Daily News Editorial

Protecting wildlife during a pandemic

While the attrition among our human population from the global COVID-19 pandemic remains relatively low compared with many other countries, we now hear that our wildlife population is coming under an ever-increasing threat from us, humans. Earlier last week, a most rare creature anywhere in the world, the black leopard that is a precious feature of our island’s wildlife, was found illegally trapped and then, tragically, died after being rescued.

And, another leopard was found caught in a snare last Friday near Yatiyantota. Both big cats, magnificent creations of Mother Nature and stars of this country’s wild fauna, were victims of callous human greed, and the rarer specimen unfortunately did not survive the suffering of its cruel entrapment.

This unscrupulous greed and wanton exploitation of our natural environment – fauna and flora – is ultimately part of the larger dynamics of Humanity’s poorly managed relationship with Nature. Our overall failure to better protect our Earthly habitat is a major contributory factor to the degradation of that habitat.

The recent centuries of environmental over-exploitation and devastation have been accompanied by a corollary toxicity emerging from our natural environs in the form of plagues, deformities of plant life including food crops and, dangerous biological mutations like Coronaviruses.

Patting ourselves on the back for our relative success in pandemic containment is of no use if we fail in the protection of our larger, already fragile, natural environment. Continued disregard for Nature will only worsen the conditions of our island habitat.

Even before COVID-19 struck, our isle has been besieged both within and without, by environmental degradation and worsening climate change. Sri Lanka’s human population density (among the highest in the world) has resulted in topographical damage that makes landslides and floods an annual, traumatic routine. Overcrowded hillsides are quick to collapse while the natural drainage systems cannot handle the shock of sudden, massive rainfall far in excess of the normal annual precipitation, resulting in the flooding of waterways and inundation of residential areas. Just over a week ago, several lives were lost in such floods.

The rapid and improperly planned and managed human settlement expansion has also resulted in the savaging of our forest cover, reducing it from more than 50 per cent of the island’s land mass a century ago to just 13 per cent today (and dwindling further by the day). Humans may have had success in housing and real estate ‘development’ but, in doing so in an inadequately planned manner, we are rapidly ‘de-housing’ or physically displacing our island’s wildlife from their home habitats. This is the cause of the Human-Elephant conflict and many other such conflicts between man and animal.

As we have repeated many times in these columns, our encroachment of wildlife habitats has caused the increasing invasion of human settlements, plantations, farms and other places by wild creatures – from insects and reptiles to vermin rodents, carnivores and the largest of mammals (elephants).

This island’s wild animals, however, will likely view the whole process in reverse. With their naturally evolved, evenly balanced, proportions of the natural populations, it is the wild animals that are resisting the encroachment of their natural living spaces by the island’s bloated human population.

The Sri Lankan Leopard is the country’s biggest carnivore and with less than a thousand of these magnificent cats in existence in the wild, it has been internationally classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an ‘Endangered’ species. The Black Leopard, which was found ensnared in the Laxapana area on May 27, is far rarer and was thought to be extinct for decades before a few sightings in the high hill country by scientists using motion-sensitive night vision video systems earlier this year.

Equally rare are similar species are found in Taiwan, known as the ‘Formosan Clouded Leopard’ and in Kenya, where it is known as the ‘African Black Leopard’. There are less than ten Black Leopards so far sighted in our hill country, and this animal is classified as a ‘Critically Endangered’ species.

The COVID-19 outbreak and consequent lockdown cannot hinder the careful surveillance of our wildlife as well as valuable indigenous plant life to protect them from illegal commercial exploitation. The respect given to wildlife by our village culture must be upheld while all encouragement and incentives should be extended to volunteer watchdog civic groups who work closely with the Wildlife Conservation Department in the protection of our wild fauna and flora.

The Department itself needs full backing by the law enforcement authorities and also political endorsement by the Government if it is to fulfill its role. Finally, however, it is up to the citizens to fulfill their patriotic duty by treasuring these gifts of Nature that help beautify our island home. Most importantly, it is our flora and fauna that ultimately completes the wholeness of our island natural environment and makes it habitable for us.

The Island Editorial

Pumping up Petromax

It takes a thief to catch a thief. Sri Lankans seem to go by this saying. When they helped engineer the 2015 regime change by voting against the then UPFA government, the people thought all thieves in the previous administration would be brought to justice and their ill-gotten wealth confiscated. After all, that was the main campaign slogan of the yahapalana camp. Disillusioned, they voted for the SLPP, five years later, in the hope that the rogues in the yahapalana administration would be arrested and prosecuted for their crimes, only to be disappointed, again. Rogues of all hues continue to go places.

What is currently unfolding on the political front reminds us of a satirical Sinhala song about a drama. A group of village youth and some adults enact the Dutugemunu-Elara story with the help of a Petromax lamp for want of an electric lighting system. Just as the duel between the two kings begins, air pressure drops in the lamp, plunging the stage into darkness. A few minutes pass, and an inquisitive villager in the audience goes behind the stage. What he sees has him in stitches; ‘Dutugemunu’ and ‘Elara’, in full regalia, are taking turns to pump up the lamp so that the show can go on!

What we witnessed before last year’s presidential election and the subsequent change of government was a political war of epic proportions between the UNP-led UNF government and the SLFP dissidents. The SLPP promised to jump-start the legal process which had stalled, anent the bond scams, and see to it that the scammers would pay for their crime without further delay. It promised to bring former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran here to stand trial for his role in the bond rackets. But when it captured power and the court ordered the culprits to be arrested, they were allowed to go into hiding, and the CID acted like a headless chicken thereafter. It was obvious that the police were steering clear of the bond racketeers due to political interference. The suspects would not have been able to avoid arrest without government help. Machiavelli has famously said, a promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.

The SLPP made a solemn pledge to make essential commodities available at affordable prices while it was in the opposition. Its leaders vowed to crush the Millers’ Mafia responsible for hoarding paddy and keeping the prices of rice extortionately high. People voted for them in the hope that the SLPP leaders, who take pride in having neutralised the LTTE’s military muscle, would tame the big-time millers in next to no time, only to realise they had been taken for a ride. Last week, the government allowed the Millers’ Mafia to increase the prices of rice. The head of the Consumer Affairs Authority, which had conducted raids and made the millers agree to sell rice at lower prices, was left with egg on his face.

The last government was involved in a mega racket, where substandard milch cows were imported from Australia and sold to local dairy farmers. Some of those cows were sick and farmers who bought them testified before a presidential commission that probed corrupt deals under the yahapalana administration. They revealed how they had been duped. The SLPP, in its opposition days, condemned their rivals for lining their pockets at the expense of the local dairy farmers, but it has reportedly decided to resume the controversial scheme and import cows from Australia! Now, it is clear that the corrupt elements responsible for the controversial cow deal will never be brought to justice. The present-day leaders seem to have taken the masses for asses.

There is nothing stupider than to expect politicians to go all out to put one another behind bars. They are aware that such action is tantamount to mutually assured destruction. We see the warring political bigwigs of both the government and the Opposition taking turns to pump up the Petromax lamp, so to speak. Their show will recommence when the apex court sorts out the general election issue.

Daily Mirror Editorial

Death of Thondaman and the passing of an era

On the evening of May 26, news trickled in that Arumugam Thondaman, the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress had passed away. The name Thondman is synonymous with the sufferings, plight and subsequent semi-redemption of the most exploited community in this country –the Tea Estate Workers and their struggle to gain basics.

Lured from the drought-stricken blazing hot pIains of South India, these workers were strangers to the chilly climatic conditions in the hill country. Yet on arrival, they were frog-marched from the point of landing to the hill country. By day they hacked and cleared the way to what was going to be the future tea estates.

There was no shelter awaiting the incoming workers. They were forced to sleep in the open during the first days of their arrival. The late Rev. Paul Caspersz who researched the background of the community, states the sudden exposure to the cold climatic conditions and malaria, killed off hundreds of these miserable workers. For these workers there was no respite or escape from their places of work, where they were kept in slave-like conditions. Two or more families often forced to live in a single dwelling of 10 x 12 sans toilets or water facilities. They could not escape the estates, as the peasantry looked on them as enemies. The Kandyan peasants whose lands were robbed by the British, and hemmed into land-holdings described by the Kandyan Peasantry Commission as being the size of a postage stamp, looked on the Indian workers as persons who occupied their lands. They looked on the estate workers as their enemies.

By 1931, there were around 700,000 Tamil plantation workers, who had formed their own trade union. In the same year these workers were also granted the franchise. Following Indian leader, Nehru’s advice to the Indian workers to form their own political party, the Ceylon Indian Congress was born, which morphed into the CWC to contest the first general election.

Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman was its first president. At the election, the CWC won all seats it contested. The then prime minister claimed the Kandyan peasantry were discriminated because their interests were not represented in parliament, as a result of the overwhelming numbers of Indian Tamils in those areas. He brought in the Ceylon Citizenship Act, which effectively disfranchised the Upcountry Tamils. India claimed the estate workers were Sri Lankan citizens and not India’s responsibility. A majority of estate workers became ‘stateless ‘lost representation in parliament and became unimportant in local electoral politics. All mainstream political parties soon forgot this section of the population.

It was left to Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman (Arumugam’s grandfather) and the CWC to single-handedly take up the cause of the estate Tamils – their pitiful housing, the slave-labour work conditions, education of plantation children etc. At that time, while the whole country enjoyed free health services, estate management was forced to make payment if workers had entered government hospitals! In addition to this work-place related discrimination, opportunistic politicians portrayed the estate Tamil community as a fifth column of India. Those backing their cause were looked upon as traitors. Even other trade unions ignored their plight.

However, despite a lack of parliamentary representation and support from fellow trade unionists, using his position as head of the single largest TU in the estates, slowly but surely Thondaman successfully began negotiating better conditions for his constituency. Not surprisingly, Thondaman became by default, the undisputed leader of the Estate Tamil community. The manner in which he won the citizenship rights back for his community was epic. With no government attempting to solve the issue of statelessness, Thondaman called on all Estate Tamils to down tools on a particular day and pray for the restoration of their citizenship rights.

On a single day, all plantation workers, led by Thondaman downed tools and prayed. The country’s economy came to a standstill. President Jayawardene signed legislation granting citizenship rights to the estate community.

However, since the death of Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman in 1999, and the appointment of his grandson to lead the CWC, the estate community has made no significant gain either economically or socially. Even their demand for a daily wage to be raised to a paltry Rs. 1,000/- per day has not become a reality yet. Resultantly, rival TUs have sprung up in the estate sector. The appointment of yet another relative, not closely involved in the struggles of the community may lead to more fissures and leadership struggles. We may therefore be witnessing not only the end of a TU dynasty, but a weakening of the estate trade union movement.

Sunday Times Editorial

Migrant worker repatriation dilemma

The Government has run into some turbulence over the way it has handled the marooned Sri Lankan migrant workers, especially those in the Gulf countries.

The sheer logistical nightmare of bringing back tens of thousands of those working abroad would have been mind-boggling given the limited resources at the Government’s command. Additionally, it faced criticism for allowing those from Italy to return in the early days of the pandemic’s spread and letting them loose because they kept the country open purely to accommodate nominations for a Parliamentary election.

With airports and borders fast closing down around mid-March, and airlines being grounded, these workers grounded in West Asia seemed a forgotten lot. The Ministries of Foreign Relations and of Labour seem to have been sidelined by a different group at a different level which began to prioritise differently.

The Government seems to have not wanted the Gulf workers to return in haste. It was pointed out that a) there were no quarantine facilities readily available to lodge them for 14 days; b) that those workers may not get their jobs back in the likelihood of a recession in West Asia; and c) and finding jobs locally would be no easy task considering the recession locally.

These workers have been wanting to return since March but the Government is seen as being of the view that the country as a whole was going to be the loser in lost remittances if they returned.

Such foreign remittances have long been what has helped the Sri Lankan economy survive — for the country to not only pay its oil and import bills but even for MPs to buy their duty free cars so these can be flogged in the open market. The point is, whether the ultimate choice was with the Sri Lankan citizen wanting to return home, or the Government.

These workers have been huddled in transit camps in some of those countries and contracted the virus in the meantime. Now, two plane loads arrived in Sri Lanka last week carrying the virus with them. Even the economically developed countries have had similar issues of getting their citizens studying, working or holidaying, back home. They have dropped the ball in that field. It must also embarrass them that those workers from the poorer developing world feel safer at home than remaining in those developed countries.

Countries like India have problems of huge magnitude, particularly with domestic migrant workers. Scenes of their working population travelling through the sub-continent brought eerie reminders of the 1947 Partition. This is apart from their problem of getting overseas workers back home. There are many benefits, after all, in being a small island-nation with a manageable population and no porous borders.

We are told that Sri Lankan diplomatic missions in several countries had to plead with Colombo to get these Sri Lankan workers repatriated. It may be easier said than done, but there was also some hesitation shown in bringing these marooned workers because these folks were good “milch cows” for the economy as long as they were there. That has always been the case with almost a million Sri Lankan workers abroad.

Farmers mired in fertiliser crisis

The Constitution may invoke the blessings that the rains come in time for a bountiful harvest, but if those in charge of agriculture cannot ensure the farmers get their fertiliser on time, there would be little hope of such a harvest.

Desperate last ditch attempts are in progress to distribute the fertiliser to farmers who have cleared their fields and are already receiving rainfall. All types of excuses have been trotted out, that the previous Government left an outstanding bill of Rs. 10 billion to the private sector; that the COVID crisis disrupted imports and curfews dislocated local transport. All that is of little comfort to the farmer who is waiting with mammoty on his shoulder to till his land.

The GMOA, then in the forefront of the COVID task force, advocated home gardens and the like, and factory workers who went home during the recent lockdown started cultivating abandoned plots taking what was left of fertiliser in the market. The over-use of fertiliser by unskilled ‘farmers’ and the free fertiliser system have contributed to its abuse, and the abuse of the soil.

The Central Bank’s latest report refers to ‘smart agriculture’. They have long advocated the need for new technologies that range from high-yielding fertiliser, pesticides, irrigation and water management etc. The application of fertiliser is part and parcel of agriculture and there’s nothing smart about it when it is not available.

Sri Lanka has still not been able to extend its agricultural development into agro-based industry with the manufacture of fertiliser locally not firing. The country continues to rely on imports. About Rs. 35 billion is spent annually by the Government on the fertiliser subsidy. On the other hand, the last Government suddenly imposed a presidential decree banning certain imported weedicides saying they contributed to the widespread kidney disease among farmers. Then, it was found there was no co-relation between the two. No one really knows if the multinationals eventually won the day by debunking the theory, or the ban was merely a part of a populist, unscientific anti- multinationals campaign.

During the recent outbreak of COVID-19, Sri Lankans were fortunate that there was no shortage of rice, their staple food. It would have been hard to import rice had there been a shortage because it was not available ‘for love or money’ from rice-growing countries that were also hit by the virus and the import trade, shipping and harbours had become dysfunctional.

This is not just luck. Credit for Sri Lanka’s self-sufficiency in rice must go back to the country’s first Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake who opened up the Eastern Province with the Gal Oya scheme and which was to become the ‘rice bowl’ of the nation. Those who opened up the North Central Province with irrigation schemes, and more recently the Mahaveli scheme followed. Self-sufficiency in rice was a high priority in the 1960s, and the country should be proud to have achieved it.

The emergence of a ‘rice mafia’ that has been exposed with recent raids by the Consumer Affairs Authority shows how a handful of millers have monopolised the entire market. These multi-millionaires know to survive with political patronage. Exporting rice should be the next target of the country as a whole.

For now, however, the Government must ensure the farmer gets his fertiliser on time if the people are not to go hungry without their favourite rice plate in the months ahead.

Daily News Editorial

A generous gesture

A move by the Government to obtain employment to those who lost their jobs in the private sector due to the coronavirus is a commendable one indeed and would be a god send to those languishing jobless and without a means to survive. According to a news item, the Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Employment Sarath Abeygunawardena has stated that his ministry is willing to intervene with other state agencies with a view to absorbing those who have been discontinued from service in the private sector owing to the present crisis. He said they would not allow even a single individual who lost his/her job left high and dry. The Department of Manpower and Employment is currently busy collecting details of those who lost jobs in the private sector and that they would be absorbed into existing vacancies and where possible compensation paid.

The move is doubly commendable, given that the Government itself is hard-pressed to survive with the country in the middle of a grave economic crisis. In fact, most Government departments, let alone giving employments to jobless private sector employees, are only partially operating and have drastically cut down their own workforces though salaries are continued to be paid while a majority of the staff have been forced to ‘work from home.’ Under these circumstances, therefore, it is moot if the state sector will be able to rise to the occasion and lend a hand to the private sector in absorbing even a miniscule of its workers out of jobs. Besides there are unemployed graduates and other unskilled employees waiting in the wings to join the various government departments in terms of a Presidential directive. Their interests have naturally to gain priority. Still, those thrown out of jobs (in the private sector) cannot be left to fend for themselves.

Besides, Sri Lanka has a most commendable employment culture where those who are rendered jobless due to closure of workplaces or forced to shut down due to various reasons are welcomed by other establishments within their limitations and capacities. This trait was seen most prominently in the wake of the July ’83 riots where many workplaces and factories belong to Tamil businessmen were destroyed. Their Sinhala compatriots rose to the occasion and acted gallantly in providing employment to the thousands who were thrown out of their jobs as a result. Such generous gestures were seen at other instances too in times of crises. This is in contrast to some of the most advanced countries which have strict rules governing employment. Nay, some of these states which preach human rights to others adapt the policy of ‘hire and fire’ in their workplaces. The coronavirus pandemic could only have made the situation worse in these countries. But Sri Lankans for the most part have lived in accordance with the true sense of the noble teaching of the Buddha of Maithri and Karuna and are always generous and accommodating and hardly turn away those in need and want.

Now we see the Government, no less, getting involved in this meritorious task to alley the sufferings of those who are out of employment in the private sector due to an emergency situation. Admittedly, it is not going to be an easy task, since, as mentioned, the Government departments themselves have been badly affected, with employment strength halved, in most cases, complying with the health regulations in force. There is also perennial issue of chronic overstaffing in most state sector bodies. Hence, re-recruitment should not be done willy-nilly lest they become a financial burden on the already cash strapped government institutions. Whatever arrangements therefore should ensure no redundancies, thus exacerbating the problem. Of course coming from the private sector most of these employees are likely to be skilled workers and the Government Departments which absorb them could benefit from their proficiency unlike the majority of time servers in state sector bodies.

Not just the salaried employees in the private sector. There are also others, particularly the self-employed who have lost their livelihoods due to the present crisis. Their grievances too should be looked into. The regulations and restrictions have also forced others to live on partial incomes. The office and school van services fall into this category. There is no knowing how long the current health emergency will last foreboding grim prospects for them. They have dependents too to care for like school going children and food and medical bills. The Government should be commended for alleviating at least to some degree their hardships by such moves like stretching time periods for lease payments on vehicles and loan repayments.

However the Government cannot be expected to continue with concessions indefinitely and doling out largesse. The economic situation does not permit such luxuries. Almost all sectors are down in the dumps. Adding to the woes will be the astronomical expenditure that will be incurred for the holding of the General Election. The coronavirus has necessitated the estimated expenditure of the election doubling, according to Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya. No wonder they say that democracy is a costly exercise.

The Island Editorial

Trump, Twitter and violence

US President Donald Trump had been using the social media megaphone, Twitter, to declare war on others until very recently. He used that platform to issue warnings and veiled threats to his rivals and the perceived enemies of his country. Now, he has turned on Twitter itself, having taken on several mainstream media outfits.

On Friday, Twitter held that Trump’s tweet on the Minneapolis riots, violated its rules against the glorification of violence. It attached a warning to his tweet and blocked responses. Trump saw red. Opinion may be divided on Trump’s message in the controversial tweet, but Twitter’s line of reasoning, in our book, is convincing. Twitter is responsible for the content on its platform and, therefore, has to be careful.

Interestingly, the Twitter warning on Trump’s tweet came close on the heels on an executive order Trump signed to limit legal protection for social media companies from liability for content on their platforms. Trump’s order may have gone down well with the victims of sinister social media campaigns. Trump should realise that some of his tweets have also offended many, who flay Twitter for allowing them to be posted on its platform. The question is why Twitter did not remove Trump’s tweet if it violated its rules and policies.

Meanwhile, violent street protests, which erupted in Minneapolis following the death of a black man at the hands of four police officers, have spread to other parts of the country. The victim is seen in a video, lying on a road and struggling to breathe, with a police officer’s knee pressing his neck. This incident is reminiscent of the Los Angeles riots, which engulfed some parts of the US, in 1992, when four police officers who had brutally assaulted a black man, named Rodney King, were acquitted.

The Minneapolis police sought to defuse tension by interdicting the four officers involved in the incident, but the death of the victim has provoked the public beyond measure. Angry crowds set a police station on fire, yesterday.

The US is at the forefront of the developed world’s campaign for protecting democracy and human rights, in the world. It funds various human rights groups and defends them to the hilt internationally. But the sheer number of brutal police attacks on members of the black community has dented its human rights credentials badly. Shouldn’t the leading defenders of democracy and human rights put their own houses in order before pontificating to others?

Moneybags, windbags and bags of rice

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) made a big show of its recent raids on several rice mills in Polonnaruwa. Some powerful millers, confronted by the CAA officers, agreed to sell their rice at the prices determined by the government. It was thought the CAA had tamed the Millers’ Mafia at long last. The public heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that rice would be freely available at affordable prices. Alas, about two days later, at a meeting with a handful of wealthy millers, the government undertook to increase the maximum retail prices.

Some millers of Marandagahamula, which used to be the rice hub of the country before the emergence of the politically backed Millers’ Mafia, have agreed to sell rice at the maximum retail prices. Appearing on television, they said they could ensure a steady supply of rice if they were provided with the same facilities as the big millers. When ordinary millers say they can sell their rice at lower prices and still earn profits, there is no reason why the government should raise the price ceiling.

The Millers’ Mafia always has the last laugh. What made the SLPP grandees grant the wishes of the big-time millers? This is the million-dollar question. The government decision may not have come as a surprise to those who are aware of secret deals between moneybags and windbags.

We hope that the head of the CAA will not lose his job for attempting to tame the big-time millers with political connections.

Daily News Editorial

A welcome step

The issuance of a fresh set of guidelines by the health authorities for work places and public activities is a reminder to all that by no means have we seen the last of the coronavirus in this country while at the same time conveying a clear message that life must go on and at no stage will normal activity be brought to a halt. Signs of normality are already evident with more and more people venturing outdoors and commercial and business activity gradually picking up.

Despite the secure feeling entertained by the public the Government is still exercising understandable caution not permitting a free rein. According to our main story yesterday the Health Ministry has issued a downloadable booklet setting down guidelines for 46 work settings and public activities, with an emphasis on the ‘new normal’ and responsible behaviours to be adopted by all Sri Lankans as well as foreigners living here.

While it has laid stress on the health guidelines already in practice, post coronavirus, a fresh set of guidelines have been issued covering a wide gamut of professions, occupations, services and other activities including mundane functions. These include the behaviour to be followed while travelling in buses, trains, trishaws, seating arrangements in hotels, at weddings, seminars, public meetings, sporting centres etc which hitherto had free license.

This is as it should be. The country cannot be allowed to slip into despair, despondency and a state of paralysis enslaved by a pandemic. It is admittedly monstrously dangerous, but we must emerge from the threat by adapting counter measures.

Besides, we have to sooner or later get accustomed to the prevailing situation with the authorities expressing the view that the world will have to live with the pandemic for a long time to come. It is perhaps this thinking that has prompted even some of the worst hit countries to lift their restrictions and allow the resumption of day to day life.

Hence the sooner all Sri Lankans get used to the new order of things the easier it will be in the long run. The ‘ New Normal’ ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of the Health Ministry certainly has been well thought out taking into consideration job specific situations. This is as it should be since there are occupations where body contact and proximity among individuals are unavoidable especially in the services sector and heavy duty labour. This may be one of the reasons for the authorities to order work places to cut down on their staff to 50 percent or less. There is sound reasoning behind this.

Many workplaces have a sizeable contingent of maintenance staff who often sit cheek by jowl due to the nature of their work. It is essential that they are not exposed to undue risk while at the same time enabling them to engage in their occupations. Besides, all occupations deemed high risk (from Coronavirus) are those involving maintenance work or services which are in public demand and an essential component in keeping normal life on the move.

On no occasion should any job or occupation be dispensed with citing the Coronavirus risk. This would lead to a dislocation of normal life. These jobs should be allowed to continue within permissible limits. There is yet no decision to reopen cinema halls and a ban is still imposed on musical shows and the entertainment industry all of which have thousands of dependents.

These should be gradually “opened up” after a careful assessment. How can the cinema thrive without so called ‘love scenes’, one would ask, without compromising the existing health guidelines. Ditto for sports like rugby which cannot be played sans body contact. Are we going to see a whole blackout of entertainment and the pleasure of witnessing sporting encounters, hemmed in by a virus ? Hopefully these issues will be addressed in due course.

Meanwhile, the health authorities are also set to issue a set of guidelines enabling the holding of a risk-free General Election. The guidelines are to be forwarded to the Elections Commission in the coming days, according to media reports.

The guidelines will cover the distribution of polling cards, printing of ballot papers, and the process to be followed since the end of polling to the announcement of the results, not to mention the stipulations to be followed in house to house canvassing and the holding of public meetings. Emphasis no doubt will be laid on electioneering via the electronic media although it is moot if this would be feasible given the sheer number of political parties and Independent groups.

By all appearances, this is going to be the most subdued election campaign ever in this country devoid of high octane rhetoric and personal abuse, not to mention violent encounters between rivals.

If this be the case, the coronavirus despite all the destruction it has wrought, may be able to list among its positive fallouts the contribution it will have made towards the holding of violence-free elections in this country.

The Island Editorial

Lemming-like

The United National Party (UNP) stands divided, and its Working Committee (WC) has sacked the party rebels who are contesting the next general election from the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB). On Wednesday, the UNP officially conveyed its decision to the SJB, which pooh-poohed it. The SJB members claim they have not left the UNP and the formation of their electoral alliance was in keeping with a UNP WC decision. Their rivals maintain the SJB has been registered as a separate political party, and, therefore, a UNP member cannot join it or contest elections on its ticket. These arguments and counterarguments are sure to lead to a legal battle. The green Jumbos are following a course towards mass destruction.

If the dissolved Parliament happened to be reconvened, by any chance, then the nomination lists submitted for the next general election would become invalid, according to legal experts. The UNP MPs who have joined the SJB would be at the mercy of the UNP leadership, in such an eventuality because the UNP could seek their expulsion from Parliament. Something similar happened after the failed constitutional coup in 2018. The Joint Opposition MPs elected from the UPFA became members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) immediately after the then President Maithripala Sirisena had dissolved Parliament. When the Supreme Court declared the presidential proclamation that had dissolved Parliament was not consistent with the Constitution and, therefore, null and void, and Parliament was reconvened, the UPFA MPs in the SLPP, including the then Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, found themselves up the creek. Technically, they had ceased to be MPs as they were no longer members of the SLFP/UPFA. President Sirisena, however, did not pursue the matter. The UNP raised the issue, insisting that all the Joint Opposition members had ceased to the MPs, but its campaign fizzled out. The boot would be on the other foot if Parliament were to be reconvened.

The UNP is no stranger to splits. Its history is replete with instances of breakaways. It was a UNP splinter group that founded the SLFP. The UNP suffered a debilitating split in the early 1990s, when a group of heavyweights led by Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake made an abortive bid to impeach the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Expelled from the UNP, they formed the Democratic United National Front (DUNF), which, however, withered on the vine following the assassination of Athulathmudali.

The debilitation of mainstream political parties is injurious to the country’s political health. The UNP’s ignominious defeat at the 1970 election enabled the SLFP-led United Front government to do as it pleased and even extend the term of Parliament by two years. The trouncing of the SLFP at the 1977 general election and the resultant rifts among its leaders helped the UNP bulldoze its way through. Perhaps, the country would not have faced southern terror if a general election had been held, in 1982, instead of a heavily rigged referendum and the JRJ government had desisted from proscribing the JVP for political reasons. The TULF mismanaged its electoral gains, after the 1977 general election, and pandered to the whims and fancies of militant groups, and created its Frankenstein in the process. It bore the brunt of northern terrorism and, now, it is not a shadow of its former self.

One may argue that the UNP’s intraparty dispute pales into insignificance in comparison to bitter rivalries between the SLFP leadership and party dissidents following the 2015 presidential election. Sirisena brought down the SLFP-led UPFA government, which had mustered a two-thirds majority in Parliament, after becoming the President with the help of the UNP. He, thereafter, went so far as to have members of the Rajapaksa family arrested and remanded. The SLFP and its dissidents in the SLPP, however, joined forces, last year, to win the presidential election; they are contesting the next general election together. Why the UNP cannot do likewise is the question.

Daily Mirror Editorial

Bus journeys to be memorable!

The National Transport Commission’s (NTC) proposal to make public buses carry passenger in keeping with seating capacity must be lauded for several reasons.

This would not only curtail the spread of COVID-19, but also help commuters enjoy the journey till they reach their destinations.

This news, conveyed to the public by Power Energy and Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, provides music to the ears of commuters who have experienced some form of harassment while travelling in public buses. 

The bus is the most popular mode of transport in the country largely because it is available in most places, covers most areas in the island and is cheap.

But the condition of some of these buses plying on the roads of Sri Lanka is appalling. Many buses run using lorry engines;hence travelling in them is extremely difficult. 

The environment menace caused by such buses is a negative factor that needs the attention of the authorities. 

COVID-19 has changed our lifestyles and made us take note of others. We can’t be selfish if we are to deal with this virus, which is expected to be around for many more months.

As a result we might not be able to, while being seated, offer to carry the luggage of someone standing and travelling on the bus. This might be a thing of the past if buses carry passengers in keeping with the seating capacity. No one might encounter the need to offer an old gentleman or lady his or her seat in future as a result of these new proposals to be implemented. Offering some sweetmeats to the passenger next to you might soon be considers not a good idea. Our thinking as commuters would have reached the next level health wise. But with these raised standards which must be maintained while travelling we might see a chunk of humanity fall off. These are perhaps prices we pay to combat this deadly virus.

The regime has ensured that all buses will be sprayed with disinfectant chemicals at the end of a journey. Efforts are also being made to maintain hand sanitizers in these state run buses for the protection of passengers. It’s up to the passengers to do their part as responsible citizens of Sri Lanka; a country that has coped quite well with the COVID-19 pandemic when scores of citizens are dying each day in other countries even after the virus has passed its peak. 

The minister told a media gathering recently that these proposals would be subsequently implemented in private buses too.

The proposals also make it compulsory for the conductor to issue each passenger with a ticket; which gives details of point of boarding, the destination and the price. This would in time to come put an end to practices in some private buses of not issuing tickets. But for much of the above to happen measures will have to be taken to strengthen some of the existing laws.

Right now buses are carrying limited passengers with ease because most offices are getting down a limited number of staff. But how well passengers would fit in with the proposed regulations, only time will tell. This is because a good number of Sri Lankan commuters, who frequent state run buses, no little about discipline. 

Lets hope that the government oversees the implementation of these new regulations and make the transport authorities continue with them. 

Daily News Editorial

A welcome move

The Coronavirus has not only dismantled set routines, practices and conduct hitherto taken for granted but also inbuilt structures and ways of thinking too. Now, moves are afoot to make some of these changes legally binding and to make them stick.

One of the aspects that the authorities are focusing on is the comfort and convenience of the travelling public. According to our front page story in yesterday’s edition, Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera is to make seating arrangements in buses and trains, post Coronavirus, to remain unchanged by law. In other words, SLTB and private buses and trains will be required by law to ferry passengers strictly according to their seating capacity.

Passengers in buses/trains will henceforth be occupying the rows of seats at a decent space with no standing accommodation permitted. This move, no doubt, will be most welcomed by commuters, who had to endure the severe ordeal of being forced to travel in overcrowded buses and trains packed like sardines.

It is time that private bus operators are forced to comply with the new laws since they have for long been a law unto themselves, flouting road rules and riding roughshod over passengers. The authorities should ensure that the new law is strictly implemented.

In our experience, most of the existing laws governing the conduct of private buses are rarely observed, so much so there is no guarantee that this time round things would be any different. For instance, the ban on loud music in private buses which was introduced with much fanfare is no longer in evidence. Will the seating law also go the same way? The minister should ensure that this will not be the case. The social distancing regulations in buses should be enforced to the letter due to the health risk this poses if disregarded.

Of course, there could be protests. A majority of the private buses are off the roads, their operators questioning the financial feasibility of sticking to the guidelines. The Chairman of the Private Bus Owners’ Association is requesting the Government for low-cost fuel to tide over the difficulties. Others point to the economic cost of operating at half capacity. There is also the question of delays encountered by the commuters due to the buses operating at limited capacity. The remedy lies in increasing the fleet of the state run buses and strict timetables.

The new seating law should be the first step by the Transport Minister for a transformation of the private bus service to bring to heel errant private bus operators who up to now had a free run flouting the law. They should be made to strictly fall in line with the prevailing health guidelines and adhere to the Highway Code.

Mercifully, the two month Coronavirus hiatus spared many lives from road accidents- a majority of which are caused by private buses through reckless driving. Let the fresh start made by the country and the changes put in place see an end to deaths on our roads.

As new laws are being enacted to facilitate healthy lifestyles and enforce good practices, the Government has deservedly won all round praise for successfully grappling with the pandemic. Now the spotlight should be on alleviating the hardships of persons who have either lost their livelihoods or forced into financial difficulties due to the prevailing restrictions.

There are hitherto self-employed who have either lost their income avenues or finding it hard going to make ends meet. Among them are those running small eateries who are in a dilemma due to health guidelines. Also affected are school van and office transport services which will be forced to cut down on the numbers they can ferry in keeping with the social distancing regulations. Those involved in the various sectors in the tourism industry are down in the dumps ranging from travel operators, tour guides to safari operators, with no tourists in the country. A long drawn out solution is called for to address the grievances of these segments.

Arumugam Thondaman

He may not have been the Messiah of the plantations his grandfather was, nor command the same degree of influence in the national polity, but Arumugam Thondaman had his own band of followers in the estate sector and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), the premier Trade Union in the Plantations, he inherited from S. Thondaman.

The passing away of Arumugam Thondaman at the age of 56 on Tuesday, no doubt, is going to leave a not inconsiderable void in the politics of the plantation sector and the estate community as a whole whose interests he continued to protect after the demise of his grandfather. He nearly always held a ministerial portfolio connected to the plantation sector in some way, which made this task easier. He will long be remembered for his services to the plantation sector and to the country in general. 

The Island Editorial

Death comes in many guises

No one can escape the icy cold hand of death, but the untimely demise of Ceylon Workers’ Congress leader and Minister Arumugam Thondaman, 56, has come as a shock and diminished many. Our hearts go out to the family of the late minister, his friends and party members.

Thondaman’s death, which has occurred while all eyes are on the Covid-19 mortality and morbidity rates, both global and local, serves as a reminder that the Grim Reaper comes in various guises, Covid-19 being only one of them. Everything possible has to be done to beat the highly contagious virus, which has crippled the entire world and killed hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, but we must stay focused on preventing deaths due to other diseases as well as mishaps.

Lockdowns and curfews have saved many lives not only from Covid-19 but also from killer drivers who have no concern for others’ safety. Coronavirus has killed only 10 people so far, in this country, and most of them were suffering from various other diseases and, therefore, in the high-risk group. But for the national health emergency which left public roads almost deserted for weeks, precious lives would have been lost at the rate of at least eight a day in accidents.

Thondaman is reported to have died of a heart attack. Such untimely deaths due to preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are common in this country. NCDs are among the top 10 causes of premature deaths, here. Globally, they kill about 15 million people between 30 and 69 years, annually, and 80% of these deaths occur in the developing countries, according to the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka. NCDs account for about three fourths of deaths, here.

NCDs are linked to poverty, among other things, as health experts have pointed out, and they lead to serious public health, economic and social problems, especially in countries with ageing populations. Public health statistics reveal that between 1981 and 2012 the median age of Sri Lankan population increased from 21.3 to 31, and it is expected to reach 39.6, in 2031, and 46.5 in 2086, with the number of people above 60 years doubling. We are one of the fastest growing ageing populations in Asia. Sri Lankans’ life expectancy at birth is 74.9, according to some Health Ministry publications including the one co-edited by former Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, but the healthy life expectancy at birth is reported to be only 67 years.

As for poverty, which predisposes people to NCDs, the situation is far from satisfactory in this country, where the poverty head count stands at 4.1%. The current official poverty line is reportedly a little over Rs. 5,000.

The World Health Organisation has warned that humans will have to learn to live with Covid-19. One can only hope that the virus will become less virulent with the passage of time. Sri Lanka now has one more intractable problem to contend with while trying to bring down the high incidence of NCDs. The elimination of the key drivers of the NCDs does not seem to be in the realm of possibility, some of them being the ageing population, marketing and trade and rapid urbanisation.

Sri Lanka has set for itself 10 targets in its battle against the NCDs; they include reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, curtailing salt consumption, preventing tobacco use, ensuring access to NCD medicines and technologies, adopting a total risk approach in preventing heart attacks and strokes, reducing the incidence of obesity and diabetes, tackling indoor air pollution and tackling hypertension.

Covid-19 has eclipsed all other serious health issues. The previously mentioned targets are difficult but they must be achieved if the rate of unfortunate deaths like Minister Thondaman’s is to be brought down.

The Island Editorial

EU wooing dragon

European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Chief Joseph Borrell is sure to incur the wrath of US President Donald Trump. He has recently told a group of German diplomats that the world is now witnessing the dawn of the Asian Century, and called upon the EU to formulate a robust strategy in respect of China. This may be taken as a call for the EU to refrain from supporting Trump’s hostile campaign against China.

President Trump’s pugnacity and tendency to bulldoze his way through in trying to ‘make America great again’ may have made the EU wary of emulating him in dealing with China and adopt a balanced approach, taking into consideration the new global economic reality. The EU, however, is critical of what it calls lack of transparency and reciprocity on the part of Beijing. It has also taken exception to the manner in which China is handling the Hong Kong crisis.

It is only natural that China has come under heavy criticism for its handling of protests, but even if Beijing were to soften its stand on Hong Kong, the US would find some other issue to fuel its anti-Chinese campaign. The US needs a bogey. During the Cold War era, it had Russia, and now it is using China. The US cannot rely on its military might to tame China for obvious reasons; it would have been more than happy to weaken China the way it once debilitated Russia, but Washington’s problem is that Xi Jinping is vastly different from Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Chinese economy is robust unlike Russia’s when Perestroika and Glasnost were introduced.

Meanwhile, it is not out of any love for democracy that the EU and the US have taken up the cudgels for the people of Hong Kong; they are only using democracy as an instrument to further their interests. They had no qualms about backing the repressive Saddam Hussein regime, for years, prior to the invasion of Kuwait. The US provided Hussein with ‘crop spraying’ helicopters during the Iran-Iraq war, knowing that they would be used for chemical attacks on humans. A US Senate Inquiry revealed, in 1995, that Washington had supplied to Iraq samples of many strains of germs. Iraq obtained uranium from Portugal, France and Italy, and embarked on building centrifuge enrichment facilities with German assistance. Luckily, Hussein failed to produce weapons of mass destruction.

Besides, thousands of Chagos islanders, evicted by the UK for the construction of a US military base, have been demanding that they be resettled, for decades, but in vain. A leaked British diplomatic cable refers to these people as ‘Tarzans’ and ‘Man Fridays’. Has the EU ever pressured the US and the UK to respect the democratic rights of the Chagonese people and/or heeded protests by Mauritius against the breaking up of its territory?

China has been playing its cards well. It moved in to help Africa financially when Europe tied its aid to the promotion of democracy and human rights, there, while western corporate giants were thriving on arms sales to terrorist groups and repressive regimes and exploiting natural resources in that continent. Europe had to change its strategy, be less hypocritical and compete with China in helping Africans. China assisted the EU during the global financial meltdown in the late noughties, and chose to remain neutral on Brexit unlike Russia.

China is not likely to do as the EU says in the name of strengthening its ties with the latter. It has become a global economic powerhouse because it has acted cautiously without giving in to foreign pressure or accepting unsolicited advice from the western bloc. Its autochthonous economic model has worked so much so that it has been in a position to help even the EU. Its belt and road initiative may have suffered a temporary setback due to the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus crisis, but the mega project is on track, and Beijing will pursue its geo-strategic and economic goals with renewed vigour in time to come.

It will be interesting to see how India, which has drifted towards the US in the post-Cold War era, will position itself in the overall scheme of things in the present global context. Sri Lankan politicians who are trying to be more anti-Chinese than Trump should take cognisance of the EU’s dramatic policy shift at issue.

Daily News Editorial

Towards a new beginning

The lifting of the day time curfew in Colombo and Gampaha from yesterday and thereby ending the near three month lockdown of the country in the wake of the Coronavirus, no doubt, is a clear indication that we have turned the corner in the battle against the deadly Pandemic.

Understandably, there was no big rush or stampede in the Colombo city by the public to break free from the restrictions imposed on the public that kept them indoors for a lengthy spell. In fact the capital city more or less took on the same sombre atmosphere that prevailed during the ‘stay at home’ period with public and traffic movement only improving slightly.

They, perhaps, have taken seriously the health guidelines and were adapting a wait and see approach. The authorities too were playing safe, not going overboard to claim overall victory over the pandemic knowing that there is still unknown factors that could change the picture. This fact is being unambiguously enunciated time and again by the Health authorities who have laid the onus on the public to salvage the situation.

Now that the Health authorities have given the green light for the resumption of normal life across the board the Government, no doubt, will be anxious to get the wheels of administration moving again. Here too it will be advisable for the authorities to take nothing for granted. Although we may have moved away from the critical stage there is still the risk of a second wave as some countries which were quick to ‘open up’ in haste have learnt to their cost.

True, life for the most part, will not be the same again. There will no doubt be drastic departures from entrenched routines, practices and set patterns of life that are taken for granted. Offices and workplaces will have to adapt to the new reality. Already many establishments are operating their staff on a rotation basis adhering to the norms of social distancing.

There are bound to be other changes in many fields of activity especially where sports are concerned. One is at a loss to comprehend how an essentially body contact sport like Rugby is going to survive in the present milieu. Ditto for the film world which now will be hard pressed to continue with intimate scenes that have been their stock in trade, without violating the one meter distance rule. Small hotels and eating houses too will have to make the necessary changes to survive .There can be no question of having meals in groups anymore at a single table as in the past.

What this will to do occupations and livelihoods is not clear and the authorities would do well to ponder the situation and come up with solutions without compromising on health standards. But life has to continue even amidst the limitations and restrictions .

The chief concern for the Government , no doubt, will be the revival of the economy which has been dealt a mortal blow as with the economies in the rest of world where the pandemic has had a stranglehold. In most sectors the Government may have to start from scratch such as tourism and the revival of the export sector. Needless to state,that the foreign exchange position is rather bleak, made worse by the by sizable drop in the remittances of our expat workers from countries hit by the pandemic.The Government, no doubt, will have to take certain unpopular moves to tide over the immediate crisis. It has already imposed heavy import duties on certain consumer items that may not go down well with those who have got accustomed to imported goods.

However, sacrifices are called for at this critical stage of the country. Hopefully President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s insistence on simplicity and economy where he has shown by example would rub off on all Government ministers and politicians particularly, at this critical time when the country will need all the financial resources it could muster.

The coronavirus has taken the country in a new direction and a new outlook with the transformation now being witnessed gradually coming to stay. It is apparent from what we see that the people too have come to appreciate and adapted to the present changes which could lead to a disciplined and healthy Sri Lanka. The total reopening of the country could also signal a new chapter for Sri Lanka which has successfully grappled with a pandemic that has caused havoc the world over.

Already President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has received the encomiums of world leaders for his successful handling of one of thebiggest health emergencies the world seen at any period of time. Sri Lanka has emerged from worse situations and crises and has forged ahead as a nation. This time too it is certain to wither the storm and come up trumps if the public continues to cooperate with the stringent measures imposed for their own good.

Daily Mirror Editorial

Surplus of Rice and Vegetables

The rush to grow vegetables and cultivate abandoned paddy land, due to Corona pandemic, is creating a surplus of vegetables and rice in the country. This indeed is a good thing as far as paddy is concerned.

After all, if the Paddy Marketing Board manages to purchase the surplus paddy and store them it can help offset any shortfalls in the next season. Due to the climate change effect, any effort to predict the weather patterns has become almost a futile endeavour. Last year it rained seven months non-stop in the Western Province starting from June.

There were flash floods in the rest of the country as well. The Agriculture Sector was affected very badly as a result. No wonder Sri Lanka has been declared the second-worst affected country by climate change effects. There’s absolutely no guarantee whether the farmers would be able to reap the harvest they expect next season.

As such having a surplus in one season is not going to be a big issue. The only hitch is the technology used by the Paddy Marketing Board to store grain. The Paddy Marketing Board which was established in 1971 still depends on the traditional methods of storage. Countries like Israel continue to experiment on rice storage techniques and it will be of help if Sri Lanka too studies their methods especially those like Volcani cubes and use them here in Sri Lanka.

It is also important to have large and well-developed storage facilities in the northern and eastern provinces, as well as districts of Mullaithivu and Batticaloa, have been producing large quantities of rice post-war. Mullaithivu farmers have done extremely well despite the recurrent issue of water shortage. Everyone must take note of that. 

In Sri Lanka, nearly 70% of farmers are smallholders owning less than one hectare of paddy land. 

As for the surplus of vegetables, unfortunately, there is very little that can be done. Even in the district of Colombo those with small patches of extra land started growing vegetables with the government declaration of lockdown. As a result in the peripheral areas of the district in like Padukka, Avissawella and Meegoda every other householder has become a vegetable seller today.

The availability of vegetables certainly is a big consolation for the non-farmer. Especially those in Colombo suburbs really benefitted from the small-time sellers who visited their areas during the lockdown, mostly without permits even. However, now this trend has become a big blow on those who used to run small vegetable outlets with the profit made through those as their sole source of income.

The Island Editorial

New forces and cat in box

We hear of some newly discovered forces, in these times of gloom. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has spoken of a new force, in Sri Lankan politics, while the world is grappling with a new virus, which, according to the World Health Organisation, we will have to learn to live with.

When S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike formed the SLFP, he harnessed what came to be known as the pancha maha balavegya (or five great forces) in Sri Lankan politics, to wit, Buddhist monks, physicians, teachers, farmers and workers. Bandaranaike succeeded in achieving his political goal—capturing power—but died at the hands of some persons representing one of the very forces that had made his victory possible. About 64 years on, PM Rajapaksa, who once led the SLFP before breaking away from it, has added war heroes to the list of political forces; he says they will continue to hold positions in SLPP-led governments. It is still too early to hazard a guess anent the impact the ranaviru force will have on Sri Lankan politics, but we believe the PM’s statement at issue is a subject for a substantial public debate.

The recognition by the PM of what he calls the new socio-political force has come at a time scientists are examining a claim that some of their Hungarian counterparts have detected a fifth fundamental force in the universe. It has also coincided with a bitter clash of competing political forces, in the apex court, over the interpretation of certain sections of the Constitution, which lacks clarity. All eyes are now on Hulftsdorp, which is like the giant screen everybody stares at, pending a third umpire’s decision that will determine the winner in an edge-of-your-seat cricket match.

In most other countries, including the developed ones, coronavirus has caused health related crises by overwhelming their healthcare systems, which are in utter chaos, and is carrying off thousands of people. Not even the US has been able to face the Covid-19 crisis successfully. Thankfully, in Sri Lanka, the virus has failed to overwhelm the health system and snuff out many lives; instead, it has taken its toll on the country’s political system.

Sri Lanka must be the only country whose political health has deteriorated due to Covid-19. The politico-legal mess we find ourselves in due to the postponement of the general election reminds us of physicist Erwin Schrodinger’s paradox thought experiment involving a hypothetical cat in a box. In short, no one knows whether the cat is alive or dead so long as the box remains closed. Until someone opens the box, the animal is ‘living and dead in equal parts’.

There are two schools of thought anent the fate of the 15th Parliament, which was dissolved on 02 March. The government maintains that it stands dissolved although the general election has been postponed and the next Parliament cannot meet before the constitutionally stipulated deadline (02 June). The Opposition argues that since the national legislature cannot remain closed for more than three months at a stretch, the presidential proclamation that dissolved Parliament, in March, has lost its legal validity, and the President is left with no alternative but to reconvene the dissolved 15th Parliament. There are various arguments based on these two lines of reasoning, and they have left the average citizen none the wiser.

The 15th Parliament is thus like Schrodinger’s cat, which is living and dead in equal parts. No one will know whether it is actually ‘living’ or ‘dead’ until the box is opened at Hulftsdorp, so to speak. Meanwhile, let the government and the Opposition be asked to strap themselves in for the judgment which is expected shortly.

Daily News Editorial

Our first full steps in economy re-start

Today, after over two months of suspended public movements and large scale economic slowdown, millions of Sri Lankans step out to work. With the national COVID-19 infection rate hovering just over the 1,000 cases mark, we can only hope that this first-time break-out into the open by everyone after the highly restrictive lockdown, will not add to a further nasty outbreak of this deadly disease.

Given the torrid pandemic conditions prevailing all around us, both on the island and without, it is imperative that all Sri Lankan step out tomorrow with the full cognizance of the still-raging contagion. The curfew will be fully removed during day-time but if we do step outside, we do so into a disease rampant world.

If we have been familiarising ourselves with the basic scientific facts – repeated daily, ad nauseam – we should be aware of the dangers. It is crucial that Sri Lankans, a supposedly highly literate population with instant access to global data and knowledge via the Internet, should know the basic scientific findings about COVID-19.

Only the data and analysis coming out of the detailed scientific study of the virus and the epidemic pattern will tell us what we need to know: How does the contagion spread, how fast? How long does the virus survive while airborne from one human host to another? How long does it take to jump between people? How quickly can we rid ourselves of any traces of the virus? What are the early symptoms of the disease? What can be done to avoid infection? What and where is the treatment available?

This knowledge only comes to us from scientific research done by medical scientists, specialist health administrators and public sanitation managers. They have been diligently tracking the outbreak from its original epicentre in Wuhan, China, to its frighteningly rapid spread across the globe, including into this country. Thanks to the internet and also to the extensive data exchange and joint research frameworks enabled by the WHO and other professional health networks, the data has been made available to all countries and all regions to enable management of the pandemic.

Our faiths and life philosophies should motivate us to rely on the scientific information and divert us from any desperate reliance on superstition-based speculation about the pandemic and obscurantist claims of ‘magic’ and astrology. It is the data measured by the health professionals that must inform our behaviour in the course of our economic start-up.

On the basis of scientific research, we know that the virus could be carried by all and sundry, whether showing symptoms or not, young and old and, even on inanimate things like clothing, furnishing, cocooned vehicle, office and house interiors. We also know that the threat of air-borne COVID-19 infection will be around in our immediate atmosphere as we journey to workplace, function within the workplace and, step outside on the return journey home.

Everyone will be expected to fully comply with all the rules laid down to combat the contagion.

Thus, dear readers, we do hope you will diligently wash hands, wear your face masks, maintain the stipulated one-metre physical distance from other people and, take all other mandated precautionary measures. These include avoiding touching your face (to prevent any virus from latching on to you from others); and also quickly changing your outdoor clothing once you return home.

We must also carefully observe the night curfew times (10 p.m. to 4 a.m.). Our true citizenship will be demonstrated by our co-operation with the currently over-worked enforcing and managing authorities.

Indeed, citizens are encouraged not to unnecessarily leave home and to do so only for essential things like livelihood and domestic or personal administrative tasks. At the same time, we must be alert for a sudden resumption of curfews or movement restrictions of different kinds as the authorities act swiftly to counter any resurgence of the contagion as a result of our renewed economic activity.

We must heed the fervent appeal of our public health managers to be as strictly disciplined as possible in accordance with stipulated social hygiene as we set forth into the post-COVID-19 era. 

The Island Editorial

CAA vs Millers’ Mafia

Complaints that some parts of the country are experiencing a shortage of rice may have prompted the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to do what it did on Saturday. It inspected the warehouses of some big-time rice millers in Polonnaruwa. It is perhaps the first time the CAA officials have entered these silo complexes belonging to powerful political families including that of former President Maithripala’s sibling, Dudley, and former UPFA MP Siripala Gamlath.

The CAA says its inspections have yielded the desired results; the millers have agreed to release enough stocks of rice at prices determined by the government. Why did they wait until the CAA inspections to do so?

CAA Chairman Maj. Gen (retd.) Shantha Dissanayake has told the media his outfit has all necessary information about the stocks of paddy and rice the millers have in their possession, and action till be taken to ensure that there will be no shortage of rice.

The CAA seems keen to tame the Millers’ Mafia, and its action is reassuring to the public, but the proof of the pudding is said to be in the eating. Politically backed millers know more than one way to shoe a horse. The CAA should remain vigilant and take follow-up action if it is to achieve its goal.

Big-time millers create an artificial shortage of rice, weeks ahead of the commencement of paddy harvesting seasons, and governments import rice to meet the shortfall. The public consumes imported rice for want of a better alternative. Thereafter, the millers release some of their stocks into the market, causing the prices of rice to fall so that they can buy paddy at lower prices. The stocks of imported rice remain unsold in government warehouses and are disposed of as animal feed; the state suffers huge losses. In December 2019, more than 350,000 kilos of rice in Sathosa warehouses were found to be unsuitable for human consumption. The stock of rice had been imported in 2018, the All Ceylon Farmers’ Association told the media. This is the name of the game.

No campaign to librate the consumer and the farmer from the clutches of the Millers’ Mafia will succeed unless action is taken to make the rice and paddy markets highly competitive. The state should give small mills the much-needed leg-up by way of financial assistance. As we have pointed out in a previous comment, many small mills have gone belly up, unable to compete with the Millers’ Mafia. They purchase paddy with borrowed funds. Their bank loans are delayed and by the time they receive funds their big-time counterparts have finished purchasing paddy. Many farmers borrow from big millers to meet production costs and, therefore, have to sell their produce to the latter at low prices. They are caught in a debt trap. Others are dependent on the informal sector for funds. Microfinance companies are thriving at the expense of farmers. It is not out of any love for the farmer that the Millers’ Mafia has taken on the microfinance companies that exploit the farming community; it considers the latter an intruder.

Experts have warned of a possible worldwide food shortage owing to severe setbacks the agricultural sector has suffered across the globe during the last several months. The need for increasing the local food production cannot be overemphasised. The government has to look after the interests of the farming community in dire financial straits, unable to cover even the production costs due to exploitation by traders and millers and their inability to dispose of their produce at reasonable prices.

Vegetables are either left to perish on farms themselves or dumped on the roadside in areas like Dambulla as they cannot be sold although their prices remains high in other parts of the country. Ironically, this happens while a national cultivation drive is underway.

There is a pressing need for short-term and long-term action plans to help farmers, prevent waste of agricultural produce and keep the unscrupulous elements such as the Millers’ Mafia at bay. The Paddy Marketing Board, which has got a new lease of life needs to be revitalised further and its full potential tapped to protect both the paddy farmer and the consumer.

The CAA can only carry out limited operations. It, however, deserves praise for its inspections on Saturday.

Daily News Editorial

A timely suggestion

It appears that the Coronavirus that dominated the headlines in the mass media during the past three months is gradually giving way to other topics and issues of public concern, now that the pandemic is showing increasing signs of tapering off in this country. Instead, subjects that were swept into the background have once again started appearing on the public radar courtesy of the media. One such issue is the controversy surrounding the conduct of certain members of the Sangha community.

In fact, this issue came to the fore at a discussion between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Buddhist Advisory Council which comprises the country’s leading Buddhist prelates earlier last week. The Members of the Maha Sangha in the Buddhist Advisory Council enlightened the President on the necessity of a religious discourse due to the misconduct of certain monks that could cause discredit to Buddhism and the Tripitaka. The President said steps could be taken to rectify the situation during his tenure of office if corrective measures are proposed.

This is indeed a worthy proposal that must be implemented without delay in order to protect the good name of the Maha Sangha who had protected the nation for more than 2,000 years. Such a discourse has been proposed several years earlier, but it could not be held due to various reasons. Now that the President has also endorsed such a course of action, no time should be lost.

Certain monks among the top hierarchy of the Maha Sangha have already voiced their concern in this regard even before this discussion at the Presidential Secretariat. They have even gone to extent of enjoining political party leaders not to nominate any member of the Sangha on their party lists to contest the upcoming General Election. Another prominent monk has asked the public not to entertain any Bhikku coming to their homes canvassing for votes and urged all religious leaders not to allow politicians to use their sanctums to promote their political lines. Several political parties have already said they will not accommodate priests from any religion in their political campaigns.

All this, no doubt, stems from the widely held consensus that politics is not in consonance with the discipline and conduct expected of a member of the Sangha whose persona should necessarily be in conformity with the serene bearing and compassionate outlook which is an essential ingredient of Buddhist teaching.

According to a media report the Lekakhadhari of the Ramanya Nikaya the Ven. Attangane Sasanarathana Thera, has called for the striking off the list of the Bhikku register those presenting themselves as members of the Sangha belonging to his sect who act and conduct themselves unbecoming of the Sangha that goes to undermine the reverence and respect hitherto shown by the public to the wearers of the saffron robe. The Ven Thera has said he had noted several such persons portraying themselves as Bhikkus from his Nikaya even taking to social media to spew out content that are at complete variance with the teachings of the Noble One. He has called for all such monks to be removed from the Bhikku community.

No doubt the Ven Thera’s views and sentiments in this regard would be endorsed by all true Buddhists who have been observing the passing scene. Bhikkus placing themselves in the forefront of violent student demonstrations is not the ideal picture that any true Buddhist would be proud to behold. These monks could not be unaware that, with the global reach of television and social media their conduct will be viewed by a world audience which regards Sri Lanka as the seat of pure Theravada Buddhism, not to mention the generally held view that Buddhism is associated with peace, tranquility and quiet contemplation.

There is no gainsaying that the Sangha community in this country, has been made to suffer as a whole due to the conduct of some members among them. It is therefore hoped that the lead given by the Ven Sasanarathana Thera would make the Sangha hierarchy as a whole sit back and take note. It goes without saying that a Bhikku should conduct himself in an exemplary manner.

This is in no way saying that members of the Sangha should be cut off from the political or social mainstream. Their counsel for the wellbeing and the protection of the country has always proved to be invaluable. More than our lay leaders it is the Maha Sangha, who, in many instances have been carrying the standard of the country. They have been in the forefront to protect the country from peril at all times.

As the Ven. Theras of the Buddhist Advisory Council noted, there is a huge responsibility with the Maha Sangha to rebuild the society in the present context. We hope that the suggested discourse will allow them to engage in this onerous task with even more vigour and determination.

The Island Editorial

CAA vs Millers’ Mafia

Complaints that some parts of the country are experiencing a shortage of rice may have prompted the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to do what it did on Saturday. It inspected the warehouses of some big-time rice millers in Polonnaruwa. It is perhaps the first time the CAA officials have entered these silo complexes belonging to powerful political families including that of former President Maithripala’s sibling, Dudley, and former UPFA MP Siripala Gamlath.

The CAA says its inspections have yielded the desired results; the millers have agreed to release enough stocks of rice at prices determined by the government. Why did they wait until the CAA inspections to do so?

CAA Chairman Maj. Gen (retd.) Shantha Dissanayake has told the media his outfit has all necessary information about the stocks of paddy and rice the millers have in their possession, and action till be taken to ensure that there will be no shortage of rice.

The CAA seems keen to tame the Millers’ Mafia, and its action is reassuring to the public, but the proof of the pudding is said to be in the eating. Politically backed millers know more than one way to shoe a horse. The CAA should remain vigilant and take follow-up action if it is to achieve its goal.

Big-time millers create an artificial shortage of rice, weeks ahead of the commencement of paddy harvesting seasons, and governments import rice to meet the shortfall. The public consumes imported rice for want of a better alternative. Thereafter, the millers release some of their stocks into the market, causing the prices of rice to fall so that they can buy paddy at lower prices. The stocks of imported rice remain unsold in government warehouses and are disposed of as animal feed; the state suffers huge losses. In December 2019, more than 350,000 kilos of rice in Sathosa warehouses were found to be unsuitable for human consumption. The stock of rice had been imported in 2018, the All Ceylon Farmers’ Association told the media. This is the name of the game.

No campaign to librate the consumer and the farmer from the clutches of the Millers’ Mafia will succeed unless action is taken to make the rice and paddy markets highly competitive. The state should give small mills the much-needed leg-up by way of financial assistance. As we have pointed out in a previous comment, many small mills have gone belly up, unable to compete with the Millers’ Mafia. They purchase paddy with borrowed funds. Their bank loans are delayed and by the time they receive funds their big-time counterparts have finished purchasing paddy. Many farmers borrow from big millers to meet production costs and, therefore, have to sell their produce to the latter at low prices. They are caught in a debt trap. Others are dependent on the informal sector for funds. Microfinance companies are thriving at the expense of farmers. It is not out of any love for the farmer that the Millers’ Mafia has taken on the microfinance companies that exploit the farming community; it considers the latter an intruder.

Experts have warned of a possible worldwide food shortage owing to severe setbacks the agricultural sector has suffered across the globe during the last several months. The need for increasing the local food production cannot be overemphasised. The government has to look after the interests of the farming community in dire financial straits, unable to cover even the production costs due to exploitation by traders and millers and their inability to dispose of their produce at reasonable prices.

Vegetables are either left to perish on farms themselves or dumped on the roadside in areas like Dambulla as they cannot be sold although their prices remains high in other parts of the country. Ironically, this happens while a national cultivation drive is underway.

There is a pressing need for short-term and long-term action plans to help farmers, prevent waste of agricultural produce and keep the unscrupulous elements such as the Millers’ Mafia at bay. The Paddy Marketing Board, which has got a new lease of life needs to be revitalised further and its full potential tapped to protect both the paddy farmer and the consumer.

The CAA can only carry out limited operations. It, however, deserves praise for its inspections on Saturday.

Daily Mirror Editorial

Battling the coronavirus

For the past six months, the world has been battling the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. As at May 22, the virus had spread to 188 countries, with over 5,067,579 persons having contracted the disease and 332,711 had died of it.

In China, where the virus first appeared and was recognised to be of pandemic proportions, the government immediately went on the offensive and locked down the city of Wuhan, which was recognised as the centre of the epidemic and areas adjacent to it.

Within a short period of time, a number of human rights groups was crying foul complaining the rights of the people of Wuhan and its surroundings were being violated. Sections of the western-based media spoke stridently against the forceful removal of infected citizens to hospitals. Undeterred by the criticism, China continued with its lockdown and treatment of COVID-19 patients, but the death-rate continued rising. By the third week of March, however, the growth in numbers of COVID-19 patients began plateauing and its spread confined. Meanwhile on March 11, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

Shortly after, the virus had begun spreading from Korea, to Japan to Italy and Spain and elsewhere. Soon the western democracies were forced to lockdown their own countries, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. The human rights charges against China regarding lock-downs were soon forgotten, as country after country was forced to enforce lock-downs, social distancing and various other unpopular measures to bring the virus under control.

However, while most country leaders were putting various unpopular but necessary systems in place to combat the spread of the virus and protect their people, the self-styled leader of the ‘free world’ was in a state of denial.

US President Donald Trump, who is facing election year was on the horns of dilemma. Enforcing social distancing, shutting down businesses leading to food shortages, loss of employment and rising poverty seemed a sure-fire recipe for disaster to a person facing an election. And so, Trump who campaigned during the earlier election on the slogan ‘America First’, decided at this moment it was going to be ‘Trump First’ and to hell with the ‘great’ American people. Trump went into denial mode and he said coronavirus posed no threat to the US. The US was prepared to face the threat posed by the virus, no lock-downs or social distancing was necessary. The country has sufficient quantities of surgical masks and ventilators he claimed. The Medical experts were wrong, he stressed.

Trump said he had a ‘feeling’- not based on medical knowledge or expertise - that the anti-malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine was the medication to combat the coronavirus. To take matters to the borders of lunacy, the President then prescribed his countrymen to inject themselves with disinfectant to keep the coronavirus at bay! So the US authorities took no precautions against the coronavirus, despite medical advice to the contrary. Within weeks, the virus spread like wildfire throughout the country.

Today, on May 23, the US has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world – one million-six-hundred and forty-thousand and rising. The virus has also led to 96,340 fatalities. Around 36.5 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past two months, with experts warning that figures could peak above the Great Depression in 1933. According to the latest figures from the US Labour Department (as of 14 May), 36.5 million American citizens have filed unemployment claims over the past eight weeks.

Trump’s initial disdain of the coronavirus has cost thousands of Americans their lives, jobs and peace of mind. But, Trump never admits to making mistakes, rather he looks to find scapegoats to cover his exposed behind. This time around, with a forthcoming election staring him in the face, a worsening US economy, growing unemployment and thousands dying because he decided to put self before country, the aging US President is presently trying to shift blame and responsibility on to China and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the spread of the virus.

Latest polls in the US show Trump is now trailing his Democratic challenger by a margin of eight points or more. To worsen his plight, his challenger has stressed that he would not shield Trump from possible future litigation regarding his income tax returns and other alleged illegal activities involving his business empire etc.

Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, Trump was leading the polls. But as the saying goes, ‘every dark cloud has a silver lining’ and perhaps the coronavirus may help the American voters see the dangers Trump poses to their country and vote him out of office and rid the world of one of its greatest disruptive figures.

Sunday Observer Editorial

A grim milestone for the world

In the words of the World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the world passed the ‘grim milestone’ of five million coronavirus cases around the globe over the past few days, with more than 325,000 deaths. Indeed, it is a very bleak announcement that somewhat undermines the medical advances that we have gained over the past 100 years, after the Spanish Flu claimed more than 50 million lives back in 1918-20. However, it is also true that the death toll could have been much higher if not for advanced medical care and equipment such as ventilators. Moreover, measures such as lockdown and social distancing have also helped to curb the spread of the Coronavirus, which causes the Covid-19 disease that can be fatal in some instances.

Ever since the Coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China late last year, there has been a debate about its origin. One school of thought – and the dominant one – is that it is a virus that naturally occurs in bats which found its away to humans, a process called Zoonotic transmission. There is another, more controversial, theory that the virus had been created in a lab and has been accidentally released. Most scientists, however, believe the first hypothesis. Nevertheless, the WHO has agreed in principle to investigate the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic and its own response to it after nearly 100 countries forwarded a draft resolution to the WHO’s World Health Assembly (WHA) to identify the source of the virus and initiate an ‘impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation’ of the WHO’s response to Covid-19.

“The WHO is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement. We welcome the proposed resolution before this Assembly, which calls for a step-wise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation. So, I will initiate an independent evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment,” the WHO Chief said. This is now likely to occur once the Coronavirus pandemic is controlled to some extent. Right now, in the words of Tedros, the focus should be on “saving lives”.

Even more importantly, the WHA has stressed the importance of equal access for all countries to any medicines and/or vaccines developed to treat Covid-19. This will be of crucial importance to emerging economies such as ours, which cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars per dose of an effective vaccine at a time when their economies have already been battered by the pandemic itself. If the rich countries get priority access to any vaccine or successful drug, the poorer nations will be left out to suffer dire consequences.

Hence the WHO has urged countries and international organisations to work collaboratively to develop, test and scale-up production of safe, effective, quality, affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines for the Covid-19 response – including in the licensing of patents to facilitate access to them. This is essential, because there already are signs that some countries are trying to limit supplies of promising drugs such as Remdisivir and also get first access to vaccines at the expense of other nations.

The Sri Lankan scientific community must necessarily get involved in this exercise, led by the Medical Research Institute (MRI), which was the first institute in the region to develop a test kit for the Coronavirus. Our research institutions and universities have world-class research facilities that can become part of this noble exercise. The focus must be on both counts – a drug and a vaccine. They can collaborate with similar institutions in Asia and elsewhere for this purpose. Once a viable vaccine is licensed for manufacture, the state pharmaceutical corporations must be equipped to manufacture it locally, which will help save foreign exchange as well.

Sri Lanka is also becoming a role model due to the way in which it has handled the pandemic. Our sister paper the Daily News carried several articles by foreign writers and news agencies which heaped praise on Sri Lanka’s Coronavirus Response, noting that Vietnam and Kerala State in India are the only other regions in Asia with a similar level of success. They pointed out that the successful nexus between the Security Forces and the Health Sector has been one factor for Sri Lanka’s comparatively low infection and death rates. In fact, a number of other countries are now following this model.

This has also enabled the Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to cautiously re-open the country for economic and social activity, under strict health guidelines, even as the curfew continues in the Colombo and Gampaha districts, the two most heavily affected districts. So far, the results have been encouraging, with the public generally behaving responsibly (except perhaps for the scramble for the wine stores on a couple of days) in all areas of the country. Social distancing norms are also being observed by the public, along with other measures such as wearing masks.

But now is not the time to let down the guard – health experts say the coming period is the most critical as we must take all possible steps to prevent the formation of clusters and any community transmission of the deadly pathogen. We have so far avoided the latter factor and we should strive to keep it that way. The Police and Security Forces must now be stricter in enforcing the curfew and other social distancing measures, because only one reckless person can reignite the dreaded virus within the community. We only have to watch the world news to guess what could happen if we make one wrong move.

The Island Editorial

A disgraceful proposal

Sir. John Kotelawela, who was prime minister of this country over sixty years ago used a pithy Sinhala aphorism which spoke volumes when he said "henda athey thiyanakam bedaganilla." This literally means "as long as the ladle is in your hand, serve yourself." This is true for the recent approval of the so-called Independent Police Commission to assign units of serving policemen to retired IGPs and Senior DIGs to presumably serve during their (the ex-cops) lifetimes. This was sharply criticized by a retired Senior DIG. Mr. Merril Gunaratne, in the last issue of this newspaper.

We must first commend this retired policeman, who would personally benefit from the proposal if it is implemented, for publicly coming out strongly against it. That is not something we frequently see in this Island of ours where many, if not most, will feather their own nests given the opportunity. The proposal that seems to be up in the air at present, recommends that a five man unit plus a driver be assigned to each retired IGP and a similar three member unit, also with a driver, to the former senior DIGs. Whether it will be implemented or not remains to be seen.

Apart from retired policeman Merril Gunaratne’s comment last Sunday, a special correspondent writing to this issue of our newspaper has socked it in his horror very much harder than the previous writer did. We commend that article to the reader if he has not already read it. That writer, perhaps sarcastically or cynically, asks whether this sought-after perk is a reward for the gigantic security failure that resulted in the Easter Sunday massacre. Some of those who bear accountability will possibly or probably be among the beneficiaries. Worse, two would-be beneficiaries are among the members of the Police Commission. Did they promote this would be a fair question. But who cares? This business of giving retirement benefits at taxpayer expense has a long and sorry history in this country.

These range from senior public servants being permitted to buy, at book value, the vehicles they used at the time of retirement – often refurbished and repaired at government cost – as D-day approaches. The political establishment too has not done badly out of this generosity with other people’s, read the taxpayers’, money. Former presidents enjoy government housing, a personal staff and other privileges that probably includes (we are not sure) official cars. Few will begrudge Mrs. Hema Premadasa whose husband was assassinated by the LTTE these privileges but many people may think otherwise of some of the other beneficiaries.

We have in this space said that former President Maithripala Sirisena, now seeking to prolong his political career as a Member of Parliament for the Polonnaruwa district, has committed impeachable offences although he has not been held to account. A full bench of the Supreme Court undid his sacking of his own government, replacing it with that of Mahinda Rajapaksa, with full knowledge that Rajapaksa did not command a parliamentary majority, The numbers were expected to be engineered, but that was not to be. The result was that Sirisena had to eat humble pie (not hoppers) and reinstall Ranil Wickremesinghe and his government. This same politician, via a cabinet decision, was permitted to keep government housing specially created for him by joining two mansions, to befit a serving president.

That’s the name of the retirement benefits game that is played in this republic of ours which is supposed to be democratic and socialist. Our special correspondent says that the effort to serve the gravy to retired policemen was due to former service commanders having a similar privilege. That is a plausible suggestion although it is ONLY the commanders and not their chief-or-staff who are entitled to the privilege. But in the police, the privilege is sought to be conferred not only on the IGPs but also on their senior deputies. It won’t be long before similar benefits are sought for all DIGs – and there are dozens of them – if this ridiculous suggestion is implemented.

In his article, Senior DIG Merril Gunatratne made a case for special security for some officers – he named STF DIG M.R. Latheef – who may well have made lifelong enemies of underworld hoods who may seek revenge. Thus special protection, depending on the threat perception, may properly be accorded to them. We are not aware of any IGP who may be at risk of the underworld seeking to bump him off. This goes for the Senior DIGs too. Most people would agree that these proposed special squads may well turnout to be valets or domestics in the households of ex-cops. We have seen special squads, assigned to protect politicians during particularly the second JVP insurrection, being used as private armies to pay off political scores. There was also an allegation that one former MP had wanted the police officer assigned to her to work in her paddy field.

Nobody would quarrel with families of servicemen (and policemen) killed in action looked after by the state with taxpayer money. This country can be proud that she does that with posthumous promotions of one rank, continuing pay till the age of retirement and thereafter a pension. Disabled and maimed servicemen are also similarly cared for. It is questionable whether the proposal that has been made falls within the mandate of the Police Commission. If permitted, this will be the single swallow making a springtime. Retirees from other services, prisons for one, would make similar claims. Perhaps the concerned authorities revisit the perk accorded to retired service commanders as well.

We are not saying they should live in penury but would add that there was a former commander of the SLAF who traveled on a motor scooter. Ours is a relatively poor developing country with limited resources. These will be further strained post the Covid Emergency. The asinine and immoral proposal should be rejected out of hand. Those who made it should be ashamed of themselves.