Priorities in tackling garbage and counter-terror

Cartoon of the day

Sunday, April 23, 2017

The law and the Constitution are of relevance not only in regard to sensational struggles between the citizen and the State when the security of the country is said to be at stake. Instead, when we refer to the breakdown of the Rule of Law, this is also reflected in the most mundane failures of ordinary civic life.

Deliberate subversion of the law

And the point here is that, in Sri Lanka, the failure does not occur as a result of incapacity or lack of knowledge. Rather, it is through the deliberate subversion of the law, knowingly colluded both by those who rule and those who are in the opposition.

As those in Meethotamulla mourn their dead amid the ignoble spectacle of garbage trucks being turned away from suburban locations by infuriated residents fiercely chanting that they do not want ‘Colombo’s dirt’, the extent of this crisis becomes very clear.

For years, efforts at various levels with some initiated in courts of law themselves have been frustrated through this diabolically clever subversion of the law. Several judicial orders delivered in regard to evolving efficient and cost effective ways of waste disposal have been disregarded by local and municipal authorities with ease.

Focus was on ‘beneficial’ foreign assistance

In one such instance seven years or so ago, the Municipal Councils of major cities in the country were called to account before the Court of Appeal in regard to the environmentally healthy disposal of waste and garbage. At that time, such a catastrophe as that which occurred at Meethotamulla would have been the farthest from anyone’s mind. Yet even at that point, the dangers emanating from a corrupt process of waste disposal was a matter of public concern.

As I recall at the time, the focus was on foreign collaborations rather than using local resources or enterprising solutions offered by Sri Lankans themselves. The unwritten rationale in preferring that approach was very clear. Massive financial resources were involved in such ‘collaborations’ in regard to which a hefty percentage ‘disappeared’ into the pockets of local politicians and corrupt public officials.

Certainly putting the blame on this Government alone for this fiasco is not equitable. That said, those who came to power two years ago on a platform of ‘change from the past’ cannot merely bleat that the problem has been thrust upon them by the inept performance of their predecessors.

Refraining from ‘cut and paste’ solutions

This is true of other instances where equally strong public unease has been evidenced. In several previous columns, the problems still inherent in Sri Lanka’s draft Counter-Terrorism Act (CTA) in the context of the forthcoming consideration of the EU GSP Plus trade facility in the European Parliament were discussed. Here too, as in the case of a proposed new tax regime which is apparently a ‘cut and paste’ proposal put forward by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) borrowed from another country at the other end of the world, there is palpable agitation.

In both instances, the emphasis ought to be not on tabling troubling versions of these laws due to IMF or EU imposed deadlines. Where the CTA is concerned in particular, the Government should immediately present the official version of the draft to the public and open up a discussion process in regard to its contents.

The continuingly intrusive nature of the powers that the CTA proposes to give police officers in relation to broadly defined ‘terrorism related offences’ and the ambiguous refusal to give a suspect prompt access to legal counsel were examined before in these column spaces.

Issuance of Detention Orders (DOs)

But quite apart from the above, it is extremely problematic that the draft gives the power to issue preventive detention orders (earlier in the hands of the Secretary, Defence) to a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).

This power comes into play is on an application made by an officer in charge (OIC) of a police station. Both criteria are immediately susceptible to abuse. The conditions on which such a DO can be issued are vague. The DIG need only be satisfied that reasonable grounds exist for belief that an offence has been committed in terms of the law. On that basis, the suspect can be detained to be questioned or to be available for further investigations. Detention periods can be up to four months without the suspect being charged.

This clause flies in the face of all the lessons that we have learnt through the abusive use of this power in the past. Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), such preventive detention provisions were applicable for longer periods of time and gave rise to the most egregious abuse of detainees.

Failures of magistrates not addressed

Even under the PTA, a suspect can complain to a magistrate of ill treatment at the hands of either the police or any other person while in custody. But this right was rarely availed of since suspects are constantly under a real threat of retribution at the hands of those who supervise their incarceration.

In many instances, magistrates also do not take strict action against accused state officers in order to protect those implicated. There is no reason to think that this pattern of ineffective judicial supervision will change now.

This is aggravated by reason of the fact that though on several instances, the Supreme Court itself has reprimanded magistrates for failure to exercise judicial discretion properly, no further action has been taken. Legal precedents are to the effect that these failures of judicial discretion are not amenable to the fundamental rights jurisdiction of the Supreme Court since Article 126 limits jurisdiction to executive and administrative action.

The absence of stern consequences in this regard is unfortunate. As a result, collusion on the part of some judicial officers in the endemic culture of torture that exists in this country has not been effectively deterred at any point.

Solutions tailored to this country

In deciding policies ranging from garbage to tax or to counter-terrorism, the issues are distinctly identifiable. Solutions must be tailored to this country rather than ‘borrowed’ from elsewhere.

If the Government does not realize this fact even now, the days of its existence are surely numbered. Perhaps the sight of increasingly angry voters out on the streets protesting against the infliction of garbage into their living environments due to the actions of corrupt politicians and equally corrupt municipal officials may finally wake the leaders of this unity alliance to a sense of their own impending destiny.

Government should question the former president about critical statement on national security to the foreign media – Chameera Perera

Apr 24, 2017

Addressing the press conference held at CSR Left Centre Co-convener Chameera Perera criticized the former President Mahinda Rajapakse’s statement on national security and urged government to take immediate action to question the former president about critical statement on national security to the foreign media.

“If the former president failed to describe the reason about the failure of national security network he would deliberately destabilizing the government. During his period he has taken action to arrest the Asad Sali on his statement given to India about national security. Therefore we urge government to apply the same theory to former president and question him.”

 “The former president exposed to the media he was unable to solve the Meethotamulla dumping garbage issue due o the war of the country. We believed that former president under the amnesia condition as he forgot the war was ended in 2009 and Meethotamulla dumping Garbage Mountain started in 2009 under his regime with the court order given disgraced former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva,” said Perera at the press conference organized by the COC (Citizen Organizations Collective)

Chamara Nakalanda, convener of Parapuraka Balaya said government should follow the proper scientific method rather than following out dated process like open dumping.

Photos and reported by Lawrence Ferdinando

A Note On The Potential Risks & Negative Implications Of The Proposed Foreign Exchange Bill

By Chandra Jayaratne –April 24, 2017

Chandra Jayaratne

From the Perspectives of the Government, the following are the Key Components of a Check List for Assessment and Validation Prior to Enactment of the Bill;

Does the Bill in its present form, post enactment;

1. Advance the Delivery of Election Promises of the Government? ie. Promote the delivery of sustainable and inclusive macro economic growth and monetary stability, attracting new foreign and local investments, creating new job opportunities, encourage technology transfers and reverse brain drain, advance good governance, rule of law and justice processes, advance transparency and minimize corruption and waste?
2. Become a key enabler of the governance capability to meet the current and future challenges of the emerging socio political and economic environment and effectively manage potential emerging risks?
3. Become a priority reform facilitation pillar in the governance structure and in meeting the set of key delivery objectives of the government, including any planned strategic initiatives in the governance yet in the pipeline eg. Key economic zones, offshore financial city operations, infrastructure and associated legislative reforms etc.?
4. Have lessons from the past (local and foreign) been taken cognizance in the bill?
5. Be acceptable in terms of International Conventions and benchmarks and best practice standards looked up to by international agencies, funding institutions and foreign investors?

For the undernoted key reasons, it appears that the Bill in its present form fails to meet the assessment bench mark criteria listed above;

1. This Bill, along with the

1. proposed laws and regulations governing key economic zones, foreign investments, off shore financial city operations, and connected policy framework and associated incentive structures,
2. proposed provincial and regional development and state infrastructure development policies and incentives
3. framework for public private partnerships, laws and regulations governing state procurement and associated procedures for major capex and revenue spends,
4. laws and long term policy framework  applicable to land and  labour,
5. principles and proposed  reforms governing taxation, customs and excise,
6. other key administrative reforms advancing ease of investment and doing business, and
7. legal reforms including those addressing minimizing laws delays and perceived high levels of bribery, corruption and waste

should have been published as white papers and green papers and adopted by parliament following transparent intellectual and stakeholder debate and thus this Bill not seen as a standalone priority in governance advancing any specific interest groups.

2. Introducing the reform Bill in the back drop of

1. Low country credit ratings
2. A looming debt crisis
3. Possible higher levels of early exists by foreign bond and equity market holders
4. The option of rollover of foreign debt being in an environment of high risk premiums
5. In the midst of an IMF Extended Fund Facility
6. Some high level announcements of inward private fund transfers and significant foreign direct investments not being realized
7. Financial market credibility negatively impacted by purported high level conflicts of interests led bond scams
8. Media highlights of possible high level money laundering and market manipulations and resultant financial institution failures

Read More

Diving into the concerns of high cost of living

Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Advertisements were seen in super markets during the New Year festivals, offering discounts for rice though there were concerns about the escalation of rice prices a few months ago, that led the government to impose an administrative price ceiling for rice. Generally, the cost of living is a hot topic during the festive season.

Though the criticism about the high cost of living is often directed towards the Minister of Finance, the minister is not directly in charge of controlling it. The Ministry of Finance can however, indirectly influence the general price level in the economy through its fiscal policy (of the Government) which involves the Government changing the levels of taxation and government expenditure in order to influence the Aggregate Demand (AD) and the level of economic activity. Sri Lanka has been running a budget deficit (spending is higher than the income) since independence. Historically, the Government had to rely on deficit financing options which were mostly expansionary, thus had contributed to the increase in the general price level (known as inflation) in the economy.

Sustained increases in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time is known as inflation. The Central Bank of the country is responsible for controlling inflation (general level of price) in an economy. The Central Bank employs monetary policy to manage inflation. The key monetary policy tool used for this purpose is the interest rate; the price of money. The Central Bank controls the money supply and thereby inflation by changing the short term interest rates, known as policy interest rates.

Sri Lanka had a history of high domestic inflation. Fiscal policy used to overshadow monetary policy paving the way for high level of inflation as seen in the first panel of Figure 01. The fiscal policy is not a policy of the Ministry of Finance; it is the policy of the Government. The Ministry of Finance is the arm of the Government in charge of implementation of the fiscal policy. The budget deficit in 2015 was higher due to the time lag in the implementation of the discretionary fiscal policies after the assumption of office by the new Government.

The continued efforts of the Government in fiscal consolidation has started yielding positive results in 2016. Tax revenue collections increased, as a result, the budget deficit shrank to 5.4% of the GDP. Despite the continued criticism, the negative impact of the fiscal policy on the monetary policy has thus begun to negate. Apart from the impact of indirect taxes though base effects on the pricing level of the economy, the influence of fiscal policy on inflation via expansionary fiscal policy continues to decelerate.

The monetary policy has been proactive during the last two years since the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has focused on its core function; price stability. In response to the tight external environment, the high credit growth experienced in the economy and its possible impact on the inflation outlook, the CBSL has revised upwards its policy interest rates four times since January 2015. In addition, there was increase in the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) to absorb the liquidity out of the system and to curb its pressure on price. This has resulted in a steady price level in the general economy.

The CBSL monitors a reference range for inflation and appropriate policy action is initiated whenever the inflation measure tends to move outside of the said range. Apart from appropriate policy action to keep the inflation in check, the government has adopted several key measures such as administered pricing for energy and main food items to control the cost of living.

Though inflation measured by the consumer price indices remains in check, the debate continues about the disparity of the inflation measures and the general price level of the economy. There are often complaints that those inflation measures don’t reflect the true price changes in the economy. Hence, it should be appropriate to look at the price escalation of essential goods since 2015.

Figure 03 provides a comparison of the retail price of a set of essential food items required for day to day life. While understanding that the list is not a comprehensive list, it is a reasonable representative sample of daily essentials. The price information about key essentials contained in figure 03 confirms the inflation data.

Conclusion

The concerns about the cost of living during the festive season are not unusual as it impacts the purchasing power of the people. The monetary policy of the CBSL since 2015 had focused on its core objective of managing domestic inflation.

While there could be disparity in the inflation measures due to differences between the items contained in the basket used for inflation measurement and the perceived consumer basket, especially during the festive season, the comparison of the price level of essentials during last two years confirms that there is no serious deviation in observed price level. It appears that the criticism about the increase in cost of living under the new Government is largely unwarranted.

(The writer is a CFA

charterholder with local and international capital market experience and a former Fund Manager at the Employees Provident Fund of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.)

Garbage politics and bigger political issues

2017-04-25

The government is reportedly considering bringing garbage disposal under a centralized authority and to legislate a law on garbage recycling. In the meantime, untended rubbish is piling up by the road side. Garbage is not funny business. A year or so back when rubbish piles heaped up in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon in the midst of a grinding power struggle that left the government rudderless, it was viewed as the most conspicuous sign of the state failure. Perception is sometimes far more powerful than reality. We hope our government would manage to clear up the mess before people, perhaps prematurely, take it for a failure and react accordingly.   
Successive governments in this country have been reactive, rather than been proactive. It comes as no surprise thatthe incumbent has chosen to act only after the disaster struck. However, there is another point. Had it not been the tragedy on the new year’s eve, it would not have been easier for even a simple decision on a central authority for garbage to be mooted; there would have been a lot of protests from various interested parties. That is not an exaggeration. Take for example the opposition to a proposed law to streamline power generation to avert a looming power crisis.   

The proposed Energy Supply (Temporary Provisions) Bill seeks to vest in the National Policy and Economic Affairs Minister wide powers in respect of “generation, transmission and distribution of an adequate supply of electrical energy, petroleum and other alternative energy requirements to meet the national demand for the next decade on emergency basis.” Industry insiders fear without adequate action, Sri Lanka would face crippling power cuts. However the bill has been opposed by the two line ministers who allege that they would be powerless if a proposed energy committee mooted under the bill is set up. That may have a grain of truth. However, a potential power crisis is definitely worse than pricking the egos of the two ministers. However, in our political culture and political institutions, any national plan has also bargain with minor details such as the above.  

We tend to blame the politician for policy paralysis in the country. However, politicians are a reflection of the political institutions of the country and vice versa. Both are also a reflection of a wider political culture and societal development levels. Those institutions have their advantages as well as handicaps. For instance, while Sri Lanka’s political institutions and the culture might have prevented an Idi Amin highjacking the state power and declaring himself as a president for life, they have also prevented anyone doing a Lee Kuan Yew and harnessing state power to develop the country. Thus the restraints exercised by various agencies at various levels on the affairs of government though had their positive impact, also had their unintended negative consequences.   
The recent history of international political economy would reveal that development of political institutions and economic modernization are not necessarily interlinked. In fact the countries, such as those in East Asia that were successful in economic modernization, followed an authoritarian path of modernization. Their representative political institutions developed only after they reached a certain point of economic prosperity.   

"Whereas countries like ours, which inherited colonial, quasi-representative political institutions-which were further empowered down the line -- were later beset by often overly feuding, competitive dynamic among those various institutions"

Whereas countries like ours, which inherited colonial, quasi-representative political institutions-which were further empowered down the line -- were later beset by often overly feuding, competitive dynamic among those various institutions.  A constitutional state is restrained not just by the checks and balances among the executive, legislature and judiciary. Those checks and balances run both horizontally and vertically, across all state agencies. Sometimes too many restraints on the government cause policy paralysis, which, while advanced democracies can afford, are ill-affordable for countries like ours that have an urgency for faster economic growth. Economic impact of some of those restrictive legislations was not felt much during the early decades of the independence mainly because we followed the flawed Statist economic policies, which were anyway bound to fail. However when the government now tries to harness the economic opportunities, constraining influence on the government capability exercised by those antiquated institutions is felt. The government’s efforts to reform them are also confronted by predictable resistance. For instance, provincial councils shoot down the proposed bill for a Super Ministry that was intended to coordinate development activities.   
There is another point. In our euphoria for constitutional reforms and devolution, we disregard the implications on economic development by the potential fragmentation of state power. It is now grudgingly accepted that the provincial councils themselves cannot even manage the garbage produced within their precincts. Under a system of devolution of power, how they handle more intricate economic matters is a case for serious concern. It is convenient to argue that with more power devolved to the periphery, the provinces would manage their own business. However evolving efficient institutions and pooling competent people and resources to achieve those tasks is far more difficult than devolving power through legislations.   

This however should not be misconstrued as opposing devolution of power to the North and East. Since the Tamil political elites have persistently demanded for self- determination at varying degrees over the decades and created enough trouble for the rest of the country, it would be in the long term interest to accede to at least some of those demands, though whether those constitutional provisions would help development needs in the North is a totally different story.   
The bigger problem however would be instituting that potential political stalemate in the other seven provinces as well, since an asymmetric devolution of power would be resisted by the Sinhalese majority, who would fear that it would over time lead to a separate state. However, our provincial councils are white elephants. They are so not because they lack enough power, but because they do not have competent people who can build and run efficient institutions. Nor can Sri Lanka comprising of a largely rural and vernacular educated population fill that vacuum easily.   
What Sri Lanka needs right now is centralized state institutions that can pool its limited competent human and other resources in a hierarchical structure that reaches out from the Centre to the provincial/ district levels. However, our political imperatives have yet again overridden our developmental imperatives. Yet, there will always be room for a balancing act. The stench of uncollected garbage in Colombo should now remind the policymakers and public alike about the need to strike that compromise between two competing imperatives.  

Follow RangaJayasuriya @RangaJayasuriyaonTwitter  

Lack of political will stymies garbage management in South Asia 

Soldiers use an excavator to dig through tonnes of rubbish to look for victims after a 91m-high garbage dump crashed on homes in Kolonnawa, Colombo, on Friday, leaving at least 19 people dead. The authorities said the death toll would have been much higher had most residents not evacuated their homes because of heavy rain before the disaster happened.PHOTO: REUTERS

Frances Bulathsinghala, Colombo, April 23, 2017

Concealed from privileged city dwellers, tucked away from posh tourist resorts and invisible to policy makers are the rubbish dumps in the cities of South Asia. But the thick wall of apathy cracked on April 14 when a 300 ft high mountain of garbage, allowed to build up for years in the low-lying Colombo suburb of Meetotamulla in Kolonnawa, came crashing, killing at least 33 persons, destroying 98 homes and displacing 600.

The local people saw this as ‘murder’ rather than accidental death. They had warned the authorities of such a disaster, had protested for years against the open dumping of garbage but the protesters were silenced by arrests and imprisonment.

Until the disaster struck, 1500 tons of municipal waste from the capital city were dumped in the Meetotamulla area occupied mostly by a low-income group. The fact that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had to wear a face mask when visiting the site to offer his condolences for the deaths that occurred, showed what the people had to endure for years.

Meetotamulla families were assured that no more garbage would be dumped in the area. But when garbage was taken to other areas like Kotikawatte, another Colombo suburb, people protested. As a result, a gazette notification was issued making garbage collection an essential service and prohibiting protest against garbage disposal.

The government has promised a new garbage disposal policy which will prevent the recurrence of such tragedies. The country however is struggling to implement its existing policies. A recent rule stated that garbage segregation is to be the responsibility of each household. This only led to garbage lying uncollected for days in some elite locations of Colombo because the residents of those areas did not want to sort their rubbish.

 

A commonality across South Asia is that almost all countries have some ‘policy’ pertaining to garbage collection and hygiene maintenance of the cities. Yet, what exists on paper as policy gets knotted up in confusion and tardiness at best and inaction at worst. Garbage collectors are not paid adequately whether in Sri Lanka, India or the rest of South Asia.

 

There is a dire need to modernize the garbage removal process and provide dignity to the labour, thereby preventing garbage collectors from handling trash with their bare hands as is often done. The scant regard for an adequate buffer zone around landfills is another universal problem in South Asia where encroachment and urbanization are major challenges.

 

Also Read: Lanka investigates garbage collapse tragedy as public anger seethes

 

A key question to be asked is why the agricultural economies of South Asia do not consider composting their garbage. At least 70% of the solid waste of the region are organic, as highlighted by a 2011 ADB report titled ‘Towards Municipal Organic Waste in South Asia.’

Compared to rest of the region, the largely non-consumerist Bhutan seems to have a clear vision. It aims to be a zero-waste country by 2030 by prioritizing composting. This is on par with its policies relating to environmental protection with 72% of the country being under forest cover and approximately 60% categorized as protected areas. Bhutan banned plastic in 1999, re-enforced the ban in 2005 and 2009 for better practical measures, and further discouraged plastic under its waste prevention and management regulation of 2012. Although the country faces a resource constraint in monitoring public compliance towards its policies, Bhutan is ahead of the rest of South Asia. It has a political and national will to pre-empt disaster before it strikes.

India, the second most populous country in the world, last year revised its solid waste management policy of 2000, stressing on composting and civilian responsibility. But still un-sanitized open garbage mounds abound.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests in India in April 2016 statement pointed out that of the 62 million tonnes of waste generated in the country annually, 5.6 million tonnes are plastic waste and 0.17 million tons are biomedical waste.

According to the statement which quoted Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, of the 43 million tons per annum that is generated only 75 to 80 % get collected and only 22 to 28 % is processed and treated. According to Javadekar waste generation in India is expected to increase from 62 million tonnes to about 165 tonnes in 2030.

The Hindustan Times in a 2016 February article titled Gone to waste: How India is drowning in garbage, points out that a common problem of landfills is that people live in close proximity with many of the old dumps not having buffer zones. The waste left to rot in the three Mumbai dumps of Deonar, Mulund and Kanjur Marg have created higher incidences of respiratory and skin diseases, dysentery and poisoning among the people living around the dumps, the Hindustan Times noted.

In dealing with the scourge of plastic, India had taken concrete steps in January 2017, banning all forms of disposable plastic in New Delhi, prohibiting the use of plastic cutlery, bags and other plastic items.

Nepal banned plastic bags in July 2016. In a significant step, plastic bag manufacturers who gave up plastic products to start eco-friendly enterprises were told they will have to pay only 1 per cent customs duty.

Although Pakistan introduced a ban on the manufacturing and usage of plastic in 2015 its actual implementation is seen as weak. In Maldives, a public campaign kicked off in 2016 to ban plastic bags by 2020. According to the Maldives Customs Service, in 2015, over 66 million bags worth over MVR 17 million were imported, with most of the bags ending up in the ocean.

In Sri Lanka, plastic has a free rein in the form of plastic bags, lunch sheets and plastic bottles, which are used daily in over-abundance. A key issue faced in South Asia is that recycling has not been incorporated in the national ethic. Although there are diverse private recycling initiatives, many of them unique, they are mostly at a micro level and need to tie up with large industries. India seem to have the most advanced Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling, with around 90% of its PET waste recycled, according to a study done in 2016 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – National Chemical Laboratory (NCL).

Meanwhile, the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan in a report published in August 2016 warned that Pakistan’s solid waste management problem was assuming ‘crisis proportions’ equating it to be on par with tragedies that have afflicted Karachi over decades, such as crime and terrorism.

“In neighbourhoods across the city — from the enclaves of the elite to the sprawling urban slums — there are mounds of garbage piling up everywhere, with the provincial government and municipal authorities at sea about how to solve the problem,” the newspaper stated pointing out that there is no reliable data about the amount of solid waste the metropolis generates on a daily basis. Estimates have suggested that it runs into thousands of tonnes. State-sponsored cleanliness drives have produced no lasting results, the newspaper noted.

Nepal, a key tourist destination of the region, lacks a cohesive system that will prevent the country from being a virtual open garbage dump. Technically and financially constrained municipalities are still practicing roadside waste pickup from haphazard mounds of trash.

Similarly, the Maldives, a haven for foreigners, is slowly being lapped up by the tides of garbage which is washing up its beaches and threatening the country’s main income source of tourism. In Maldives, the politicization of waste management policies, which gets scrapped after a shift of political power, is a major problem.

The disaster of Healthcare Waste Management in South Asia 

If the garbage disposal in South Asia is bad then even more horrendous is its lack of planned medicinal waste disposal.

A 2006 research paper by C. Visvanathan & Radha Adhikari on Healthcare Waste Management in South Asia points out that healthcare waste is recklessly disposed into the municipal solid waste landfill or open dumpsites in most South Asian countries.

It further points out that mushrooming clinics and health centers, often unregistered, have created environmental havoc by disposing bio-medical waste irresponsibly, contributing to the spread of communicable diseases. Waste management, even in government hospitals, is less than satisfactory, it notes.

In Bangladesh where around 255 tons of medicinal waste is generated in the capital of Dhaka, only a few hospitals have onsite management systems such as waste segregation, burning, burial and autoclave, Visvanathan & Adhikari point out in their report. Solid waste, saline bags, and non-sharps are disposed of in an improper way exposing waste pickers who sort this waste and sell what could be recycled, to injury and sickness.

In Sri Lanka although regulations have been gazetted by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), stating that improper disposal of clinical waste is an offense, it remains as a problematic area in practice with few local strategies adopted to manage clinical waste in a cost effective and speedy manner.

A 2010 report in the State run Sunday Observer newspaper in Sri Lanka focusing on the now infamous Meetotamulla garbage dump and the rag pickers of the area, point out how hospital waste and human intestines are found in the garbage.

“Stepping on to the garbage dump and walking through the stinking rubbish is like walking through hell. 

The rubbish with left-over eatables, plastic items, zinc sheets, paper, clothes, hospital wastes, e-waste, dead carcasses and human internal organs are strewn all over,” the article noted.

It further described the realities of the dump in reference to hospital waste: “A truck load of rubbish enters the site. Most of the scavengers stop digging and run behind the truck. Alavudeen too runs after it…According to Alavudeen.

Lanka’s steel traders in massive tax fraud

Apr 24, 2017

Nearly Rs. 5,000 million (Rs. five billion) of tax income is reportedly lost to the state due to a massive fraud in the local steel industry. Reliable sources say the manufacturers do not pay the Nation Building Tax and the Value Added Tax, but the relevant authorities ignore complaints due to the various gratifications they are receiving from the manufacturers.

The fraud relates mainly to reinforcing bars, whose monthly sale is around 45,000 metric tons. According information we have, for each ton sold, a two per cent NBT and a 15 pc VAT have to be paid, but the sellers mention a mere 30 pc of the actual sales in their documentations.

 

The actual sales translate into a required tax payment of more than Rs. 550 per month, but only nearly Rs. 250 m is paid, causing an annual loss of close to Rs. 3.6 billion. In addition, sales figures of steel cage and L-angles etc. too, are manipulated to deny nearly Rs. 120 million of taxes. Furthermore, the income tax is calculated according to the manipulated figures, and in all more than Rs. five billion of tax money is lost to the state.

 

Our investigation also revealed that the manufacturers also use substandard raw materials, with reinforcing bars being produced mainly using locally available steel, not the imported steel as required. For the removal of colluviums in the steel, they use machinery powered by sludge, not the costly electricity-powered ones.

 

Sathhanda

More bribery scandals surface after our exposure of Bribery demanded from Recycling Companies by Isuru and Champika ! President’s secretary demands $ 20 million saying it is for president and his son

(Lanka-e-News -24.April.2017, 6.40PM)  Following the exposure by Lanka e news which champions  the cause of truth , justice and national interests come what may , regarding  how chef minister Isuru Devapriya’s wife demanded Rs. 3 million US dollars as bribe from a Canadian Co. , and minister Champika Ranawake through his subordinates demanded  3.5 million  US dollars from an American Co., we are deluged with information about how the officials of good governance government too demanded kickbacks .

One of those most deplorable, disgraceful  and despicable incidents involves , Miyuru Bashitha Liyanage , the parliamentary affairs co ordinating secretary from infernal burning hell, of president Maithripala Sirisena asking a bribe of US dollars 20 million from a Company citing  Daham Sirisena the son of the president , and that amount has to be paid  to the latter through his son.

The shocking  incident and its lurid  details are as follows :

Since 2012 , various companies of countries of the world had been from time to time making project proposals to the Sri Lankan government pertaining to embellishment  of the streets with powerful LED bulbs instead of the traditional bulbs now used.  Since during the corrupt nefarious reign of the Rajapakse brigand  , all project proposals were controlled by the Rajapakse family groups, the broker role in this LED project was played by Himal Hettiarachi the son of Mahinda Rajapakse ‘s late elder sister . All LED projects had to be channeled through his Co. by the name of Chesmi Consolidated .

Except for two Companies that agreed to give the illicit commission demanded by Himal’s Co. ,all the other companies abandoned their idea after refusing to pay the commission demanded  , and left the shores. The two Companies remaining were : LS Communication and  Semielectrical Lanka Co.  Believe it or not , both these were companies that were not capable of producing even candles let alone LCD bulbs.  They were only brokers. 

At present there are about 800,000 street lights in the country , and among them only about 500,000 lights have been fitted legally. The balance have been fitted illegally to suit  the needs of provincial councilors .

Finally , the two Companies that are brokers agreed to pay the massive  commission demanded by Chesmi Consolidated group of Himal Hettiarachi , and to launch the LED project.  

This company of Himal Hettiarachi  comprised of  a Korean national  and Srinath Perera who had returned to the Island after working in Korea as a laborer. This agreement was reached towards the end of 2014 , and fortunately for the country , on 8 th January 2015 ,  the corrupt perfidious Rajapakse brigand was  thrown out lock, stock and barrel on the votes of the people. 

Thereafter ,the same companies that agreed to give the commissions , some time later started their underhand negotiations they were accustomed to with the new government . In the new wheeler dealer activities , it was Miyura Bashitha Liyanage the president’s parliamentary affairs secretary who is facilitating the deal.

Miyuru Bashitha who knows nothing about LED or any other technology however is an expert in commission collecting techniques . He has demanded US $ 20 million to obtain the cabinet approval .  Bashitha has said , a share of the 20 million dollar commission is to be given to president through Daham Sirisena. Finally , Bashitha was paid a bribe of 1 million dollars as an advance.

 After Bashitha ‘s palm was greased with this sum , he had begun exerting intense pressure on  all the relevant Institutions to secure the approval . Bashitha has informed  all the Institutions this is president’s project , and to grant the necessary approval.  

On one of these occasions ,when Bashitha was exerting pressure on the finance ministry , the officials have told him to directly communicate with  the relevant  minister himself. Bashitha ‘the great’ Lilliputian basking in president’s glory or so he claims  has told them , he would even transfer the minister out , and get his needs attended.

In the past , it was Bashitha who after bribing the media coolies ensured distorted reports were published that the finance minister is going to be removed from his portfolio. That was  with the motive to daunt and upset the finance ministry officials with a view to achieve his traitorous goal and foul aims. Unbelievably , one unscrupulous media coolie who collected Bashitha’s kickback went as far as to splash the spurious news of  the transfer out of finance minister as headline news.

 Bashitha from infernal burning hell through his machinations and maneuvers has  already  progressed quite far in his efforts to grant the project to aforementioned Semilectrical Lanka Co. and Korean Telecom Co. ignoring tender procedures. If Bashitha’s villainous anti national aim and objective are accomplished , the country will lose over US dollars 100 million! 

When the Parliamentary  divisional   monitoring select committee for power and energy summoned Bashitha before it  during the recent past , the latter told the parliamentarians and the officials , not to object to this project ,as the president has entrusted him with the task  of enlightening the select committee on it. Owing to these  bold  utterances of Bashitha implicating the president , all are of the opinion that President is indeed providing support to these shady  deals.

May we recall Lanka e news in its earlier report revealed Miyuru Bashitha’s most despicable and deplorable activities to the detriment of the country selling the president’s name . It was exposed how he was forcing the female officers to yield to  his requests , as well as the pressures he was bringing to bear on the criminal investigations now under way against Rajapakses. 

It is a pity , the president who won elections on solemn promises of replacing a lawless corrupt government with  a government of good governance along with  honest officers rallying around him , has instead , so far  taken into his fold only all the crooked goofs and goons as his secretaries who are experts only in the sphere of  guiles and guises for personal gains . No wonder the country is stymied in its efforts to extricate itself from the economic morass driven into by the past corrupt , criminal and lawless Rajapakse regime  .

If the president does not take measures against Bashitha and his rackets , the pro good governance masses who steered him to power will have no  option except to conclude that the president and Dhaham Sirisena have in fact requested a bribe of US dollars 20 million through Bashitha . It is therefore the responsibility of president Maithripala Sirisena to clear the atmosphere , and prove he is  not involved 

( These two photographs herein clearly depict the difference : President himself opens and holds the umbrella but his corrupt secretary Bashitha Miyuru is unable to do that . Henchmen do that for him. Whither Sri Lanka ?)  

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by     (2017-04-24 13:36:30)

Ending Ragging in Sri Lanka’s Universities

2017-04-25

A house, several kilometres away from the Peradeniya University, where students were ragged

It is a familiar cycle. An incident of ragging makes national headlines. Reactions of shock and horror follow: “How could this happen?” “Aren’t these the educated in our society?” and so on. There are calls for legal action. And then it ends. Ragging goes on, the cycle continues, and the question remains: why can’t we end ragging in our universities?

Ending Ragging in Sri Lanka’s Universities.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

How Namal Rajapaksa made Akkarayan Tank bund dreadful

Apr 24, 2017

Akkarayan Tank is a major reservoir situated at Akkarayankulam village in Kilinochchi. There is evidence that during the previous royal regime, this place was a popular holiday destination of prince Namal Rajapaksa. A tent was seen at that time regularly near the tank, and on most occasions, accompanying Namal in the trips was Sri Ranga.

Built in the 1960s, Akkarayan Tank was a scenic holiday location that boasted of an unblemished environment. After getting to know about the place, Namal started building a bund there. A travel along this bund will show how much of money had been wasted on it. It is so narrow that not even two vehicles can pass. Without any protective barrier, the bund slopes into a ditch. The dam that was started to allow excess water to flow away remains unfinished.
 
Akkarayan Tank is yet another example of how the Rajapaksas wasted public money and pocketed huge commissions on the pretext of development projects. It is also a silent proof how they had tried to amass money by making use of natural resources in the north and the east which they had heavily militarized.
 
Everybody knew about the close friendship Sri Ranga had with the Rajapaksa family at the time. Wikileaks has revealed the friendship between Namal, Sri Ranga and Douglas Devananda. Elected to parliament from the UNP at the 2010 election, Sri Ranga previously held positions at Shakthi TV. Later, he facilitated the EPDP, Karuna faction and other paramilitaries that had operated through Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in the north and the east to extort money from businessmen. He gradually became a friend of the Rajapaksa family. In cable messages, the Rajapaksas categorized Sri Ranga as a person who needed great protection.
 
By a special correspondent