Jaffna’s Glitzy Exterior Hides A Stagnant Local Economy

Posh hotels in Jaffina | EPS

By P.K.Balachandran-20th June 2016

JAFFINA: Jaffna, the capital of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Promise is today a far cry from what it was during the 30 year war which ended in May 2009. A town known for its roofless houses, walls pock marked by shell hits, and pot holed roads, now has swank buildings, well-stocked department stores, posh hotels and carpeted roads.

But the glitzy exterior, created by the infusion of money from outside, hides a stagnant and dispirited local economy.

According to R.Jayasekaram, President of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce, the  Northern Provincial Council is more interested in extremist politics than in economic development, and the Central government in Colombo cares little about exploiting the existing resources in the province and encouraging local and expatriate investors.

“The five salterns in Elephant Pass, if used, could supply salt to the entire island. The abandoned cement plant in Kankesanthurai could be restarted with imported limestone, and Paranthan chemicals could be revived. If the 6,000 acres of agricultural land held by the armed forces in Weligamam North is returned to civilians, food could be produced. Cashew, coconut, sugarcane, grapes and mangoes could be grown in plantations and food processing could be given a fillip,” Jayasekaram told Express.

“If Indian and South Lankan fishermen are prevented from poaching, fisheries would thrive. The water problem in Jaffna district can be solved by implementing schemes suggested by eminent engineers long ago. North Lanka had accounted for 40 percent of the island’s GDP before the conflict. But today it accounts for only 3 percent because of governmental neglect,” he pointed out.

Jayasekaram, one of Jaffna’s leading businessman, regretted that even the liberal Maithripala Sirisena regime is showing no interest in reviving the Kankesanthurai port; turning the Palaly military airport into a civilian regional airport; and introducing a ferry service linking Thalaimannar with Rameswaram in India.

“Better connectivity with India and the region will turn Jaffna into a wholesale market. The shortening of travel time between Lanka and India will bring prices down. Seventy percent of the goods in the Jaffna market comes from India, but their prices are high because they have to brought via Colombo,”  he explained.

Lankan and foreign investors have evinced interest in the construction and tourism sector but few want to invest in industry. The Indian government has been trying to attract investors to the Achchuveli Industrial Estate, but with no success.

Officials in charge of investment promotion mention bureaucratic apathy at all levels and a lack of local entrepreneurial talent as the reasons for stagnation. The Jaffna Chamber of Commerce has been asking for a special soft loan facility for the North Lankan entrepreneurs who had suffered during the war, but government is yet to respond. In fact, the Sirisena government has asked funding institutions not to introduce incentive schemes till a national policy is worked out, a local official pointed out.

There are cultural barriers too. Jaffna businessmen, who tend to work in the traditional manner, are unable to collaborate with persons with a modern outlook. This thwarts Joint Ventures and recruitment of competent personnel.

Tamil Diaspora

The Tamil Diaspora settled in the West, has been invited to invest, but the response has been very poor because the Tamil Diaspora is made up of salaried professionals, and not entrepreneurs.

Some of them evince interest in investing but these are small scale projects in construction, agriculture and poultry, and not industry.

Labor-Needs Mismatch

 There is a mismatch of labor and needs. In some sectors, jobs are available, but suitable labor is not. In other cases, there are workers, but there are no suitable openings.

“Generally, the Jaffna man is averse to taking blue collar jobs or even jobs in the private sector. The demand is for white collar government jobs. But these are not aplenty in war-devastated North Lanka,” observed an investment promoter.

Silver Lining

However, there is a silver lining in the dark cloud. Thanks to the Jaffna branch of the Board of Investment, major Lankan garment manufacturers cum exporters  like MAS and Hirdaramanis have set up factories in Mannar, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu which employ 10,000 girls. Private investment in wind power is generating 17 MW, though more could be done in this sector, especially in the seven islands off the Northern coast.

Can Sri Lanka Leverage Its Location as Indian Ocean Hub?

To take advantage of its strategic location, Sri Lanka needs to overhaul its transport, logistics, and trade sectors.

Image Credit: Sri Lanka map image via Shutterstock.com

By Anushka Wijesinha-June 20, 2016

Sri Lanka is in an enviable location. The busy East-West shipping route passes just six to ten nautical miles south of the island. More than 60,000 ships ply this route annually, carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half of all container shipments. Sri Lanka is also at the doorstep of a dynamic market – India. Already, 75 percent of Colombo port volumes are transshipments from India; the Indian middle class market alone is set to expand to 10 times the island’s entire population. In addition, Sri Lanka has a free trade agreement with Pakistan, which is going to be expanded to cover services and investment, and will likely have an agreement with China soon.

These developments together will make Sri Lanka unique in having preferential market access to India, Pakistan, and China — combined, these markets account for 2.7 billion people. When I meet investors and trade delegations from around the world, overwhelmingly, Sri Lanka’s geographic location and access to regional markets are cited as top reasons for their interest in the country’s economy. At the heart of converting this locational advantage to becoming a serious player in international commerce is logistics and transport.

Location is lost without openness

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Sri Lanka’s openness to trade is important to leverage this opportunity. But over the last decade or so, the country has slipped back substantially on trade openness.

Trade (exports plus imports) now forms a smaller share of the Sri Lankan GDP than ever before. Back in 2005, trade accounted for close to 80 percent of GDP; by 2015 this had fallen to a paltry 55 percent. 

Compare that to some other leading regional economies that are doing well: Vietnam’s trade-to-GDP ratio is now around 170 percent, Malaysia’s is 150 percent, and Thailand’s is 120 percent. Of course Singapore is an outlier at 350 percent, but these figures all indicate the degree to which trade drives these growing economies. Sri Lanka is a small country with a small domestic market. Without external trade, it cannot achieve high growth. So this low and declining trade-to-GDP ratio needs to be reversed.

Some steps to remedy this are already underway. There are reports of a comprehensive review of Sri Lanka’s trade and tariff policies, in order to see how and where to liberalize, and there are efforts to improve trade facilitation and also to streamline investment approvals.

Logistics opportunity

Given the country’s geostrategic location, international logistics linked to Sri Lankan ports and airports seems a “no-brainer.” The logistics and transport services sector is an important sub-sector of the economy. It accounts for 11 percent of GDP and 20 percent of the total services sector, although its share hasn’t changed much over the last five years. Year-on-year growth in logistics and transport services has been above overall GDP growth, and, between 2010 and 2015, the sector expanded by 40 percent. Over the last five years, the sector’s contribution to growth has averaged around 12 percent.

Within Sri Lanka’s services exports, transport services — that is shipping, aviation, and related activities — amount to 35 percent of total services exports. This is positive, showing that the country has begun to leverage its location advantage. Sri Lanka’s 35 percent share of transport services puts it ahead of Vietnam (around 20 percent), Thailand (10 percent), and Malaysia (12 percent).

Sri Lanka is expected to attract an increasing share of trans-Indian Ocean trade as well. According to estimates by KPMG, the Asia-Pacific freight industry is set to grow at around 12 percent each year, and the Port of Colombo already seeing around a 15 percent annual growth in transshipments. The South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) is running profitably and pushing regional boundaries in efficiency and performance. The new Chinese-run Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) is also making waves. When the CMA CGMMarco Polo — until a couple of years ago the world’s largest container ship, with a capacity of 16,020 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) — arrived in Colombo in September 2015, it showed Colombo’s emergence as a growing transshipment hub capable of handling the increasingly large number of mega-ships that are plying Asia-Europe trade. Fourteen services using mega-ships call at CICT weekly.

Moreover, many prominent global carriers come to Sri Lanka’s ports, but according to some indicators there is still some way to go in terms of connectivity. The Liner Shipping Connectivity Index, which measures how well countries are connected to global shipping networks, scores Sri Lanka at 53, above Vietnam at 47 and Thailand at 45, but well behind Malaysia at 104 and Singapore at 114. Part of this may be due to the restrictions on foreign ownership of shipping operations. To leverage the geographic advantage and bring in a global player like Maersk, for instance, the foreign ownership cap (currently at 49 percent) would need to be reduced.

Sri Lanka should also consider possibilities in aviation. It may not be immediately convincing that aviation services should be considered a key policy issue for developing countries like Sri Lanka – there are a lot of other things on the table demanding attention. The traditional wisdom that air transport is a luxury transportation mode is still common in much of Asia. However, this industry is essential for Sri Lanka to gain more from globalization and international trade. Globally, nearly 35 percent of international trade is carried by air. It is also noteworthy that close to 50 percent of air cargo is transported on passenger flights as opposed to designated cargo flights. And so, a growth in passenger flights has automatic spillover benefits for cargo transport.

Furthermore, we have ample evidence to show that liberalizing air services supports tourism and reduces the costs of trade, especially in high-value added supply chains such as parts and components, electronics, perishable food, or cut flowers. Especially if Sri Lanka wants to get into global production networks, air services connectivity will be important. To improve, the country should reconsider its restrictive Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs). For instance, across South Asia, BASAs with regional neighbors are more restrictive than similar agreements with countries outside South Asia! Sri Lankan policymakers also have to look at the ownership and operation of airports, airlines, ground handling services, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul  (MRO) services. This area has received relatively little attention from economists and policy experts in Sri Lanka, but must become a priority, given the island’s advantageous location and interest in being part of global production networks.

Game Changer

According to the global risk consultancy Global Risk Insights, “Sri Lanka is set to become a destination of choice among businesses looking to tap opportunities in pan-Indian Ocean trade due to its strategic location.” The fact that, overwhelmingly, the investors I meet say that Sri Lanka’s location and access to big markets like India, Pakistan, and eventually China is a key attraction in their decision to invest here reiterates the case for focusing on the island’s trade, investment, and logistics policies. Leveraging the island’s location can be a game-changer for economic growth, and focusing on the transport and logistics sector is a sine qua non in shaping the country as an attractive regional hub.

Anushka Wijesinha is the Chief Economist of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of University College London and the University of Leeds Business School. The views expressed here are strictly the author’s own.

NPC ASKS IGP FOR REPORT ON DIG OUTBURST AGAINST MEDIA; POLICE RECORD A STATEMENT

21/06/2016

The National Police Commission (NPC) yesterday requested Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundera to submit a report regarding the comments made by Special Task Force Commandant DIG Ranjith Perera targeting journalists during a media briefing on June 17.

NPC Secretary Ariyadasa Cooray said the NPC informed IGP Jayasundera yesterday in this regard and the report will be received in the near future. The Free Media Movement (FMM) has also condemned the statement made by DIG Perera against journalists at a press briefing at the STF Headquarters. Issuing a statement, they also urged the government to conduct an independent investigation in this regard and take action against the STF Commandant.

The DIG said dealing with media personnel acting against the STF is nothing to the STF which controlled the country’s underworld.

He said the Army, Navy and Air Force had taken care of important persons who went against them and that is why the media did not utter even a word against them.

DIG Perera also alleged that STF officers who seized the heroin haul recently based on their own intelligence network, did not receive proper recognition. The statement made by DIG Perera posed a great threat to the security of professional journalists, the FMM said in their statement and urged the authorities to take action in this regard.

Ridma Dissanayake /CDN

 Police record statement from Lankadeepa journo

Journalist Indika Ramanayake

Commencing an internal inquiry into the incident where Police Special Task Force (STF) Commandant has made intimidating remarks towards certain media personnel, the Police Headquarters today recorded a statement from Lankadeepa Journalist Indika Ramanayake.

Acting Director of Police Media Division SSP Priyantha Jayakody said Journalist Indika Ramanayake had been summoned to the Police Headquarters to record a statement this morning regarding the incident.

He said IGP Pujith Jayasundara had appointed Senior DIG in charge of Administration Gamini Navaratne to conduct an internal inquiry into the incident where the STF Commandant DIG Ranjith Perera has made intimidating remarks on journalists at recent press briefing held at the STF Headquarters.

Asked whether any statement had already been recorded from DIG Ranjith Perera, the Acting Director (Media) said a statement would subsequently be recorded from him too.

SSP Jayakody said, apart from the internal inquiry being held under the supervision of the Police Chief, the National Police Commission is too conducting a separate probe into the matter.

Meanwhile, Lankadeepa journalist Indika Ramanayake told the Daily Mirror that a one-hour statement was recorded from her yesterday. Snr. DIG Navaratne had asked about a comprehensive description on what had happened at the day of the STF press briefing.

She said the STF Commandant had made an intimidating statement on journalists specifically referring to two newspapers, Lankadeepa and Lakbima claiming that they had been constantly slinging mud at the STF during the past two years. (Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana)
DM

Whither Yahapālanaya?

By Harini Amarasuriya –June 21, 2016

Dr. Harini Amarasuriya

Recently there has been a spurt of interest in defining what January 8 2015 truly meant for Sri Lanka. This discussion has emerged in a context where the government is being accused of betraying the mandate on which they were elected. This is supposed to be the ‘yahapalana’ government (a loose translation of the term ‘good governance’) but the question today for many people is ‘whither yahapalana?’

What exactly is the mandate of ‘yahapalana’? What brought that citizens’ movement together to deliver the election result of January 8th? The messiness of the broad alliance that forms this government as well as of its supporters makes this a difficult question to answer.

When considering the issues that the campaign mobilised around, it is hard to find a clear connection between them. Various groups mobilised around different issues: corruption, deterioration of democracy, abuse of power, the emergence of a particularly virulent form of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, economic woes etc. The term ‘yahapalana’ was vague enough to accommodate all of these concerns. The issues were serious enough for individuals and groups to unite briefly, putting aside their differences. Despite the incoherencies of the yahapalana campaign and the might of the Rajapaksa regime that it was up against, yahapalana triumphed.

To understand the triumph of yahapalana, it might be useful to also consider it in the broader context of what is going on in the rest of the world. Who would have imagine Donald Trump as the Republican Presidential nominee? Not even the most optimistic of us could have predicted how close Bernie Sanders came to clinching the Democratic nomination. A few years, ago, none of us had heard of Jeremy Corbyn. In Spain, the radical left party Podemos is tipped to emerge second in the upcoming elections in Spain and to be a major player in forming a coalition partner in forming a new government. In Greece, Syriza came into power defeating established parties from both the left and the right. All this reflects a sense of frustration with the existing system, with establishment politics, with political parties and governments who are out of touch with people. This is the mood around the world – the disenfranchised, the marginalised, the excluded are speaking out and are searching for alternatives.

The mandate of January 8th has to be understood in this context – it was an expression of frustration with the system; a desire for change of the established way of doing things. It is for this reason that the energy for the January 8th campaign came not from established political parties or politicians but by a motley crew of civil society activists: artists, intellectuals, religious leaders; social activists. The inspirational figure was Reverend Maduluwawe Sobitha – a figure who had made it clear that he had no interest in any position in the government. It is good for both the President and the Prime Minister to remember this: January 8th did not happen because of them: it happened despite them. It is especially important for the Prime Minister to remember this: people did not think he could even be a figure head leader for the campaign – he was never seriously considered as the Common Candidate. Political leaders were simply the vehicles through which people worked out a change that they wanted. People were not inspired by their political leaders – they were simply a necessary evil to be used to bring about change.

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How Gamage And His Pal Made A Mockery Of The Law

by Nirmala Kannangara- Tuesday, June 21, 2016

The court journal that shows how Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne has written that he allows the accused to pay the bail charges the following day!

In a new twist of events it has now come to light how controversial Gangodawila Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne allowed former Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage who is caught up in the midst of controversy, to deposit cash bail the following day without even a request by the counsel appearing for the accused.

Legal luminaries who wished to remain anonymous said it was the first time they had witnessed a magistrate rendering such ‘assistance’ to an accused even without a request being made.

“In the court journal, Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne has put a note stating that he allows the suspect to deposit the cash bail the following day. This is against the law. There are instances where counsel appearing for suspects asks for a grace period to deposit cash bail and the bench has allowed it. Why we are saying that this is an extraordinary case is that a magistrate does not have the power to supersede the country’s law. Unless the counsel appearing for the suspect makes a written or an oral request seeking a grace period, the magistrate cannot allow the accused to pay the cash bail on another day. If so, until the cash bail is deposited, the accused has to be sent to remand prison,” sources said.

The sources further explained how the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court has so far failed (from June 2 to June 17) to obtain the respective Grama Niladhari’s letters to confirm that the four parties that signed for the Rs. 2.5 million each sureties bond are in a position to pay the money in case Gamage does not report to CID and ensure that the national identity cards given to court are genuine.

“The court registrar should take sole responsibility and also in such an event the magistrate can cancel the bail immediately and arrest the suspect,” sources added.

Meanwhile questions have been raised as to whether Thilina Gamage was also allowed to surrender his passport to court the following day as the court registrar’s records show that she accepted Gamage’s passport after granting bail.

“Court registrar Thilani de Silva, like Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne, is alleged to have violated the rules and regulations of court proceedings. The Judicial Service Commission should take quick disciplinary action against her for her alleged behavior in discharging her official duties. According to the bail document of Thilina Gamage, the registrar has stated that she accepted Gamage’s passport on June 2 but again she writes that she put the passport in the court safe on June 3.”

The sources further criticized the Gangodawila registrar for her high-handed act of not submitting the original documents of Gangodawila Magistrate’s June 2 ‘landmark’ court order although she was asked to send them to the Colombo High Court.

“When the Attorney General filed a revised application with the Colombo High Court on June 13 seeking to annul Thilina Gamage’s bail order and to remand him under the Public Property Act, Colombo High Court Judge Manilal Waidyathilake ordered the Gangodawila registrar to send the court order to which she did not respond. How can a registrar of a magistrate court ignore an order given by a high court judge? Could this be because she too is against the high court decision to annul the bail order given on Gamage?” sources added.

“In the meantime the Judicial Service Commission on Thursday had appointed District Judge Mapa Bandara to hear future cases regarding Gamage’s case. When we reported the facts to the Gangodawila Magistrate on Thursday in regard to the stay order, the District Judge declined to hear the case for a personal reason. Now it is up to the Chief Justice to send another judge from Colombo to hear the case,” sources claimed.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Gamage’s counsel had filed a motion asking the Colombo High Court Judge to give a clarification as to why he gave a stay order on June 13 annulling the Gangodawila Magistrate’s ruling.

“How can the accused’s counsel ask for a clarification from the high court judge? If this is allowed to happen, in future, in all cases, everyone will come and ask the judge to clarify why such a judgement was given. This is an insult to the judiciary,” sources added.

Meanwhile Director, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Dhammika Malsinghe when contacted recounted how Thilina Gamage, when he was the Colombo Additional Magistrate, threatened Deputy Director, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage Dinushika Manawadu for not allowing him to see his elephant which is now being kept at Pinnawala. After the Wildlife Department arrested illegally kept elephant calves, all such calves were kept under the care of a veterinary surgeon at Pinnawala.

Despite this order, Magistrate Gamage on December 23, 2015 had entered Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage illegally with a Buddhist monk and an armed police bodyguard in his jeep. “On this particular day, a jeep entered the orphanage. When the security asked why the vehicle was taken to a restricted area, the person who got down from the jeep said he was the Colombo Magistrate and that he received permission from the Deputy Director to feed fruits to his elephant calf who is being held at the orphanage.

It was at this time our Deputy Director arrived on the scene and when she inquired as to why the jeep was driven into the premises without permission, Gamage had said that he got permission from the Deputy Director without realising that he was talking to the officer concerned. While a magistrate, he forged documents to obtain ownership of a baby elephant and this time he once again lied to the orphanage employees,” Malsinghe said.

Following the release of the Auditor General’s initial report on the investigation into illegal elephant registrations by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), all eyes were focused on JSC as to what action they were going to take against Gamage.

According to the audit query of Deputy Auditor General A. H. M. L. Ambanwela, all documents that have been submitted to the Wildlife Department to get this elephant registered are fraudulent and the signatures of government officials have been forged.

According to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) Section 22(A) as amended in 2009, any person who owns, has in his custody or makes use of an elephant which is not registered, and a license obtained in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not less than one hundred thousand rupees and not more than two hundred thousand rupees or to imprisonment for a term not less than two years and not exceeding five years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

However, after this highly remarkable audit query was sent to the Secretary of Wildlife Resources Conservation Ministry on July 22, Deputy Auditor General A. H. M. L. Ambanwela, who conducted the investigation by recording statements from 43 officials involved in the illegal elephant registration, has been removed from all investigations he was conducting and was transferred to another section with less responsibilities.

According to the audit report, signatures of the Divisional Secretary Homagama, A. J. Karunaratne and Grama Niladhari H. P. Bandulasena and their official stamps have been forged.

The audit query report further states, “Although the address of the applicant in the elephant registration application has been given as 409, Meegoda, Ovitigama, it was revealed at the audit investigation that there is no such person by that name living in the given address.

Two former Grama Niladharis H. Bandusena and Ranasinghe Arachchige Ranjith Gamini, the present Grama Niladhari Thilan Attanayake and Divisional Secretary Homagama, A. J. Karunaratne confirmed in writing at the audit inquiry that an elephant calf was not born at the address given in the registration application and there is no evidence to prove that there was a she-elephant living in the area which had given birth to a calf.

Meanwhile giving evidence at the audit investigation, Priyanka Sanjeewani, Management Assistant at the DWC has admitted that she had to prepare the fraudulent documents and number them on the instructions of her superiors.

She has further stated that the documents pertaining to the elephant registration number 334 were inserted to the elephant registration book at the DWC removing some other documents in the book. She has also confirmed that although the application for registration was dated as November 12, 2008 the application had really been forwarded to the DWC at a much later date.

It was in 2009 that new amendments were brought to the FFPO where it was made mandatory for elephant owners to inform the DWC when a she-elephant gets pregnant and the department has to be informed within seven days of a birth of an elephant calf. These regulations were brought to prevent the elephants being captured from the wild.

The report states further, “The management assistant stated that she had to back-date this particular application as November 12, 2008 in order to circumvent the new regulations that said registrations are given only to the elephants that are born after the new regulations were introduced. Since this animal was not born to a domesticated elephant and was captured illegally from the wild, the wildlife officer had to put a bogus date to the application form.”

According to Priyanka Sanjeewani, although she had to put a date to the application and followed the superior’s instructions, she was not aware that the date that was put in the application was a public holiday, full moon poya day.

The audit officer in his investigation report has stated how the DWC had given the elephant’s details in the registration license which was the same as that given in the application form.

“In the fraudulent application submitted on November 12, 2008, the height of the elephant calf was given as four feet and six inches and his age as three years. However the DWC, in the certificate of registration too has given the same height as in the application but only changed the age of the elephant to five years,” the report states.

According to Pubudu Weeraratne, Director Species Conservation Centre, it was a noticeable miscalculation by the DWC to put the same details of the elephant calf given in the application in the certification of registration as well.

“This clearly shows how the DWC officials were desperate to give the registration to the party concerned in a rush. If not how could they include the same details in the certification of registration of the animal as per in the application form,” he added.

Although the DWC gave the registration license to the elephant calf in question on March 27, 2012 based on the fraudulent documents, in a letter dated October 26, 2012, Udeni Wickremasinghe, the then Acting Director General DWC cancelled the license of this elephant calf (registration number 334) claiming that the documents provided to obtain the registration were fraudulent thus ordering the owner to hand over the animal to the Wildlife Department.

However this decision was reversed on January 21, 2013 by the Director General H. D. Ratnayake.

In a letter dated January 21, 2013 to the Secretary, Ministry of Wildlife Resources Conservation, the Director General of Wildlife has stated that the investigations carried out by the Assistant Director (Investigation) Wildlife Resources Conservation Ministry has recommended the annulling of the October 26 decision and to give back the registration number 334 to the owner. According to the audit query, Assistant Director (Investigation) Wildlife Resources Conservation Ministry H. M. G. K. Kaluhendiwela has not conducted a thorough investigation to unearth the frauds that were carried out to get Thilina Gamage’s elephant registered as he (Kaluhendiwela) had considered what the Fort Magistrate and the wildlife officials have stated at the preliminary investigation as factual. However the audit officer, after speaking to the Divisional Secretary Homagama and three Grama Niladhari officers of the area and the wildlife officials, uncovered the fraud that took place in registering an elephant calf that was captured from the wild and not born to a domesticated animal.

Healing from the Horrors of War: The Amazing Effects of Yoga on PTSD

Featured image courtesy New York Times

LALITH GUNARATNE on 06/21/2016

If only political leaders knew the horrors of war first hand, they might find other ways to solve differences, to meet threats – perhaps go to the root causes of the conflicts that  stem from crucial conversations about identity, rights and privileges – listen, seek to understand and compromise in the common interest – anything to stop the guns from coming out.

Then again, war has become an economic machine – run by the Military Industrial Complex, as US President Dwight Eisenhower warned in his January 17, 1961 farewell address to the nation.   President Eisenhower knew a thing or two about the horrors of war, having served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces to see the end of World War II in Europe. Eisenhower expressed his concerns about the dangers of massive military spending, particularly deficit spending and government contracts to private military manufacturers.

The world has not heeded his wise words to date, as even the modern day leader’s minds have not evolved from the hunter gatherer days, it seems, as the only way to solve a conflict is to pick up a stick – just that our modern day weaponry is much more lethal.

It is indeed these modern day weapons, the powerful blasts, then the mayhem it creates, that seems to be causing the Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) for soldiers and civilians, apart from the human misery and trauma of war. PTSD is catching the attention of the public, especially in North America, as it is impacting society as a whole and families in particular.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) program – IDEAS hosted by Paul Kennedy and produced by Mary O’Connell showcased a story called All In The Family, Part 3 (April 21^st2016) to highlight people who suffer trauma growing up in violent and abusive families and how it impacts their entire lives and the people around them.

The CBC website on the program stated;

Trauma is not a story about the past – it lives in the present: in both the mind and body. Left untreated, it has no expiration date, whether it’s trauma arising from childhood abuse or PTSD suffered as an adult. In recent years we’ve heard a lot about how resilience and character can mitigate the effects of trauma.

I was interested in the work showcased by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk – a Clinical Psychiatrist who works to integrate mind, brain, body and social connections to understand trauma. I was especially excited when he spoke of Yoga, Martial Arts, Dance, Meditation and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – a simple eye exercise used in integrative psychotherapy.

In the dominant Western culture where better living is prescribed through Chemistry, van der Volk offers an alternative solution based on Eastern practices through an inward journey of the body and mind, with breath and movement to cultivate insight and awareness, as he believes this trauma is physical and lives in the body.

Sri Lanka having been through its 30 year war is certain to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) victims.

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Stock market falls after Moody’s outlook revision; rates, outflows weigh 

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Reuters: Shares fell on Tuesday for a second straight session, a day after Moody’s revised down its outlook on the country’s sovereign rating and as continued foreign outflows and rising interest rates weighed on investor sentiment.

Investors were also concerned over a Government proposal to reintroduce Capital Gains Tax, brokers said.

Moody’s Investors Service on Monday changed Sri Lanka’s outlook to negative from stable, citing further weakening in some fiscal metrics in an environment of subdued GDP growth, which could lead to renewed balance of payments pressure.

Overseas funds offloaded a net Rs. 18 million worth of equities on Tuesday, extending the year-to-date net foreign outflow to Rs. 5.79 billion worth of shares.

The benchmark Colombo stock index ended down 0.22%, or 14.24 points, at 6,446.88. The bourse shed nearly 1% last week.

“Index is moving here and there on low volumes,” said Dimantha Mathew, Head of Research, First Capital Equities Ltd.

“Interest rates are moving up. This is the issue, and there is not much display of interest in the market. Things are not looking that great.”

Turnover stood at Rs. 474.9 million ($3.26 million), well below this year’s daily average of around Rs. 754.2 million.

On Thursday, the Bourse fell 1% as concerns over a Government decision to reintroduce Capital Gains Tax kept investors on the sidelines.

Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to reintroduce the tax, especially on land sales, with a Cabinet Spokesman saying no decision had been taken on whether the tax would apply to capital gains in the share market.

Shares in Lanka ORIX Leasing Company Plc fell 3.3%, while Commercial Leasing & Finance Plc dropped 5.41% and conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc slipped 0.56%.

Treasury bill yields rose between one and four basis points at a weekly auction on Wednesday. They have risen between six and 40 basis points since the Central Bank left the key policy rates steady on 20 May.

The average prime lending rate edged up 24 basis points to 10.47% in the week ended 10 June. Stockbrokers have said rising interest rates could be detrimental to risk assets if they jump beyond 12%.

The Police and Code of Ethics

by Lalith Allahakkoon

( June 21, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The police is to have a new Code of Ethics, we reported as our main story yesterday. According to Secretary of the National Police Commission Ariyadasa Cooray the present Code of Ethics is obsolete and relates to an entirely different era. He said the purpose of the new COE is to make the Police service a people friendly and efficient one that caters to the aspirations of the public.

“They (the police) should know how to be polite to the people. The COE will remind them of these obligations”, the Secretary said. He said; “all Police personnel will be required to read aloud the set of Code of Ethics and ratify it by placing their signatures on it. This will be done during the island wide launch (next month)”.

Code of Ethics is a much abused term these days. We saw a Code of Ethics being imposed on our MPs, only to be flouted even before the ink had dried on the paper, with our erstwhile people’s representatives engaging in a wrestling match on the floor of the House. Hopefully the Police Code of Ethics would not go the same way, what with our khakied gentry more disciplined and regimented by training than our gentlemen in kapati suit.

Be that as it may, a new Code of Ethics for the Police was long overdue, if that is going to change things positively. The police has certainly been receiving some bad publicity these days. Things were not helped, by the head of the STF, the elite police commando unit, threatening journalists in the open. Although the IGP did some damage control, the true face of the police, at least some segments of it, was revealed to the public. The COE should be binding on all officers, including the ranking ones, to maintain uniformity. Any breach of the COE too should be dealt with evenhandedly.

One would have thought that more than a Code of Ethics what our men in khaki needed was a Code of Conduct. We say this since discipline in the Police Department had taken nose dive in recent times and this was only to be expected. During the war years recruitment to the police was done dispensing with the rigid criteria adopted in the past, chiefly due to the manpower problem. The Police had to serve as an adjunct to the security forces and more often than not was thick in the fighting, especially the STF. Hence the authorities concerned could not afford to be fussy about whom they recruited. In the process some undesirables and even social dregs found their way into the police service.

What we have been witnessing from time to time, like for instance the Embilipitiya incident, is the fallout from this haphazard recruitment policy, though there was little choice in the matter. The authorities cannot be blamed for this. Desperate situations call for desperate action. Besides, the problem was not unique to the police. The three services too were affected. The large number of armed robberies and other criminal acts, post war, involving army deserters is example enough. It is time now to clean up the Augean stables and restore the Police to its former glory days when the khaki uniform was an object of awe and respect.

Certainly, as the Secretary implied, the police have lost the trust and confidence of the public. Today policemen are viewed with contempt and derision as individuals ready on the take and who do the bidding of politicians. They are also, unfairly we must say, demonized as government storm troopers deployed to breakup strikes with the use of maximum force. The challenge will be to break down this invisible wall the police have erected against the public in reaching out to them. The war years certainly played its part in brutalizing sections of the armed forces and the police is no exception. Before any Code of Ethics is introduced it will be useful to take steps to “humanise” our law enforcement officers that will go a long way in restoring the police to its position as an essentially civilian enforcement unit.

Measures also should be taken to lift the morale of the police officer. Today, as is well known, policemen are among the poorly paid public servants, considering the risk and dangers inherent in their profession. The salary scales of the Police Department needs revision and our police officers adequately remunerated considering that they too have families to maintain, children to educate and encounter all the problems common to the ordinary public servant. A satisfied, contended police officer will not only give of his best to the service but will be steeled enough to resist the temptations that come his way in the form of bribes and other blandishments. We are not yet privy to the contents of the Code of Ethics. But it should ideally be one where police officers are not called upon to do the bidding of politicians and be made obliged to carry out political orders.

( The writer is the editor in Chief of the Daily News, a daily newspaper based in Sri Lanka ) 

Offices Of Sri Lankan Born UK Tycoon And Rajapaksa Associate Raided By French Police

June 21, 2016

The offices of Lycamobile, owned by Sri Lankan born Subaskaran Allirajah was raided by French Police, with 19 people working for the company arrested in connection with a multi-million pound tax and money laundering scandal. Lycamobile is the UK conservative Party’s biggest donor, and Allirajah is alleged to be an associate of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Subaskaran Allirajah

Lycamobile, the multinational telecoms giant, which has given at least £2.2m to Prime Minister David Cameron’s party since 2011, including half-a-million last year alone, also allowed Boris Johnson to use one of their call centres during his successful 2012 campaign to become Mayor of London.

There are allegations that Allirajah was involved in embezzling millions of dollars from Sri Lanka through associates who were close to Rajapaksa.

According to, BuzzFeed News, Sri Lankan authorities are scrutinizing a deal in which the state telecoms company was forced to pump around $10 million into a “completely flawed” venture owned jointly by a relative of Rajapaksa and a key offshore company in the Lycamobile business network.

The raid follows an investigation by BuzzFeed that caught Lycamobile ‘employing three cash couriers to drop rucksacks stuffed with hundreds of thousands of pounds twice a day at Post Offices scattered across London,’ according to the news site.

Bundles of cash were seized in raids on Lycamobile’s Paris headquarters, and a series of residential and business addresses across the city, while the company’ s French bank accounts have since been frozen.

Lycamobile’s Sri Lankan-born owner, Subaskaran Allirajah, is a member of the exclusive Leader’s Group for top Tory donors.

He has dined with Mr Cameron or members of his cabinet twice in the past six months, and is also close to Mr Johnson, after bankrolling his campaign.

None of those involved admit any wrongdoing, with Lycamobile previously claiming that the filmed cash drops were just ‘day to day banking’.

But according to Buzzfeed investigators the French authorities have identified money coming from shell companies suspected of acting as fronts for ‘various networks laundering profits from crime.’

Buzzfeed probed 19 companies that allegedly funnelled tens of millions of euros into Lycamobile’s French accounts.

All but one ‘was registered at PO boxes, vacant offices, derelict buildings, or a construction site.’ David Cameron pledged to crack down on money laundering and offshore tax avoidance at the global anti-corruption summit in London last month.

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Principal, VP and 3 teachers arrested over molestation case


June 21, 2016
The Principal, Vice Principal, two female teachers and a male teacher of a school in Kodikamam, Jaffna were arrested and produced at the Chavakachcheri Magistrate’s Court in connection with an alleged molestation incident at the school.

 Kodikamam Police said that the suspects were arrested according to a complaint filed accusing a 46-year-old science teacher of the school of molesting an 11-year-old female student on multiple occasions during after school additional classes.

  The victim had notified her friends regarding the matter while they in turn alerted the school’s Vice Principal and two female teachers. However, investigations have uncovered that the Vice Principal and two teachers had attempted to cover it up. 

Later, the student had informed her parents who confronted the principal of the school with regard to the matter. However, the principal had also proceeded to cover it up citing that it would harm the reputation of the school.  

The principal had also temporarily transferred the teacher in question to another school. 

 The girl’s parents finally lodged a complaint with the Child Protection Authority and police who arrested the male teacher on molestation charges and the other suspects on charges of attempting to cover up the incident. 

 They were remanded till July 01 after being produced before the Chavakachcheri Magistrate’s Court on Monday (20). 

2300 million stealthy property deal of a huge furtive building constructed at Bambalapitiya

Jun 21, 2016

Property prices sharply increase each. However for some dominant people it has been an easy task to deal with millions of rupees in property business. A stealthy property transaction worth Rs. 230 million has taken place in Colombo recently.

Question rose to find who bought this large land in the heart of Bambalapitiya recently for rs. 2,300,000,000? What would be the most furtive construction built? Reports confirm recently, a few dominant people had a stealthy discussion in a luxury house in Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte to ascertain is it reasonable to have such a large transaction.
 
This large property is located in Station road Bambalapitiya behind unity plaza, opposite the Majestic city and closer to the Bambalapitiya police station. Despite the construction is expedited fast, day and night using heavy vehicles and machineries, reports reaching us confirm that the public is not made awareness about the construction. The construction site is heavily guarded day and night, people and media is restricted from entering the site. The security has been systematically deployed restricting access to outsiders.
 
In order to fetch information about this stealthy construction our reporters were roaming around the area. A three wheel driver told us a person suspected to be a foreigner is visiting the place often. He said whenever he comes he wears a same type of black glasses. Reports confirm a Japanese national was also loitering around the place. Our reporter’s has able to disclose the person is not a Chinese.
 
A heavy machine operator who didn’t wish to disclose his name said this building is constructed with elite seven star luxury facility using the modern technology which would be the tallest building in Sri Lanka. We are ready to expose much stealthy information regarding this furtive construction with facts soon.

Palestinian teen killed by Israeli military in apparent mistake

By Ruth Eglash June 21 at 3:43 PM

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian teenager returning from a fun night out at a swimming pool was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers early Tuesday in what the Israeli military said appears to have been a mistake.

A statement from the Israeli army said three civilians were injured and multiple cars were damaged overnight after Palestinian youths hurled rocks and firebombs at people traveling on Route 443. The road, which connects Israel’s main airport to Jerusalem, runs partially through the West Bank and is frequently a site of rock-throwing incidents.

“Nearby forces acted to protect further civilians from being injured and pursued the suspects. From the initial inquiry, it appears that uninvolved bystanders were mistakenly hit during this pursuit,” the army said.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said an investigation is underway.

The incident occurred after more than eight months of shooting, stabbing and vehicularattacks by Palestinians that have killed 33 Israelis and four foreign nationals, including two Americans. More than 180 Palestinians have been killed, more than half while carrying out attacks against Israelis and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.

 

Although the level of violence has dropped significantly over the past two months, tensions remain high. 

Two weeks ago, two Palestinians opened fire on civilians at a popular spot in Tel Aviv, killing four Israelis.

[‘A new kind of terrorism’ in Israel]

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead teenager in Tuesday’s attack as Mahmoud Raafat Badran, 15, a resident of the West Bank village of Beit Ur al-Tahta. Four other Palestinian teenagers traveling with him were injured, and one is in critical condition.

Palestinian news media reported that the teens were on their way from a late-night swim in the village of Beit Sira when they were shot. It is currently the holy month of Ramadan, and Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink during daylight. Many of the holiday’s social activities take place at night.

Ahmed Shami, a cousin of the dead teen, said that the family is in shock.

“It is the summer and it’s Ramadan. People leave the village to go to the pool in Beit Sira. They were coming back between 1:15 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., and suddenly Israeli forces started shooting at their car. No one asked them to stop or asked them for ID,” Shami said.

He said the family is waiting for the Israeli army to return Mahmoud’s body so he can be buried immediately, in accordance with Muslim traditions. In recent weeks, Israelis have said that they would not return bodies of Palestinians who carry out attacks because the funerals often lead to further violence and tension. Palestinians deem this collective punishment.

 

Shami said Mahmoud and his cousins were only returning home from swimming in the pool.

The Palestine Liberation Organization released a statement calling the incident a “brutal attack.”

“This cold blooded assassination reaffirms our calls to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, to initiate an immediate extensive investigation into Israel’s extrajudicial killings of Palestinians; particularly children,” the Palestinian governing body said in the statement.

The three civilians injured in the rock-throwing incident reportedly included two tourists from Britain and Belgium. They were treated in a nearby hospital, Israeli media reported.

Israeli forces have faced criticism at home and abroad that they have responded to some of the attacks with disproportionate harshness. In the international arena, some have accused Israel of carrying out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.

[An Israeli soldier is accused of killing a disarmed Palestinian. But many think he’s a hero]

In March, an Israeli soldier was caught on camera fatally shooting an injured Palestinian attacker, who had been disarmed after he stabbed another soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron. The soldier who carried out the shooting, Elor Azaria, is on trial on charges of manslaughter and conduct unbecoming of a noncommissioned officer.