Post-deluge: Forget Megapolis. Focus on Relief, Restoration and Rebuilding 

by Rajan Philips-June 3, 2017

The flood havoc has proved to be far worse than anyone could have imagined. The death and missing toll is now past 300. That includes nearly 50 school children. Kids who like to have fun running in the rain have instead perished in the floods. The list goes on, making finger pointing meaningless. The government invariably is getting the flak, as it must, for by its own admission the ministry in charge of disaster relief was not prepared for this disaster. And the minister in charge was out of the country attending an international conference on disaster. How more disastrous can you get in your public relations? Timing never comes right for this government. The Prime Minister’s pre-arranged medical trip to America could not have come in a worse week. And the President too pre-occupied for ceremonies looked glum while swearing in the second-tier of ministers who were all trying hard to appear smiling. That was Part Two of the cabinet reshuffle.

Disasters are no blessings, in disguise or otherwise. But the period after a disaster provides the opportunity to get right things that went wrong; and to stop going ahead with initiatives with identifiable externalities, whose intended results are uncertain, and whose unintended results could be harmful. The 2004 tsunami disaster presented Sri Lanka the proverbial ‘tabula rasa’ (clean slate) for a fresh start, as the late Fr. Dalton Forbes, the Oblate priest and professor at the Catholic National Seminary in Ampitiya, wrote at that time in a beautiful articulation of the religious understanding of the hand of God and the resourcefulness of humans. The ‘clean slate’, Fr. Forbes had in mind, was for a new political chapter. It was not to be for whatever slate there was, was quickly broken up by the political tom-tom (PTOM) beaters of the day.

Focus on basics, not fantasies

The 2017 flood disaster, to my mind, presents the opportunity for a physical makeover of the country’s landscape and infrastructure, and through the most rational method of doing it to have positive political consequences at the national, provincial and local levels. But it is an opportunity that the present government is not motivated or equipped to seize on its own. Instead, it must be dragged, kicking and screaming, by public opinion and pressure to do what is basic and necessary and not something that is idiosyncratic and farfetched. After the flood affected people are, as far as possible, relieved of their immediate difficulties, the government’s focus must be on basic rebuilding and restoration and not Megapolis fantasies.

It is not necessary to abandon the idea of urbanizing the Western Province. Rather, the idea of state sponsored urbanization must be thought through more thoroughly and its implementation must be systematically broken into phases in terms of time and locations – i.e. spread over manageable time and undertaken in consultation with the different municipalities where developments will occur. Further, against the backdrop of the Meetotamulla garbage mountain and with the experience of the recent drought and current flood crises, urban development in the Western Province and elsewhere must proceed from the ground-up, and not top-down from the deceptively glittering heights of condo-towers.

There is no point building towers for banking or luxury living without checking infrastructure capacities to provide water and sanitary services, address drainage impacts, manage garbage collection and disposal, meet energy requirements, and accommodate traffic and parking. Addressing drainage systematically and consistently could no longer be ignored in the wake of the current disaster. Even the most elaborate drainage system could be overwhelmed by a massive downpour. But at least you will have some control over the runoff instead of having water levels rising everywhere.

There are also economic and social concerns in the rapid development of apartments and condominiums in Colombo and Greater Colombo areas. Remarkably, the Governor of the Central Bank has raised concerns about the over-heating of the apartment building sector, its credit-squeezing effects, and its potential bubble-risks. Remarkably, as well, a major ‘development industry player’ has reportedly ‘rebuffed’ the Governor’s concerns. In mature market societies, market leaders (except the Trumps of the world, who on Thursday brought upon himself universal ridicule, withdrawing America from the Paris Climate Change Accord, along with Syria and Nicaragua) do not usually ‘cross words’ with their Central Banks but take Banks’ opinions for their cautionary worth. Not so in societies, where political connections matter more than market fundamentals for business success. Specific to Sri Lanka, what should be of concern is not only the danger of real estate speculation but also the broader social relevance of an over-heated residential market in Colombo.

Put another way, the Colombo, or greater Colombo, condominium market is out of bounds to the vast majority of people living in Colombo, or the Western Province. The Colombo market is also sustained by a disproportionately large share of national resources to provide the services the new developments will require. The Port City development, or whatever it is fancifully called now, is a case in point, and a huge one at that. As far as resource allocation goes, allocating resources to service Colombo condominiums comes at the expense of the rest of the country. As I have said many times in this column no government worthy has responded to the JVP leader’s very pertinent question, that I paraphrase again: if the government thinks Sri Lanka desperately needs a financial centre, why not build it in the old Fort? That would be economically more responsible and environmentally sustainable than the Port City project.

But WHAT does Sri Lanka desperately need? That is the real question in the wake of the flood disaster and the drought disaster that preceded it, not to mention the huge hangover from the war disaster? How would a financial centre in Colombo help the needs of the country? Bear in mind, Sri Lanka is neither Singapore nor Dubai, socially, culturally, or politically. And there is no economic certainty that, globally or regionally, a third financial centre between Singapore and Dubai is needed or would be viable, and that Sri Lanka is the god-chosen location for it. What the country desperately needs is to heed the warnings of recurring natural disasters and return to addressing its basic infrastructure, hard and soft. That would also make a good deal of economic sense. How is it to be done?

Devolution by validation

It is not only the Western Province that requires urbanization, but also other provinces that need urban services for their cities and towns. More importantly, all the provinces need proactive and preventive measures for dealing with drought, floods and landslides. There is enough information about flood-risk river basins and locations prone to landslides. The NBRA puts out notices of warning about potentially landslide locations. But how is the general public supposed to act on these warnings? And what is the likelihood that everyone gets these warnings, or the weather forecasts announced by the Meteorological Department.

There was some exasperated ministerial musing that the Meteorological Department might as well be closed because no one is heeding its warnings. The answer is not in closing national institutions some of which came into being long before our cabinet ministers were born. The answer is in increasing their effectiveness by establishing institutional connections between the national, provincial and local levels of government.

For example, the national government would take the lead in designing and implementing flood protection measures on flood-risk river basins, while their maintenance and upkeep are best left to provincial officials. All three levels of government will need to be involved in mapping out floodplain and landslide areas, and in regulating and controlling development activities in those locations. It would make rational sense to adopt similarly hierarchical and co-ordinated approaches in providing urban services – from water and sanitary, to drainage, garbage and road building.

This is how things were, albeit in somewhat rudimentary form, during the last years of colonial rule and the first years of independence. What has got derailed since must be put back on track now. The political consequence of involving the three levels government in basic rebuilding and restoration would simply be the experiential validation of the provincial and local levels of government. Such experiential validation may prove to be more successful in silencing the critics of devolution than all the attempts to achieve devolution through constitutional texts. A purely constitutional exercise, without corresponding practical validation, almost always favours its detractors rather than its proponents.

Breaking News: Leader Of The Opposition And TNA Members Visit Flood Affected Areas

JUNE 3, 2017

For the first time since heavy rains caused floods, Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan has visited the flood affected areas today (3rd June 2017) in Ratnapura with this colleagues M.A. Sumanthiran and Mavai Senathirajah.

The floods resulted from a heavy southwest monsoon, beginning around 18-19 May 2017. Flooding was worsened by the arrival of the precursor system to Cyclone Mora, causing flooding and landslides throughout Sri Lanka during the final week of May 2017. The floods affected 15 districts, killed at least 208 people and left a further 92 people missing. As of 02 June, 677,241 people are affected, while 9,432 houses are partially damaged and another 1,735 houses fully damaged.

Read More

Swift response needed for flood relief to minimise the fallout 

Friday, 2 June 2017

With Sri Lanka facing the worst-ever floods in 27 years, the Sri Lankan economy has begun to feel the pinch of climate change. The Government immediately appealed for foreign assistance to recover from the floods that caused an estimated Rs. 300 billion or approximately $ 2 billion worth of damage.

The worst flood coupled with deadly landslides in three decades claimed over 200 lives, damaging a staggering of 35,000 houses, with another 116 missing. Nearly 237,240 people have been displaced from their homes and have moved to 376 ‘safe locations’, including camps, schools, temples, community centres, with host families or in other temporary accommodation.

Unfortunately, the Minister in Charge of Disaster Management was in Mexico attending a conference when all this happened. Surely was he not warned of the cyclone in advance by the Meteorology Department? The Minister had gone to Mexico to give a speech about disaster management when a disaster was happening in the south of the country. Perhaps he should have taken the first flight home to coordinate the relief efforts. 

Flood control 

Time and again both economists and sustainability experts have emphasised the importance of environmental sustainability and flood control. Despite the recent extreme weather patterns the ministry still does not have a state-of-the-art monitoring system to track the weather and water-level around the country.

According to Government sources the current flood has the capacity to have long time effect on numerous sectors of the economy—everything from agriculture to manufacturing to transportation. However, estimating flood losses is a time-consuming process.

Besides the obvious damage to public and private structures, other damages occur that are often hidden, appearing only after a few weeks. Examples include reduced fertility of farmland, weakened structural foundations of buildings, or waterlogged roads and bridges whose deterioration is exposed only during extreme weather. Other factors, such as transportation delays and increased volatility of crop and livestock markets, also must be accounted for and supported to come out of the crisis.

Preparedness

In the past few years we have seen an extraordinary spate of natural disasters and extreme weather, including the collapse of the biggest garbage dump in the country. The economic losses from these events have been considerable: these calamities have cost the economy dearly in terms of lost wages and output, utility disruptions, destruction of public and private property, additional commuter time and transportation costs and hundreds of lives.

Any type of disaster, however, can leave an economic imprint that lingers for years. Therefore we need to be better prepared to deal with it. Because natural disasters typically set in motion a complex chain of events that can disrupt both the local economy and, in severe cases, the national economy.

Calculating the damages of such an event can also be an onerous task because the cost of a natural disaster is ultimately wedded to several factors, and—more importantly—varies by type of disaster. Among the key influences are the magnitude and duration of the event, the structure of the local economy, the geographical area affected, the population base and the time of day it occurred.

Naturally, disasters that affect densely populated areas have the greatest potential for inflicting the most damage. Not only are large numbers of people endangered, but the potential loss to homes, businesses, highways, roads, bridges and utilities is also magnified.

Government response 

Rebuilding and clean-up efforts must be done fast under a capable minister. The crisis can generate temporary increases in retail sales of such items as construction materials and non-perishable items, resulting in prices moving up. Damaged or destroyed goods like clothing, furniture and other household items need to be replaced, and roads, bridges or other structures have to be repaired or rebuilt fast.

A factor influencing the recovery period is the timing and extent of disaster assistance monies from the centre and local governments. Although emergency funds for food and shelter are usually disbursed immediately by Presidential directive, monies for longer-term rebuilding efforts are often appropriated by the government with a substantial lag.

Finally, the percentage of total losses that are insured also affects the recovery. The lower the percentage of insured losses, the greater the dependency the local economy affected becomes on private and Government monies.

In the final analysis, we can no longer be stuck in an endless loop of unpreparedness. However it seems that we have not learned anything during the past couple of years. We still tend to be reactionary knowing very well that being proactive could minimise many of the deaths and damage to property and infrastructure.

(The writer is a thought leader.)

Humanitarian agencies launch Emergency Response Plan

June 3, 2017 

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) on Friday launched an Emergency Response Plan which outlines the support UN agencies and local and international NGOs are aiming to provide to the 374,000 most severely affected people in seven districts; Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Kalutara, Kegalle, Matara and Ratnapura.
 
Immediately after the disaster the Government identified water and non-food items as priority needs. As of 2 June, 19 countries have provided in-kind donations, expert support and funding to the immediate relief operations. As more areas have become accessible with flood waters retreating, the need for emergency shelter, sanitation and hygiene, and health services have also been identified.
 
The Emergency Response Plan complements the ongoing Government-led response, a statement issued by the UN Office in Colombo said. 

It focuses on providing immediate life-saving and protection assistance to communities affected by the floods and landslides; providing emergency livelihood support and access to basic services for the most vulnerable households; and strengthening the resilience of affected communities to cope with, and recover from, the floods.
 
This will be delivered through the provision of emergency shelter and non-food items (NFIs), food security and nutrition support, and water, sanitation and hygiene, health, protection, education and coordination activities.
 
UN Resident Coordinator and Chair of the HCT, Ms. Una McCauley said, “The HCT, with the support of the international community, will continue responding to the needs of those affected by the floods through the implementation of the Emergency Response Plan, paying particular attention to supporting the most vulnerable people in the affected communities.”

Unpreparedness reigned as lives, properties were destroyed

By Namini Wijedasa and Sandun Jayawardena-Sunday, June 04, 2017

Last week’s disasters in several districts of the country highlighted just how unprepared Sri Lanka still is to handle such situations.
The local authorities found themselves with little or no resources–no power generators, no communications equipment, no boats, lifejackets or other equipment essential to deal with flash floods and landslides. If any village-level disaster management or preparedness systems were in place, they mostly crumbled under the weight of the natural catastrophes that befell multiple settlements.

In many areas, it was the military and the various temples that took charge. Ven Puragala Sobitha Thera, the chief incumbent of the Sri Purvaramaya in Gawaragiriya described how he attended to the needs of devotees who moved into the temple. There was no Government support he could speak of.

Baduraliya: Army personnel engaged in relief operations

The village officials were overwhelmed, Ven Sobitha Thera accepted. So he gathered the people around and set about securing provisions for them. The roads were inpassable, not only due to floods, but because of landslides. Even on Thursday, the Army was working to clear the Horana-Bulathsinhala route.
“They were scared and didn’t know where to go, so everyone came running here,” the monk said. “I had no food to give them. I gathered some young people around and told them to bring everything they could from the shops because we didn’t know what other disaster would take place.”

“They keep asking me now when they can go from the temple and to where,” he continued. “The children have no school. If necessary, I will start teaching them here whatever subjects I know. I don’t think the danger will go away. It will only get worse.”

In every village, people have crowded around their temples. Monks give them reassurance, protection and solace. They have hiked up their saffron robes and done everything they can during the disaster.
The danger is not over, officials confirmed, particularly in landslide prone districts. The hills and foothills are unstable and heavy rains will cause saturation and trigger more slips. The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) will conduct investigations within the next few days to identify locations from which families will have to be permanently shifted. But since there is no clear information about rainfall–such as how much and within how many hours–many people have been advised to move into safe locations.

It has long been reported that the NBRO has produced maps categorizing areas as high, medium and low risk. Last week’s landslides occurred in both high and medium hazard zones. “We need to implement recommendations for each zone,” said Senarath Bandara, Director of the Landslide Research and Risk Management Division. Many high hazard zones are heavily populated with houses and these must be relocated.
The NBRO has issued early warnings. But dissemination to grassroots level was not under their purview. As with many previous disasters, a large number of affected people claimed they hadn’t been told to shift.
Ironically, Sri Lanka already has a Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) to cover the period 2014-2018. It was produced with technical assistance from the UNDP. It also has a roadmap, a National Disaster Management Policy and a Disaster Management Plan. And, yet, last week saw 211 deaths, 72 missing and 91 injured due to floods and landslides.

The objectives of the CDPM are listed as building capacity at institutional and individual levels; integrating risk information-based approaches in the development agenda; preventing and mitigating impacts of frequently occurring disasters on life and property; improving coordination of stakeholder groups (public, private, NGOs and others); enhancing response capacity at all levels; adopting an integrated monitoring and evaluation and a reporting system; and effective knowledge management in disaster risk reduction.

But while the plans–and copious amounts of literature–are in place, Sri Lanka continues to fail in implementation.

Disaster response 

by Sanjana Hattotuwa-June 3, 2017

The most obvious disaster around the recent flooding in Sri Lanka was not caused by weather. For the entirety of the height of the disaster, the Minister tasked with Disaster Management wasn’t anywhere close to the areas affected, or even in Sri Lanka. Instead of returning back to the country urgently to deal with a real disaster, the Minister was instead in Mexico, speaking about disasters. News media subsequently reported that on the way back to Sri Lanka, he had also broken his journey in Dubai. No news report to date suggests any degree of contrition. Anger directed against the missing Minister on social media in particular took the form of cartoons, memes, tweets, Facebook posts and a petition to call for his resignation.

The Minister’s absence was a metaphor for the government’s disaster preparedness, which remains, even in 2017, a good idea. Donors supporting various government line ministries, agencies and departments tasked with disaster risk reduction and early warning need to question, scale back or stop funding. The intended outcomes of loans, technical assistance, grants, knowledge transfers and other measures to strengthen the country’s ability to plan for and mitigate the impact of extreme weather are very far from being achieved. This is basic corruption that bilateral and multilateral donors are supporting – for those in relevant government bodies to enjoy the benefits of training, both local and foreign, equipment and funding, with little to nothing to show for it by way of actual work and warning.

Over just the past few years, we have seen this gross negligence leading to the untimely death of hundreds, including children and infants. Tens of thousands have been displaced. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been fully or partially destroyed. This is statistical fact, not conjecture, hyperbole or partisan rhetoric. And yet, not a single official or Minister has taken responsibility and even offered to resign. Not a single Minister who owns, or received and didn’t go on to sell off-road capable luxury SUVs were seen in their constituency taking the vehicles out to help flood relief operations, unlike many citizens with similar vehicles who did. With each disaster, the earlier ones are forgotten. And the circus just goes on.

Social media provides a vector through which citizens, tired of and angry with government, are directly helping others in distress. The communication, collaboration and coordination in response to the flooding this year were mediated over social media to an unprecedented degree. The broad contours of entirely organic movements over social media to provide relief and support are already familiar, starting with the flooding from last year to the drought earlier this year. Some aspects of this are worth noting for at least one simple reason. A government writ large, and disaster management authorities in particular unable or unwilling to tap into, monitor, verify, action and archive this wealth of information is not one that is capable of saving lives.

There is a growing body of research which looks at the role and relevance of social media content in early warning, disaster response and relief operations, pegged to factors like the media used, medium, language, cost, accessibility and volume. All available research suggests the amount of information produced over social media alone, if ingested in a meaningful and methodical manner, can help official disaster relief operations, contribute to early warning and help in mitigation. Sri Lanka is not there yet, by a long shot. What we do find is the use of social media largely by citizens, for citizens – with information flows that go from WhatsApp to Twitter to Facebook in a matter of minutes. From databases around relief and volunteer operations to rapidly updated lists of collection points, from private taxi companies with their apps facilitating boats and even air support services to the hot-wiring of government agencies with crowd sourced Tamil translation capacity, social media plays a critical role in disaster response entirely independent of government.

This year, Facebook and Twitter played a visibility larger role than with the flooding that gripped the country last year. The hugely successful donation campaign of lunch packets at the Fort Railway Station was facilitated over social media in general, and Facebook in particular. Facebook is now a viable vector into key demographic groups across geography, and importantly, primarily in Sinhala. The communication of and collaboration around relief operations using Facebook has clear implications for information flows far beyond disasters, including, importantly, information flows leading up to a referendum. The same can be said of Twitter. 28,237 tweets were produced in just one week around the response to flooding using four key hashtags on the platform, #floodsl, #floods17, #floodsl2017 and #slflood.

Twitter India published, for the first time around any major disaster in Sri Lanka, a list of key accounts including civic media, journalists, the Disaster Management Centre and the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the height of the flooding, Twitter produced well over two tweets a minute with one or more of the hashtags archived, which is for our country an unprecedented volume. Information on Twitter was so important and timely, guides were published on how to get vital updates published by for example the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) on Twitter alone over SMS to any mobile phone, using any network.

The DMC, waking up from deep slumber, stepped up their use of social media. Ordinary citizens, not anyone government, helped with the verification of their Twitter account, thereby raising the credibility of their content. Collaborating with the Gudppl initiative helped DMC publish life-saving information. This was in Tamil also, and not just in English or Sinhala. They asked those affected and others to send in photos of affected areas, which were published on a web based map. They publicised WhatsApp groups linked to relief operations. They engaged with enraged citizens over Twitter, and put out content in a carefully curated manner, which though late to begin with, was much appreciated. Social media was also responsible in flagging the role and selfless actions of government officials, even as their Ministers, Heads of Agencies and Departments and the official systems failed them miserably. It seems that in the absence of any sort of official recognition, social media is all they have to vent their frustration with what lies beyond their control, and be praised for doing what they can.

Particularly because of the violent and divisive antics of Gnanasara Thero just one week prior, a number of social media updates, with compelling entirely citizen generated photography, focussed on how religion and ethnicity played no part in determining relief and recovery efforts. This content went viral. Those in government tasked with reconciliation were encouraged to archive and showcase this content in the months ahead, to combat the rise of what remains a festering, unresolved issue over the hate and dangerous speech produced by the BBS, with near complete impunity.

Other questions remain, from the technical to the practical. Government agencies publishing life-saving information, even in 2017, continue to use proprietary, closed formats that lock in vital information, instead of opening it out. Disaster reporting itself remains a casualty. The mainstream media including social media focussed on deaths and destruction, which is understandable. But there is little to no focus on underlying causes for these disasters, save for the simplistic reporting around rainfall. Deforestation, environmental devastation, lack of disaster risk reduction in urban planning and indeed, ill-advised urban development and other related issues simply go under-reported, at best. Every time, the disaster itself generates headlines and hand-wringing, but what contributes to it, never does. It is unclear to what degree the DMC, which got the capacity to work in Tamil during the flooding, will retain this capacity. Above all, will government takes accountability seriously?

At a basic minimum, a government that expects to remain in power and win a referendum needs to ensure citizens don’t unnecessarily die. This isn’t rocket-science. It’s basic common-sense. Tellingly, not only does it elude those in power, they don’t really seem to care.

Death toll from floods, landslides rises to 211

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Death toll due to the adverse weather condition has risen to 211 today the Disaster Management Center said.

Furthermore, 91 individuals are still missing and the number of individuals affected has risen to  704,815.

Search and rescue missions are underway.

Disaster response needs an active National Council, not a dedicated Ministry 

Friday, 2 June 2017

Ministers may get photo ops but local action is what gets the jobs done – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

Floodscaused by heavy monsoon rains have not receded yet. This flood happened in the wake of another major flood just one year ago, and there is a feeling that the Government was not adequately prepared.There are even calls for the resignation of the Minister for Disaster Management.

Resignation of ministers will not solve the problem. Disaster management is not something one ministry can do. In my opinion, we don’t really need a ministry for disaster management. But in Sri Lanka or in most developing countries, governing requires redundant ministries to keep various faction and/or individuals happy. I am happy to look the other way and not complain about cost of such redundancies, if the President and the Prime Minister find ways for these ministries to coordinate, particularly in cases like managing disasters or solid waste disposal, both of which affect people intimately and mean life and death situations for some.

Thefoot soldiers of disaster response are the DivisionalSecretaries who are best able to coordinate warning and reliefefforts, local authorities who have the physical resources like tractor-trailers and other equipment, Grama Niladaris who can provide village level coordination and local volunteers or local volunteers of organisations like Sarvodaya. Armed forces too always come forth with their support. Ministers may get photo ops but local action is what gets the jobs done. National agencies have a coordinative role to play, but we need to carefully scrutinisethe functions of the national organisationsto see whether they are structured properly for supporting these local efforts.

In an ideal world, an implementing arm which should preferably located under one Ministry responsible for all ‘home affairs’ including decentralised functions of the central government carried out through District Secretariats and Divisional Secretariats. Unfortunately agencies which should be together are dispersed like candy to children, beginning with 50 cabinet portfolios and state ministries and deputy minsters in each. In this column I argue for a re-empowering of the National Council for Disaster Management.

50 ministries when 16 would do

In September 2015, in the euphoria of a change in government, I wrote that the proposed cabinet though big has possibility of organising itself under 16 broad areas to be effective.
“The increase of ministerial portfolios from 30 to 48 in the context of a national government has caused consternations all around. During the Rajapaksapresidency we had to watch with resignation the endless parade of ministers, including a minister for botanical gardens, being sworn in. Civil society seems to have forgotten how close the country was to a continuation of the Rajapaksa presidency to several decades or more. The victory of the present President in the presidential election of January 8, 2015, where an unlikely combination of opposition forces ran against a seemingly unassailable incumbent, is stranger than fiction indeed. Having juggled to secure the Presidency and then to form a minority government in the general election, the President and Ranil Wickremesinghe are engaged in a tight rope act of governing, the likes of which we have not seen before. In consideration, I suggest we cut the government some slack and see how we can build efficiency, effectiveness and accountability within the 48+35=83 Cabinet which seems to be our destiny at this point [FT, Sep 9, 2015, http://www.ft.lk/article/467757/Making-sense-of-the-48-portfolios-in-the-new-Cabinet].”

I identified 16 core portfolios using the cabinets of USA and Singapore as benchmarks and organised the Ministries under that core of sixteen. Home affairs was one such core portfolio.

Five ministries for home affairs when one would do

In the present Cabinet, the home affairs related agencies are distributed across no less than five ministries –Internal Affairs, Home Affairs, Public Administration, Local Government and Provincial Councils, and Disaster Management.

The table liststhe agencies as assigned by gazetteNo. 1933/13 of September 21, 2015, to the five different ministries.The Ministry of Disaster Management, for example, has the Department of Meteorology and the National Building Research Organizationwith technical capacity for disaster warning and three other organisations with policy making and implementation responsibilities.

Of the latter three policy and/or implementing organisations, the National Disaster Management Council looks important on paper but there is no evidence of activities in-between-disasters by that council.

National Council for Disaster Management in name only?

The website for the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM) claims to be the supreme body for disaster management in Sri Lanka under the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act No. 13 of 2005. The President is the Chairperson of the National Council and the Prime Minister is the Vice-Chairman, and over 20 ministries along with Chief minsters of provincial councils are listed as members. The list of ministries given on the websiteis an old list left over from the Rajapaksa regime and the site does not seem to have been updatedsince 2015. The Disaster Management Centre announced the other day that the Council met to make decisions, but is that all we expect of such a council?

In contrast, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India is a tight organisation which serves as the Council and Agency both.The Ex-officio Chairman of the board of the agency is Prime Minister and he is supported with up to seven technocrats with expertise in areas such as, planning, infrastructure management, communications, meteorology and natural sciences. The agency is housed in the Ministry of Home Affairs and is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices and coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management. The day-to-day management of the agency is overseen by the office of the Vice Chair who is a senior politician.The structuring of Sri Lankan council with its unmanageable number of ex-offcio members should be reconsidered in light of this much tighter Indian counterpart.

Future of disaster Management

In the final analysis, we need to go beyond blaming ministers, but look at the structural limitations of their portfolios. Ideally,we would have a maximum of two home affairs-related ministries, and threeto four current ministerswould resign insisting that the President amalgamates the ministries as one or two home affairs ministries, but that is not going to happen.

In the current political realities what we need is a more effective national council chaired by Prime Minister or President and manned by a few critical ministers and supported by team of professionals. Such a council cannot stop torrential rains or avoid any disaster-related death, but it can set realistic targets for performance. For solid waste management too we would need a similar council with performance targets. More on that next time.

Anura Priyadarshana Yapa (UPFA) Minister of Disaster Management	National Disaster Management Council
	Disaster Management Centre
	National Disaster Relief Services Centre
	Department of Meteorology
	National Building Research Organization
Vajira Abeywardena (UNP) Minister of Home Affairs	All District Secretariats
	All Divisional Secretariats
	Department of Registrar General
S.B. Nawinne (UNP) Minister of Internal Affairs, Waymba Development and Cultural Affairs	Department of Immigration and Emigration
	Department of Registration of Persons
	Department of Cultural Affairs
	Department of National Museum
Ranjith Maddumabandara (UNP) Minister of Public Administration and Management	Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration
	Distance Learning Centre Ltd
	Department of Pensions
	Public Service Pensioners’ Trust Fund
	Productivity Secretariat
	Public Service Commission
Faiszer Mustapha (UPFA) Minister of Provincial Councils & Local Government	Local Loans and Development Fund
	Sri Lanka Institute of Local Government

VIPs risk their lives by taking AF helicopter rides

Jun 03, 2017

VIPs who use Air Force helicopters for inland travel are at the risk of their lives, as being talked about following the crash of an AF helicopter during the floods. 

As a result of the allocations for AF training being curtailed, safety checks of its helicopters and daily training of the pilots have been affected, say AF sources. Due to this, the preparedness of the AF has suffered. The president too, has been advised by those closest to him to stop taking helicopter rides. Thereafter, the president has instructed that immediate attention be paid to the matter and the condition of the AF helicopters be looked into.

 

When contacted, a top AF official said funding for the training has not been curtailed as claimed. However, there are situations when the allotted money was not adequate, he said. AF spokesman Group Capt. Gihan Seneviratne declined to comment.

 

Parakrama Dissanayake – Sathhanda

Transfer of High rung police officers - first move to suppress IGP and Narcotics high ups implicated Pilyandala murders : Sagala stooping or sleeping ?

(Lanka-e-News - 03.June.2017, 11.30AM)  The chief of the anti Narcotics division DIG Kamal  Silva who should be arrested and questioned in connection with the shooting incident at Piliyandala in which   an officer of the Narcotics division was murdered , two other officers  including IP Rangajeewa of the same division  sustained serious injuries, and an innocent civilian child died,  has been instead given a transfer.  8 more DIG’s and three senior DIG’s too have been transferred .

Kamal Silva was transferred to the crimes and vehicles division . It is obvious this is in fact to further suppress the Piliyandala shooting incident .

Lanka e news from the very inception reported that the Piliyandala shooting incident happened with the knowledge and consent of the anti narcotics bureau police  high ups and the IGP. Unbelievably , even after  Sagala Ratnayake  the minister in charge of the police gave orders to the IGP to hand over the investigation to the STF chief and furnish a report within 3 days to the minister  , until today the IGP has not carried out that order.  

The IGP neither did he  entrust the investigation to the STF chief, nor   did he  at least hand over the investigation to the CID. From the beginning the anti narcotics bureau conducted the probe , and thereafter the organized crimes division which is a close ally of the IGP conducted the investigation. Now Kamal Silva has been transferred to the crimes division within the organized crimes division as its chief. 

If this minister has any sense of shame ( how can he have any shame when he is born only to stoop)  , when  the IGP under him disobeys , either he should have  sacked the IGP or he should have resigned . On the contrary what this ever stooping spineless minister did was , while accepting the lame excuse of the IGP that the latter’s subordinates did not give him a report , remained silently  like a beaten dog.

The  Piliyandala shooting incident which claimed the life of a police  officer, and critically injured two others is a serious  crime with grave portents threatening the entire country .  Hence  that should be seriously probed into by the government , yet the response shown by  the minister in charge and the law enforcing chief in this connection are most repulsive , repugnant and reprehensible . 

It is well to recall Lanka e news reported four days prior to the shooting incident that Nasar the informant who took the anti narcotics division officers to the scene is not above suspicion and  is a notorious drug dealer . Besides he is  a bosom pal of Kamal Silva as well as  IP Wijesekera who is an extremely close friend of Kamal Silva.

We also exposed on the same day that Nasar was invited by Kamal Silva  and released after questioning , and by now Nasar has been dispatched abroad. 

Today we reveal more shocking  details  …

On the day of the shooting incident , IP Wijesekera (Kamal’s sidekick) a bosom pal of Nasar did not report for work. Wijesekera in fact did not return to work until  Nassar was secretly sent out of the country  . He  came back to work  some weeks later only  after dispatching Nasar out of the country . Kamal Silva and IGP are not unaware of this.

If they are not behind these plans and  plot , why was Nasar who should be arrested , only questioned and released ? The most ridiculous part of this enacted drama is , arrest of  a boatman on the grounds  that Nasar fled the country by that boat. In that case , is it not  DIG Kamal Silva who should be first arrested for releasing Nasar after questioning ?
 
Though this crime is being  sought to be dismissed as one committed by the underworld criminals , it is the considered opinion of Lanka e news and the weapon specialists this was carried out by an individual who is well trained in weaponry for a long time , and who knows to use the T56 weapon like a fork and spoon. Among the underworld criminals , there are no such experts with such training. It is the view  of the specialists that this is the job of a hired assassin from the forces.  However the sights of IGP and Sagala are fixed on a different direction.

Although Sagala is unable to fathom it is the chief of the anti narcotics division Kamal Silva , his henchman IP Wijesekera and IGP Poojitha who should be fully accountable for this melodrama (enacted) , any other two legged donkey would easily understand this . 

Among  the transfers effected on the 2  nd , is Sasi Medawatha alias  S.C. Medawatha DIG who has been transferred as the chief in charge of the anti narcotics division. In any case , a Director has still not been appointed to the anti narcotics division.

The former Director was Kamal Silva. The latter earlier , even after his promotion to DIG post ,  continued as DIG anti narcotics division as well as its acting  Director  . In the history of the Police department , such appointment was  unprecedented. 

Now , though a new DIG has been appointed , a Director has not been appointed to that division. SSP Siyambalapitiya  is only performing duties as acting Director.

Based on Poojitha’s recommendations , the following transfers were  approved by the National Police Commission 

1.Senior DIG Jagath Abeysirigunawardena –
From Senior DIG , Council service to North Central province and Wayambe province as senior DIG
2.Senior DIG R.W. Wijegunawardena – from Wayambe province to the Council service of senior DIGs
3.Senior DIG K.E.R.L. Fernando – from special protection district to Northern province as senior DIG.
4.DIG P. Munasinghe – from Sabaragamuwa to special protection district as DIG
5.DIG R.L. Kodituwakku – from the IGP’s staff division to Sabragamuwa as DIG
6.DIG S.C. Medawatha – from DIG recruitment and training  to Anti Narcotics division as DIG
7.DIG P.P.S.M. Dharmaratne – from Jaffna district to DIG recruitment and training as DIG
8.DIG W.K. Jayalath – from Galle district to Matara and Tangalle as DIG
9.DIG Priyantha Jayakody – from Crimes and crime intelligence to IGP’s staff division as DIG
10.DIG K.P.Fernando – from transport  to Jaffna district as DIG
11.DIG I.H.K.W. Silva (Kamal Silva) from anti narcotics division to  crimes and vehicles division as DIG
12.DIG A.H.M.W.C.K.Alahakoon from Matara and Tangalle districts to Galle  as DIG 

By a staff member of  Lanka e news inside information division 

Connected reports ..
IGP koloma (eccentric) is now a ‘pain in the neck’ –govt. instructs Poojitha to resign honorably; he has dispatched prime suspect in Narcotics murder out of country !
Gunning down Narcotics Rangajeewa: result of a conspiracy of the Police top brass ? -Poojitha disobeys Sagala’s orders and suppresses investigations

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by     (2017-06-03 06:15:41)

The Charade Continues

By Emil van der Poorten –JUNE 4, 2017

Emil van der Poorten

We continue to be assailed with what can charitably called “bilge” from the so-called mainline media of this country. If one is to believe what our newspapers have to say, all’s well in the kingdom in which our own particular brand of Buddhism is ensconced.

A Dickensian, “Bah. Humbug!” is truly the most appropriate response to this given the fact that it’s so divorced from the reality that the average Sri Lankan experiences.

Among the issues that one cannot but view with cynicism, is the refusal to prosecute any of those from the last marauding horde against whom there is more than a prima facie case. Most see this issue as being at the top of that particular list.

In a previous column I made reference to one business magnate whose reach now covers even the manufacture of automobiles with the overt blessing of Ranil Wickremesinghe who laid the foundation stone for his new plant.  If this is, in fact, the biggest display of political naivety in recent Sri Lankan history, the man guilty of such an oversight has no business deciding the fate of every Sri Lankan man, woman or child, either alone or in tandem with Maithripala Sirisena.

I have had personal experience and observed the behaviour of at least one of these leading lights of the current regime which I described at the time as “genuflectory” insofar as the Rajapaksas and their acolytes were concerned. I have been given no reason to revise that opinion since.  Some things never change even if the locations and backdrops do.  Once a sycophant, always a sycophant, particularly when there is financial benefit to be reaped irrespective of who has their hands on the levers of power.

However, the great unwashed of this country have neither the capacity nor the desire to be subjected to financial chaos which we and our descendants will be paying for through the generations.

I remember asking an old friend with significant media connections how Ranil Wickremesinghe, then only the leader of the UNP and not co-leader of the government, could overlook the behaviour of some of those closest to him who were materially assisting the MR1 (Mahinda Rajapaksa) lot while still, supposedly and officially, opposing them and was told that Mr. Wickremesinghe “had no problem” with such behaviour.  I found that hard to swallow then and find it harder to digest today. How on earth can anyone identifying officially with a broad coalition of Sri Lankans trying to restore democratic practice in our country countenance the very opposite?  This is simply hunting with the hounds of that time and running with the hares of today.

I didn’t then appreciate what this kind of permissive philosophy ultimately meant but an increasing number of citizens of this land are being afforded the opportunity, “up close and personal,” if you will, of seeing that philosophy in action and what it means to everyone who calls this land home sans the benefit of the not-inconsiderable financial rewards for such unprincipled, unethical and undemocratic practices.

I will make no apology for the fact that I am back to my old message: “there can be no viable democratic governance without an adherence to a code of principles, ethics and morality that leaves no space for self-seeking equivocation.”

Let’s see this government prosecute even ONE of the last gang of bandits who robbed us in every known manner, and then some.  Even if our courts are full up to the gunwales with wrong-doers of various varieties, there is no excuse for not launching even a SINGLE prosecution against a SINGLE of the major miscreants.

However, perhaps the response of one of Ranil’s leading lights to the question of why no action whatsoever has been taken against, probably, the biggest thug to lend his muscle in support of the MR1 gang in the hill country provides appropriate illumination.  He told me, with a straight face no less, that this individual had “done no wrong!” 

Apart from anything else, one thing the emergence of the MR2 (Maithripala-Ranil) coalition had done was give some in their ranks the capacity to spout this kind of blatant nonsense with a straight face.

But then this is the same government that contains, in its topmost echelon a Minister with responsibility for Buddhism and Justice whose defence of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s marine enterprise spoke for itself and who did not express anything resembling condemnation while a mosque in probably the largest single Muslim community in Sri Lanka was desecrated and worshippers murdered there.  Given that track record, one might as well have been whistling “Dixie” as expecting some concrete action from him with regard to the very recent violence against mosques and those who worship in them in the North Western Province.

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Three Killed, But Brigadier In Turkey For ‘Bravery’

Rathupaswela Shooting Incident

by Nirmala Kannangara-JUNE 3, 2017

Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardena

The Brigadier who has allegedly ordered the contingent of army personnel to fire live bullets to disperse the Rathupaswela peaceful demonstrators had been sent to the Sri Lankan mission in Turkey two months after the incident, as a reward for his ‘bravery’ in aiding and abetting the then administrators, it has been revealed.

Brigadier Suriya Arachchige Don Anura Deshapriya Gunawardena alias Deshapriya Gunawardena was sent to Turkey in October 2013 for two years in order to ‘protect’ him from the Rathupaswela shooting incident which killed three civilians including two school boys and caused grave injuries to more than fifteen including one retired army officer.

During the Rajapaksa regime, it became a trend to post those who helped the regime to suppress the parties that rose against them to Sri Lankan foreign missions abroad. To name a few, Warrant Officer 1, Premananda Udalagama from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) who was accused in Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder was posted to the Sri Lankan Mission in Germany while army intelligence operative Major Bandara Bulathwatte was posted to the Sri Lankan mission in Bangkok in 2010 but was later withdrawn. Former IGP Mahinda Balsooriya who was accused in Katunayake Free Trade Zone shooting incident which killed Roshen Chanaka was posted to Brazil soon after the incident.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) re-opened the Rathupaswala case after the fall of the Rajapaksa regime, took three army employees a sergeant, a corporal and a soldier – Dingiri Arunage Sirisena, Jayasundara Mudiyanselage Thillakaratne and Lalith Gray into custody in April for their alleged involvement in the Rathupaswela shooting. It is now learnt how a contingent of army personnel fired live bullets to disperse a crowd who demonstrated asking for pure drinking water and the closure of a factory that discharged untreated chemical waste which caused the contamination of the ground water. “The army cannot come to disperse a crowd unless there is a request from the Divisional Superintendent of Police (SP) or above that rank, the respective District Secretary or the President of the country. When the Divisional SP and his superiors and the Divisional Secretary says that they did not request the army to come to Weliweriya to disperse the Rathupaswela demonstrators then who had asked the army to come there?” defence sources who wished to remain anonymous queried.

The ‘B’ report submitted to Magistrate Court Gampaha by the CID

Control a riot

According to the sources, although the suspects claim that they came to control a riot, there was no riot at Rathupaswela. “As claimed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), if there was a riot the protestors should have caused damages to public property or killed civilians for the army to shoot at them. What the protestors did was to block the road but still allowed the vehicular traffic and demanded pure drinking water. Even if there was a riot, the army can only fire below the waist but not to the head. Two of the three that died had sustained injuries in their heads. The third victim died due to assault injuries. Who gave orders to Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardena to order his men to fire live bullets towards the demonstrators? If Brigadier Gunawardena really wanted to control the situation, he should have called the Weliweriya police that was only a few metres away from the area of incident to come with tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protestors. They should have used rubber bullets to scare the people but not live bullets. The army now claims that they took action against these protestors under Section 138 of the Penal Code. Section 138 of the Penal Code does not call a peaceful protest that did not carry any deadly weapons, a riot, but only an unlawful gathering that is not armed with deadly weapons or with anything which can be used as a weapon of offence that can cause death,” sources said.

Under Section 138 of the Penal Code, an assembly of five or more persons is designated an ‘unlawful assembly’ if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is –

(i)    to overawe by criminal force or show of criminal force, the government of the republic or the parliament or any public servant in the exercise of the unlawful power of such public servant or

(ii)   to resist the execution of any law or of any legal process or

(iii)         to commit any mischief or criminal trespass or

(iv)  by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to any person, t take or obtain of any possession of any property or to deprive any person or the public of the enjoyment of a right of way or of the use of water or other incorporeal right of which such person or public is in possession or enjoyment or to enforce any right of supposed right or

(v)   by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to compel any person to do what he is not legally bound to do or to omit to do what he is legally entitled  to do or

(vi)  That the persons assembled or any of them may train or drill themselves or be trained or drilled to the use of arms or practicing military movements or evolutions without the consent of the President of the Republic.

It is alleged that the order to silence the protestors who protested against a rubber glove factory owned by the then Secretary Transport Ministry and Rajapaksa confidant Dhammika Perera was given by those who were ruling the country.

Dipped Products PLC a subsidiary of the Hayleys Group was accused of discharging their chemical waste to the trench untreated. As a result the ground water over the years became contaminated and according to the villagers, the area public health inspectors (PHI) have wanted the villagers not to use the well water as it causes many severe diseases. The water contamination deprived more than 10,000 families any access to clean drinking water.

Well water contaminated

“The area PHI warned the people not to use well water even for cleaning purposes. The PH level in water has dropped beyond 4.4 which are harmful to the body. When residents in and around Rathupaswela consumed this water the throat and the esophagus got irritated and when used for cleaning purposes the people got skin rashes s,” a resident in the area said.

Meanwhile Jayasuriya, another resident of Nendungamuwa said how the army arrived after dispersing the Belummahara protest and stated firing at them at Rathupaswela on August 1, 2017. “There were two large protests – one in Balummahara and the other at Rathupaswela in Weliweriya. The army had first gone to Balummahara protest that was blocking the Kandy Road. While we were protesting in Weliweriya, we came to know that the army was assaulting the protestors in Belummahara. It was around 5.30pm. A few army officers came in motor bikes and army vehicles. They were accompanied by a senior officer whom we did not identify at that time but later came to know that he was Brigadier Desahapriya Gunawardena. No sooner they came, they started firing into the air and without any warning started shooting at the street lamps to bring the entire area into darkness,” Jayasuriya a villager alleged.

According to Jaysuriya when the army started firing, most of the protestors had run to the nearby St Anthony’s Church where the army had followed the protestors and had started firing live ammunition to those who were taking refuge there. They threatened the people and forced the people to kneel down on the church grounds and started assaulting them with bicycle chains, clubs and rifle butts. Meanwhile the army had prevented the people from taking the injured to the hospital. “We have seen how military personnel attack people in films but saw a real military assault only on August 1, 2013,” Jayasuriya said.

According to the ‘B’ report the CID submitted to the Gampaha Magistrate Court, Koralagamage Melan Chinthaka Perera a retired army corporal in his statement given to the CID had stated as to how the then OIC Weliweriya and the other police officers wanted the demonstrators to hold the protest peacefully but not to disturb the traffic and the police officers bears testimony as to how they protested peacefully till afternoon.

Attack by the Army

Chinthaka Perera’s statement further stated as thus, ‘When we were protesting, few villagers came and said that the army was attacking the protesters  near Belummahara Junction to which I said that it cannot happen as the army has no authority to assault peaceful protestors. Around 5.30pm an army platoon arrived with Brigadier Gunawardena and had threatened the journalists who were covering the incident to switch off the cameras. When the Brigadier asked the people to stop the protest the protestors had stated that they will not stop it unless a solution was given to the people. That made the army personnel to fire at a tiled roof in the close proximity. This prompted the people to stone the army and in return the army had fired towards lamp posts to bring the area into complete darkness. Since I assumed that army will never shoot unarmed men I went further ahead and raised my hands and wanted them not to shoot at us. When I was pleading with the army not to shoot us, I was shot at my right thigh. The people in the area took me to the Gampaha hospital and had to undergo an emergency operation. After five days I was transferred to the National Hospital and had to undergo a thigh bone transplant. I was hospitalised for four months. If the army goes to control a riot, they should take a doctor and a lawyer with them. Unless the army personnel are given approval, they never shoot at civilians and I believe these shooting took place on the instruction of the officer who accompanied the army. It is regrettable to say how the SLA on August 1, 2013 treated me. I am yet another army personnel on premature retirement due to injuries sustained in the battle field and the army made me a disabled person on that day ’.

Meanwhile Jayasuriya said as to how the army chased 17-year-old Akila Dinesh who was about 200 metres away from the main Kaduwela- Balummahara main road and shot at him.

“While they were chasing Akila they broke a CCTV camera fixed to a house knowing that their ‘brave’ actions would be recorded. After breaking the CCTV camera, they fired at the street lights and then chased away the people shooting all over,” Jayasuriya claimed. Shamil Ravishan Perera had been shot about one hour after the protestors were dispersed.

“Now the army claims that they used the minimum force to disperse the crowd. If so what would have been if they used the maximum force on that day,” Jayasuriya added. According to the ‘B’ report filed in courts, there was no evidence to prove Brigadier had ordered the army personnel to stop firing at the civilians.

The villagers meanwhile accused the army for attacking the unarmed villagers who were protesting for their rights but not taking any action against the Dipped Product PLC for releasing chemical waste from the factory. “Because it was owned by a Rajapaksa confidant the factory was given protection while the unarmed civilians were shot at,” he added.

Meanwhile in his statement, Romesh Sanjeewa Peiris had stated how the army was seen collecting the used cartridges the following morning to clear the area. “When I went towards Weliweriya around 7.30am, the following day I saw how the army personnel were collecting the used cartridges in shopping bags while another group was cleaning the blood stains that were all over the road. What made the army to remove the used cartridges and wash off the blood stains that were all over the area?” Peiris has said in his statement.

Sriyantha Udara Perera a former UPFA member of the Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabhawa and Nilantha Perera a former UNP member of the Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabahwa in their respective statements to the CID also had stated that it was Brigadier Desahpriya Gunawardena who ordered his men to shoot at the crowd when they asked time to leave the locale they were holding protest from morning.

Although the eyewitnesses say as such, Brigadier Gunawardena had told another media institution that he was not in the scene when the firing took place as he was at the Weliweriya police to get his mobile charged.

Signaled the Army to fire

“There is evidence to prove how Gunawardena received a call on his mobile a few minutes before the shooting started and how he signaled the army men who were carrying guns with live ammunition to fire. Now the army claims that the CID is carrying out witch hunting. If there is no evidence to prove how can the CID take action against the army officers or even against civilians. It was the army under Brigadier Gunawardena who had made a Rtd. Army personnel a disable on August 1, 2013 at Rathupaswela. If the CID are conducting investigations and arrest ‘war heroes’ on a personal agenda, why cannot the accused come and file action against the CID. Most of the suspects who were taken into custody by the CID in the recent past are now on bail. Why don’t they instigate legal action against the CID for arresting them for allegations in which  they were not involved. They cannot do it as they know the CID is well armed with the necessary evidence against these ‘war heroes’ the defence sources said.