Monday, July 11, 2016

SRI LANKA: CHIEF MINSTERS WANT 13 A IMPLEMENTED IN FULL

(CMs at 32nd Provincial Chief Minister’s Conference, May 2016)

11/07/2016

Editorial, Ceylon Today: 13th Amendment Not Meant only for N&E.

The Chief Ministers of all nine provinces have emphasized the need of implementing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and they also pointed out that when the new Constitution is drafted the 13th Amendment should also be given due consideration.

The Chief Ministers and the representatives of some of them met the Advisory Committee to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the proposed new Constitution at the Parliament building on Friday (8).

When the 13th Amendment was annexed to the Constitution following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, there surfaced misunderstanding the majority of people considering it as a remedial measure mainly to overcome the North and East ethnic crisis. Those who opposed the 13th Amendment didn’t have the farsightedness to accept it as a solution for the North and East Provinces as well as for the other provinces in the country to devolve powers on vital administrative areas.

It is interesting to note that it is after 29 years the importance of the 13th Amendment has been understood countrywide by the Chief Ministers and they have emphasized that the Amendment should be given due place in the proposed new Constitution, and it should also be implemented in full.

Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran who has been voicing for the implementation of the 13th Amendment was not present at the meeting on Friday as he is now undergoing medical treatment. He was represented by Northern Province Minister of Education

T. Kurukularaja.

A few other Chief Ministers of certain Provinces were also not present at the meeting on Friday. But the Chief Ministers of all nine Provinces unanimously voiced their support of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Right from the beginning of the introduction of the 13th Amendment, the Tamil National Alliance has been emphasizing the implementation of the Amendment to make the Provincial Council system a success in the country.

Devolving land and Police powers to the provinces remain as the prime features in the 13th Amendment. As the Northern and the Eastern Provinces remain firm on devolving the Police and land powers to the provinces, the Central Government seems to be not in favour of Provincial Councils possessing more powers in these two prime areas.

As far as Northern and Eastern Provinces are concerned the Central Government seems to be thinking that devolving powers in the areas of land and Police will gradually lead to pose threats to the integrity of the country.

However, apart from the North and the East, Chief Ministers of other provinces have also now realized the importance of devolving Police and land powers to their provinces as well, as it was already mentioned in the 13th Amendment.

The proper policing at provincial level could not be handled from the Centre. In recent years the law and order situation in the country has greatly deteriorated.

Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran who was a career judge finally reaching the Apex Court of the country has been emphasizing the need of devolving Police powers to the provinces on the basis of his own experience as a former judicial officer and presently as the Chief Minister.

The Chief Ministers of other provinces had told the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Constitution last Friday that without the police and land powers the Provincial Council system will become meaningless without any control over maintaining the law and order and on dealing with the land related matters.

The Chief Ministers had also mentioned that by devolving powers in the areas of Police and land the country’s integrity would be strengthened further.

So it could be understood that not only the North and East Provincial Councils but the other Provincial Councils in the country as well now realize, that the 13th Amendment is more towards maintaining the integrity of the country by devolving powers at provincial level and the Amendment doesn’t pose a threat to the sovereignty of the country.

As the government is now in the process of looking into every aspect of bringing out a healthy new Constitution, the unanimous call from the Chief Ministers of all nine provinces come as a wakeup call for the government towards devolving powers in the country through the 13th Amendment.

Ceylon Today

Child labour: Nip it in the bud nip it in the bud

by Zahrah Imtiaz and Nushka Nafeel

( July 12, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A boy of around 14 years sits on the road starring into the distance. He is shirtless, wearing a sarong and below him lay rows of unauthorised shanties which make up the rail road slum in Kelaniya.

“These boys loiter around the roads. They don’t go to school. They are either selling something or they are addicted to something,” explained Dilhani Fernando, the Principal of Antonio Bianchi’s House, an Educational Centre in Kelaniya.

The centre established six years ago, functions as a pre-school in the morning and helps older children in the evening to prepare for school.

“The students are from the rail road slum and are from very poor families. Many children used to work in the or soap factories in the area before we opened the centre. They did not go to school and child labour was quite common a few years ago,” said Fernando.

The centre provides children up to five years, two meals a day and a sanctuary from the nefarious activities of the slum. They have also managed to keep the local school; KelanitissaVidyalaya from closing by helping more students stay in the school.

“We have built a close relationship with the community and keep track of these students. Most of the parents have not gone to school and have worked as children. The fathers are either on drugs or alcohol, the mothers are into prostitution. It is very difficult for the children. At times, they only eat at the centre,” Fernando said.

“There is no one to stop and ask them about what they want and to guide them. They are treated as outcasts in society,” she added.

Child Labour Free zones

Ratnapura has chosen to be more proactive in dealing with child labour and has since sought to establish the world’s first ‘Child Labour Free Zone’ (CLFZ) in the World, according to VisakhaTillekeratne, the ILO consultant for the CLFZ.

“We are not saying that we are getting rid of child labour once and for all; that is not realistic. We are instead setting up systems that can capture any child that falls into child labour and then rehabilitate them.”

In 2013, the ILO chose Ratnapura to establish the CLFZ and set a number of standards to achieve it.

Ratnapura is a good place to have early interventions as it has many physical features that make it fertile ground for child labour- plantations, gem mining and a thriving informal sector.. It also borders the largest number of districts in the country. The Ratnapura District Secretariat (DS) and Planning unit is also quite efficient, said Tillekeratne.

She also observed that it was not the big plantation companies but mostly tea small holders who were known to employ child labourers.

“This makes it hard to detect, Ratnapura alone has 100,000 small plots,” said Tillekeratne.
To improve detection, the CLFZ has trained scores of public officials including Grama Niladhari officers to detect instances of child labour.

“Awareness is a huge part of the system. We also had a pledge book campaign with 100,000 signatures, sign posting, bill boards and stickers of responsibility in places saying they will not employ children. In addition we trained around 100 plantation communication officers in Ratnapura,” she said.

The system also involves the setting up of a database of vulnerable children in the district (not limited to child labour) along with interventions taken to help them. A highly trained core team consisting of Planning Officers, Child Probation Officers (CPO), Police and Labour Officers would monitor the system.

“The application of the law alone is going to be ineffective unless you address the root cause of why children are pushed in to labour,” said Tillekeratne.

To address the root causes, the key officers involved in social protection in the DS every month would identify 20-30 vulnerable families and use a multi service clinic approach to solve their problems.

Ratnapura in the meantime, has set up a trust fund to send children back to school, rehabilitate them and to provide resources for CPOs.

The ILO has also worked at the Grama Niladhari, District and Provincial level to prepare a document highlighting the responsibilities at each level to reduce child labour.

“This would mean that the province or district is duty bound to add or increase higher grade schools closer, have better teachers and strengthen education system so that children will attend school,” explained Tillekeratne.

While Ratnapura has come far in terms of tackling child labour, Tillekeratne observed that implementation was not going to be easy.

“The attitude of officials matter and not all are receptive of the training. There is a variation in quality. We also have a challenge to get resources down to the grassroots. Under the CLFZ, labour officers have to be proactive and reactive but to conduct extra raids, they need resources to act,” she said.
The President’s signature on the convention however means that the district will also have to look at reducing the push factors for children between 14-18 years. It is then that all forms of child labour would be eliminated.

“We can start the process by developing comprehensive, district specific child development plans which addresses all aspects of child labour. These plans would tackle the areas of; child protection, skilful and knowledgeable children, children who are healthy and well nourished, children with leadership qualities and children with morals and ethics. When you have all these areas covered, you naturally reduce the circumstances in which children will fall into labour,” said Tillekeratne.

Drop in centres

The Kelaniya Education Centre is part of a wider NGO called Child Action Lanka which works to keep children off the streets. They operate drop in centres in Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya.
“We work with 1,500 children in 14 drop in centres and they range from two-day old babies to 21-year-old youths,” said Debbie Edirisinghe, one of the founders of the NGO.

“We try to take the children in as early as possible because the mothers prefer to keep the children with them on their streets to use them for begging. We discourage that, we say, you go beg but keep the children here,” explained Edirisinghe who runs various programmes for children of all ages to ensure that they receive an education even as they continue to live on the streets.

She however admitted that it would be impossible to put a stop child labour completely.

“The children have trade in their blood. Even if we give them gifts, they try to barter or sell them amongst themselves. During the Kandy Pererehara, they sell goods. We can’t really stop it as they would do it on the sly. We teach them how to manage their finances in a proper way. A lot of them earn quite a sum on the streets but don’t know how to manage it and spend it all. Some even earn up to Rs. 8,000 in 10 days but then spend it on a cheap phone or drink alcohol,” said Edirisinghe who has taken introduced financial planning as a more practical life skills to the children.

In the end however, it is still very much up to the parents to ensure that their children do well.

“First, we need to help parents see the importance of sending their children to school instead of sending them to work. At times the children like money, but mostly it is the parents who are pushing them. We need to make it a punishable offence to not send a child to school,” she said.

She also advocated for greater awareness on the part of schools and teachers when it comes to keeping a tab on children who could fall through the cracks.

Child labour at present is completely illegal up to 14 years. Thereafter, a child can choose to work but not in hazardous labour.

Edirisinghe however advocated for the age limit to be increased to 15.

“If it is 15, they can at least complete their basic O/L qualifications and leave. When they turn 20-21 they regret not having got an education and the lack of O/Ls means it is harder for them to get into other courses,” she said.

The majority of children involved in child labour live only with their mother and according to Edirisinghe, these women have very few marketable skills to provide for their families.

“They are very dependent on the men in their lives and as soon as they leave, they are left helpless. If we can train them and provide them with a means to an income, child labour would be significantly reduced,” she added.

Eliminating child labour

Sri Lankan labour laws at present dictate that the employment of children below the age of 14 is illegal. On June 22, President Maithripala Sirisena signed the Convention on eliminating Child Labour as a follow up from the Global Child Labour Conference held in Hague in 2010.
In 2010, an agreement was made to end the worst forms of child labour by 2016 and according to the Labour and Trade Union Relations Ministry, Sri Lanka has until the end of 2016 to meet this target.
The Child Activity Survey in 2008-2009 revealed that there were 107,259 or 2.5 percent of children in the country engaged in child labour.

Of this number; 12.9 percent were engaged in ‘work of economic value’, 10.4 percent engaged in work but non child labour, one percent in child labour but non hazardous and 1.5 percent on hazardous forms of child labour. The numbers also showed 49.3 percent girls and 50.7 percent boys were in child labour.
The majority of these children (66.3 percent) are engaged in elementary occupations- as street and mobile vendors, street services, domestic helpers, agricultural and related labour workers, labourers engaged in mining, construction, manufacturing and transport. Most work in the agricultural industry and close to 80 percent of them work for the gain of their families without payment.

The average work time by children five to 17 years is 13.3 hours per week and their average monthly income for a child worker was calculated to be Rs. 3,820. The survey also showed that only 53 percent of the total number of child labour and 29 percent of those in hazardous forms of child labour attended school.

It was also noted that while 92 percent of the children lived with their mother, and 76 percent with both parents, close to 31 percent of children in hazardous labour lived without the care of either the mother or father.

The highest number of child labourers at 13, 560 resided in the capital city of Colombo. Government surveillance The latest Child Activity Survey however is due this year. National Children Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairman Natasha Balendran said she expected the numbers to have decreased since 2009. “We are doing well compared to other regions and the 2016 report will show a decrease in the number of children who are engaged in child labour,” she said.

“The Police, Labour Ministry, Child Affairs ministry and the NCPA initiated many programmes and projects to control the situation in the last six to seven years,” she added. The NCPA also aims at focusing more on the commercial and sexual exploitation of children and child sex workers in the coastal areas in future.

“The NCPA and the Labour Ministry requested the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Sri Lanka to conduct a study on these children to get further information about how they are being used and the reasons for it,” said Balendran.

Apart from that, NCPA is also looking into domestic child workers. “At present, the minimum age to employ a domestic worker is 16 years but we are also taking measures to increase this to 18 years,” said Balendran. She urged the community to be more vigilant on child labour activities and report them to the authorities.

Despite community vigilance, Labour Ministry Women and Children Division, Commissioner, Padmanathan Mahadevan said though the Labour Department received around 150 complaints regarding child labour every year, only five to six cases make it to courts.

“Officials from the Labour Ministry, the Police and probation officers raid a place together when a complaint is received. But by the time we go there, the children are removed from those places and we are left without any evidence to prosecute,” said Padmanathan.

Most complaints have been received from the Southern, Uva and Central provinces and is more prevalent in the estate sector compared to other areas.

“According to parents in those areas, the young girls who were dropped out from school cannot stay alone at home when parents go for work. Therefore, it is the parents who send them for work. Meanwhile, the boys stop going to schools and choose work, to earn money for their family,” the commissioner said.

He said the Home Affairs Ministry was in the process of sending circulars to all District Secretariats and Divisional Secretariats to take measures to apprehend those who employ children in their workplaces.

The Labour Ministry initiated pilot projects in Ratnapura, Ampara and Kegalle districts to eradicate child labour. The projects conducted in Ratnapura were highly successful but there are few issues that needed to be addressed in Ampara and Kegalle districts.

More (And More) Of The Same!

By Emil van der Poorten –July 10, 2016

Emil van der Poorten

A friend recently drew my attention to the fact that there had been a tripartite agreement signed between the Coconut Research Institute, the University of Peradeniya and Fonterra, the dairy products conglomerate, to increase milk production in coconut plantations, particularly those owned by smallholders.

To say I was bemused by this would be an understatement and let me tell you why.

This tripartite project, it is claimed, is intended to run dairy cattle under coconut and is being touted as some kind of ground-breaking initiative.

Half a century ago, at least, the possibilities of enhancing the incomes of coconut growers through mixed farming with cattle and sheep was investigated and a variety of exotic pasture grasses introduced (Brachiaria brizantha and Brachiaria ruziziensis among others) systems of fertilizer application developed to prevent one growing and producing at the expense of the other and associated issues dealt with. There was a record kept of this research and these trials and I would be interested to know what became of it and, if it is still not around, why it isn’t.

People like Dr. Appadurai of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Peradeniya University did some really valuable, if sometimes controversial, work in the field at the time and there has to be, at least, some part of all of that significant information compiled by the Department of Veterinary Science in Peradeniya, the Department of Animal Production and Health and an assortment of trade and agricultural entities still available. But when the CRI is headed by a septuagenarian who, it had to be by coincidence, was a schoolmate and good buddy of the father of the Minister who appointed him and the lead man on the Fonterra side probably knows as much about cattle as I do about advanced rocket science, what the hell can one expect?

As for the academic actively involved in this abomination, I am at a loss for words to explain his involvement.

However, it must be admitted that the first two mentioned share a most important qualification: they were both Mahinda Rajapaksa stooges. And that should qualify them, eminently, for positions of responsibility and authority under the Ohey Palayang dispensation don’t you think? In fact, it is one of the less well guarded secrets that the Fonterra official was hired by the dairy products behemoth, coincidentally I am sure, at a time when a conduit to the Presidential Palace was worth its weight in gold and, seemingly, paid in similar coin. Checking on what Prof. had to say with regard to this individual’s conduct in the matter of the post mortems held into the cold-blooded executions of the Action Contre Le Faim workers in Mutur might also prove instructive. Anyone interested in this piece of work could probably still access that information by resorting to the World Wide Web. But, oh, Professor had to be a Tiger because he was a Tamil and despite the fact that he had to flee Sri Lanka in order to escape a death sentence issued by the leader of the afore-mentioned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr. Prabhakaran. As for this individual’s conduct with regard to the four doctors in Nanthikadal hospital at the time of Prabhakaran’s last stand, shall we say that the primary command of the Oath of Hippocrates – “Do no harm by word or deed’ – hardly seems to have been his guiding light.

Direct sale of government securities: Demon or servant?

The demonised direct sales of Treasury bonds

11 July 2016

The Central Bank has been telling the public again and again since March 2015 that the sale of government securities directly to primary dealers is faulty. According to the Bank, the system helps only a select crowd of primary dealers. Since the sales are made through telephone conversations and not through public auctions, the Bank further charges that the system lacks transparency.

If it is not transparent, it further argues, that it is fraught with room for abuse, malpractices and corruption. Since the prices are determined by officials of the Public Debt Department at their discretion, it also impedes, says the Bank, market development.

This is contrary to the primary requirement of market efficiency for which prices should be determined by market forces. Hence, the Bank has labelled the direct sale system a ‘demon’. It is a demon, it has to be annihilated at any cost.

The belated demonstration of wisdom

This is obviously good wisdom on the part of the Bank. Since the Bank has no legal existence and is owned by the Monetary Board, it is demonstrative of the wisdom of the Board as well. However, the Board thought of demonstrating that wisdom only after it was accused of being a party to a massive Treasury bond scam.

The first bond scam

In this bond scam, the Bank had offered Rs. 1 billion worth of 30-year Treasury bonds carrying a fixed interest rate of 12.5% to the market but ended up selling bonds to a value of Rs. 10 billion. This was 10 times the original offer.

Under normal circumstances, the Bank would have accepted up to 2 to 3 times of the original offer and not more than that. Hence, the market was not ready for such a jumbo issue. Then, it was revealed that a half of the jumbo issue amounting to Rs. 5 billion had been issued to a Primary Dealer company belonging to the son-in-law of the incumbent Governor of the Bank.

However, this issue had been done to this primary dealer at a price of around Rs. 91 per Rs. 100 bond whereas the prevailing market price of a bond of those attributes was as high as Rs. 120. The particular primary dealer company had bid Rs. 2 billion on its own and a further Rs. 13 billion through another primary dealer, Bank of Ceylon, at around the same prices.

All these had happened during the last half an hour before the closing of the auction arousing suspicion that this primary dealer company had got some inside information about the possible jumbo issue of Treasury bonds. Thus, had the Bank accepted the entirety of the Rs. 20 billion at the auction as had been instructed by the Governor, this primary dealer company would have ended up with Rs. 15 billion or 75% of the total issue. Since it would have got the bonds at around Rs. 91 per bond, it would have made a market killing out of the bond issue given its existing price of around Rs. 120 per bond.

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Members of the forces and Police were treated as slaves by Basil and Pushpa..! Even toilets cleaned by soldiers..!!

-To wear their sarong and saree too soldiers had to do for them..!

(Lanka-e-News -10.July.2016, 11.30PM) Basil Rajapakse who speaks most vociferously for and on behalf of the forces and about their honor, is the same base individual during his tenure of office as minister of economic development under the nefarious decade had treated 200 members of the forces and the police who were detailed for his official duties most dishonorably ,disdainfully and insolently , like how dogs on the streets are treated. This was revealed before the Presidential Commission (PRECIFAC).

It was disclosed that these soldiers and police officers were employed for his security , driving, cooking, dressing the sarong meticulously of their ‘ boss’, massaging , cleaning the latrines and toilets for his wife , and of course serving them like slaves and toadying to them.

Herein is the true story …

There were 84 members of the army , 64 members of the Navy, 47 police officers ,10 female members of the Navy in the contingent that served Basil and his spouse.

The women officers of the Navy were employed to clean the toilets of Pushpa Rajapakse ( Basil’s wife). These officers had to discharge unofficial duties such as flush the commode before Pushpa uses the toilet , pin her saree meticulously , carry her hand bag wherever she goes, dab and remove her perspiration ,wipe her face with tissue paper every now and then ,and so forth . These details were graphically revealed before the Commission.

Basil had detailed for duty 6 Naval officers to look after his dogs and 18 Naval officers to carry out tasks in the kitchen. 2 Naval officers were entrusted with looking after the duties in his kitchen of his house in America. Kneeling down as though to worship in order to tie his sarong and to help him wear his waist belt were also their degrading duties. In addition there were five members of the Naval forces serving as drivers in his contingent.

Basil kicks the officers kneeling down brutally if they do not tie for him his sarong properly

If the sarong is not tied for Basil according to his whim and wishes , the Naval soldier performing that duty is kicked in his face brutally and beaten while that soldier was still in kneeling down position , as revealed by a soldier via a confession made before the Commission.

Among the 84 members of the army , except a few of them detailed for personal trips and the 20 drivers , all others had been deployed for security purposes.

All the police personnel are from the ministerial security division , although only 6 police personnel of the ministerial division can be deployed ,Basil however abusing his powers had employed 47 of them , according to what was revealed before the Commission.

Soldiers dispatched to perform kitchen duties at his house in America !

The two members of the Naval Force who were taken to discharge kitchen duties in America had been dispatched not on ordinary passports , rather on Diplomatic passports . Moreover they have been taken across under the pretext that they were going to work in the park of the house of the SL ambassador in America !

In addition , Basil has got down two most expensive dogs costing Rs. 450,000.00 from America and India , and the routine needs of those dogs had to be looked after by Naval soldiers . Besides , a special room was allocated for those dogs with air conditioning comforts , it came to light.

When Basil assaults, the Navy chiefs remained silent in fear….

All these irregularities and abuses had been committed under a captain of the Navy who was the leader. Though complaints were made to the higher ups of the Navy regarding the assaults launched by Basil when the waist belt and sarong of his are being worn for him by the soldiers , but because the higher ups were in mortal fear of the Rajapakses they pretended not to hear, it was disclosed.

In addition Basil has been ruthlessly assaulting any officer of the Navy too who performed duties in a manner that displeased him.

Women soldiers used by Basil’s wife to dress and pin her saree …

Basil’s wife Pushpa Rajapakse too had employed the women soldiers of the Navy for her security , to carry her hand bags wherever she went , to wipe out the perspiration as soon as it exudes , to pin and arrange the saree when worn , and in other degrading menial duties.

The PRECIFAC has taken steps to file action against Basil and his wife in connection with several charges leveled against them including treating the staff in the government service like slaves; misuse of state funds; and several others.

The PRECIFAC has recorded statements of a number of members of the three armed forces and the Police . What Lanka e news has revealed hereinbefore are information based on statements which have been duly confirmed .

In the light of the above details , clearly the Rajapakses who are best noted for shedding crocodile tears, have while singing praises for the forces been treating them most shabbily and disdainfully , and at the same time assaulting and using them as their slaves.

In the circumstances , even the worst punishment decided by God towards these political ‘animals’ alias hypocritical rascals alias shameless scoundrels is not enough.

(By a special correspondent of Lanka e news inside information division)
Translated by Jeff

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Direct sale of government securities: Demon or servant?

The demonised direct sales of Treasury bonds

11 July 2016

Government Asked To Call For Fresh Tenders For Coal Supply After Billion Rupee Deal ‘Shocks The Conscience’ Of Supreme Court

July 11, 2016

The government is expected to call for a fresh tender for the supply of coal for the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant, after the Supreme Court recently declared that the Government had ‘shocked the conscience of the Court’ due to the actions of ministry officials. The deal had reportedly resulted in the State incurring a loss of approximately Rs. 1.2 billion, which was signed during Minister Champika Ranawaka’s tenure as power and energy minister.

Champika Ranawaka

The statement was made by Chief Justice K. Sripavan, and supported by Supreme Court Judges P. Dep and U. Abeyraythne when Noble Resources International Pte Limited, filed a fundamental rights petition at the Supreme Court claiming that their fundamental rights were violated after a tender was awarded to another Singaporean Company, Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises by the Ministry of Power and Energy. Noble Resources International cited that they has provided the bid in 2015 in accordance to the guidelines and provisions of the bid document issued by the ministry.

Even though the Supreme Court dismissed the case on June 24, 2016 citing a preliminary objection raised by the respondents, comprising of 75 including Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, B M S Batagoda, Secretary to the Ministry, the President, the Prime Minister, and former subject Minister Champika Ranawaka, the Court informed the respondents that it would be ‘appropriate to’ terminate the contract entered into with Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte for the supply of Coal to the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant after giving reasonable’ notice to the said Respondent; and to call for fresh bids in terms of the law, for the supply of Coal for the said power plant following competitive Bidding procedure.

“The Court is mindful that the fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution must be interpreted having regard to the constitutional objectives and goals and in the light of the action taken by the Governmental Authority at a given point of time. As it is essential to the maintenance of the rule of law that every organ of the State must act within the limits of its power and carry out the duty imposed upon it in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law, the Court cannot close its eyes and allow the actions of the State or the Public Authority go unchecked in its operations, in the public interest. If the Petitioner with a good case is turned away, merely because he is not sufficiently affected or the Petitioner has no “locus standi” to maintain this application, that means that some Government Agency is left free to violate the law and this is not only contrary to the public interest but also violate the Rule of Law, the object of which is to protect the citizens from unlawful governmental actions,” the order said.

It added that, “It will be a travesty of justice if, having found as a fact that a fundamental right has been infringed or is threatened to be infringed, the Court yet dismisses the application on a preliminary objection raised by the Respondents. This Court has been given power to grant relief as it may deem just and equitable. The Court therefore decided to go into the merits of the case as some of the events that took place, in the award of the tender to the 22nd Respondent shocks the conscience of the Court, especially when the awarding of the tender involves “public funds.”

Earlier when the application was taken up for hearing on March 16, 2016, Mr. S. Rajaratnam , Additional Solicitor General, raised the following two preliminary objections on the ground that the Petitioner does not have locus standi to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 126 of the Constitution :

by Santhush Fernando & Amavasya Sirisena-Monday, July 11, 2016

The proposed National Audit Bill grants sweeping powers to the Auditor General with some provisions charged of being ‘draconian’ by certain quarters.

A copy of the final draft of the National Audit Bill was submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister by Legal Draftsman on 14 June 2016, The Sunday Leader learns.

The new Act granted sweeping powers some of which breached accepted global best practices and norms, a source at the Auditor General’s, on grounds of anonymity, told The Sunday Leader.

“Some of the provisions are of a draconian nature and grants powers to Auditor General which are quasi-judicial, in breach of the universally accepted principle of separation of powers. This is an example of the executive usurping the powers of the judiciary. Even the previous principal enactment – the Financial Act of No.38 of 1971 did not grant such sweeping powers. I don’t think unless in authoritarian regimes accord powers to the State (i.e. Auditor General) to take it upon itself to intervene into only foreign projects but even bodies which are corporate or incorporate!”

According to him as per Section 4 the Auditor General empowered with “the discretion to inquire into any matter relating to an audited entity brought to his notice by any member of the public in writing along with substantial proof of the matters asserted, and report thereon to Parliament.”

“This is actually a sweeping power. This is too broad because under Section 53 an ‘audited entity’ includes, inter alia -

l) Projects sourced by a foreign entity or a foreign Government which are facilitated or carried out by an audited entity;

o) Anybody corporate or incorporate established by law.”

In addition the country’s security and defence establishments have been brought under the purview of the Auditor General, which was a departure from not only previous practice but also global practices and norms. Under Section 8(1)(e) the Auditor General (or any person authorised by him) shall have powers require any person to disclose, either orally, in writing or by any other means, any information based on reliable evidence, that may be strictly relevant for the audit, and may question any person to verify its accuracy: provided that any information relating to classified information the disclosure of which is prejudicial to national security of Sri Lanka shall be audited personally by the Auditor General. A high ranking official of the Legal Draftsman’s Department noted that security and defence establishments have never been brought under the purview of any outside department or body.

“Those are classified under Sri Lanka’s Official Secrets Act No 32 of 1955 and this will come into conflict with the new National Audit Act once this law comes into effect,” he added. Several legal experts have raised concerns over Section 9 (c) which empowers the Auditor General to implementing the surcharge provisions under part IV of the Act. “Surcharge is normally not imposed by the Auditor General, which was hitherto imposed by the Secretary of the Ministry. There is also a new provision – Section 21(1)(a) read with S 21(2) where the Auditor General could surcharge against persons, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law. Normally entities were subject to surcharge but not individuals.”

Under Section 21(1)(a) the Auditor General shall impose a surcharge on the value of the deficiency or loss in every transaction of an audited entity, where the Auditor General has reasonable grounds to believe that such transaction has been made contrary to any written law, and has caused any deficiency or loss due to the fraud, negligence or corruption of those involved in that transaction. He added that this breached the limited liability principle of companies and other incorporated bodies.

“This can mean that not only officials but even directors could be surcharged which goes against corporate laws of majority countries with advanced economies. As a result of this public servants and officials will be very reluctant to take decisions not improving the efficiency but stagnating the whole economy”

Under Section 25, any person who is responsible for the deficiency or loss could be brought before a magistrate for recovery of such monies.

“This is something that the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and Police initiates. once this comes into effect you have the Bribery Commission, Auditor General and the Police duplicating duties. This would lead to a waste of public resources.”

Many public officials and legal experts hope that both the government and civic organisations look critically into the new Bill.

“It is true that you need a strong Auditor General’s Department in order to combat corruption and fraud. But that should not mean that the Department should be given police or judicial powers. This would be highly detrimental and would lead to further stagnating of the economy,” lamented an accounting expert serving the government.

Namal Rajapakse who sold precious land of Mother Lanka to Indian Co. and illicitly collected Rs. 70 million remanded..!

(Lanka-e-News -11.July.2016, 5.30PM) Namal Rajapakse M.P. better known as the synthetic lawyer , was the third in the row of the Medamulana corrupt brutal Rajapakse family to be remanded . He was today arrested by the FCID in connection with the transfer of a precious land of the motherland to a foreign Co. and collecting a sum of Rs. 70 million as commission / extortion. After the culprit was arrested he was remanded until the 18 th when he was produced before the Fort magistrate Lanka Jayaratne who gave the order to remand.

The staggering amount of Rs. 70 million has been collected as either commission or extortion by Namal Rajapakse as detailed hereunder…..

The Rajapakse regime decided to sell 4 1/ 2 acres of land situated at the old army headquarters opposite the Galle Face when they were in power ,and Namal Rajapakse has collected a sum of Rs. 70 million as illicit commission or extortion to transfer that land to an Indian Co. by the name of Krris .

The Krris Co. has made this payment of Rs. 70 million through the account of one Nimal Perera. The latter upon interrogation had in his confession stated that he handed over that money to Namal Rajapakse .

When Namal was questioned over this ,he said , that money was given for the Carlton Rugby tournament , as Nimal Perera was at that time the president of Carlton sports club.

However when investigations were conducted , it came to light that all the expenses in regard to the Rugby tournament had been met by the clubs that participated , as well as the sponsors. That is ,Namal the black coated shark has not spent a cent towards that tournament out of the Rs. 70 million collected from Krris Co. ,it had been discovered.

When Namal Rajapakse was arrested and taken to courts , Namal told the media ‘ this is good governance.’ Of course that is absolutely true though the culprit would have had other ideas when he said that. If the government of good governance had not won on the 8 th of January 2015 , Namal and Rajapakses would never have been trapped , and would have continued to sell the lands to foreign companies and collected commissions/extortions in billions and swollen their accounts unendingly while sucking mother Lanka milk dry .

It is to be noted prior to this , Basil Rajapakse and Yoshitha Rajapakse too were arrested by the FCID in connection with financial frauds , and cases have been filed. Now the third of the Rajapakses has also been arrested and remanded for toeing their line as if nothing but fraud and deceit are all what course through the veins of the Rajapakses. In the future the pro good governance masses will be able to know who are the fourth and the fifth of the Rajapakses to go behind bars .

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by (2016-07-11 13:25:58)

‘Shadow Cabinet’ flops before ink dries up in the appointment letters

2016-07-11

he Joint Opposition last week appointed a 50-member ‘shadow cabinet.’ Alas, even before the ink dried in appointment letters, its members thought it was a big joke. Many wanted out, and ‘Shadow Urban Planning and Water Supply Minister’ Lohan Ratwatte (of Joel Pera fame) resigned. Thus the grand plan flopped before it was launched. It was not clear why some distanced themselves from this latest political manoeuvre, least because no one was sure who made the appointments in the first place. After all, the ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and now the ‘shadow Prime Minister’ had little interest in parliamentary traditions when he was in power. In his good times, he made Parliament a rubber stamp, concentrated powers of the state around him and his family. He promoted a new breed of young MPs, who conducted themselves as mindless sycophants relishing in the leader’s attention, and shouting dissident voices in and out of Parliament.

Lohan Ratwatte was quoted as saying in this newspaper last week, that the ex- president himself was unaware of the appointment of a showdown cabinet with him at its helm. Thus the shadow cabinet sounds like an in- your-facefarce, no less than those independent commissions of MR presidency.

A shadow cabinet in the Westminster Parliamentary tradition is the alternative cabinet that is formed by the senior parliamentarians in the Parliamentary Opposition, usually under the Leader of the Opposition, and of which shadow ministers scrutinize their corresponding ministers in the government and develop alternative policies. The general practice is that (though there are exceptions) shadow ministers are appointed to their respective positions in the cabinet if and when the Opposition forms a government. For instance, George Osborne, the current Chancellor of Exchequer of the British

Government was the shadow chancellor of exchequer when the Tories were in the Opposition. Recently when the members of the shadow cabinet of Jeremy Corbin, the hard left Labour leader, resigned in en masse that caused a quite a hullaballoo in the British politics

.
Thus a shadow cabinet is an integral, (though not constitutionally mandated) part of Westminster tradition of parliamentary democracy in some countries. Why we did not have it here is Sri Lankan politics is a dog-eat-dog contest, which pits members of the same party against each other in order to win the preferential vote. Those heavy expenses incurred in multi-million election campaigning could only be recouped through the accession to a plum ministerial portfolio. If the future cabinet positions are earmarked before the election, that would leave the other members with little reason to put their weight behind the party campaign. And their financiers and supporters would decamp, and probably join others who are better disposed in a future government. And most likely the future ministers would become the targets of smear campaigning by their own colleagues, which could compromise their electability.

Competition for power is so virulent not just between political parties, but also among members of the same party in this country that the party leaders have shied away from naming even the mayoral candidates or prospective chief ministers (let alone cabinet ministers) before the elections. MR or whoever who appointed the shadow cabinet, partly avoided that predicament by simply naming all the president’s goons as shadow ministers. So, there are 50 of them now; should any one opt to pole vault to the opposition that number would balloon. However, there is little prospect for that since shadow ministers do not get entourages of office aides and the luxury to doll out government employments. Perhaps, the danger MR did not foresee was that some of those new shadow ministers would use their new clout as a bargain chip to land in a plum post in the incumbent government.
Shadow ministries are meant to assure the Joint Opposition MPs of that they would one day ride the gravy train. But, it would also demotivate many others who sing hosannas to the former regime outside Parliament.

Those who decided on those appointments had callously disregarded the feelings of; say for instance, Prof. G.L. Peiris. What would the learned professor, who does occasionally resurface from obscurity to lambast the government feel when young presidential scion Namal Rajapaksa is earmarked to be the future Foreign Minister of his father’s government. Also, Basil Rajapaksa would not take it lightly that he has been sidelined from a future cabinet. There are many others who should be feeling being let down.
And the shadow cabinet, if it is for real, is a scary proposition. It would not be nice when the shadow law and order minister himself is accused of fraud and defending himself in court. He was remanded earlier over allegations of defrauding an Australian businessman. Many other shadow ministers are also busy fighting corruption charges; they would have little time left to provide necessary parliamentary oversight on their corresponding ministers. The conflict of interest that arises when alleged fraudsters are earmarked to a future cabinet is also worrying. Nonetheless, this whole affair does not sound serious. One poster in Daily Mirror website had an interesting proposition to the Joint Opposition on their next step. “What if a mock treasury and deposit all the looted money”, he asked. Perhaps, that is not a bad idea after all.

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Valour over VAT

SC order suspends VAT increase collection until legislation is passed in P’ment
PM assures legislation will get green light next Wednesday and be implemented retrospectively
Says interim order not expected to have any adverse impact on Government’s revenue collection
Finance Ministry thrown a curve ball on VAT charges by traders for nine days, says decision has thrown up “complications”
Karunanayake confident revenue targets will be met, claims 1H collection up 35%

By Uditha Jayasinghe and S.S. Selvanayagam-Tuesday, 12 July 2016

A Supreme Court order suspending VAT increases delivered yesterday created confusion among the private sector and left the Government rushing to provide explanations ahead of ensuring that the relevant legislation is passed in Parliament next week.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe released a statement just hours after the verdict assuring that the legislation, which has BUP_DFTDFT-1-01

already been tabled in Parliament, would be passed on 20 July. However, under the verdict traders cannot charge the VAT increase from consumers till 20 July but once the revisions are implemented they will be retrospectively applicable from 2 May, creating confusion among the public.

The Supreme Court issued an interim order on Monday preventing the implementation of the recent revisions made to the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Nation Building Tax (NBT) until the relevant legislation was passed in Parliament.

“This interim order is not expected to have any adverse impact on the Government’s revenue collection. The VAT (Amendment) Bill has already been presented to the Parliament for the first reading on 8 July 2016, and the second reading is expected on 23 July 2016.

The Unity Government, which has a clear majority in the Parliament, expects the legislative process to be completed before the end of the month of July 2016. Thereafter, the revised rates will be applicable with effect from 2 May 2016,” the Prime Minister’s statement said.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake also convened a hasty media briefing following the verdict but was unable to give more information on its overlapping opaque areas of tax collection till 20 July. Karunanayake stuck to the Prime Minister’s statement and insisted that VAT would be collected retrospectively once the legislation was passed but refrained from commenting on how traders could legally charge VAT for the next nine days.

“We do not want the public misled by the court verdict. Essentially what it says is that either the Parliament has to pass the VAT increase or it has to await the court’s verdict on 6 December. We have very clearly stated that the amendments will be passed on 20 July and we have notified the court as well. The Government will be able to earn the projected revenue and it will count from 2 May,” he told reporters.

Responding to questions, Karunanayke confirmed from 11 July-20 July the VAT increase cannot be collected due to the court verdict. “Your interpretation is that goods increase in price because of VAT so let’s see whether the prices reduce now.”

The Finance Minister also expressed his dissatisfaction over the court’s verdict but insisted that the Government had followed standard procedure in introducing the VAT increase.

“The people elected the Government and we are basically administrating the will of the people. Decisions such as this make things complicated. So respecting democracy makes life difficult for a Government.”

Revenue targets for the first six months are on target with a 35% increase in total revenue as per Budget projections, the Finance Minister added.

On Monday the Supreme Court issued an Interim Order suspending the intended imposition of additional liability pertaining to multi-stage tax called Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Nation Building Tax (NBT) until the final hearing and the determination of the fundamental petitions challenging it or suitably passed by the Parliament.

The bench comprising Chief Justice K. Sripavan, Justices B.P. Aluvihara and Prasanna Jayawardane observed that the notice issued by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue Kalyani Dahanayake to the public stating that as informed by the Minister, the VAT rate of 15% and NBT rate of 2% will be implemented from May 2 is ‘ultra vires’ or beyond legal power or authority.

The Court was of the view that the Government cannot be allowed to violate the rule of law.

The Court observed that the decision to implement the increased VAT is in violation of Article 148 of the Constitution on the Control of Parliament over Public Finance, which reads: “Parliament shall have full control over public finance, no tax, rate or any other levy shall be imposed by any local authority or any other public authority, except by or under the authority of a law passed by Parliament or of any existing law and the certain principle of interpretation of Article 148 shall be understood in proper sense to the ordinary men.”

Five petitions have been filed against the VAT increases. They were from former Minister Wimal Weerawansa, Ven. Maduruoya Dharmisiri Thero, Ven. Bengamuge Nalaka Thero, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and Sivapathasunderam Sivakumar.

Manohara de Silva PC, Shavindra Fernando PC and Viran Corea appeared for the petitioners separately.

Leader of the National Freedom Front and Former Cabinet Minister Wimal Weerawansa filed his application as public interest alleging that it is ultra vires, illegal, arbitrary, unlawful and violative of fundamental rights to equality, freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention and the freedom to engage in any lawful occupation and profession.

He cited Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Secretary to the Treasury and Finance Ministry R.H.S. Samarathunga, Commissioner General of Inland Revenue Kalyani Dahanayake and the Attorney General as respondents.

He stated that the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue on 29 April 2016 issued a notice bearing the heading ‘Notice to Taxpayers’ and the title ‘Value Added Tax (VAT) and Nation Building Tax (NBT)’ and declared that as informed by the Ministry of Finance, changes would be implemented with effect from 2 May 2016.

The notice was supplemented by a notice entitled ‘Implementation of Proposals on Value Added Tax (VAT) and Nation Building Tax (NBT) on the instruction of the Ministry of Finance’, he added.

He claims that the said heading are misleading and contrary to the law as the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue was not vested with any authority to implement proposals on the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, which has no legal authority.

He claimed there are no amending laws pertaining to VAT or NBT that have the effect of the above changes pertaining to the imposition of such taxes.