'Rajapakses mortgaged country to China - debts cannot be liquidated even by repayment for generations' -Mahinda Amaraweera

-Protests are provoked to sacrifice innocent lives!

(Lanka-e-News -06.Jan.2017, 11.30PM)    The  loan taken from China to build the Hambantota Port (white Elephant ) has driven  the country has into unbearably huge debts  so much so the nation has to repay the loan installments   and interest thereof for many generations , and even  then there is no guarantee that the loan can be liquidated , minister of fisheries and water resources development  Mahinda Amaraweera revealed.

In the year 2016 , Rs. 8640 million was paid . At the end of 2017 , Rs. 9350 million has to be paid . In 2018 , Rs. 9950 million will have to be paid .The minister furnishing details said , in 2019 , Rs. 17360 million ; in 2020 , a sum of Rs.  17060 million ; In 2012 , Rs. 17910 million ;in 2023 , Rs. 17400 million ;in 2024, Rs. 16910 million ;and in 2025 , Rs. 12290 million have to be paid.

The minister made these most  shocking exposures when addressing a media briefing held on the 4 th at  the ministry of fisheries. This media briefing was organized  to explain and elucidate  the latest situation in regard to the Hambantota Port and the Hambantota  Industrial zone .

Explaining further , the minister commented as follows : 

The Hambantota Port will not be sold to China by this government . No such agreements have been signed.  Such an agreement has not been brought to the attention of even to  the ministry Board. But one thing is certain because of the colossal loan taken to build the Hambantota Port , the whole country has been mortgaged to China .

Consequent upon the loan taken to construct the Hambantota Port , the country is obliged to make the following payments …

Rs. 8640 million representing loan installment plus interest thereof in 2016
Rs. 9350 million has to be paid by end of 2017
Rs. 9950 million in 2018
Rs. 17360 million in 2019
Rs.17060 million in 2020
Rs.16650 million in 2021
Rs. 17910 million in 2022
Rs.17400 million in 2023
Rs. 16910 million in 2024
Rs.12290 million in 2025 

In other words this staggering debt burden  cannot be cleared by our people even via  repayment for generations.

How is so much money going  to be collected to repay this colossal debt? When Mattala Airport and Hambantota Port were being begun the plans did not practically work out . The jobs expected to be generated also did  not materialize. In the least even I did not get a job in the Port. 

Therefore if we are to repay this huge debt burden , we will have to impose more and more taxes. The country cannot progress that way. This was why the government after having discussions with the Chinese government , a joint Chinese – Sri Lanka program was decided , to carry out three projects under the Chinese government aid. 

China has expressed its consent to take over the Hambantota Port , Mattala Airport and the ever breaking down Norochhcholai coal power plant and go ahead. 

Even to construct the Norochcholai coal project , a massive loan has been raised. The repayment of that loan is as follows :

Rs. 17640 million was paid in 2016
Rs. 26870 million must be paid in 2017
Rs. 27180 million must be  paid in 2018
Rs. 34290 million must be  paid in 2019
Rs. 16650 million must be  paid in 2020
Rs. 16350 million must be  paid in 2021
Rs. 16070 million must be  paid in 2022
Rs. 15780 million must be  paid in  2023
Rs. 15500 million must be  paid in 2024
Rs. 14060 million must be paid in 2025
  
By 2025 , the amount that will have to be paid to the Chinese government for the loan taken will be Rs. 343.86 Billion ! This is hard cash , not cashew nuts or Jak fruit seeds. Yet the country did not gain out of this commensurate with the colossal loans taken in keeping with the expectations. 

Some are propagating malicious and false stories about the Hambantota Port and the proposed Hambantota Industrial zone. They are circulating stories that because of this project , 15000 acres of land belonging to the people are going be acquired, and people in their ancestral lands will be evicted in order to sell those to the Chinese.
 
These stories are absolutely untrue  because 15000 acres of bare  land cannot be found  anywhere  in Hambantota . Only there are bare lands 2000 or 3000 acres in extent. It is such lands that will be used for this Industrial project.  

I spoke with president and on his instructions held discussions with Prime Minister and the cabinet in this connection .They explained clearly  it is only bare land and waste lands in Hambantota which will be used for the project. It has also been decided to utilize bare  lands in Embilipitiya and Matara.

Therefore the stories afloat that people will be  evicted and their lands are going to be sold to the Chinese are baseless and false. I am one who  was born and also had my schooling in Hambantota . Besides , every weekend I am in Hambantota. Any day I die my body too will become part of the soil of Hambantota . Hence I know very well about the lands available in Hambantota .

Some mischief makers under the pretext of false protests are seeking to sacrifice human lives at the altar of selfish gains , according to reports .There is a group trying to stage protests and create conflicts deliberately with the police and the forces . After they are summoned , they want to deliberately risk the lives of innocents . Thereafter carry the dead bodies on their shoulders in order to create violence and a volatile situation in the country .

In the circumstances I request the public not to fall prey to these conspiracies. As  in the past so in the future it will be the people who will suffer.

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by     (2017-01-06 23:28:30)

Volkswagen Falls Off Yahapālanaya, As Maithri And Ranil Hoodwink Public

January 7, 2017

Fibs, miscommunication and the blame game were the highlights this week, as the Yahapalanaya government under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe fell flat on its face after it was exposed how they attempted to deceive millions of people over a vehicle assembly plant in Kuliyapitiya, which the government claimed was built with an investment of US$ 26.5 million from German automaker, Volkswagen.

However just days after Sirisena and Wickremesinghe laid the foundation stone for the vehicle assembly plant, Volkswagen officially denied that it had not invested in any plants in Sri Lanka in a statement issued to News1st. Following this revelation, Wickremesinghe in a bid to save face told an event in Horana that if the private media channel had asked him, he would have ‘revealed’ the truth. He also claimed that Newst1st had a grudge against him and hence was trying to taint his image.

Wickremesinghe also told the meeting in Horana that Volkswagen will be among several other brands of vehicles which would be assembled at the new plant; however the Times Online quoting Volkswagen Spokesperson Katrin Hohmann reported that the German automaker has not granted license to any Sri Lankan company to assemble cars locally.

Apart from holding the post of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe is also the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs. Strangely, while, Wickremesinghe now denies Volkswagen’s role in the vehicle assembly plant, his ministry website which carried a news item on the foundation laying ceremony carries a picture of the Volkswagen logo in the article clearly indicating the automaker’s role in the project.

Another interesting fact is that even the Board of Investment (BOI) which comes under the government has carried an article on the event which also includes a quote from BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya who had said that the Volkswagen plant would be a major leapfrog for the country in the right direction.

However, since the controversy, the BOI is yet to issue an official statement to clarify the current situation centering the vehicle assembly plant and as to who the actual investor is and the brands of cars that will be assembled once the plant construction is completed.

State media including the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and the Daily News also carried news items soon after the event stating that Volkswagen invested in the Kuliyapitiya plant.

When the public took to social media and criticized deputy foreign minister Dr. Harsha de Silva for hoodwinking the public, Silva defended himself saying he never hoodwinked anyone and after initiating the possible investment with Volkswagen, and after maneuvering through difficult territory in terms of possible export, tax and other implications, both he and the then Ambassador of Germany Dr Jurgen Morhard moved out of the process and handed over the responsibility to the implementing parties in the government.

According to Silva, soon after Senok Automobile and BOI signed an agreement in August 2015, Volkswagen, after months of denial, had admitted to the EPA in the US that they had cheated on emissions tests on some of their diesel models in the US, which resulted in the German automobile company’s stocks crashing, and subsequently the senior management at the company being fired, while at least some 30,000 jobs were cut among billions of rupees lost.

“This scandal that rocked Volkswagen was a complete shock to everyone, obviously including us in Sri Lanka. Apparently Senok Automobiles who had signed for Volkswagen had attempted to save the agreement and continue with the investment as planned. However, at one point, I believe after much negotiations the Government had decided it would be better not to go with a dedicated Volkswagen assembly plant due to possible legal issues that could crop up due to the massive fallout from their emissions scam. This we knew today when the Prime Minister explained the sequence of events to us,” Silva said in his post.

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The Curse of the Obstinate Patriarch

SASANKA PERERA on 01/08/2017

Today marks the second anniversary of the victory of Maithripala Sirisena as the President of Sri Lanka at the 8th January 2015 Sri Lankan Presidential Election.  And the second anniversary of the 17^th August 2015 Parliamentary Election is merely seven months away.  In the shadow of these two anniversaries, I thought of reflecting on what they mean to me in the context of what has happened, and more importantly what has not happened in the interceding two years.  This is not a political analysis.  I leave that to friends and colleagues more attuned to Sri Lankan politics on a routine basis.

The Curse of the Obstinate Patriarch.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

A Wasted Second Year; An Uncertain Future 

by Tisaranee Gunasekara-January 7, 2017, 5:16 pm 

"There are times – they mark the danger point for a political system – when politicians can no longer communicate, when they stop understanding the people they are supposed to be representing."

Ian Kershew (Hitler)

The adage is common to many cultures, the condition it refers to a universal one. Madness is often the prelude to end times, private and public, individual, institutional and systemic. But before madness comes blindness and deafness, wilful and self-imposed; suicidal absence of sanity is foreshadowed by a perplexing refusal to see, hear or acknowledge the obvious.

It’s a rare government which lives up to its initial promise. This is particularly so when an electoral change of leadership is – or is perceived as – politically transformative. On January 8, 2015, Lankans voted not only to elect a new president but also to create a different way of governing. The mandate Maithripala Sirisena received two years ago was not a personal one; he was the symbol of the political culture he promised to build, one which was more accountable to the people, less self-indulgent, more democratic.

Two years later, that promise remains largely unfulfilled.

In the first year of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, positives outweighed negatives. In the second year, the obverse happened. In 2015, it was still possible to hope. In 2016, hope began to morph into delusion. The passing of the long-awaited Right to Information Bill and the replacement of Arjuna Mahendran with Indrajith Coomaraswamy as the Governor of the Central Bank were the two sole major-positives in a year lacerated by avoidable errors and unnecessary misdeeds.

President Barak Obama, in a recent interview, opposed the idea of a presidential third term arguing that "...at some point you lose touch... By being in this room at some point you get worn down. At some point you get into bad habits."i The interrelated maladies of losing touch and falling into bad habits seemed to have infected the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration in its second year. When a president – whose brother is a premier rice-miller in the country - maintains a baffling silence about skyrocketing rice prices, when a prime minister tries to create a ministerial-post which is untouchable by the law, when a parliament is more concerned about female attire than about the warnings of a severe drought, the omens are not propitious.

That the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration inherited a misgoverned land deeply in debt is unarguable. What is incomprehensible is the administration’s growing proclivity to exacerbate inherited problems and create new ones.

Ghosts of the Past

Independent Lanka’s only real and successful campaign of nationwide mass-disobedience happened over the issue of rice, the Hartal of 1953 which brought the government of Dudley Senanayake to its knees. The United Front government’s arbitrary rules regarding the consumption and transportation of rice played a key role in its epic downfall of 1977. The importance of rice (price and availability) in the scheme of political things can be ignored only by a government which is obtuse to the point of self-harm.

So why is the government – president and prime minister downwards – emulating the proverbial Chinese Monkey in this matter?

The government’s collective silence on a crucial politico-electoral issue is just one degree less inexplicable than the genesis of the issue itself. There is no shortage of rice; adequate stocks exist, as all parties admit. Yet prices are high and getting higher in not just the open market but also the government-owned CWEs. The subject minister and the president’s rice-miller brother are trading accusations. Wholesalers pledge to provide rice at reduced prices if the government releases stocks. The government seems to be living in some alternate reality.

This official indifference – shared by both the green and the blue components of the administration - is symbolic of a larger malaise, a stupefying disregard for public opinion. Just two years on, the government is ensconced in an echo-chamber, which shuts out all dissonant notes. In 2016, it not only failed to tread the path it promised to but also embarked on a path it pledged never to take. As a result, it lost the momentum and the moral-high ground, antagonised allies without winning over enemies and narrowed to an alarming degree the critical difference between itself and Rajapaksa rule.

Those activists and voters who enabled Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe to win two elections, the first one under incredibly difficult odds, did so for many reasons, from restoration of democracy and alleviation of economic burdens to ending official racism and impeding corruption and nepotism. But none of those who worked and voted for a Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration did so because they wanted a return to Rajapaksa thinking and Rajapaksa ways.

2016 was darkened by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration’s willingness to emulate some of the worse Rajapaksa errors. The best case in point is a plan formulated by the UNP-half of the government – and specifically by the unelected minister Malik Samarawickrama - to handover the Hambantota port and 15,000-acre-exclusive-industrial-zone to China on a long lease. If that imprudent plan succeeds, Sri Lanka will be saddled with its own version of Guantanamo. And we the people will find ourselves in the politico-economic-military crosshairs of other countries’ battles.

As the fate of the Hambantota deal hangs in balance, it is instructive to remember that American marines first entered Guantanamo to assist Cuba in its struggle for independence against Colonial Spain. Once Spanish imperialists were driven out, Americans, instead of leaving, passed the Platt Amendment, giving Guantanamo to itself. Cubans tried to resist and failed and the lease agreement was signed in 1903.

It was a logical move for Washington. The importance of sea power in turning America into the next global supremo had been argued forcefully by one of the prime architects of an imperial-expansionist policy, Captain AT Mahan, especially in his influential book, The Influence of Sea Power in History. Grabbing Guantanamo made sense to the US; placing its imprint in its immediate region was a necessary prelude to marking its presence globally.

China, the next rising power, too understands the vital importance of the sea to the realisation of the ‘Chinese Dream’. This is clearly stated in the first public military strategy white paper released by the Chinese Ministry of National Defence on May, 2015, "The traditional mentality that land outweighs seas must be abandoned, and great importance has to be attached to managing the seas and oceans and protecting maritime rights and interests. It is necessary for China to develop a modern maritime military structure commensurate with its national security and development interests...so as to provide strategic support for building itself into maritime power."ii Hambantota’s place in this grand plan, given its strategically proximate location to India, is not hard to surmise

Cuba in 1903 couldn’t withstand America. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration has no such excuse. And this re-embracing of China couldn’t have happened at a worse global time. The Zeitgeist is one of political illiberalism, religious fundamentalism and ethnic-nationalism, but it doesn’t mean that all political leaders who embrace these atavistic positions will embrace each other in fraternal alliances. The incoming US president is already engaged in a twitter-conflict with China. Once Mr. Trump is sworn in, relations between the waning and rising global powers are likely to deteriorate still further. China’s recent vetoing of an Indian proposal to have the UN declare Masood Azhar, the mastermind of the 2016 attack on Pathankot airbase, a terrorist indicates that even on the issue of combating terrorism, the two regional powers can develop contradictions.

Tethering Sri Lanka to China, to the detriment of the country’s relations with both the US and India, seemed an inanity peculiar to the Rajapaksas. The current administration’s sudden move not just to emulate but also surpass the Rajapaksas in this regard is one more sign of a radical loss of self-interest.

The Instable Stability

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa greeted 2017 by proclaiming his intention to oust the government within the year. The strategy would be an obvious one – exacerbate the natural differences between the UNP and the SLFP halves of the government until they turn into antagonistic contradictions, isolate President Maithripala Sirisena within the SLFP, edge Ranil Wickremesinghe out via a change in the parliamentary balance and form a new government under the premiership of Mahinda Rajapaksa. A nationwide campaign of fear-mongering about the imminent end of an independent, single Sri Lanka is already on, and would provide the soundtrack for the planned political changes.

Ever since he was defeated, Mr. Rajapaksa has been making claims about regaining power. His most recent proclamation need not have been taken seriously except for one simple fact – the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s growing tendency to shoot itself in every limb and digit.

The president and the prime minister on occasion indulge in the delusion that each can survive without the other. The truth of the matter is that neither can survive alone. If the president withdraws his support, the premier can be unseated; if the premier withdraws his support, the president can be impeached. President Sirisena will not be president for a long, if Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes the PM. Premier Wickremesinghe will find himself back in the opposition – possibly after a short stint as the acting president – if Maithripala Sirisena is impeached. The only way one can survive is if the other survives.

But neither will survive, if they fail to acknowledge and alleviate the growing public discontent. This is not limited to a rapid rise in living costs. Hints of other discontents abound, from an attack by affected villagers on a quarry in Padukka (supplying stones to the Colombo Port City) to the ongoing strike by lottery sellers. These localised or sectoral problems, if allowed to fester, can cause a generalised sense of disillusion and persuade a majority of the populace that the government is incapable of improving their living conditions. If such a feeling gains ground, the SLFP parliamentarians currently supporting Maithripala Sirisena are more likely to shift back to Mahinda Rajapaksa. It doesn’t need a crystal ball to predict that they will be joined by some UNP parliamentarians, especially those disaffected by Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership.

A different vision of Sri Lanka was one of the key factors which animated the 2015 presidential contest. In 2016 the government displayed a distressing lack of interest in promoting the idea of a country which is open, tolerant and treats all her people as equal citizens. Though official racism has not made a comeback, various key members of the government flirt with racists, sending a worrying message to minorities, without whose backing President Sirisena would have lost in January 2015.

President Sirisena has failed to recreate the SLFP as a modern democratic party, immune to the siren song of the Rajapaksas. Premier Wickremesinghe seems to be succumbing to the hubris which brought the administration of JR Jayewardene to grief. If Mahinda Rajapaksa’s New Year wish comes true, it will happen not because of his virtues, but because of the weaknesses and failures of his two main opponents.

Two years after the presidential election of Jan 2015, the political battle lines remain unchanged. There is no alternative to Rajapaksa rule other than the current administration. There is no alternative to the current administration other than Rajapaksa rule. The one crucial change is that those forces which enabled the defeat of the Rajapaksas are fractured, disillusioned and demoralised. After a year of lost opportunities, the future looks unhopeful.

i http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/28/obama-reckons-with-a-trump-presidency

ii https://news.usni.org/2015/05/26/document-chinas-military-strategy

Rajitha exposes US $ 1086 million ; US $ 1800 million; US $ 500 million in Rajapakses’ billion dollar accounts! (video)

-Court issued Interpol warrant against Sandaruwan but protects crook Udayanga

(Lanka-e-News -06.Jan.2017, 11.30PM)   In the MiG jet fraudulent transactions involving Gotabaya Rajapakse the infamous ex defense secretary  , the latter after forging the signature of Ukraine president prepared the second illegal agreement .In the Dubai account of Rajapakses  there is US dollars 1086 million ; there is US dollars 1800 million  in another account , and a further US dollars 500 million in a third account . These monies have now  been withdrawn and taken into Ukraine by notorious Udayanga Weeratunge , minister Rajitha Senaratne revealed yesterday night.

The minister made these shocking disclosures  of the treacheries and traitorous crimes committed against  the motherland by the Rajapakses when he attended a live  political  program on the ITN television channel  . He also said he is making these revelations as an eye witness. It is only a matter of time before the Rajapakses are meted out punishment for their outrageous robberies and murders  , and this is why the traitors and crooks are making frantic and determined efforts to topple the government , the minister pointed out.

He was critical of the  courts that issued a red alert warrant against Lanka e news editor without hearing a case, while  delaying issuing a red alert warrant against the notorious crook Udayanga Weeratunge.

The minister also reminded even if the government changes , the crooked mechanics and corrupt murderous Rajapakse machinery will not change ..Therefore he explained what  should be done against them and their cruel , crooked strategies and subterfuges.

Full text of minister Rajitha’s frank, fearless and forthright speech is hereunder 

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by     (2017-01-06 23:20:34)

SriLanakn Airlines: Full Time CEO To Part Time CEO/Pilot?

By Rajeewa Jayaweera –January 8, 2017

Rajeewa Jayaweera

The new year 2017 has been heralded in at the national carrier SriLanakn Airlines with the President of the Airline Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka firing off its latest salvo by way of a letter addressed to the Chairman. The Pilot community have taken umbrage over the national carrier’s CEO making known of his desire to resume pilot duties, in addition to his duties as the airline’s CEO.

The communication, copied to the subject Minister, Board members, Head of Flight Operations and the CEO himself highlights several issues relevant to the subject. Key among the issues are; current CEO is not a qualified Airbus A320 pilot, should the airline already under severe financial strain bear the cost of revalidating the CEO’s pilots’ license to operate A320 aircraft and the advisability of a CEO with no previous experience as a CEO and resulting stress levels taking on additional responsibilities of a flight captain thus further increasing stress levels.

The Pilots’ Guild have been made to believe, the Board of Directors have given their consent for the CEO to proceed. However, it is understood such consent had been granted under different circumstances. A majority of board members had voted to extend the CEO’s probation period in mid-2016. Considering the possibility of not being confirmed to his post and eventual termination, it had been agreed he may be permitted to renew his pilots’ license, possibly to facilitate employment elsewhere in such an eventuality. However, since the majority board decision was overturned by Royal command and the CEO confirmed to his post without even a Performance Appraisal, the board’s concurrence in mid-2016 is no longer valid. There are several high profile former and current corporate leaders in the present board. It would be valid to question if these board members would consider a CEO found lacking in performance, to a junior position on a part time basis in companies they own or hold directorships.

CEO – Suren Ratwatte

It would be useful to provide readers with some background information related to what is require by the CEO to return to duties in the Flight Deck (also known as Cock Pit!). The CEO last held a license to operate Airbus A380 aircraft, issued by UAE civil aviation authorities. It is not valid in Sri Lanka as no A380 aircraft are registered in this country. Therefore, an aircraft type rating is required from Sri Lankan civil aviation authorities for aircraft validation. Once it is obtained, he will have to follow a complete base aircraft course for A320 aircraft, with a subsequent multi rating course for mixed fleet flying (in this case, A330 aircraft) if desired. The duration of such an exercise would be around one month on an accelerated or two months on standard schedule basis. The cost would amount to over Rs 3 million.

Besides the several important factors raised by the Pilots’ Guild, a key factor in this issue is the ability of a person who is a CEO of an international airline with a global reach to devote the necessary time, energy and effort for his regular duties whilst devoting part of his time for flying duties which entail stringent conditions such as specific number of hours of rest prior to and after a flight. Besides, it would be a total violation of his terms of employment which forbids any other form of employment paid or unpaid, a standard clause in all employment letters. In such a back ground, how would the company discipline any other employee for taking up secondary employment when its own CEO is in breach of the regulation? The allocation of valuable and costly simulator slots for training a pilot who would perform the minimum number of flights required to maintain license validity is of serious concern besides the ethics of drawing various allowances during flights besides pay and perks of a CEO.

A few months ago, there was much hype over several of the newer Airbus A330-300 aircraft being leased out to PIA (Pakistan International Airlines). Based on this development, it is reliably learnt, the board had approved the extension of lease agreements of three older A330-200 aircraft. However, it now transpires only one aircraft has been leased to PIA on a wet lease and that too only for a few months. Payments are known to be irregular and PIA is now supposedly negotiating with Pegasus Airlines, a private Turkish carrier, for leasing out their excess aircraft at a much lower rate in view of the virtual collapse of the tourism industry in Turkey. Meanwhile, lease agreements of three older A330-200 aircraft have been extended. Should the deal with PIA fall through, the national carrier will be saddled with three unwanted A330 aircraft and lease charges of around USD 1 million a month.

Some explosive situations involving the CEO (of both SriLankan Airlines and former Mihin Lanka) have taken place in the last fourteen months. The Airline Pilots’ Guild wrote to the Chairman on April 26, 2016 quoting three instances and stating “the antagonistic and threatening language used by the CEO, and his demonstrated lack of competency in his capacity, the ALPGSL membership has unanimously decided to place on record our loss of confidence in the current CEO”. The CEO has admitted to the use of the ‘F’ word during a meeting with the Pilots’ Guild. He also admitted “I am not a numbers man”. On August 23, 2016, nineteen senior staff of Mihin Lanka have written to the Chairman stating “it is with much sadness that we state, that we have lost faith and confidence in the unprofessional manner of the Chief Executive Officer in handling the entire amalgamation process to date”.

Good pilots do not necessarily make good CEOs. It is dependent on the managerial experience leadership qualities such persons possess, besides a pilots’ license backed by thousands of hours of flying time. Mr. Carsten Spohr, Chairman and CEO of Lufthansa is a graduate of Industrial Engineering from Karlsruhe University in Germany and obtained his commercial pilot’s license from the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen and Phoenix (Arizona) which he still maintains. He then went on to complete a management training program at Deutsche Aerospace AG in Munich. After spending a few years as a commercial pilot, Sphor joined Lufthansa in 1994 as Head of Central Recruitment. He spent the next twenty years in different management positions in Recruitment, European Regional Partnerships, Alliances & Cooperations, Hub Management, Cabin Crew & HR Affairs and as CEO of Lufthansa Cargo AG. He was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG on May 01, 2014. An admirable curriculum vitae if there ever was one with a pilot’s license to boot.

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PM in a discussion with Maha Sanga on leasing of lands in Hambantota

Jan 07, 2017

A  special discussion between the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and the Maha Sanga of the Hambantota district was held yesterday  night of the 06th instant at the Walawa Jayewardenaramaya temple premises.

It is reported that the former Speaker and Member of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa had urged the Prime Minister to come to the temple premises for this discussion.

The  team of Buddhist monks led by the Viharadhipathi of the Tissamaharamaya Venerable Devalegama Dhamma Sena thera had presented the facts on the leasing of the Hambantota Magampura port and the  surrounding lands to be leased out to a Chinese Company..

At this discussion the Maha Sanga had revealed that they had received information that the lands where people have already settled in are to be leased out to the Chinese Company..On that issue they are protesting..

The Prime Minister answering to this query had added that 1235 acres of land surrounding the harbour are to be given out to the Chinese Company.The responsibility and deciding  of  leasing of the 15000 acres of land would be given to Minister Sagala Ratnayake and former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa

The lands would be given from areas decided by the above two.The Prime Minister had quipped that he is not taking a part in it.If the lands are not available in Hambantota lands from Matara, Moneragala and Ratnapura districts would be found for them.He also had said he cannot be held responsible for the development of Hambantota.He also had said that he is not allowing the lands to be taken over by force.

The Prime Minister had quipped that what is implemented is the first phase.There are the second and third phases next.They are all at discussion levels he had said.In future he intends calling this Maha Sanga to the committee in Colombo.
 
This special discussion was concluded without a proper decision.With regard to the court order in this regard Minster Sagala Ratnayake had been asked to have it cancelled.

However it was quipped by the convener of the Hambantota National resources protection Buddhist organization Ven Beragama Gnanatilake thera that Maha Sanga had not arrived at a clear compromise  at the special discussion held.

Trinco port to India followed by Hambantota to China: JVP

January 7, 2017, 7:23 pm 

Sri Lanka’s marxist JVP says the island nation will have to let India control the Trincomalee harbour as a result of giving Hambantota Port to China.

Party leader Anura Dissanayake told a public gathering that the Hambantota port deal is a part of the Chinese maritime silk road which ultimately deals with geopolitics.

"The issue of Hambantota port is not merely its profit or loss," Dissanayake said, addressing a protest against Hambantota land acquisition.

"We are loosing one national asset and letting India to take control of Trincomalee harbour to balance powers of those countries."

Trincomalee harbour is the second best natural harbour in the world and the available water and land area is about 10 times as much as the Port of Colombo.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority has completed a zoning plan to utilize the huge existing unutilized land under its jurisdiction.

Dissanayake said there will be no Chinese factories coming into Sri Lanka apart from the cement factory, paints factory and sugar refinery.

He said over 40,000 workers are currently working in Katunayake Free Trade Zone which has only 292 acres of land while Biyagama FTZ has over 30,000 workers with 190 acres.

"All our 17 Free Trade Zones consisting of less than 2,000 acres, why only Hambantota needs 15,000 acres," Dissanayake questioned.

"This is a lie. Why come to Hambantota if Chinese don’t even get raw materials or cheap labor here."

Dissanayake said the bottom line is that Sri Lanka has become a victim of the new cold war between US and Chinese allies.

"This is not an economic plan of a country to sell lands and national assets to other countries just showing debt numbers of previous regimes," he said.

"We will certainly not allow Hambantota land acquisition for Chinese zone."

Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe however addressing a gathering yesterday vowed to present the Hambantota port agreement to Parliament after Attorney General and cabinet approval. (LBO)

Sri Lanka unveils special zone to attract Chinese industries

Jan 07, 2017

ECONOMYNEXT - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and ambassador Yi Xianliang launched a special industrial zone in Hambantota yesterday hoping to attract $5 billion in Chinese investments despite protests by opposition politicians and monks.

The Prime Minister and the Chinese envoy unveiled a plaque marking the "Sri Lanka - China Logistics and Industrial Zone" in Hambantota as part of efforts to turn around the loss-making deep-sea port.

Just before the VVIP guests arrived at the nationally-televised ceremony, hundreds of protesters defied a court ban and tried to storm the venue and were blocked by police, including special task force commandos.

As protesters pelted stones, police used teargas and water cannon to push back the mobs led by Buddhist monks bussed in by nationalist groups supportive of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Dozens were wounded when protesters pelted stones, a police official said adding that there were running street battles with mobs.

Residents argue that they will loose their land when industries are established, a charge denied by the authorities who say 95 percent of the land allocated for the zone came from state-owned real estate. The balance would be bought from private owners and there will be no forced acquisitions.

Chinese ambassador Yi said the zone could generate up to 100,000 jobs and benefit the residents of Hambantota as well as the rest of the island.

"In the next two to five years, if everything is OK, there will be about $5 billion of (Chinese) investments in this zone," Yi said adding that 100,000 new jobs were envisaged.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said creating the special area for Chinese investors was aimed to making the debt-burdened Hambantota port viable.

"The Hambantota port was going to sink us (Sri Lanka), but we are now trying to leverage it to create new economic activity and boost growth," Wickremesinghe said.

Last month, the government announced plans to sell part of its loss-making $1.4 billion Hambantota harbour to create a joint venture with China Merchant Port Holdings and help pay off crippling debts.

Negotiations are underway with China Merchant to transfer an 80 percent stake in the Hambantota port on a 99-year lease with an additional $600 million investment to set up gantry cranes and other equipment.

Officials have said Colombo hopes to raise about $1.12 billion from the share transfer to China Merchant and the cash could be used to retire high interest foreign loans.

The new government, which came to power in January 2015, has been trying to renegotiate terms of its $8 billion Chinese debt, which includes the construction costs of the Hambantota port as well as a nearby international airport which is used by only one airline.

The former administration relied heavily on China to build ports, highways and railways as Western nations shunned it over its dismal human rights record. (COLOMBO, January 7, 2017)

52 arrested over clashes in Hambantota



January 7, 2017

Fifty-two individuals have been arrested on charges of violating court orders and damaging public property in Hambantota, during a protest earlier today (07). 

Police said that a special operation continues to arrest other suspects involved, the Government Information Department reported. 

At least 21 people, including three police officers, were injured Saturday in violent clashes between Sri Lankan government supporters and protesters marching against what they say is a plan to take over private land for an industrial zone in which China will have a major stake.

 Police used tear gas and water cannons to try to break up the clashes, which took place as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was attending the opening ceremony for the industrial zone development project, located near the port city of Hambantota.

The clashes began when government supporters and protesters led by the Joint Opposition, who were marching to the ceremony site, started throwing rocks at each other. 

The government has signed a framework agreement for a 99-year lease of the Hambantota port with a company in which China will have 80 percent ownership. Officials also plan to set up a nearby industrial zone where Chinese companies will be invited to set up factories.  

The Hambantota Magistrate’s Court had issued a restraining order yesterday on the protest, saying it could lead to unrest, but the protesters defied it. They had also reportedly extensively damaged public property in the vicinity of the site. -

Islamic State accused of killing dozens in fuel truck attack on Syrian town

Huge tanker explosion kills at least 48, mostly civilians, near market in rebel-held Azaz near Turkish border

A screengrab of a video said to be of aftermath of Azaz attack

Saturday 7 January 2017

At least 48 people are reported to have been killed in a fuel tanker bomb attack on the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz on the border with Turkey.

Dozens were also wounded in the attack near a court complex and market area, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Graphic video footage posted on Youtube showed victims with burning clothes running from the blast.

Huge clouds of smoke can be seen rising from a street filled with debris and twisted metal, while fires burned in several vehicles.

Fourteen rebels were among the dead, but most casualties were believed to be civilians.

Osama al-Merhi, a lawyer who was at the scene of the blast, pointed the finger at IS.

"These kinds of crimes are only committed by the terrorist group Daesh," he said, using an Arabic name for IS.

"They are the ones who target civilians and the cadres who are building this country," he told AFP.

The group said the toll was likely to rise in the attack, which was the latest in a string of bombings to hit Azaz, across the border from the Turkish town of Kilis.

Video purported to be the aftermath of the #Azaz attack. Several sources reporting death toll has now risen #Syria pic.twitter.com/OAQjkgjABB

— Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) January 7, 2017

An Azaz resident who went to the local hospital told the Reuters news agency he had counted around 30 bodies laid out.

Azaz is a major stronghold of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), an alliance of moderate rebel groups whose fighters have, with Turkish military support, pushed Islamic State militants out of the border area.

Turkish news agency Dogon said preparations were being made to receive casualties in Kilis hospital.

The rebels accused IS of being behind that attack.

The group is present elsewhere in Aleppo province and has sought to advance on Azaz in the past.

In November, rebels said 25 people - civilians and opposition fighters - were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel headquarters.

In October, at least 17 people were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel checkpoint, the Observatory said.

The blast comes as a fragile ceasefire is being observed across much of Syria.

The truce negotiated by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey does not include the Islamic State group or former al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

With Russia Threat Looming, Poland Pins Cautious Hopes on a Trump Administration

BY ROBBIE GRAMER-JANUARY 6, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump has rattled U.S. allies with his NATO skepticism and overt fondness of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Poland is nonetheless pinning its hopes on Trump shoring up the military alliance, according to a senior Polish defense official.

That’s in part because the Obama administration’s military initiatives in Europe, if they remain in place, may not be enough to stave off Russian aggression. Poland’s Defense Ministry Undersecretary Tomasz Szatkowski hopes for more when Trump takes office.

Szatkowski would like to see “more strategy behind those projects,” under Trump, “so they are not driven by political symbolism but rather by military necessity,” he told Foreign Policy.

Poland has been the epicenter of a tense standoff between Russia and the West since Moscow invaded Ukraine and drove post-Cold War relations into the gutter. NATO scrambled to respond, dusting off its Cold War-era deterrence strategies and defense planning books in a new standoff with its former adversary.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a bid to reassure nervous allies under Russia’s shadow and shore up deterrence along NATO’s frontlines, agreed to deploy some 4,000 troops on a rotational basis to Poland and ramp up military exercises in the region.

But a permanent presence that does not rotate troops out could carry more deterrent heft, said Szatkowski. And more troops couldn’t hurt, either. Poland is welcoming U.S. troop rotations with open arms, he said, but under Trump, Warsaw “would be glad to see an even more increased presence of U.S. troops in Poland.”

It’s something Poland and the Baltic States have pushed for within NATO for years, fearful of Russia’s military buildup near their borders. Under Obama, the United States pledged a new round of U.S. troops and exercises in Europe under the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI). At a summit in July, NATO also agreed to deploy Canadian-, British-, and German-led multinational battalions to the three Baltic states along with the U.S. troops to Poland.

Conventional and nuclear capabilities are “amassing on Polish borders,” said Szatkowski, particularly in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where Russia packed with high-end military equipment and nuclear-capable missiles in recent months.

But Trump, who said on the campaign trail he may not defend NATO allies if under attack, and promised fresh and friendly approach to Russia once in office, may roll back the ERI and other U.S. military commitments to Europe.

“There’s a sense Trump will bring a more transactional approach to Europe…as he prioritizes de-escalating tensions with Russia,” said Mark Simakovsky, a former Pentagon official who worked on NATO and Russia issues. He told Foreign Policy that Trump could slash U.S. forces in Europe in a bid to repair tattered U.S.-Russia relations.

Some in Europe are sympathetic to Trump’s more realist tack on NATO, particularly given Europe’s laggard defense spending. Only five of 28 NATO members — the United States, Poland, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Greece — meet the alliance’s benchmark of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense.

That has fatigued the United States, says Szatkowski, adding that some NATO allies took U.S. defense guarantees “for granted.”

Poland, a big defense spender, isn’t one of those free-riders. Szatkowski expected this message would resonate in Trump’s White House.

Trump “is aware of our contributions,” Szatkowski said, citing a speech Trump gave to Polish-Americans in September in which he pledged to work with Poland to strengthen NATO. “We expect to be treated as a solid ally.”

Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images