Now That IMF Is Gone, Putting The House In Order Is Sri Lanka’s Own Responsibility

By W.A Wijewardena -February 19, 2013

Dr W.A. Wijewardena

To or not to have IMF

A press release issued by the Central Bank last week just before the conclusion of the negotiation with IMF announced that the Sri Lankan authorities had decided not to get any more financing facility for correcting the balance of payments or BOP imbalance in the country because, “there appears to be a very limited need to build up a further cushion in external reserves through traditional IMF Balance of Payment (sic) support programmes, such as Stand-By Arrangements and Extended Fund Facilities” (available at: www.cbsl.gov.lk ). The experienced Central Bank has viewed that IMF support is there only for building up reserves and not for implementing a corrective policy programme for the country to get out of a BOP crisis if the country is presently faced with such a crisis or avoid getting into similar crises in the future. The implication of this view is that Sri Lanka’s BOP is in good health and there is no need for getting treatment from physicians based at IMF. But the international commentators do not appear to have bought that story. As James Crabtree of London based Financial Times has reported that “the IMF may be leaving now – but don’t bet against them returning before too long” (available here ).

Central Bank: We are ok and no need for IMF

According to the Central Bank press release under reference, the country went for a Stand-by-Facility or SBA with IMF in early 2009 when the country’s foreign reserves were at a very low level at just over $ 1 billion. The SBA which provided $ 2.6 billion in several installments over a period of 3 years has now been successfully completed. Thus, it is logical for a member country to seek further financial assistance from IMF to strengthen its economy. Going by this logic, it was Central Bank’s Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, who first announced in September 2012 that IMF has offered a further financing facility and it is up to Sri Lanka to decide the quantum and conditions, if interested, in consultation with the Fund (available here). Later in January, 2013, the Treasury Secretary P.B Jayasundera, took a different view at a press conference announcing that the country’s foreign reserves are at a comfortable level and therefore the government is planning to seek a loan of $ 1 billion from IMF to finance the government’s budget for 2013 (available here ). This was in line with the announcement in the Budget for 2013 that the government will not go for any more commercial borrowing from international markets in this year.

But the alternatives are more costly

There was a reason for the experienced Treasury Secretary to make this announcement. Commercial borrowings are too costly – at around six to six and a half percent per annum given Sri Lanka’s current not so good credit rating – though they do not involve conditions being imposed on Sri Lanka. On the other hand, loans from IMF are subject to the implementation of a corrective economic policy programme but at a very concessionary rate of around two to two and a half percent per annum.

Special IMF loans to budget means the economy is in trouble

However, there is a downside in an IMF loan for supporting the budget as well. That is because IMF gives loans only to central banks in member countries to overcome grave BOP crises. There is exception to this only when a country faces a severe economic crisis pushing it to the brink of economic collapse. When a government is not in a position to raise revenue through taxation because the economy has hit the bottom, to enable that country to make a turnaround with the least pain, IMF provides “an exceptional and unconventional loan to the government”. The latest such accommodation was in the case of Greece and Egypt. Hence, getting this exceptional and unconventional loan from IMF would have meant that Sri Lanka has admitted that it has a severe economic crisis. That is not according to what has been announced by Sri Lanka’s authorities repeatedly. Hence, seeking an IMF loan for the budget was a reputation risk for the country; yet the fact that it has been prepared to undergo that risk meant one thing: This four percentage point interest rate benefit is a big deal for the Treasury which is hard pressed for revenue today.

Visiting IMF Mission: Risks in soft-words

A few hours after the release of the Central Bank press communiqué, the visiting IMF Mission in carefully guarded words not to annoy its host has drawn attention to three areas of risk the country is presently faced with. One is the underperformance of the tax revenue, another is the need for fighting inflation vigorously and the third is the instability to the economy associated with mounting losses in state enterprises, manly, CPC and CEB.

The erosion of the tax base

The budget 2012 had envisaged to generate a tax revenue share of 12.7 per cent of GDP which was later downgraded to 12.2 per cent. But the actual realisation, according to the IMF mission, has been 11.25 per cent. Though this has been partly compensated by an increased profit transfer from the Central Bank, up from Rs 15 billion in 2010 to Rs 27 billion in 2011 and further to Rs 33 billion in 2012, the erosion of the tax base over the years is not a sign of good health since one would expect it to expand along with the reported high economic growth in the past few years. As it is, the high economic growth has not taken place in areas where people pay taxes or the government’s tax administration has not been successful in capturing growth for generating tax revenue or both. Further, relying on central bank profits is also not a prudential budgetary management because in most cases such profits are generated by central banks by increasing inflationary pressures in the economy: So, more central bank profits means that, though the governments have got more money to spend, the people have become poorer in real terms.

Single digit inflation close to 10% is not an achievement

As the Mission has correctly identified, the current inflation close to 10 per cent per annum, though it is claimed to be preferable because it is single digit, is not a very creditable achievement. The increase in bank credit to the government, public corporations and the private sector in 2012 as reported in the Central Bank Road Map for 2013 has portended an ominous sign: The potential acceleration in inflation in the coming years. Hence, the Mission has advised the Central Bank not to further relax the monetary policy meaning that it should maintain at least the current policy regime. What the Mission should actually have done is the opposite – advising Sri Lanka that it should tighten the monetary policy to prevent inflation from creeping in and the exchange rate from further slipping away. However, the public announcements of IMF are always soft – worded and it is left to the authorities concerned to read the message hidden in that soft language and act appropriately.

Tame the public sector monsters

The leading public enterprises have been huge loss makers and the number of corporations that join the league every year has also been on the increase. The existence of such a loss making public enterprise sector is a risk for the country’s stability because their losses have to be borne by the tax payers eventually when the Treasury takes over such losses. Such loss-financing not only involves a forced diversion of the scanty resources of the government from more productive to less or unproductive areas which economists call “an unhealthy opportunity cost”, but also gives a bad signal to the management that there is nothing wrong in incurring losses year after year. That is the reason for the Mission to come out strongly against the current practice of shielding loss makers by covering up their losses through periodical Treasury grants.

IMF helps countries to have long term growth

When a country goes into a financing arrangement with IMF, there is always a programme of action proposed by the borrowing country with approval from IMF to fix its economy. The programme involves restructuring the economy: Removing the obstacles for the private sector to create income, employment and output, helping the country to remove inflationary pressures from the economy so that private individuals will continue to enjoy real prosperity and creating necessary conditions for the country to sell its products to outsiders in greater volumes, while enjoying the products of other countries. In popular parlance, this programme is known as ‘conditions imposed by IMF’ but it is implemented in collaboration with each other in order to make the country more productive in the future. In other words, it helps a country to put its house in order.

In-house policies should conform to laws in economics

What are the critical areas where the country’s economic house has become disarrayed? Many and unless they are re-arrayed in proper order, the continued high growth as planned by the authorities to make Sri Lanka a ‘breakout nation’ becomes elusive. To do that, there is no need for IMF physicians to come and prescribe medicine. Like Singapore, which was not a member of IMF till very recently, the appropriate corrective action programme could be developed ‘in-house’ and implemented voluntarily. All that is needed is that the programme should conform to the time tested economic laws which do not respect the economic laws promulgated by people in power. Even Malaysia which did not agree to get IMF support after the country was badly hit by the East Asian Crisis of 1997-98 had its own programme with one proviso: It conformed to basic economic laws.

Don’t have gala weddings out of borrowed money

The top most on the agenda of Sri Lanka’s corrective programme is the restructuring of the government budget. As already argued by this writer in the previous week’s My View, the stubborn deficit in the revenue account, previously known as the current account, has been an ominous development. These deficits mean that the government’s consumption is more than its revenue and at the end, it lives a good life by borrowing akin to the Sinhalese folk saying that “one lives to his destruction by having gala weddings out of borrowed money”. What it means is that one may borrow from others but such borrowed money should be used for productive investments so that he gets capacity to repay the same when it is due. If not, he will have to borrow more to repay his borrowings and pretty soon he would get into trouble when his borrowing sources dry up or lenders start imposing conditions by way of asking for “the Sherlock’s pound of flesh”. There is no need for IMF to come and tell this simple economic law to a country.

Taming the stubborn revenue account deficit

Thus, the budgetary reforms require Sri Lanka to at least target for balancing the revenue account if it is not possible to go for a surplus immediately. In the past, every budget presented by the government had attempted to have this goal – balancing the revenue account or having a modest surplus in the revenue account. But the actual realisations have been the opposite with a sizeable deficit in the region of about 1 to 2 per cent of GDP. Why have the budgets gone astray like this? The uncontrolled expenditure which has been sanctioned after the budget has been passed by people’s representatives in Parliament. Hence, it is of utmost importance for Sri Lanka to have a budget review and approval committee at the highest level and review every new proposal for increasing government’s consumption by reference to its impact on the targets of the budget.

Government’s overconsumption not good for growth

When the government over-consumes beyond its means, it has several adverse implications on the long term growth of the country. First, it will have the constraint of implementing a good public expenditure programme to build the country’s capital stock, a must for facilitating long term growth. Second, since it borrows even for consumption, it uses the country’s scarce savings denying that opportunity to the private sector. As a result, the private sector is forced to borrow from the banking system which is not healthy for a country that aspires to have an inflation-free world and ensure stability in the exchange rate. Third, the country needs to allocate more resources for research and development which has to be undertaken principally by the government. But when it uses its scarce resources for wasteful consumption expenditure, it has no opportunity to promote innovations through research. Fourth, the government may get into a serious debt repayment problem since its borrowings are not used for productive investment altogether. Hence, new loans have to be raised in order to repay the previous loans and it will cause the country to accumulate unproductive public debt endangering the country’s future stability, again a must for its long term growth.

Don’t seek comfort in borrowed reserves

Sri Lanka’s BOP is also not in good health as presumed by authorities. The stubborn gap between the imports and exports, also known as the trade gap, the poor performance of services despite many attempts at promoting the same, the rising oil bill surpassing the potential remittances by Sri Lankans working abroad, low appetite by foreign direct investors to bring worthwhile investments to the country are all portending a severe BOP crisis in the future. Though foreign reserves are at a high level right now, they themselves create a high risk because they have been built principally out of borrowed funds. As the US Ambassador is reported to have announced recently, the bulk of them have come from a single country, namely USA (available here ). This factor places Sri Lanka in a high risk category level since the country is dependent on a single source for building its foreign reserves. Any diplomatic row with USA could instantly reverse it.

From simple products to complex products

Hence, what Sri Lanka should do today is not to be complacent about the comfort of its reserve levels, but implement an economic reform programme aiming at restructuring the economy, especially the export sector. As this writer has been arguing in previous My Views, it is necessary to convert the country from the current simple export product model to a complex export product model. But to do so, new technology is needed and to acquire that technology, it should promote foreign direct investments of high calibre by creating the required ground conditions in the country. Those ground conditions take the form of comprehensive economic reforms involving macroeconomic stability, promoting competitiveness, developing skilled and competent workforce, reducing the unwieldy government, using borrowed funds to develop the infrastructure that will bring the highest social benefits as assessed by competent project assessment teams and protecting property rights to facilitate people to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their work.

Have policies to put the house in order voluntarily

This whole programme would have been easier had the country accepted IMF financing facility. But now IMF is gone, the country has to implement it on its own like Singapore since mid 1960s and Malaysia in the recent past. Otherwise, as James Crabtree of the Financial Times has predicted, the return of IMF to Sri Lanka will be a harsh reality.

*W.A Wijewardena can be reached at waw1949@gmail.com 

“This is a Sinhala country, Sinhala Government”: Bodu Bala Sena

• Call on supporters to become Sinhala civilian police force against Muslim extremism
• Extremist group wants Halal Ban in effect by 31 March
• Urges President to protect the sacred Sinhala franchise that swept him to power
• BBS leaders make speeches charged with ethno-religious rhetoric
• Claim democratic and pluralistic values are killing the “Sinhala race”

By Dharisha Bastians- February 18, 2013
This is a Government created by Sinhala Buddhists and it must remain Sinhala Buddhist, the Buddhist extremist organization Bodu Bala Sena resolved at a massive rally in Maharagama yesterday.
In an address charged with provocative ethno-religious rhetoric, Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ensure the protection of the “sacred Sinhala franchise” that swept him into power.
Thousands of supporters and representatives of the Bodu Bala Sena gathered at the Maharagama Junction last afternoon for the organizations grand convention. Clad in white or t-shirts bearing a ‘No-Halal’ slogan, the supporters carried Buddhist flags and cheered enthusiastically when extremist Bodu Bala Sena monks denounced alleged Muslim extremism, referred to the community’s conservative clothing as ‘gonibilla’ outfits and called for a total ban on halal products by 31 March.

Police anti-riot squads were deployed for crowd control after a monk led demonstration resulted in an attack on a Muslim-owned enterprise in the town in January. The organization also unveiled what they called a ‘historic’ Maharagama Declaration, a 10 point resolution that seeks to impose a ban on halal certified foods, sending Lankan women to the Middle East, mosque-building with Middle Eastern funds and certain birth control methods that they claimed were aimed at stunting the Sinhalese population. The monks alleged that 80,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Middle East had been converted to Islam and claimed that several organizations operating in Sri Lanka were receiving Middle Eastern funding to convert Buddhists in the island.
Issuing an ultimatum to the Government, the Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary said the organization would give the administration until 31 March to ban the halal certification. “Don’t make us take the law into our own hands,” the monk said, pledging to commence a relentless anti-halal campaign until the Government announced the ban.
“From today onwards, each of you must become an unofficial civilian police force against Muslim extremism. These so-called democrats are destroying the Sinhala race,” Gnanasara Thero charged at the crowds, who cheered in response.
He said pluralistic values had robbed the Sinhala people of money, jobs and enterprise. “This is a Sinhala country; there is a global principle that minorities must reside in a country in a manner that does not threaten the majority race and its identity,” the leading Bodu Bala Sena monk said.
Gnanasara Thero told the crowd that the Muslims were an ungrateful people. “Anagarika Dharmapala fought for your universal franchise too; today you have laws that allow you to take four wives, we said then that if you have four, we have to be able to take at least seven wives,” he said, adding that a country had to have a single legal system that applied to all ethnic and religious groups.
In a scathing attack on the more liberal members of the Sanga, Gnanasara Thero said that the only philosopher, socialist and democrat of the Bhikkus was Lord Buddha. He also called on Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcom Ranjith to create a Catholic force of his own against evangelical Christians who were attempting to perpetuate Christian extremism in the country.
The Buddhist extremist group has been leading the charge on virulent anti-Muslim sentiment spreading in Sri Lanka, that has led to several incidents against members of the Muslim community in recent weeks. Last week, Muslim shop owners in Narammala in the Kurunegala District received letters threatening them with death if they fail to vacate their places of business by 31 March.

First draft of the US resolution: Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Here is the first draft of the resolution to be submitted by the US  to the Human rights Council and circulated by the UN Mission Geneva. ( Please note that this is a not a confirmed official US document yet ) 

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant instruments,

Recalling Human Rights Council Resolution 19/2 on Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka,

Reaffirming that it is the responsibility of the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of its entire population,

Taking note of the Government of Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan and its commitments as set forth in response to the findings and recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) of Sri Lanka,

Noting with concern that the National Action Plan does not adequately address all of the findings and constructive recommendations of the LLRC,

Recalling the constructive recommendations contained in the LLRC’s report, including the need to credibly investigate widespread allegations of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances, demilitarize the north of Sri Lanka, implement impartial land dispute resolution mechanisms, re-evaluate detention policies, strengthen formerly independent civil institutions, reach a political settlement on the devolution of power to the provinces, promote and protect the right of freedom of expression for all and enact rule of law reforms,

Also noting with concern that the National Action Plan and the LLRC’s report do not adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law,

Expressing concern at the continuing reports of violations of human rights in Sri Lanka, threats to judicial independence and the rule of law, and failure by the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its public commitments, including on devolution of political authority to provinces as called for in Sri Lanka’s constitution,

1.    Welcomes the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka;

2.    Reiterates its call upon the Government of Sri Lanka to expeditiously implement the constructive recommendations made in the LLRC report and to take all necessary additional steps to fulfill its relevant legal obligations and commitment to initiate credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability, and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans;

3.    Urges the Government of Sri Lanka to formally respond to outstanding  requests, including by providing unfettered access, by special procedures mandate holders, in particular the Special Rapporteurs on independence of judges and lawyers; torture; human rights defenders; freedom of expression; freedom of association and assembly; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances;

4.    Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special procedures mandate holders to provide, in consultation with, and with the concurrence of, the Government of Sri Lanka, advice and technical assistance on implementing the above-mentioned steps;

5.    Requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with relevant special procedures mandate holders, to present a report on the provision of such assistance and progress on reconciliation and accountability, including investigations of violations of international law, in Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fifth session.

Unfettered access for UN rapporteurs

US-sponsored resolution at Geneva meeting could pose serious problems for Lanka

Sunday, February 17, 2013

An early draft of the United States sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council calls upon the Government to allow “unfettered access” to UN rapporteurs responsible for different topics.�They include mandate holders dealing with independence of judges and lawyers; torture; human rights defenders; freedom of expression; freedom of association and assembly; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.

This is one of the major highlights of the two-page resolution now being circulated and is likely to see more changes before it is formally introduced at the Council.
The adoption of the salient features of the draft resolution would mean Sri Lanka will receive one more year’s time to initiate action on the latest resolution. However, as the main highlight reveals, issues arising from it could pose serious difficulties in the conduct of foreign policy, warns a Sri Lankan diplomat who is privy to the draft.

In another highlight, the draft resolution calls upon the Government to expeditiously implement the constructive recommendations made in the LLRC report and to take all necessary additional steps to fulfill its relevant legal obligations and commitment to initiate credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equality, accountability, and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.

The resolution welcomes UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. It expresses concern at the continuing reports of violations of human rights, threats to judicial independence and the rule of law, and failure by the Government to fulfil its public commitments, including devolution of political authority to provinces as called for in Sri Lanka’s constitution.

Video: The Interview With Dayan Jayatilleka

February 18, 2013 

On this program Sanjana Hattotuwa talks to Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Former Ambassador to the UN and Geneva, until recently, Ambassador to France and UNESCO.

(Date of first Broadcast February 16, 2013)

Young Asia Television production

Sri Lanka journalist shot and wounded: police

AFP © Sri Lanka journalist shot and wounded: police

The WestPowered by Yahoo!7 News

February 16, 2013,
COLOMBO (AFP) - Gunmen shot and wounded a journalist near Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, police said on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks against media in the country.

Faraz Shauketaly, 54, a reporter with the privately owned Sunday Leader, whose editor was shot dead in 2009, was rushed to hospital for surgery following the midnight attack at his home, according to colleagues.

"Investigations are underway," police said in a statement, without elaborating.

At least three gunmen stormed into the reporter's house in the tourist resort area of Mount Lavinia, a suburb of Colombo, and opened fire, a colleague said.

Doctors were operating to remove a bullet from the neck of Shauketaly, who holds dual Sri Lankan and British nationality, his editor, Shakuntala Perera, told AFP.

"We are told his condition is stable but he is still in intensive care," she said adding Shauketaly had written a series of articles on alleged corruption in the energy sector in recent months.

"We believe the attack was due to his journalistic work," she said, adding the reporter knew he was under threat and had feared for his safety.

A local media rights group, the Free Media Movement, said the attack underscored the dangerous working climate for journalists in Sri Lanka.

"The government has created conditions to expose media personnel to this type of attack because the perpetrators know they will never be brought to justice," the group's secretary Sunil Jayasekera told AFP.

He noted not a single person had been prosecuted for the killing of 17 journalists and media workers in Sri Lanka in the past decade and abductions and disappearances remained unsolved.

"We urge the authorities to investigate this shooting and bring the attackers to justice," Jayasekera said. "If the government is serious about allowing media freedom, they must show their goodwill by ensuring a successful investigation.

"As long as a culture of impunity persists, there will be no press freedom."

Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said President Mahinda Rajapakse had ordered police to carry out a thorough investigation.

Media rights groups accuse the government of trying to silence dissenting voices.

In 2009, the editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was shot dead near his office. He had been a fierce government critic.

Attacks against journalists and news outlets have continued despite the end of the decades-long war between the military and Tamil separatist rebels in 2009.

There has also been a string of attacks against the main Tamil newspaper in the island's north with employees beaten up.

Sri Lanka lifted a state of emergency in 2011, but media rights groups say journalists have been forced to self-censor their work due to fear of attacks.

The investigative Sunday Leader until mid-2012 had been strongly anti-government and regularly lampooned politicians.

But the newspaper was purchased by a businessman who is seen as staunchly in favour of Rajapakse's administration.

In September, the newspaper's new owner dismissed editor at the time, Frederica Jansz, who replaced Wickrematunge. Jansz said she was fired after resisting demands from the new proprietor to water down criticism of the president.

She has since fled to Canada after saying she received death threats.

Indonesians save their woman from Saudi death sentence

MONDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2013 

The Indonesian government has been able to save an Indonesian woman who had been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering a four months old child by poisoning.

Nurqoyah Bint Marsan Dasan Nuriya, 41 year old Indonesian maid faced the death penalty over charges of murdering four-month old Mishari Al-Bushal, who died in June 2010. Saudi media claimed that Nuriya had confessed to killing the infant and the family of Mishari Al-Bushal insisted that Nuriya should be sentenced to death.

However, the court in Damman ruled that three medical reports did not prove the baby was poisoned and his death may have been due to a genetic condition.

Indonesian government created a special task force to protect migrant workers and employed special attorneys versed in sharia law to fight for the rights of the Indonesian migrant worker facing the death penalty. Nuriya's trial was attended by representatives from the Indonesian Embassy and the Human Rights Commission.

‘Digital Journal’ the web site that reported the incident had stated that authorities in Sri Lanka did not do enough to try to save Rizana Nafeek.

Meanwhile, Indian businessman S.V. Singh Oberoi has been able to save 17 Indian nationals who had been accused of murdering a Pakistani. He has paid $1 million to secure their release.

The UPFA government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including its minister evading the opportunity to save the innocent girl Rizana Nafeek when there was such an opportunity available is deplorable.

Sri Lanka's Buddhist extremists threaten BBC and Muslim journalists 
Mon, Feb 18, 2013, 07:24 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Feb 18, Colombo: BBC Sri Lanka Correspondent Charles Haviland said that he and his crew were threatened while they were filming a rally of Sinhala Buddhist extremist organization Bodu Bala Sena yesterday at Maharagama.
The hardline Sinhalese Buddhist group called Bodu Bala Sena held a protest rally Sunday at Maharagama to call for the abolition of the Halal certification of foods and asked the business owners to remove Halal certified food from their stores by March 31.
"As we finished filming at the rally, our three-member BBC team and driver were seriously threatened with violence by some members of a mob of more than 20 young men who told us not to drive off," Haviland said in a statement.
"Some police arrived and looked on as my Sri Lankan colleagues were verbally abused in filthy language, described as "traitors" and accused of having "foreign parents" and working for a "foreign conspirator" who was "against Sri Lanka"," Haviland said.
The protesters have threatened the newsman and his crew and warned them not to return to the location.
A reporter from the Navamini Muslim newspaper was also harassed by the crowd and handed over to the Maharagama police. Police detained the reporter until 8:30 p.m. before releasing him.
The Sri Lankan government and the Muslim clerics' organizations have repeatedly said that Halal certification is voluntary for Sri Lankan businesses and it is necessary when Sri Lanka exports food items to European, Middle Eastern and South East Asian countries.
The President has also urged the extremist Buddhist group not to arouse communal disharmony inciting violence.

VIDEO: INTELLIGENCE UNIT INVOLVED IN ATTACK ON JAFFNA HUNGER STRIKE - UNP

February 18, 2013 

The United National Party today claimed that the military intelligence unit was involved in the recent attempt to disrupt the peaceful hunger strike organized by opposition parties in Jaffna.

A group of around 12 men had stormed in and attempted to attack those participating in the protest, however two of the intruders were caught by the protesters. 

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, several TNA MPs and other party leaders had attended the hunger strike, staged in Thelippalei against alleged illegal land grabbing in the North.

Two men who had acted in an aggressive manner were caught and handed over to police, however they were released within the short time with military involvement, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said.

Who had ordered the release of these men, he inquired and demanded that if the government was not involved an immediate investigations should be conducted and they be arrested. If not the government cannot escape from the accusations over the incident, Attanayake said during a press conference today. 

The UNP MP further stated that even information including photographs of the suspects was handed over to the police.

The Police Spokesman’s Office, when inquired if any investigation is being conducted over the incident, stated that no information has been reported yet.

However, Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, when contacted by Ada Derana, stated that information regarding the matter can be disclosed only after an investigation.  

Desalination In Progress

By S. Sivathasan -February 18, 2013

S. Sivathasan

“If we could produce fresh water from salt water at a low cost, that would indeed be a great service to humanity, and would dwarf any other scientific accomplishment”. President John F Kennedy – 1962.

Water for domestic needs is among the indispensables of life. In this segment, potable use claims primacy. Fresh water was used direct for millennia past. It is no longer advisable to do so for reasons that are well known. Water from traditional sources – rivers, lakes and ground – has been subjected to sophisticated technologies for perfect purification. With population in a steadily increasing mode and supplies proving to be inadequate at places of population concentration, desalination has caught world attention.

Growth

A stock of 199 plants in 1962 when Kennedy made his call, growing to 16,000 in 2012 is a measure of progress. The year 1945 saw the first desalination plant in operation with a capacity of 326,000 liters per day (l/d). The largest to be delivered in 2014 at Ras Al Khair in Saudi Arabia will have a capacity of 1.025 billion l/d, using both membrane and thermal technology. As of now the cumulative capacity is over 70 billion l/d. In the first 50 years what was seen was an upward curve in the number of plants constructed. Cost reduction by half in 20 years accounted for the steep increase. The last few years witnessed a scaling down. Capital and operational costs require to be brought down for the next spurt. A dramatic reduction is called for though limitations to such efforts have to be realized. The challenge is before the scientist and the technologist. Promising signals are already on the radar.

Technology

Cost of energy has been a principal factor in water purification. The use of membrane technology for the Reverse Osmosis (RO) process was a path breaking innovation. Technological efficiency apart, it reduced costs substantially. However a continuously declining tempo in economies of installation and operation has not been maintained. This phenomenon explains the steady rise after 1980 of stock of plants and volumes delivered and a declining trend after year 2004. Together with innovative processes has to go development of cheaper sources of energy. Harnessing solar and wind energy in increasing magnitude and decreasing unit cost per liter is a striking phenomenon of this century. Processes other than RO too are being developed. It is said that the use of carbon nano – tube based membranes could reduce desalination cost by 75%. Scientists in US are in the forefront in developing better cost effective technologies. As recently as in 2013 it is reported that material scientists from MIT have designed a next generation water desalination membrane. Once perfected, commercial application will follow. When the world is poised on the threshold of cost effectiveness, water stressed areas can be in a mood of optimism.

Together with water purification is the concern with which brine disposal issues are addressed. Brine is a salt solution that comes off once pure water is extracted. It is about1.5 times the volume of water that is taken and is discharged into deep saline aquifers. From the turn of the century nearly 50 billion liters are so discharged daily and the volume is now 100 billion. Nearly 20% of global desalinated water and therefore a similar proportion of brine discharge is in the Middle East. No adverse impact is experienced or reported to the point of affecting the programme of desalination in any part of the world.

Water Use

The world is moving on to a particular pattern in water use. The change is conditioned by three principal developments. A near quadrupling of population in the century ending by 2050, with a mandate to quadruple food supplies; industrialisation on an exponential scale and unstoppable urbanization. It is likely that an increasing demand on fresh water will be dominated by agriculture. Along with fresh water, increasing quantities of recycled water will relieve industrial needs. For domestic purposes fresh water for the inland and desalinated water in the littoral areas for a width of 50 miles along the sea may develop into the standard pattern. An ever burgeoning demand on sea water necessitates more viable technologies and cost effective energy sources to employ the technologies. In this pursuit the scientific community is actively engaged in both the developed and the developing world. Performance in the recent past would suggest promising results.

Sri Lanka

Among the countries that are well endowed with water resources, Sri Lanka is one. Yet there is an imbalance between the wet zone and the dry zone. In the latter segment river flows impounded in tanks change the availability structure thus abating water stress. They also provide the source for a portion to be siphoned off for domestic and industrial use. It is the coastal stretch from the North to East and South that remains impoverished. The next half a century is bound to see development, population movement, urban centres and population concentrations. Preceding them should be assured water availability and the ready sources are salt water and brakish water. Desalination will change the landscape drastically. In the eastern and southern coasts, the districts of Mullaiithivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Amparai, Hambantota and even Matara would require studied consideration of salt water desalination.

Jaffna

“The problem of ground water in Jaffna is as complicated as the Jaffna man”. This was the perceptive comment of an Israeli expert who toured the peninsula 40 years back studying the ground water situation. The features are indeed distinctive. The furthest point from the sea is just 12 miles. The whole of the peninsula is underlain by limestone which is both porous and cavernous. It helps in storage of rain water, discharging excess to the sea through seepage and also promoting reverse seepage of sea water when wells are overdrawn. The frailties of nature are further compounded by certain compulsions. To maximize agricultural production there is a heavy use of inorganic fertilizers and agrochemicals. Added to them is the high density of soakage pits. Water contamination is at a calamitous level with ruinous effect on the health of the people. Wholesome potable water is of the highest priority in Jaffna.

There are assets as well. The deep natural Nilavarai well at Puththur has a water lens of 156 feet. Heavy draw off is possible though lower layers are brakish. A battery of other wells both dug and tube is also practicable though sustained pumping will cause brakishness. The remedy lies in desalination with Reverse Osmosis process. Globally 40% of desalination is with brakish water. The deficit can be met from sea water desalination. Drawing fresh water from Iranamadu above 40,000 acre feet has its constraints.

Striking Features

Water stressed countries and states have been in the forefront in adopting the desalination strategy to meet their water needs. In the last decade, global capacity reached 70.8 billion liters per day, signifying a doubling of what was achieved in the preceding half a century. Production of 120 billion liters per day is estimated to be reached by 2020. Annual growth rate is now 15%. It is also worthy of note that high capacity plants are more in vogue. The larger ones have a capacity range of 100 million to 1billion l/d. It is also good to look at some of the countries that have adopted them: Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Algeria, Israel, Singapore, some states in the US and some cities in Australia.

Tamil Nadu commissioned its first desalination plant in July 2010. It is situated north of Chennai and has a capacity of 100 million l/d. Close to it is the plant at Nemeli with a capacity of 100 million l/d. It is scheduled for opening next month. A third of 200 million l/d capacity at Pattipulam north of Chennai is being planned. A few more are needed to meet the requirements of Chennai. Singapore has already commissioned two of the largest plants. China is a phenomenon by itself planning to triple capacity to 2.2 billion l/d by 2015. It is projected to meet 15% of industrial needs in the eastern seaboard.

Conclusion

Climate change which was a bogey earlier is now understood as a fact of life. Coping with the emerging situation is the challenge. Warming continues to have its adverse impact on both rainfall and snowfall. Resulting depletion of water resources is what mankind is experiencing. Since multiple uses make their demands, augmenting supply is vital. Sea water being an inexhaustible source, it is readily selected for processing.

Unprecedented demographic changes in the last 70 years have placed a heavy demand on water for food production. The trend will move unabated for the next half a century. The first charge on water will continue to be for agriculture. It is well researched and noted that productivity and production are disproportionately enhanced more by water than by land resources. Countries well positioned for industrialization and FDI loose out when supply together with the highest standard of purity is not assured. Pharmaceuticals and wafers and chips for the electronic industry are cases in point. The cost factor of desalination recedes when matched against the imperatives of industrialization and growth challenges in employment.

Human ingenuity exploiting the endowments of nature and also triumphing over limitations is among the lessons of history. Concerns about water availability and assurance of continuity will dominate the current century. Desalination volumes, costs and geographical spread yet depict features of incipient development. Solar and wind energy economies together with desalination technologies are sure to make their demands on the intellectual resources of scientists. Going apace will be the siphoning off of larger financial resources. The upshot of it all is a climate of optimism.

Sinhala militarisation, genocide in East goes unnoticed, unaccounted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2013, 10:51 GMT]
In the name of a Sinhala-titled programme ‘Divineguma,’ Colombo  ntensively spearheads structural genocide of Eezham Tamils in the East. It has now gone to the extent of mushrooming Sinhala military camps and settlements running grocery shops and restaurants to the public. The only major construction activity in the East is the construction of Sinhala military camps. By talking only of the North and leaving out the East, the visiting foreign dignitaries buttressing State in the island systematically obscure what is happening in the East and imply that the annihilation of the nation of Eezham Tamils in the East is ‘normal and acceptable’. The line of subversion started when Mr. Robert Blake was the US ambassador in Colombo after the SL military capture of the East from the LTTE, and the line was later taken up by the Indians, political activists in the East said.

Failure to internationally highlight and fight against what is happening in the East would first reflect in Vanni as what is happening there now and would eventually result in the annihilation of the Tamil nation in Jaffna itself, the activists in the East cited.

The Tamil–Muslim discourse in the East has adversely affected the entire liberation question of the Tamil-speaking people in the island in the past and both the communities especially in the East have to keep that in mind in their deliberations, the activists said, adding that only a secular an independent State for the Tamil speakers in the island would ensure the life of self respect to all of them in the island.

Meanwhile, even retail trade in the Ampaa’rai district has been taken over by the occupying Sinhala military, political sources said.

Two major SL military camps have been created at Naavithan-ve’li and Anna-malai in Ampaa’rai district, where the SL military is now running grocery shops and restaurants to the public.

At Annamalai, a building belonging to the irrigation department located amidst schools, hospital and other SL government departments, has been taken over by the SL military for its camp within the last one and a half months. The building was earlier occupied by the STF.

Similarly, an extensive Sinhala military camp and training ground are in the making at a land that was earlier allocated for the construction of a broadcasting station for the Ampaa’rai district.

Many other SL military camps are now being constructed at places such as the locality of the old hospital at Periya-neelaava’nai, Beach Road at Kalmunai, Thiruk-koayil, Aalaiyadi-vempu and at the tourist locality at Ullai.

The camps terrorise especially the Tamil villages. While many Tamil villages erased out by the SL military during the war are yet to be resettled, Colombo is interested only in constructing military camps.

Tamil politicians cited the examples of the villages at Kagnchi-kudichchaan-aa’ru and at Thangka-vealaayutha-puram.

The politicians accused that Tamil areas are deliberately neglected in any development activity and Tamil politicians are never consulted on anything. 

They accused the Muslim polity in Ampaa’rai for blocking development of Tamil villages and for following a policy of land grab, marginalisation of Tamil polity and complete annihilation of the presence of Tamils in the district, in collaboration with the occupying Sinhala military.

Sri Lanka mass grave called 'a crime site'

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez speaks to forensic investigators trying to figure out how they died

Last Modified: 18 Feb 2013 The remains of more than 150 people have been excavated in the town of Matale in central Sri Lanka. "... Evidence of decapitation, dismemberment and concealment ... indicate that crimes were committed" - Dr Ajith Jayasena The skeletal remains were discovered late last year by workers building a facility at a hospital in Matale. Dr Ajith Jayasena, Matale hospital's judicial medical officer in charge of the investigation, told Al Jazeera that the site "is a crime scene". Bone samples will be sent abroad to find out when they died and soil analysis of the area is also being done, investigators said. Basil Fernando, the executive director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, told Al Jazeera that "criminal justice" remains the "greater area of difficulty". "This is only one mass grave, I'm sure there are many, many mass graves in Sri Lanka," he said. 'Crimes were committed' There are allegations that the bodies are those of victims of a small pox outbreak from a hundred years ago, while others believe they may be those killed by a flood some years ago. Executive director of Asian Human Rights Commission speaks to Al Jazeera about the ongoing investigation But other theories hold that the people died in political contexts. The Matale area was an epicentre of a late 1980s uprising by leftist Sinhalese group, the JVP, in which the state matched the guerrillas' extreme violence. The group says this site could potentially be where some of its members may have been buried. Jayasena told Al Jazeera that no real conclusions could be drawn until a detailed analysis of the skeletal remains is carried out. "The real story behind the dozens of people found buried here can only be known with more comprehensive investigations," he said. He added that "evidence of decapitation, dismemberment and concealment" indicates that "crimes were committed". "There were bundles and bundles of skeletal remains. Another thing is the direction of the bodies and certain injuries, that I have informed [the] court about, so it is unlikely to be a routine burial site."