Ceylon Today Editorial

Interest, knowledge of sports can stop rOt

11 March 2017

Around the world there is a standard for undertaking responsibility. It is especially so, when running a sports organization that is a money making venture. If you take an organization such as the International Olympic Committee, it is one of the richest sports controlling bodies in the world. These bodies are so rich that they are always under investigations because of corruption. It's not that it does not happen, but the main thing is how the movement involves itself with sports to have the biggest programme of sports going every four years.

The financial positions of these organizations are so immense that presidents carry an extra burden being in those positions. In the Olympics they are appointed on an honorary basis. As a writer explains, the Olympic movement is one run as a family with the president being the paternal figure. It is an organization needing a lot of trust and responsibility to be run in the manner explained in the Olympic Charter 'Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole, the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles'.

With all this, yet, there are presidents who were under the light for various acts such as making it from one of contested by amateur athletes to being one of contested by professionals and for generous hand outs to Olympic Committee members from cities aspiring to host Olympic Games. However, it has today established and gone to make the Olympics more competitive among professionals.

In Sri Lanka the organizations which run sports have a completely different approach, be it cricket, football, athletics or netball and the sports minister had to remind the Schools Rugby Association recently to act more responsibly or face consequences of not being recognized by the World Rugby and Sri Lanka Rugby Football Association, for tournaments undertaken by them. The chances are that cricket also recently got into a somewhat questionable situation in showing an unaudited financial statement unsuitable for such an organization. It is accepted by financial experts that unaudited financial statements are dangerous.

The need for being educated in all matters related to sports and the running of it is seen as one of major problems pertaining to hinder the progress of sports in Sri Lanka. If you take the Sports Ministry it is full of people who do not serve sports as it should be carried out. Delay eats up the qualities of sports as time is one of the main ingredients that maintain what goes into sports development. As seen in the recent delays of having the Sugathadasa Stadium track relaid. When it begins with the very organization that all sports federations and associations depend upon to serve them and deal with problems related to sports under them, development goes out of the window into thin air.

The reason why these Sri Lankan sports organizations act as if they can get away, by fooling people as do politicians, and what and who it serves is because that is how they are run. These sports federations and associations and also the clubs serving their sport are today taken over by non-sports people. It definitely is not going to serve the sport. But, as birds of a feather these people have a way of blending together to get their agendas served, and those interested in sports have to watch their act and hope that sports will survive.

With such situations arising, it is a pity that sports have to suffer. Take for instance the sports bodies in the mercantile sector, they organize their tournaments and play them in a manner fitting their programme. It is mostly club players, and also some who have represented the country, who help the development of the game to a great degree. All this takes place because of the way it is undertaken to be run, and those involved take a lot of pride in what they do and that includes the sponsors who are so willing to spend money and time on the game. We can never expect this from the government quarters that are not as efficient or interested in sports the way mercantile people are.

Daily News Editorial

Tackling poverty

11 March 2017

Most news items can make you either happy or sad, but there are only a few news items that can give rise to both emotions at the same time. This is one such news item, that may also surprise you.

The 2016 Wealth Report by Knight Frank, a UK-based property consultancy released recently said Colombo is likely to see a 160 per cent growth in the super rich with more than US $ 30 million (Rs.45 billion) in personal wealth to 182 individuals over the next decade.

The report noted that Sri Lanka has 3,400 dollar millionaires, 170 multi-millionaires (more than US $ 10 million) and 70 ultra high-net-worth individuals with more than US $ 30 million in assets, though no dollar billionaires were listed as being resident in Sri Lanka. The report has excluded persons of Sri Lankan origin living overseas.

Only Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam was expected to grow faster than Colombo, at 170 percent with 30 million dollar plus individuals growing to 243 by 2026, from 90 individuals in 2016. By comparison, developed Hong Kong already had 4,080 super rich and would see them grow 40 percent to 5,712. Singapore had 2,500 super rich individuals and was expected to grow 40 percent to 3,500.

This revelation is great news in the sense that we are getting closer to the more economically advanced nations in Asia. Both Vietnam and Sri Lanka are emerging economies and their inclusion in the super rich individuals’ lists is a good sign. However, one should also look at the other, less glamorous side and that is the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, not only in Sri Lanka but around the world.

In fact, if Sri Lanka’s Western Province were a separate country, its growth rate would far exceed that of many other countries in the region. Colombo’s streets are awash with the latest luxury vehicles, many condominiums, hotels and retail complexes are coming up and the overall pace of development is dizzying. But the downside is that the Western Province’s growth rate is higher than the growth rate of all other provinces.

This is a glaring status of inequality that a developing country can ill-afford. The Government should be commended for taking this factor into consideration in its overall development plan. For example, the proposed projects in Hambantota would be an economic boost for that impoverished region.

Working towards the equitable distribution of wealth is a challenge that all countries are grappling with. To Sri Lanka’s credit, the poverty rate has come down drastically over the last few decades. The Sri Lankan government has been successful in reducing poverty from 15.2% from a decade ago to just 8 percent and the nation has made significant progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on eradicating extreme poverty.

Globally too, the proportion of the population living in poverty has declined to fewer than 10 percent today from 35 percent in 1990. Since the world population now exceeds seven billion, that still leaves more than one billion people living in extreme poverty. This is simply unacceptable, given the fact that the world spends a staggering US$ 1700 billion annually on defence. Just over one tenth of this amount given as development assistance would go a long way towards eliminating poverty. Another astonishing fact: just 62 top billionaires are wealthier than half the world population combined.

The question is, in Sri Lanka and around the world, are the rich contributing enough to uplift their poorer cousins? The answer is a resounding ‘no’. Most rich people are likely to evade taxes either by not declaring their income and assets to the relevant agencies or depositing their monies in offshore accounts which are not liable for taxation in the home countries. This was highlighted with the release of the Panama Papers, which revealed account details of thousands of rich individuals (and corrupt politicians) who had deposited funds in offshore accounts. Many Sri Lankans are known to have deposited funds abroad and the authorities have rightly granted an amnesty for investing such funds in Sri Lanka. However, it is worth investigating how some of them may have accumulated so much wealth without seemingly having any avenue to do so.

An article from the Center for Global Development calculated that about three quarters of global poverty could be eliminated if developing countries gave a helping hand to the poorest by collecting more taxes from their wealthiest citizens. This is a major problem faced by Sri Lanka – many who should be in the tax net are not in it. Efforts should be made to widen the tax net to cover more rich individuals.

It would be churlish to define wealth in monetary terms alone. Sri Lanka is richer than many other countries in terms of health and education, which are provided free by the State to all citizens, rich or poor. That is equality in action, but we need to do more to ensure that the poor can rise on their own feet.

The Island Editorial

Let’s learn from South Korea

11 March 2017

 

Some French voters, fed up with their leaders, especially the candidates in the presidential race, recently chose to give vent to their pent-up anger in an unusual manner. They launched a campaign to invite former US President Barack Obama to run for President in their country! They have thus sent a very clear message to the French politicians who have failed to live up to public expectations.

Sri Lankans are doubtlessly as resentful as the French where their failed politicians are concerned though it is doubtful whether they are enamoured of Obama’s style of governance. But, they must be envying their South Korean counterparts who don’t suffer crooks in highs posts gladly and are blessed with robust legislative and judicial mechanisms capable of acting against even the heads of state accused of corruption or any other form of wrongdoing.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been ousted from office. The Constitutional Court has unanimously upheld a parliament decision to impeach her over corruption. She is in trouble because of a friend under a cloud; she is accused of having given the latter free access to state documents and even the pleasure of editing presidential speeches! Now that she has lost her legal immunity, she is expected to be arraigned on criminal charges. Whether she has really run afoul of the law or not will have to be established, but her predicament will certainly serve as a warning to her successors and other politicians.

What Geun-hye is said to have committed pales into insignificance in comparison to very serious allegations against Sri Lankan leaders, who are above the law. The present yahapalana government has even permitted their cronies to help themselves to public funds to the tune of billions of rupees. The abuse of workers’ savings in the Employees’ Provident Fund to purchase Treasury bonds is a case in point. Even the family members and cronies of government politicians enjoy legal immunity to all intents and purposes. Only Opposition politicians are arrested and remanded while investigations into allegations against them are being conducted.

Many Sri Lankans naively expected the 2015 regime change to pave the way for sweeping political and judicial reforms to strengthen democracy. But, nothing of the sort has happened. The much-flaunted 19th Amendment has not yielded the desired results owing to some serious flaws therein. Its architects sought to further the interests of the UNP-led alliance which they backed at elections instead of helping safeguard the national interest. The so-called Independent Commissions have been reduced to mere appendages of the power that be and packed with stooges. The anti-graft commission and the special police units set up to probe financial crimes steer clear of powerful politicians and their kith and kin for obvious reasons.

The self-proclaimed champions of good governance promised us a new Constitution. Now, the SLFP group in the yahapalana government says it does not want the existing Constitution repealed and it needs only amendments thereto. It fears that a plot is being hatched to strip the President of his executive powers and vest them in the Prime Minster. The UNP is determined to introduce a new Constitution, we are told. So, whether we will get a brand new Constitution or only some constitutional amendments, we don’t know. Perhaps, we will be left with neither of them in the end.

A prerequisite for strengthening democracy and tackling bribery and corruption is to bring in constitutional provisions for instituting legal action against leaders for wrongdoing while they are in power. If those engaged in constitution making here are genuinely interested in helping battle bribery and corruption they ought to borrow from the South Korean Constitution. We know we are only hoping against hope!