Pressure mounts on Karu to intervene:
Malik, Wimal, Keerthi demand release of PTL payment list

Secy to Prez accused of suppressing info

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By Shamindra Ferdinando-June 1, 2018, 10:40 pm 

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema has urged Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to release a list containing names of 118 recipients of funds from tainted primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries (PTL) or companies affiliated with it, if such a list existed.

In a letter dated June 1, 2018 addressed to Jayasuriya, the former UNP Chairman explained that how he, too, was being vilified in the social media as one of the beneficiaries.

Samarawickrema sent a copy of his letter that had been copied to Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC and IGP Pujith Jauasundera to The Island.

Samarawickrema said that he, under oath, had assured the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that he didn’t receive any money from PTL or companies affiliated with it.

Samarawickrema sought Jayasuriya’s intervention close on the heels of National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa’s call to release the list when parliament resumes sittings next Tuesday (June 5). In a letter dated May 31, 2018, Weerawansa pointed out the existence of the list containing the names of 118 persons, including MPs that had not been presented to parliament. The MP asserted that allegations pertaining to PTL funds had humiliated the entire parliament.

Weerawansa told The Island that the Speaker could not turn a blind eye to the developing crisis.

Fresh crisis erupted after tainted MP Dayasiri Jayasekera, having admitted receiving a cheque in July 2015 from Walt and Row Associates, affiliated to PTL alleged that there was a list containing 118 names. Subsequently, civil society activist Keerthi Tennakoon alleged that among those who had benefited from the disgraced business group were 16 MPs representing the Government and the Opposition.

Tennakoon is on record as having said that among those recipients were professionals, civil society activists and religious leaders.

Tennakoon yesterday alleged that Secretary to the President Austin Fernando was making a bid to secure the help of the Attorney General to suppress the list.

Tennakoon told The Island that he was denied an opportunity to secure the list under the Right to Information Act or from the National Achieves.

Tennakoon said that his original allegation that a big chunk of the CoI report that had not been submitted to the parliament had been proved right. Subsequently, it had been revealed that over 5,000 pages hadn’t been submitted to parliament, Tennakoon said, pointing out how parliament was deceived.

There had never been a corruption case that could be compared with the treasury bond scam, Tennakoon said, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration could not deprive the public of their right to know the truth.

Tennakoon flayed the government for not taking action on the CoI recommendations submitted several months ago. Yahapalana leadership should be ashamed of their failure and brazen attempts to shield those who had benefited from the PTL as it would further aggravate the crisis, he said.

Sri Lanka launches ambitious programs to revive private investment and boost rural economy 

Fri, Jun 1, 2018, 08:21 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

June 01, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government this month will launch several ambitious programs to drive the country's future growth by stimulating private investment and boosting the rural economy.

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera revealed that as a near term economic activity the government has designed a multi-pronged strategy and 'Enterprise Sri Lanka', a loan scheme to stimulate private investment in small and medium enterprises or even large businesses is a one key component of this strategy.

"Our new approach avoids short term consumption booms through artificial fiscal and monetary stimulus. Instead the Enterprise Sri Lanka loan schemes focus on targeting credit on concessionary terms to drive investment domestically, which will generate growth today and in the future," the Finance Minister said addressing a business forum held to introduce the programs on Wednesday.

The Enterprise Sri Lanka scheme offers attractive concessionary financing to stimulate investment and expansion by entrepreneurs, SMEs, and even large business.

On 22nd June 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will ceremonially launch the Enterprise Sri Lanka loan schemes at the BMICH.

According to the Finance Minister, these schemes will target the most productive investment sectors. It is private enterprise that is created and expanded through these programs which will drive Sri Lanka's future growth, he said.

"Stimulating such domestic private investment will create jobs, innovation, and will enable economic expansion across the economy," the Minister said. "This will no doubt result in multiplier effects which will create dynamism for the value chains that your companies operate in as well," he told the business community.

In addition to the revival of private investment driven by Enterprise Sri Lanka, it is necessary for the state to invest directly in the rural economy, Minister Samaraweera said adding that towards this end, the government will also be introducing the rapid rural infrastructure investment scheme, GAMPERALIYA.

Gamperaliya program will include the rehabilitation of over 22,000 rural tanks which will have a major impact on agricultural productivity and agricultural incomes that have suffered during the previous droughts.

A "Haritha Udyanaya" or a "Green Park" will bring the ancient Athenian concept of nourishing one's body, mind and soul to the village. Wi-Fi enabled Haritha Udyanaya will have a building with a library, gymnasium for the young and old, men, women and a roof-garden for meditation, Yoga and other religious spiritual activities. Places of worship in the village will be repaired and the village schools will get playgrounds.

The government will also invest in the development of rural roads, rural markets, and other public works worth of Rs. 80 billion. These measures will collectively inject more cash into the rural economy which will help improve economic activity and kick start broader consumption across the country in a sustainable manner.

The Gamperaliya scheme will be the primary focus of the government's economic agenda over the next 24 months. The first Gamperaliya exhibition will be organized in Monaragala on 16th August 2018, followed by Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

The government is planning a series of exhibitions across the country to take the message of Enterprise Sri Lanka and Gamperaliya to the people.

Minister Samaraweera commented that whilst Sri Lanka's pre-colonial past was one of, robust global trade and entrepreneurial engagement, in recent decades the country has retreated into a protectionist, neo-socialist mind-set.

"Our people have become accustomed to waiting for government jobs and handouts whilst entrepreneurship has been relegated," he said adding that the proposed exhibitions will create a platform to change this mind-set.

Along with introducing the loan schemes and their features, the Enterprise Sri Lanka exhibitions will provide a platform for guidance, training, and mentorship for potential entrepreneurs. It will create opportunity to connect their business ideas with markets and larger companies in the ecosystem.


"The government must take the lead in driving this change in mind-set to enable Sri Lankans to take their economic destiny into their own hands. We must work together to rekindle the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation that thrived in the hearts of our ancient forefathers. The Enterprise Sri Lanka and Gamperaliya Exhibitions will lead the way in taking this message to the people," the Minister said requesting the support and commitment of the business community for the venture for the betterment of Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans.

Gamarala and disciples bypass cabinet in corrupt Rs.20 billion tender ! Commanders duped; Is there a government at all ?

(Lanka-e-News- 01.June.2018, 11.30PM)  The approval sought via the cabinet paper that was tabled on the  22nd  by president Pallewatte Gamarala who is the defense minister pertaining to the corruption tainted Rs. 20 billion tender concerning the supply of food supplies to the three forces was not granted on the 22nd and postponed . However ,  now attempts are being made to get that passed through  other illicit routes to the detriment of national interests .

While the cabinet approval has not been granted , the defense ministry has sent letters dated 28th to the three commanders to register the supplier  brazenly stating the approval has been obtained. Those letters have been signed by the chief accountant A.A.T .K.Adhikari on behalf of the defense ministry secretary.  (The three letters are herein) .

What is  more rudely shocking is , even  when this paper was being  submitted to the cabinet on the 22nd , an investigation was  in progress in regard to this corrupt tender at the FCID  , the Bribery and Corruption Commission , and  even the Auditor General was probing into this. Perhaps because of these investigations , the cabinet paper was tabled  under the supplementary category , and not via the normal defense ministry procedure.

The difference is , ordinarily when a cabinet paper is being tabled  by a ministry , that has to be submitted to the ministers prior , and their observations obtained . The approval is given the following day after taking into account all the recommendations .

A cabinet paper tabled under the supplementary category to the cabinet however is not on those lines. The paper is not presented to the ministers nor  are their recommendations obtained .

The president tabled this corrupt tender bid cabinet paper under the supplementary category to circumvent the accepted procedure.  This was obviously to pull the wool over the eyes of the cabinet and get its approval . Fortunately, on that day , the Prime Minister intervened and said ‘ there are a number of issues with regard to this tender . Hence the approval cannot be granted today. This must be probed further.’ Consequently it was postponed to another day . The most interesting and intriguing reaction  came from the president at that stage when he remarked ,  ‘yes, yes , the same games cannot be allowed.’

The next cabinet meeting was scheduled  for the 29 th , but as that was a Poya day , the cabinet is to meet on the  30 th at 10.30 a.m. If the approval for this corrupt tender bid is to be granted , that will be on the 30 th.

Treason against  State ! Commanders  duped ! Ministers struck by Rigor mortis even before they have turned into corpses !

It is in these most corruption riddled  circumstances , the accountant under the president’s defense ministry has most  shockingly addressed three letters to the commanders of the forces on the 28 th  stating the cabinet approval has been received . Under what laws has he acted in that manner? This is clearly a move  against the State , and  a deception practiced on the forces.

Surely the accountant has acted most  unlawfully and dangerously against the State with the full knowledge and consent of the defense secretary, and the latter    is doing this with the knowledge and consent  of President Gamarala and the cabinet secretary. It is clearly deducible from this even the appeal committee is corrupt, and the recommendation  made regarding this Rs. 20 billion corrupt tender is to award it hurriedly to their henchmen.   

Based on reports reaching Lanka  e News , G.S. Vitharnage who functioned as chairman of this Tender Board  had revealed , if the cabinet approval is not received for this corruption tainted  tender bid, he himself will be entangled in  the investigations conducted by the FCID , Bribery and Corruption Commission,  and Auditor General against this tender process . Hence the cabinet approval should somehow be obtained.

If the bureaucrats can openly carry on saying cabinet approval has been obtained where it is not received, in such a country there cannot  exist a  government . If the bureaucrats can act this fearlessly , unlawfully and can enjoy such impunity , a government cannot exist there. If this is the sorry unlawful state of affairs in the country  , it is for the so called  ‘honorable’ ministers  to tap their conscience and ask themselves  ‘ are we in the cabinet to sniff  our own excreta ?’  It is a pity  the ‘honorable’ ministers who should be acting  with honor in the national interests are afflicted with rigor mortis even while they are   alive.

Copies of the three illegal  letters sent by the defense ministry are herein.

Connected reports …

President seeks cabinet approval for a Rs. 20 billion corrupt tender bid under investigation at FCID and Bribery Commission !

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by     (2018-06-01 19:43:12)

Make PCoI bond report annexures public: CaFFE

KAUSHI SENDANAYAKA- MAY 30 2018

Centre for Human Rights and Research Executive Director Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon claimed that the recent investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the Treasury Bonds scam has revealed the list of individuals who received monetary sums from the primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries Limited associated with Arjun Aloysius.

He further alleged that this list with 118 names includes politicians, media practitioners, civil society activists and even religious leaders.

“We have estimated that around 380 cheques came out with regard to this,” Tennakoon claimed.
Speaking to Ceylon Today he said that, “the CID report revealed that this list must be made public.

Thus the voters, especially those residing in Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Puttalam and Kurunegala can decide on their respective public representatives.”

IMPORTANT NOT TO DILUTE HARD-WON RTI VICTORIES

2018-06-02

Some weeks ago, a group of Mannar based activists petitioned the Right to Information (RTI) Commission asking for details of the government’s transitional justice package of reforms following promises made to the Geneva based Human Rights Council when this government came into power. Following the hearing of the appeal, the Prime Minister’s Office released the proposed Reparations Bill to the RTI Commission. That was how the Bill came to be in the public domain.   

The Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) which had been recently given A-grade status by the international monitoring agency looking at performances of national human rights institutions, has stated that one of its biggest problems was getting access to Bills as these were not given to the HRCSL. This is despite the fact that the HRCSL law required the Commission to make recommendations in regard to draft legislation. The HRCSL had correctly questioned as to how it can engage in this task when the Bills are not sent to it.   

It is positive that draft laws are being released to the RTI Commission upon the direction of that Commission, which has been recently praised for its proactive stance and for showing ‘remarkable independence’ by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in the 2018 assessment of press freedoms report, ‘Clampdowns and Courage.’ Earlier, the draft Disability Rights law was also released to the RTI Commission following an appeal filed by a legal activist.   

But do activists actually need to use the RTI law for this purpose? Should not draft Bills be released to the people anyway as part of the automatic disclosure of the government as it is the people who will ultimately be affected by such laws? Do they not have the right to see the drafts beforehand and make proposals in regard to the issues that may concern them?   

Where the Reparations Bill was concerned, the Mannar activists had asked the Commission for the information on the basis that the rural people do not know what is happening in Colombo. They had said that they wanted to see the contents of the Bill to avoid a situation as what happened in regard to the Office of Missing Persons Act. The OMP Act states that information cannot be asked for when it amounts to confidential information supplied by relatives of missing persons to the OMP. But, as many have pointed out, this means that even if the relatives or others want it to be published, the OMP is under no duty to do so.   

From news reports after the release of the Reparations Bill, it has now become clear that though there are some restrictions similar to the OMP Act, at least the consent of the person who had given the information would be enough to have that information released under RTI where the Reparations Office is concerned.   

Other Bills propose worse restrictions. Yesterday, the Right to Information Commission issued a statement detailing its concerns in regard to the proposed Audit Bill that seeks to restrict requests being filed for information to the Audit Commission, the Auditor General and others acting under their authority, until the reports are filed in Parliament. 

The RTI Commission has pointed out that the RTI Act does not place specific categories or classes of documents or the functioning of specific offices beyond the reach of information requesters. The Commission has warned that if new laws seek to do this, that will bring about a ‘chilling effect’ on RTI and dilute the victories gained for Sri Lankans through the enactment of a globally-recognised law.   

The RTI Commission has also said that this would risk a gravely negative impact on the embryonic development of the country’s Right to Information regime and discourage largely positive tendencies evidenced so far by Public Authorities in dismantling a decades-old culture of secrecy and denial of legitimate information. This is a caution that is well founded. It should be seriously taken into account by policymakers.   

After 9 years: War lessons for GOSL in 2018

 Friday, 1 June 2018 

We saw the agitation by certain quarters once again on 18 May wanting to commemorate war heroes from one side and from another the people who had died in the war victory. The controversial comments from the Cabinet Spokesperson added fuel to the fire with the country erupting to give their own opinions, which resulted in the President ultimately stepping in to set the record straight.

After 9 years War lessons for GOSL in 2018.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Can you beat that ? Only TV training Institute of SL to be sacrificed to give way for Chathurika’s TV channel !

(Lanka-e-News- 01.June.2018, 11.00PM)  President Pallewatte Gamarala Sirisena’s  latest brutal conspiracy is to transfer a most valuable asset which belonged to the nation since 1982 , to his daughter Chathurika Sirisena according to reports reaching Lanka e News.

This precious national  asset is none other than the ‘Television Training Institute’ (  SL Mass media training Institute now) commenced  at the same time as the Rupavahini Corporation which was launched in 1982.This training Institute was inaugurated to train Television Professionals.

This training Institute which was hitherto under the mass media ministry , following the last cabinet reshuffle when changing the subjects coming under the various ministries via the gazette notification , president Gamarala brought the Institute under the purview of the presidential secretariat on the sly in order to accomplish  his conspiratorial aim.

To be sold to either to a Korean or Dubai businessman…

It is a well known fact Pallewatte Gamarala a shameless liar wouldn’t have  even in his dreams become  a president but for  fortuitous circumstances . Now after his becoming the president , his daughter and son in law fattened on death and despair so much so that they  haven’t only  a television channel   now.Even the children of deposed and despised corrupt  Mahinda Rajapakse had this crazy mania and launched a TV channel, and now Gamarala’s daughter and son in law are also  afflicted with the same madness. 

What Chathurika  and son in law of Gamarala are trying to do is ,  sell the mass media training Institute to a foreign Co. and commence their  television channel in lieu. By now Gamarala’s daughter and son in law have completed  the necessary groundwork  towards that . They are most busy these days  to implement  their plans  this week or by next week.

Late J R Jayawardena a visionary  leader , when introducing the  television network  into SL with Japanese aid , he obtained aid from Germany to train media and technology  personnel  too. That training Institute was the Sri Lanka Television training Institute   (SLTTI)

By that time Germany had established a Foundation Institute in SL through the Federick Ebert foundation to train leaders. Therefore in order to make the tasks of the TV training Institute  easy , the latter was  brought under the administration of the Foundation , and operated within the same premises, which premises belongs to the government .

The Foundation Institute is under the president , and that is no issue because leadership training being under the president is understandable. Mass media Institute being brought under the president however is sheer madness. It is clear  this is more than sheer madness vis a vis the conspiratorial ambitions  and activities of  Sirisenas  which  have come to light now.  With the training Institute becoming  a prey of Sirisenas , the chairman of Foundation Institute Sarath Kongahage will be  kicked out.

Waited until Pathiraja died to  give the ‘deadly blow’ - Furious scholars in the glaring world

The TTI which was under the administration of  prominent visual media experts like Vasantha Obeysekera and Tissa Abeysekera was  finally under late Dharmasena Pathiraja  who named it SL mass media training Institute after broad basing its activities. Though Chaturika and president’s son in law were eyeing this Institute during the Pathiraja period ,  but owing to Pathiraja’s influence , they could n’t accomplish  their selfish self seeking foul agenda.

Following the demise of Pathriaja , the Institute’s administration  was entrusted to the care of visual media  celebrity Vimukthi Jayasundara , the only Sri Lankan who is  an international award winner and educated in an International Institute . But before anything further could be done  , Gamarala’s thieving family including daughter and son in law have made all the arrangements to deal a ‘deadly blow’ to this Institute too.

If one has to secure a degree in  mass media one must enter a University in SL. Yet it is a matter for rude shock , some of those who come out as mass media graduates do not know where the Art Gallery is.

In this backdrop   , the  Mass media Institute is the only one which awards a world recognized  diploma in visual media to those who haven’t a University level qualification. A holder of this diploma can enter any recognized University in the world and secure a degree on that subject.

The annual fee  for the Diploma course is Rs. 50, 000.00 only  which is most reasonable and can be afforded by anyone. There are about 700 students following the course. There are also over 4000 students who followed their studies in this Institute , and are now employed at various media Institutions.

One and only Institute in SL – Gamarala family to devour that too !

There is a surplus of television channels in SL , but only one training Institute , and that is the Mass media training Institute. It is such a valuable  precious  Institute that is going to be sacrificed and destroyed by the daughter and son in law of Gamarala for their selfish self centered gains.

At a time when this one and only Institution in SL  is under threat of the conspiracies and cruel ambitions of Gamarala and his family , this is the time the four thousand or more  students who finished their studies and the students now following the course in the Institute as well as the pro good governance masses  should wage a struggle to rescue this Institution from this ravenous  ruler and his greedy family who are pillaging and plundering this country without let or hindrance.

BY a special correspondent

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by     (2018-06-01 19:30:07)

Power rivalry in the Indian Ocean

By Neville Ladduwahetty-June 1, 2018, 10:19 pm

A report in The Island of May 29, 2018 states: "Japanese government plans to invest in port development in three Indian Ocean nations – Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ‘free and open Indo-Pacific strategy’ informs the Jakarta Post. The three sites that are under consideration for port development are Dawei in southeast Myanmar, Trincomalee in northern Sri Lanka and Matarbari in southeast Bangladesh.

Power rivalry in the Indian Ocean.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Defense Chief helped accused to flee - CID

KAVINDYA PERERA- JUN 01 2018

The CID yesterday (31), informed Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne that former Navy Commander and current Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunawardene was connected to the disappearance of Lieutenant Commander Prasad Hettiarachchi, a suspect charged with the abduction and disappearance of 11 children.

Attorney Achala Seneviratne, appearing for the aggrieved parties, questioned the CID on the progress made in their investigations into Hettiarachchi’s disappearance.

The CID told the Court, “We have been seeking public help with regard to the disappearance of Prasad Hettiarachchi. We had sought such help through the print and electronic media. Following statements given by his wife it has been proved that on the day that he was ordered to give statements, he had been present at the Navy Headquarters. Also, a statement had been recorded from a person identified as G. Laksiri, who had occupied a room adjoining that of Hettiarachchi’s. He told us that one day Admiral Ravindra Wijegunawardene had arrived and berated Hettiarachchi and had inquired from him where he was preparing to go. Laksiri told the CID that Wijegunawardene had told Hettiarachchi that he will not be able to help him if he was to be caught by the Police having languished here and there.

Later, when Wijegunawardene had gone, Laksiri had inquired from Hettiarachchi why Wijegunawardene had scolded him. Laksiri had told the CID that Hettiarachchi had told him that Wijegunawardene had warned him against going out as the Police were looking for him. Laksiri had further told the CID that under the guise of Rear Admiral Hettiarachchi, a person had given a parcel to Prasad Hettiarachchi, on instructions from the former Navy Commander. Laksiri told the CID that when he had checked the parcel he had seen a few currency notes and 24 hours later Lieutenant Commander Prasad Hettiarachchi had gone missing.”

The CID told the Court that the reason for seeking a statement from Laksiri was due to certain information received by the Director of the CID.

Having taken submissions into consideration the Magistrate said that a separate case was needed on that incident and that it should be run concurrently with the main case.

Magistrate Jayaratne also ordered that a representative of the Attorney General available at the next hearing date.She also further extended the open warrant that had been issued for the arrest of Prasad Hettiarachchi and ordered two Navy intelligence officers, who are currently in remand, in connection with the case, K. Gamini and Aruna Thushara de Mendis. to be further remanded till 14 June.

Giving value to biodiversity through team effort

Managing our natural assets more sustainably benefits farmers, environment and our diets   

2018-06-02

Over the next few decades we have to eradicate hunger and do so for a growing population. 
And we’ll have to do that amid climate trends that will require our food systems, starting with the agricultural sectors, to become increasingly flexible, resilient and adaptable.   

Providing nutritious food to a growing world population poses many challenges. To address these challenges we need to make crop and livestock systems, forests, fisheries and aquaculture more productive while guarantying the ability of landscapes and seascapes to provide other essential ecosystem services as regulation of air quality, soil fertility, crop pollination or even control of natural disaster like floods.   

We’ll need to put much natural capital – especially biodiversity - to work to achieve that. 
While the loss of biodiversity is occurring at an alarming rate, agricultural systems are becoming simpler, wider and more uniform with less diversity in terms of species, varieties and breeds. Some 150 livestock breeds have become extinct between 2000 and 2018.   

Action is requested to safeguard our planet’s rich resources

Our consumption choices also matter, especially as we are over exploiting what in fact is only a tiny share of nature’s bounty

We need to shift to more sustainable food systems with lower environmental costs

Nitrogen fertiliser
But globalized food systems have led to only a few crops providing the lion’s share of what we eat. Just eight crop species – dominated by wheat, rice and maize - provide more than half of our average daily food. Widespread use of nitrogen fertilisers has done wonders for output. But it has triggered water pollution that in turn provokes costly drinking-water crises for local communities. When carried by rivers to the sea, this creates dead zones hostile to marine ecosystems.   

Action is requested to safeguard our planet’s rich resources. What we need is a stronger and more focussed commitment to halt the losses of biodiversity for food and agriculture and make sustainable and equitable use of what remains while promoting diversification.   

We must consider biodiversity as a value across all sectors – in agriculture, fisheries, forestry - and beyond – even in how and what we consume. FAO has rolled out a Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform precisely to foster the kind of cross-disciplinary dialogues that can lead to a transformational change in the way we face this challenge.   

It’s an existential challenge and an achievable one. For millennia, farmers have cultivated and bred in a way that maintained ecosystems and species and conserved genetic resources for food and agriculture where the adoption and spread of best practices were a proxy for success. 
As agriculture is biodiversity’s biggest user, it must become its ally.   

After all, the human touch need not be a disaster! A recent study in  Brazil found that earthworm density – a proxy for soil biodiversity – is actually higher in areas practising minimal tillage or integrated crop-and-livestock practices than in areas people aren’t managing.   

The guiding principle is that we must manage our natural assets more sustainably. If we do, we can meet the world’s food demands while mitigating and avoiding the high deferred costs of the Green Revolution.   

Biodiversity is about dynamic relations rather than silver-bullet solutions. For example,pollinators such as bees can only benefit from reduced exposure to pesticides, but they also need ecological niches offering food and nesting areas.   

Our diets consumption choices 
Biodiversity can also be fostered through our diets, very often to our own benefit.   

Different rice varieties can thrive in different climate conditions, and also offer a wider range of nutritional qualities – with up to eight-fold differences in iron content - underscoring the importance of efforts to conserve and support many cultivars. On top of that, planting diversified crops often lead to higher yields as harvests prove resilient to volatile pest, weather and farming conditions.   

Our consumption choices also matter, especially as we are over exploiting what in fact is only a tiny share of nature’s bounty. Nine crops account for more than two-thirds of all crop production, and around 200 practically all of it – even though over history we have used more than 30,000 plants for food and cultivated more than 6,000 of them. This leads to unwelcome outcomes such as micronutrient deficiency in Micronesia, where imported leafy green vegetables that locals don’t appreciate have pushed the local yellow-fleshed giant swamp taro off the menu.   

Approaches such as agroecology and programmes like FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, with its 50 designated sites around the world, are helpfully raising awareness both of agricultural biodiversity’s ongoing importance and of the ingenious ways people harnessed it in the past to create mutually sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems.   

We need to shift to more sustainable food systems with lower environmental costs. And we must acknowledge that the agricultural sectors have the potential to contribute to the protection of biodiversity. Today there is a consensus; productive farming can provide environmental benefits while creating rural employment and sustaining livelihoods. Agroecology and other approaches can play a significant role.   

Recognizing, protecting and capitalizing on biodiversity demands a lot of teamwork. It’s time to act together to achieve a common understanding, direction and commitment to protect diversity in order to produce enough nutritious food in the face of challenges, such as climate change, emerging diseases, pressures on feed and water supplies and shifting market demands of a growing human population.   

(The writer is the Director-General, Natural Resources of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) 

Greening my fuels: Empowering with sugar, seeds and waste

Thursday, 31 May 2018 

I walk pass many cars parked in multiple places in multiple ways during the course of a working day. It is not that uncommon to witness and hear of parked vehicles with someone asleep inside with the engine humming to power the air conditioner. May not be quite cosy but definitely much more comfortable than the hot sun outside.

For how many hours per day and how many vehicles across Sri Lanka may this be happening? One wonders about the amount of fuel spent in providing this experience. You may also observe many members of a family sitting inside a car or a van in this manner too while someone is out shopping. Sadly, efficiency has never being our forte in resource management and this is just one simple example.


The nation’s predicament

Our transport sector is powered at present by imported fuels and one observes the reaction of society as a whole when fuel prices are pushed upwards. I pose the question to myself, do we really understand the nation’s predicament as per imported fuel?

There was a time when the fuel bill was almost equal or even more than the income from inward remittances from Middle East. Those who, instead of moving into a restroom spend time inside a car with engines on to get the comfort of the vehicle air-conditioner, are display a state of ignorance and a state of mindlessness.

However, you ask the same question again. The person inside the car is one person and he or she may not exactly be in a position to take a decision to impact the nation. Then you ask the question, those who celebrate lowering prices but make no serious attempt to make use of the breathing space gained to ensure that the next time around when the fuel prices go up – which is the case more likely to be, as we have been for ever burning a scarce resource – have they taken any steps to make our nation a more resilient in this direction? My answer is simply no!


Our lack of resilience

When you see the news in the papers these days, our lack of resilience is clearly seen with all sorts of threats of strike action over the fuel bill, institutions such as CPC and CEB crying out over unpaid bills and huge debts and then the threat of no fish and thereby protein on our plates, due to kerosene going up.

We have no worries over enjoying the subsidy and at times even concoct different schemes to enhance the profit margins even more. This is a scenario that is unsustainable and one day we should know the day of reckoning is surely to come. Perhaps we are now seeing the writing on the wall with the new fuel pricing policy being accepted and thereby having to factor in the possibility of price hikes quite frequently.

We should also know that political skulduggery between nations that produce and consume oil in large quantities can distort prices too and we the poor small nations only experience in a manner similar to the effect on grass when the elephants dance.

Do we have any remedies? Definitely there should be national plans and roadmaps to ensure movement is managed but in a green and a more alternative fashion. It is time that we seriously think and act on having an alternative to the mainstream.

The concept mentioned in the last budget over electrification of the fleet is a statement in the right direction though action is still awaited. I do remember when the fuel prices were skyrocketing in the 2005/06 era there was much interest and even trying to legalise kassipu to obtain biofuels.

The enthusiasm was quite high and I had the opportunity to coin the wording of ‘Do not drink but blend!’ (http://www.ft.lk/columns/dont-drink-but-blend/4-119767). Of course this is not a sole option that can power the entire transport fleet but most certainly an option that can serve the economy as well as health in a useful way.

Switching to biofuel

The biofuel policies were completed and the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering of University of Moratuwa was even commissioned by the Sustainable Energy Authority to develop the legal framework to support the switch to biofuels.

We duly developed the regulations with one member who had the chemical engineering background plus a law degree and biofuel experience in United States. We also worked hard on demonstrating the technical feasibility of various fuel options to free the fleet from having to depend on fuel from outside. It was technical research on demonstrating the possibility of self-reliance.

One should consider the impact of channelling even 3% of fuel bill to the country’s interior. The fuel bills in 2016/7 are in the range of $ 3-4 billion and if one saves that amount, one would see this amount being spent on the internal economy as alcohol, seeds and waste are all internally processed to produce these fuels.

The figure indicates the three modes of transport demonstrated. The bike is powered by fuel ethanol sourced from Pelwatte distillery and processed to support the engine. The diesel three-wheeler was powered by waste vegetable oil from a restaurant. The same vehicle was also powered by rubber seed oil.

The other three-wheeler originally to run from LPG was powered by biomethane derived from canteen waste and plant leaves. They all ran quite well. What was not shown was the possibility of algae-derived biodiesel, which too is feasible, and a better option for biodiesel than seed based when you factor in the land constraints.

At the same time I know that our Chancellor late Dr. Ray Wijewardene ran his Toyota car with lower grade coconut oil while his other car REVA (Ray’s Electric Vehicle Auto) was powered by electricity from biomass. Two of our staff members Dr. Sanja and Dr. Marliya even came up with innovations and modular constructions to produce biodiesel and applied for patents for which they still await.

To cap all these, using biofuel even the then President/Finance Minister was driven to Parliament to deliver the Budget speech, an impactful push for local fuels – which we termed as Alcotrol – by Ariyaseela Wickramanayeke!


Be more proactive

A few of us may have seen the possibilities and even enjoyed doing these. This is where the national decision-making process should be more proactive. When the world prices dropped and the pressure disappeared, these results and studies became confined to racks and cupboards. Staff members of course can seek promotions and some are no more in this country having migrated elsewhere.

I know of those who learnt biogas in Sri Lanka, being in the country at one time, becoming global ambassadors in renewable energy. We have also written about the world’s first renewable energy based village that came up in Sri Lanka, which was quite successfully operated for some time, now defunct and not many even remember about it.

Why is an important question; I really would like to know an answer to this state of stalled progress in Sri Lanka even though we always faced the basic problem of cost and demand. If you resolve the problem of energy one should understand you basically solve many an issue. We appear, however, to shy away from any possible solutions and almost all the time have no serious desire to pursue an alternate pathway with the hope that if pursued with vigour that road may actually deliver us to the solution.

We certainly know the effort and the determination shown by Brazil after the 1973 oil crisis in trying to wean them away from petrol, which they succeeded through pioneering indigenous efforts. Today they have even demonstrated green aviation fuels in the same way and is a country proudly producing planes – Ipanema. As I write this column however their truckers are on strike and the nation is in a quandary over rising diesel prices.

It appears that the root of all-evil, unbridled corruption has taken serious inroads in this society too overtaking indigenous innovation and activities that may have propelled them to come to the current seventh economy status of the world. In Europe you may pump biogas to your vehicle from a service station – waste is at their service.


National priorities

Transport sector is undergoing many changes. Yet the fundamentals such as the value of public transport have not changed. The economic case for rail over road too has not changed. Moving passengers to these formats of transport and then speeding up electrification on one side and green fuels on the other should be important national priorities.

When a nation engages in this type of activities, there are much more benefits than simply finding alternative to fuels as the innovating psyche of individuals and institutions too are rekindled.

Sri Lankan Tamils around the world have built an online library to replace one torched in 1981

Among the Noolaham Digital Library’s 16,000 documents are four volumes of one of the oldest Tamil grammar books, and copies of over 24 palm-leaf manuscripts.

Seran Sivananthamoorthy uses camera equipment to digitize manuscripts for the Noolaham Digital Library. | Courtesy: Noolaham Foundation

Smriti Daniel-Feb 18, 2016

Seran Sivananthamoorthy is only 25 years old which is why his knowledge of the Jaffna Public Library is limited to memory and anecdote. The library with some 95,000 volumes including the only original copy of the Yalpana Vaipavamalai or the History of the Kingdom of Jaffna was set alight by a mob in 1981 as tensions rose between the island’s Sinhalese and Tamil communities in the prelude to Sri Lanka’s civil war. Miniature editions of the Ramayana, accounts of early explorers in Ceylon and a trove of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts important to Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking communities were also lost in the fire.

“There are chances it could happen again,” said Seran. This is not a reference to the possibility of renewed conflict or arson, but to the fact that the integrity of such collections are threatened by a host of factors – from pests and mould to censorship imposed by casteism and patriarchy.

This was also on Kopinath Thillainathan’s mind when he, along with a friend Mauran Muralitharan, established the Noolaham Foundation that set up the Noolaham Digital Library in 2005 whose 16,000 documents now make it one of the largest Tamil digital archives available online.

A rare repository

Sri Lanka’s colonisation and subsequent political movements have been particularly effective in marginalising voices that belong to the nation’s minority Tamil-speaking communities. Outsiders perhaps see Sri Lankan Tamils as a homogeneous group but the community comprises not just the Tamils of the north and east of Sri Lanka, but Indian Tamils whose ancestors were brought over by the British from India to work on plantations, Coast Veddas from the island’s indigenous population, and Tamil-speaking Muslim communities.

The archive is funded by the community and driven overwhelmingly by volunteers. Its contents include photographs of 5,000 timeworn pages that make up 24 palm-leaf manuscripts, and books such as Yalpana Samaya Nilai or Religion in Jaffna that date to 1893. The longest documents it has stored on its servers are four volumes of Tolkappiyam, one of the oldest Tamil grammar books.

At present, the archive also collects thirty magazines and eight newspapers. This includes the regional newspaper Valampuri, which continued to report through some of the most violent years of the island nation’s civil war, as well as Paathukavalan, the oldest Catholic weekly to be published from Jaffna, which was first printed in 1876.

Extensive archives

The library gives scholars access to documents they will not find elsewhere including pamphlets produced by Sri Lanka’s Muslim political parties and traditional documents Tamil families produce as a kind of a comprehensive obituary for their deceased loved ones.

The foundation has also started building what its members call a “biographical dictionary.” “So far we have collected details of about 2,500 personalities,” said Kopinath.

He added, “This is the first ever reference resource of this magnitude on Tamil people. We expect to document 5,000 personalities by the end of 2016 and are planning to publish print volumes as well.”
Noolaham hopes to create audio, video and photo archives too.

A passion project

Its core members make time for the foundation from their busy schedules. For instance, Kopinath, who lives in Australia, is a production manager at a factory, while young Seran has just begun to work as an engineer. Seran confesses that in many ways his heart lies with Noolaham: “I don’t want to say this archive is my part-time work. This is my spiritual work. This is what I want to do with my life.”

With three offices in Sri Lanka and working groups in the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia and USA, and more than 200 volunteers and 350 individual donors across the world, the Noolaham Digital Library seems like an extended community project. Nevertheless funding is a constant challenge as is handling copyright permissions.

An engaged community

Kopinath credits the group’s commitment to their passion project with having pulled them through a challenging decade. He judges their success by the importance the archive is seen to have among the people. A majority of visitors to the site come from Sri Lanka itself.

“Our communities are using Noolaham as a repository where they can store, preserve and retrieve their documents and knowledge,” said Kopinath, citing increasing requests for the foundation to archive personal and institutional records.

Kopinath said he feels a deep joy when he looks at the books and manuscripts the digital library has now. Born on a small island off Sri Lanka’s northern coast, he reminisced how keenly he, as a child, felt the loss of his family’s large collection of books because of their multiple displacements. After being displaced for the third time, Kopinath recalled “I had nothing in my hands.” To him and the others involved with this project, Noolaham offers a promise that such losses are not permanent. That somewhere all that lost knowledge is waiting for them to find and preserve it.

Tamimi teen slipped into coma due to Israeli prison neglect

Tamara Nassar-30 May 2018

Imprisoned Palestinian teenager Hassan Abdulkhaleq Mizher Tamimi was subjected to life-threatening medical neglect by Israeli authorities.

Tamimi, 18, has a serious medical condition in his liver and kidneys, which makes him unable to absorb proteins. He requires a strict vegetarian diet, medicines and periodic tests at the hospital.

Israeli authorities provided him with none of that since his arrest two months ago, and his medical condition deteriorated sharply.

View image on Twitter

manal  tamimi@screamingtamimi

Another crime committed against the Tamimis and Pal prisoners, Hassan Tamimi has been transferred to Sheaar Tsedeq hospital in critical condition after Israeli zionists authorities refused to give him any medical treatment in prison

11:36 AM - May 28, 2018

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As his situation worsened, Israeli authorities refused to transfer Tamimi to a hospital or provide necessary treatment, his relative Muhammad Tamimi told Wattan TV.

Tamimi vomited for four days and slipped into a coma before he was finally transferred from the Ofer prison clinic to Shaare Zedek medical center on 28 May, according to prisoners rights group Addameer.

Tamimi’s family said that the Israeli occupation authorities bore full responsibility for their son’s life.

“My son was supposed to be transferred to a hospital when he started throwing up. The cause of his coma is the fact that he was not provided with any medical service in detention,” his father told Addameer.

The family urged human rights organizations to exert pressure on Israel to treat and release the teenager.

Evading blame

Tamimi’s lawyer Ahmad Safiya visited him in the hospital on Monday.

“When I arrived at the detainee’s room, none of the medical staff were there, despite the apparent severity of his condition, he stated, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

“After I called on them, the medical staff immediately placed him on respirators.”

Safiya added that despite a decision by doctors to place Tamimi in intensive care immediately, it took two more hours for the transfer to take place.

Safiya said that Israeli authorities told him they had decided to release Tamimi, having ignored numerous requests to do so earlier.

The prisoners club said occupation authorities appear to have realized the seriousness of Tamimi’s condition and were releasing him only to evade their responsibility for him.

However the prisoners club stated that military authorities held a hearing on Tamimi’s case at Ofer prison on Wednesday and had decided to postpone further consideration of it until 25 July.

Hassan Tamimi is now recovering, his relative Manal Tamimi wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the lawyer Safiya confirmed that Tamimi was out of grave danger and was now stable, but required ongoing intensive medical care.

Tamimi, from the village of Deir Nitham in the occupied West Bank, was arrested on 7 April, approximately one month after he turned 18.

He is part of the extended Tamimi family that is the frequent target of collective punishment, imprisonment and harassment by Israeli occupation forces.

One of its most well-known members, teenager Ahed Tamimi from the village of Nabi Saleh, is currently in Israeli military custody for shoving and slapping a heavily armed occupation soldier.

Another member of the family, Asem Tamimi, was released from Israeli prison after over a year, Manal Tamimi wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

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manal  tamimi@screamingtamimi

After 14 months in prison, finally Asem Tamimi is home and he is among his parents and family

5:03 PM - May 27, 2018

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Body as a bargaining chip

Meanwhile, Israel is refusing to return the body of Palestinian prisoner Aziz Awisat, who died after being severely beaten in Israeli prison, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s hardline “public security” minister, announced.

Israeli media reported that Erdan was trying to “pressure Hamas to return the bodies of killed Israeli soldiers in Gaza” through his decision, according to Ma’an News Agency.

Israel’s internal secret police Shin Bet and the Israel Prison Service both reportedly oppose Erdan’s decision in fear of Palestinian protests, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to make the final call.

Israel bears full responsibility for the death of Aziz Awisat, Palestinian human rights and prisoner advocacygroups say.

Awisat, 53, was severely beaten by Israeli officers after allegedly pouring hot water on a guard in Beersheba prison on 2 May.

Awisat’s health deteriorated and he suffered a stroke earlier this month. He passed away in a hospital near Tel Aviv on 20 May.

“The Israel Prison Service has adopted a policy of deliberate medical neglect against prisoners and detainees,” Addameer stated.

Dozens of Palestinian detainees have died due to medical negligence since Israel began its military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967.