Weliweriya and its aftermath

August 3, 2013, 

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s office sent out an urgent press release on Friday evening titled ``Govt. and Opp. Parties solve Gampaha water crisis.’’ Rajapaksa is the SLFP’s Gampaha district leader and it is natural that he should take serious note of what happened last week when the military was deployed to disperse a massive protest against alleged contamination of ground water by a factory in Weliweriya that has been operating since 1976. Rajapaksa had invited MPs, Provincial Councilors and local body heads from all parties holding elected office in the district as well as the concerned government officials and it was agreed that the fleet delivering potable water to affected villages would be beefed-up and a pipe-borne water supply for the area accelerated.

There is no doubt that disproportionate force was used to disperse the unarmed protestors who were blocking the main Kandy road causing great inconvenience to thousands of road users who were not party to the dispute. An old soldier says that normally when military assistance is required to assist police to deal with a situation such as Thursday’s, a 30-strong platoon under the command of a lieutenant would be sent. They would be armed with rifles and possibly one light machine-gun, normally kept in the rear, in case the mob goes out of hand. The order to fire is given by the officer; no soldier could do so on his own. He makes the further point that according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the IGP, Magistrate or GA (now District Secretary?) has to make the request to the army. Exceptionally a captain or major may be sent with more troops, a major commanding a company of about 120 men - about three to four platoons.

But in this instance a very senior officer holding the rank of brigadier was on the spot and there were picture of him addressing (confronting?) the crowd. The fact that the army has appointed a five-member Board of Inquiry headed by its adjutant-general, an officer holding the rank of major-general, to inquire into the incident including allegations of assaulting civilians and journalists and killing a teenager is clear evidence that the whole business had shaken both the government and the military. Nobody in authority has yet said whether the boy who died had been killed by a bullet and whether others injured bore gunshot injuries. In incidents like this, fleeing people can be injured in stampedes too. That evidence, no doubt, will emerge in the short term.

The water contamination, if it was due to effluents from the Venigros rubber glove making factory belonging to Dipped Products PLC, a member of the Hayleys conglomerate, must necessarily have been a process over a long period of time. It obviously could not be a one-off incident. The fact that the government was delivering water to affected villages from before the project suggests that there was some kind of problem over the water in the area. If such was the case, did it need the loss of a young life and injuries to scores of people for the authorities to act with the urgency now on display? Minister Dullas Alahapperuma told a press conference at SLFP headquarters on Friday that a group seeking political mileage had triggered the tension. He added a new dimension by specifically alleging that a few months ago the factory management had sacked over a 100 workers belonging to a JVP union for creating tension in the factory for ``political gain.’’

Clearly there had to be considerable organization for the numbers that joined the protest to be mobilized. If there were genuine grievances that the concerned authorities were dragging their feet over a serious pollution issue, and people of the area felt that their water was being poisoned, that would undoubtedly have swelled the crowd. Yet there had to be some organization behind the protest. Something totally spontaneous could not have raised the numbers present. Alahapperuma revealed that both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister Basil Rajapaksa had talked over the phone to a Buddhist monk who had begun a fast on this issue which had then been abandoned. But the reporting suggests that the water quality testing, at least by state agencies, had begun only after the smelly stuff hit the fan. Surely Venigros would have had its own internal checks on whether the factory had a problem. Hayleys is a big conglomerate responsible for a couple of percentage points of the country’s total exports. Dipped Products is the world’s biggest non-medical rubber glove manufacturer. Both that company as well as its parent enjoys a reputation that extends beyond the shores of this country. They would also wield considerable influence with the government, not only for the reason that they are a major player in the economy nationally but also because Hayleys’ major shareholder, Mr. Dhammika Perera, is close to the ruling establishment. He, after all, once headed the BOI and functions as Secretary to the Ministry of Transport despite the many business hats he wears.

Nevertheless the government was quick in ordering the factory’s closure until tests determine whether it was in fact polluting ground water in surrounding areas. Venigros is optimistic that the factory can resume operations very quickly and we hope this would be the case. Given that a teenager died in the counter to the protest, that many people including some military personnel were injured and that there is a real or perceived water pollution issue, the whoe business has inevitably been politicized. That is why both Messrs. Ranil Wickremesinghe and General Sarath Fonseka toured the area post-protest and attendant events. Wickremesinghe was once MP for Biyagama and Fonseka was elected to Parliament from the Gampaha district before he was unseated. Alahapperuma also had his say from SLFP headquarters. It’s a good thing that Minister Basil Rajapaksa had MPs/MPCs from his own party, the UNP and the Frontline Socialist Party present when he called a meeting to sort out the water matter. The press release from his office did not mention a JVP presence. Maybe that party has no elected representatives in the Gampaha district? We do not know.

There is no escaping the fact that that disproportionate force had been used against the protesters. Alahapperuma alleged that the Defence Secretary’s factory closure order, until tests are completed, had been conveyed to the protesters by forces personnel who had been attacked ``even using petrol bombs,’’ according to a state media report. Five or six soldiers had also been injured in the melee, one seriously, this report said. However, if journalists were attacked and efforts made to prevent photographic recording of the event, whether by video or still equipment, commonsense decrees an admission of overreaction. We hope that this incident will teach those concerned not to use the army to do work that must be done by the police unless in the case of dire necessity. Whoever is at fault, that is a lesson that must be taken to heart.