the years, the reconciliation process continues to move at a moderate or slow pace. This is understandable. It is hard to reconcile communities that were divided by war, ethnicities, regions, and mistrust, overnight.

On the other hand, there are also the extremist elements at work which need to create a bit of drama whenever they could.

The key question here would be how the government would deal with such elements to avoid obstacles.

Some continue to live in the past and try to remind the world of what happened. It is a well-known fact that digging the past would only aggravate the current situation. Sri Lanka should also be mindful of the pro LTTE network that is still very much active in other parts of the world. Even though there is very little or no impact by these groups on Sri Lanka, their influences cannot be ruled out in this day and age of social media. Why live in the past?

The country needs to move forward if people are to leave behind the bitterness the conflict had created. We should not live in the past.

At the same time, we should not forget the lessons we learnt through the mistakes made in the past. Those mistakes cost us 30 years of bloodshed. Do not live in the past, learn from it.

Sunday Times Editorial

Sri Lanka and New Economic World Order

21 May 2017

China hosting a mega event this week not only announced that it has arrived on the world scene as a major economic power-house, but telegraphed its vision for the next 30 years and more. With the US now on reverse gear advocating nationalism and protectionism, China has become the new face of internationalism. How the roles have reversed.

In an article on Page 8 (ST 2), a Sri Lankan-born UN diplomat lucidly explains China’s ambitious US$ 124 billion plans aimed at linking Asia with Europe and Africa, by road, rail and sea. The ‘One Road; One Belt’ initiative was attended by leaders of 29 countries, including Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, 1,500 delegates from 130 nations, NGOs, the IMF, World Bank and the UN Secretary General.

To calm any unease that this was the Chinese dragon romping through the world stage, China’s President said; “We will not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. We will not export our system of society and development model, and even more, will not impose our views on others”.

India was not impressed. For one, the road link cuts across disputed Kashmir. India boycotted the forum while the US and several European nations sent low-level representation, clearly smarting that they are being slowly, but surely upstaged by China.

The world is witnessing the re-emergence of two former Communist giants of the past — Russia and China which split on dialectic Marxism only to re-emerge as economic superpowers through free market policies they once derided as “Capitalist pigs”.

For the new Chinese initiative to be altruistic, is too good to be true. Those dealing with the Chinese negotiators on the Port City project and the Hambantota harbour know only too well how they drive a hard bargain and exploit the weaknesses of corrupt local politicians in developing countries when doing business.

Parallel to the ‘One Road; One Belt’ initiative, China has invested US$ 100 billion in an Investment Bank and the BRICS Development Bank to break the monopoly of the West-dominated IMF and World Bank and their grip over countries like Sri Lanka.

With the anticipated inflow of funds not forthcoming from the West despite a new Government more amenable to it here in Sri Lanka, it is becoming clearer that this country’s economic future rests on the broad shoulders of India and China. By accident or design, the previous Government recognised this fact, but played its cards wrong.

This Government will need to learn from past mistakes and look to the future as this ‘New Economic World Order’ unfolds.

Plantation workers are Sri Lankan citizens of recent origin
Indian scribes accompanying their Prime Minister last week to Sri Lanka were only half-joking when they said that their leader of over a billion people at home also loves to meet their diaspora overseas when he travels. This might have been after he got a rock-star reception in the United States.

And so, the story goes, that his office must have contacted the High Commission in Colombo and asked it to organise a similar event here; except that that there’s no real Indian diaspora in this country. The next best thing was to arrange a mass meeting in the central highlands where a sizeable crowd could be mustered of those categorised as “Tamils of recent Indian origin”.

No wonder, the Indian PM told the cheering crowd at Norwood estate in Dickoya last week; “We rejoice at the success of the Indian origin diaspora as they leave a mark across the world, near and far”.

The ancestors of these plantation workers were brought to this island from southern India as indentured labour by the British planters because the Kandyan peasantry whose lands were plundered under a Waste Lands Ordinance refused to work for the colonisers. It was an age when Africans were taken as slave labour to the cotton fields of America, but they have no allegiance any more to their country of origin.

The plantation workers here are now fully-fledged Sri Lankan citizens with voting rights. Their long struggle for citizenship has its roots in the Citizenship Act of 1948 which made them “stateless”, but that Act was modelled on the Indian Citizens Act which debarred Nepalis from citizenship in India.

If their line-rooms had portraits of Mahatma Gandhi it is understandable. And the Indian tri-colour displayed at Dickoya would have prompted the visiting dignitary to say; “India beats in your heart”, but it also raised concerns whether India was stirring the pot for a permanent fifth column here.

In an era of dual-citizenship, and a foreign citizen signing local currency notes, having allegiance to two countries may — or may not — be an issue as it was before. Parliaments still insist on allegiance to one country, but even Ambassadors are now allowed to represent a country while also being a citizen of another.

Minister Mano Ganesan, a frontline leader of the plantation workers sidelining the traditional ‘hereditary mafia’ that led them for decades, put things in perspective while addressing the crowd, “Our loyalty to our Motherland Sri Lanka is not a divided loyalty — we are only a bridge between the two countries”.

They were classed as ‘Tamils of recent Indian origin’ to distinguish them from the North and East Tamils whose ancestry dates further back to India, and who, in fact, looked all along at the plantation workers as people of a lesser god. To the eternal credit of the plantation Tamils, they had no truck with the North/East separatist movement of recent times.

It is, therefore, the bounden duty of the Government to embrace these Tamils not as those of recent Indian origin, but of recent Sri Lankan citizenship. They are the ‘natural increase’ of those people who opted to remain in Sri Lanka under the Sirima-Shastri Repatriation Pact. Young people in the plantations do not want to be ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’ anymore and prefer city jobs with technical skills or in supermarkets and foot massage centres. Labour is going to be an issue in the plantations unless the industry ventures into some form of mechanisation. Importing indented labour once again, as is feared with new Economic agreements repeating colonial history, is not an option.

Sunday Observer Editorial

One war, many memories

21 May 2017

The battlefields of the Vanni, in May 2009, were the site of a military victory between state armed forces and the forces of an ethnic minority secessionist insurgent movement. Histories - scholarly, popular, apologetic and triumphal – are being written about the war that ended on May 18, 2009, with the overrunning of the final enclave held by the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam.

Stories of valour are the inspiration of nations and communities, while stories of loss and defeat help in social reflection, community solidarity and revival. All wars have produced many such narratives.

Days of ‘remembrance’ are rituals that punctuate such narratives with their symbolism and public discourse - speeches, reflective commentaries and community recollections. Most importantly, such days are moments of emotional solidarity with those grieving human loss – Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and other citizens.

Last Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena, in his speech at the Remembrance Ceremony of the Armed Forces, emphasized both, the need for a nation’s military strength as well as the need that is expressly symbolised by the remembrance of this particular war – the need for inter-ethnic reconciliation after a war over inter-ethnic problems.

The ethics and political professionalism of a governmental leadership that directed the armed forces in the final years of this war may be questioned. After all, the Rajapaksa regime – while thriving on massive corruption partly benefiting from armaments – adopted a crude, simplistic strategy of ultra-nationalist ethnic mobilization that focused on the military defeat of the insurgency without any political management of the motivations of those Sri Lankan citizens active in the insurgency or who supported it. The resultant defeat of an insurgency fought by and supported by a section of the citizenry, while certainly being a heroic success for the Sri Lankan armed forces, is more a challenge to the nation as a whole rather than simply a ‘victory’.

That is why Remembrance Day is one of remembering the human sacrifice and bravery rather than a celebration of a victory.

For our men and women of the armed forces, police and civil defence, any battle successfully concluded – whether it is defensive or offensive – is a victory: a moment that celebrates sacrifice, bravery, professionalism, determination and commitment to duty. Such achievements are high points in their function as members of the institutions that defend the nation and its law and order.

For national leaderships and for society as a whole, a war is more than just the sum total of battles. It is, on one side, the failure of civilian politics in resolving the problem. On the other, it is complex task of managing society engaged in large scale violence of which the outcome must result in, at least, the groundwork for a peaceful future, hopefully not too constrained by the massive social and economic triage caused by the violence.

In the Sri Lankan case, the task is doubly difficult because it was an ‘internal war’ that pitted the state against a section of its own citizens – not just a handful of marginalized individuals, but a large social and political movement that represented an ethnic community, or a section of a community.

Today, the effort to bring together the ethnic communities on both sides after their militaristic mobilization during those final, bloody, years of war is an almost impossible challenge as compared with a situation of a negotiated end to the fighting. On both sides are ethnic communities harbouring enmities arising from immediate human loss, losses that are attributed, due to their ethno-nationalist mobilisation, to the rival ethnic community.

The minority community, whose insurgent secessionism was violently defeated without alternate remedy, lies distraught, demoralized, hugely incapacitated by military destruction, embittered. Many remain almost inanimate, unable to recover from the shock of loss of life and limb, and also lacking an alternate inspiration to the ethno-centric secessionism that motivated them. Some in their midst may even attempt to revive those old aspirations of ‘independence’. Others may indulge in opportunism and crime in desperation for survival.

Thanks, however, to the continuation of Sri Lankan democratic practices of elections and representative governance, many in the Tamil minority have seen the value of working within existing frameworks to re-establish social foundations for the future.

The majority community, meanwhile, has been misguided by the many propaganda misrepresentations of the ultra-nationalist mobilization during the Rajapaksa regime. This has served to worsen attitudes among the Sinhalese who have suffered from the secessionist insurgency, not just in terms of individual human loss but also economic hardship due to the stagnant economy. The social bitterness and fear arising from the war that permeates Sinhala society will also take time to fade.

The Northern Provincial Council, fractious though it may sound to those in the southern provinces, is a success in stable post-war governance – a success in representing Northern provincial needs and interests in an articulate manner that exploits civilian institutions to the maximum, thereby avoiding the failures that, at one time in the past, led to war. How the central government as well as the other provinces respond to the Northern Province will dictate the future success of devolution as the means for national unity and, genuine, nationwide prosperity.

If President Sirisena, as head of state, remembered the heroism and loss of the war, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s crucial meeting with political and social leaders of the Northern Province last week addressed the challenges of the post-war future.

Such parallel action is an essential ingredient of comprehensive political management. How quickly the National Unity coalition regime can pick up the tatters of a nation left behind by the Rajapaksa ‘government’ will be decided not just by the politicians but by all communities, community leaderships and by citizens eager to put the past behind and build the future.

Sunday Island Editorial

Shoddy building, flouting rules

21 May 2017

Megapolis Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka estimated after last week’s collapse of the seven-storey reception hall in Wellawatte that there are 10,000 illegally built homes and offices in Colombo and said that action would be taken to demolish them. Fortunately there was no wedding taking place in the hall at the time of the tragedy. The toll of dead and injured would have been much higher if that was the case. The minister promising action now is well and good. But the big question is why had nothing been done all this time? It is common knowledge that corruption is widespread within the Colombo Municipal Council and the Urban Development Authority and a myriads of building rules and regulations are routinely bent if the law breaker "sees to the trouble" of the officials tasked to enforce them. Money changes hands and illegal constructions are dime a dozen in the capital city with astronomical land prices fuelling a perhaps unsustainable property boom.

It wasn’t long ago that the landslide at the Meetotamulla garbage dump occurred and we said in this space that it was a tragedy waiting to happen. There was an outpouring of public sympathy for the victims. Compensation and alternative accommodation was pledged and there has been some progress in alleviating the distress although all that was promised has not yet been delivered. But has any action against those responsible for the failures that led to the tragedy? As far as the public is aware, nothing worth talking about has happened and nobody has resigned or been sacked. The concerned officials and politicians remain ensconced in their position, paid by taxpayer funds with neither blame nor punishment apportioned. The passage of time dims public memories and nobody but the victims will remember what they have gone through and indeed are going through. A viable solution to Colombo’s garbage problem has not yet been found and it is anybody’s guess whether we are on the way to finding that solution.

The government must urgently appoint an independent authority with the necessary muscle to inquire into public complaints of infringement of building and planning rules and regulations as construction proceeds. It is useless allowing the UDA and the CMC to go into complaints of their own failures. Neither of these authorities has demonstrated the necessary will nor the ability to tackle these matters as the poison is too often within themselves. Neighbors are well aware of the flouting of building and planning requirements as constructions proceed but often get no redress to their complaints from the concerned authorities. If an ombudsman to whom they can go is appointed, the situation can improve, we believe. This is a proposal that deserves serious consideration.

Clean or dirty energy?

In a signed article we publish today, Mr. Asoka Abeygunawardhana, the Chairman of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) has questioned the Ceylon Electricity Board’s endeavor to build coal power stations to generate 2,700MW of electricity between 2018 and 2037. These plans have been submitted for approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). The SEMA Chairman says that "this strategy goes against the very foundation of the government’s development strategy for the country." What the PUCSL will say about the proposals made is yet an open question. But the decision to scrap plans for the proposed Sampur power plant near Trincomalee, with the project to be built by India at an advanced stage, was significant. The fact that LNG is a far superior alternative to coal is a given. But Sri Lanka urgently needs additional generation capacity and the time that was lost by the decision not to go ahead with Sampur is vital. Yet that decision was taken nevertheless to go for an LNG plant instead likely to be located near Colombo.

It is now accepted fact that coal power, despite its price advantages, is a pollutant and no country in the developed world will build new coal power stations in the future. Countries like China and India, both coal producers unlike us, that had planned a large number of coal stations are gradually applying the brakes on those initiatives and will focus more on solar power and other forms or renewable energy in the future. The technology for solar power is becoming cheaper and there are other options as well. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we have little or no further potential of large hydroelectricity schemes. While a few mini-hydro schemes are possible, the potential for large schemes have been nearly exhausted. We are unlikely to go for nuclear power in the foreseeable future for many reasons but industries like Tokyo Cement are producing their own power using paddy husk. We are also producing some wind power, though yet on a relatively limited scale, but new projects are in the pipeline. The potential for dendro power, with gliricidia an easy to grow raw material given our climatic condition, exists.

There have been some hopeful signals about natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Mannar and if these are realized, that could be another savior. The major factor, of course, is whether with rising consumption we can get our power supply to match demand in the short term. Polluting coal and expensive fossil fuel generated electricity is the quick fix. We will be at risk of falling between these stools with climate changes we already see making us more prone to drought in the future. Although the Sampur coal station was aborted, there are allegations that a coal and diesel ‘Mafia’ exists in the CEB and these vested interests are not letting up on their attempts to drive us into dirty power. How true these allegations are we do not know, but they are being openly made by the Chairman of the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency of the government.

Ceylon Today Editorial

Ford’s hopes could be realized

20 May 2017

Sri Lankans have the habit of 'putting the cart before the horse' especially supporting their favourite cricket team. If you take a good look at the TV channels at the beginning of any international cricket event that Sri Lanka is getting ready for, months before they would begin the countdown and promoting the team, shouting hoarse slogans that depict the team as unbeatable and the only ones capable of winning the trophy on offer.

When you think of what was stated by their cricket coach Graham Ford that although the Sri Lankans are a talented lot let us not forget the fact they are still underdogs: It is not something that was said intentionally to instill the fact in the players but rather emphasize what has been described above, praising the players and team unnecessarily for months on end that could undermine them by upsetting the mindfulness achieved after long sessions of team discussions with the coach and the captain on plans for the forthcoming tournament.

There is much more than the cheering that would make a team win games, it is a constant study, especially in foreign conditions, getting to know the unknown quantities that could jeopardize any team's plans and strategies. Luckily Ford has coached Surrey, whose grounds are the Oval, where Sri Lanka would begin their hunt for the elusive championship trophy. They would be playing Ford's former team South Africa, and also fast bowling Coach Donald's.

Coach Ford is hoping for the wickets to be flat and is certain the Sri Lankans would make full use of those sorts of wickets to make big scores. The most important factor would be their capability to stay at the wicket, to get the scoreboard ticking. Very often this has not been happening with Sri Lanka's batting, which makes them too dependent on the bottom order to prop up the scoring rate. The lower order is not the best of batters unless someone has already decided to take things to hand. Unless the top order is in the best of shape in their mindset to put their heads down and get working on the bowling, it will not make things move the way described by Ford who has said that his batters are some of best stroke makers in the world.

Ford argues his case based on the strengths of his batters: Most of these players may have come under scrutiny of the coach and captain. The only hope would be that the coach has made certain that his players are good to be playing such important international tournaments. This type of stage is not the place for learning; it's rather the place to gain experience. The selectors' job is to make certain the selection of youngsters is based on their knowledge of the game to be good enough and to gain selection to represent the national side, while also making certain they have the minds tough enough to gain all the necessary experience on field.

According to the coach Sri Lanka does not want turning wickets, as we have seen during the last series in South Africa when it took Thahir just one over to unsettle the well set batters on more than one occasion. His batters who are good players capable of upsetting the best of sides have been studied good enough to be unsettled by spin as well as pace. Anyway South Africa is at the moment riding on the crest of the wave but are vulnerable if their top order undergoes the effect of two or three good spells. Sri Lanka to do well seriously depends on their ability to get sides out the way done during the Muralitharan days.

One thing the Sri Lankans have got on their side is the capabilities of rising to the occasion when they are down. They are known to have outshone the England side on home turf during the time that Mahela had just taken over as captain and made his first appearance as leader on English soil. He had quite a young side and no Murali. But the end result was all in favour of Sri Lanka. There is no reason why this young side could not repeat that performance all over again. Coach Ford would have expressed his views on young Sri Lankans to be full of talent and capabilities based on his findings of earlier English tours and he did very well with his views. Let us hope that the Sri Lanka team lives up to the expectations of their coach.