Need for a pedagogy of good citizenship

Rev. Fr. Augustine Fernando (Diocese of Badulla)-Monday, August 13, 2018

 

Citizens of modern states need to learn to be adult, mature and responsible citizens that they may exercise the rights of citizenship in an honest and righteous manner in solidarity with other citizens. That means all citizens should acquire the relevant knowledge required to be good and acceptable citizens and imbibe such qualities as civic sense, sharing of community burdens and become truthful, just, fair, honest and considerate of the human dignity and equality of others and be submissive to the law of the State.

The vast majority of citizens of modern states have learnt to be democratic and law-abiding. It is always the comparative microscopic minority that causes confusion. They too need to be rehabilitated and reformed for society to thrive and for all to enjoy peace.

While all citizens are equal before the law, there is also a hierarchy and distinction of citizenship depending on the functions that devolve on various citizens and the areas and degrees of responsibility each citizen has as an individual, a member of a distinct community or as a member of an agency of the state.

Equality before the law does not make everyone equally intelligent, equally capable, gifted, talented, hardworking and productive, equally outgoing and service oriented and concerned about the well-being of others. Nevertheless, the structures of civilized society promote the contribution of the hands and minds and spirit of all to be responsible for one another. As all such responsibilities are services directed towards other citizens who are affected and benefit by the particular services rendered, it is necessary to value the importance of the services depending on nature and the circumstances of the services.

All good citizens live the whole of their lives protective of the common good and for the well-being of others. Flawed characters enter politics and even honoured professions on the pretext of service and exploit the community selfishly, sometimes to a very excessive degree. They denigrate human dignity.

Only good citizens qualified and capable of holding office should present themselves, be called upon or be nominated by political parties to be candidates for elections. When the electing citizens observe that the candidates presented to them are not at all suitable, it shows that those presenting themselves or the party leaders nominating them are failing to prove that those nominated are good citizens of integrity; it also shows that they do not have persons of quality.

This has led to the people distrusting the governments. From a corrupt political culture, only corrupt individuals will emerge. Dirty politicians cannot be made clean with the dirty water coming from a putrid political watercourse. However, the corrupt gang that wins praise the ‘wisdom and maturity’ of the electorate.

From the evidence that transpires to the citizens, elected representatives and the high positioned administrators in State agencies very selfishly in an indiscreet and foolish manner disburse billions of rupees belonging to the State as if they had the power to do so. If it was their money, they wouldn’t part with 0.0001% of the money they so disburse. These are individuals hardened in their anti-social behaviour; they cannot be reformed and should be judged and stripped of citizenship rights if found guilty of serious misdemeanours.

UNPROVED PEOPLES’ REPRESENTATIVES

The person leading the State, the Head of State (nowadays) elected for a period of time and considered the first citizen, has his/her function and duty to be concerned about the security, human dignity, rights, honour and general well-being of all the citizens and extend to them all just and equal treatment so that all will have a sense of belonging to the same State. It is in this very area that most of the heads of State have failed.

If he or she has a family, that family is considered the ‘first family’, a designation of honour that also confers certain definite liberties and privileges to facilitate the services that family may be called upon to render to other citizens and to the national community.

Assisting the head of State and the ministers are the citizens who exercise numerous functions on behalf of the State in the legislative, executive and judicial spheres enjoying certain liberties, privileges and honours that facilitate the responsibilities they are called upon to shoulder. Those who assist in all state agencies should be citizens of good standing usually selected not en masse or on political partisanship as is done usually in Sri Lanka, but purely on qualifications and merit carefully considering the nature of responsibilities that are to be vested in them. It is due to the selection of unsuitable individuals with rough edges that those in the summits of power face great embarrassment.

TO ATTEND TO ALL CITIZENS

The citizens each time they vote delegate to all national representatives the same assignment, to attend to the needs of all citizens. In Sri Lanka these representatives not only too often forget this obligation, they neglect to attend parliament to participate in important deliberations; while they are paid for their representing the people, now they have got used to being paid for attending each session; their concerns become partisan and limited to their race, caste, clan and political tribe.

There are also those who arrogate to themselves powers that have not been given to them; ministers have no power to pressurize bank managers to give them loans without collateral security; nor have the power to tell them to write off loans obtained by their numerous catchers; nowadays it seems quite common for power holders to engage in various types of financial jugglery and dubious business transactions; they presume to usurp power undemocratically in many and varied ways and become bad citizens, thus disqualifying themselves from being peoples’ representatives.

While some citizens are careless about exercising their franchise and abstain from voting due to their lacking civic conscience, some other citizens by their vote favour, not those who are concerned about the common good but those who are partial towards their factions.

Leaders and citizens need to be led away from a narrow understanding to a deeper one of good citizenship which does not eliminate the democratic and rightful attention that needs to be paid to distinct sections of the one nation. A particular attention to a weaker section or part of the nation does not detract attention from the greater whole.

Many modern states have citizens among the rulers and the ruled who have a good standard of citizenship and a conscientious awareness of the basic laws that govern them and they all abide by the duty of upholding the law while attending to their varied duties in state agencies or elsewhere. They consider upholding the law is more than gaining of silver and gold.

In Sri Lanka, respect for the established law and order is not at a high level. There is inordinate delay not only in enacting just and fair laws due to the lethargy of legislators, there is also delay in implementing them and meting out justice to the aggrieved.

If the law is in any way flawed, there is a procedure through which it should be rectified. But no one is above the law. And no lawbreaker should be given leeway to oppress law abiding citizens. And when anyone is punished for breaking the law, he cannot claim immunity from punishment due to a political party affiliation or a particular recognition by a sectarian group of people. Uncouth and foul-mouthed individuals who flout the law should not be allowed to get away with impunity; their unacceptable behaviour could become a precedent, to the detriment of society, permitting like-minded others to behave anti-socially in a similar manner.

In the context of today, Sri Lankan citizens have no other option than completely uprooting the existing rotten political culture and discarding it. Lest the same old rotten elements come back to power in a new guise, the intelligentsia needs to bear the burden of reasoning with and educating all the citizens toward a revitalized and heightened civic sense and persuading them to reform themselves first and then to transcend clannish and narrow tribal and caste tendencies and move towards greater social responsibility in view of the greater good of the future generations. 

Residents protest against bottled water factory in Eravur

Locals in Eravur, Batticaloa protested on Thursday against the a bottle water factory being built in Periyapullumalai.

11Aug 2018

Protesters expressed concern that the company would take excessive amounts of water from Batticaloa's local water supplies. 

Local council members, Eastern Provincial Council members and religious leaders participated in the protest. 

Related Articles: 

04 December 2017 : Asian Development Bank approves $120m loan towards drinking water in Jaffna

21 May 2017 : ADB supports project to end water scarcity in North

Part III: National Export Strategy 2018-22: Focus on selected sectors welcome but challenging

Trade and Development Strategies Minister Malik Samarawickrama presenting the National Export Strategy (NES) to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. EDB Chairperson Indira Malwatte, ITC Geneva Executive Director Arancha Gonzales and European Union Deligation of Charge d' Affaires Paul Godfrey are also present – Pic by Lasantha Kumara 
Critical issues relating to NES


Monday, 13 August 2018 

In the previous two parts of this series (available at: http://www.ft.lk/columns/Part-I--National-Export-Strategy-2018-22--Disrupt-the-economy-fast-if-the-goals-are-to-be-attained/4-659860; http://www.ft.lk/columns/Part-II--National-Export-Strategy-2018-22--Introducing-measurable-physical-targets/4-660298), it was pointed out that the National Export Strategy or NES released by the Export Development Board (EDB) was, though belated, a welcome development. It had paved the way for Sri Lanka to move away from the domestic economy-based economic strategy, pursued by the previous administration, to an export sector-based economic strategy.

Part III National Export Strategy 2018-22 Focus on selected sectors welcome but challenging.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Can A California Jury Decide If A Pesticide Caused Gardener Johnson’s Cancer?

By Chandre Dharmawardana –AUGUST 13, 2018

Dr. Chandre Dharmawardana

A set of California Jurors has decided that the use of the herbicide Roundup was the cause of the cancer contracted by Mr. Johnson, a California-school gardener. This is an alarming warning to modern technical societies. Modern societies are still using ancient instruments of judgement, namely, the old court system which came into being mainly to preserve property rights of landed aristocracies. 

Should they be called upon to make decisions on technical questions within the existing judicial framework, often within a few weeks where the jurors – people off the street – are called upon to understand the complex submissions? While the public should in the end decide, such a decision must come through a series of deliberations and conclusions graded in technicality, and not in “one shot”. 

In fact, how the tobacco companies misused  the court system at a time when public lobby groups were poorly established is well known. At the time the public actually supported smoking and considered it to have psychological and even physicological benefits, rejecting the views of academic scientists, and leaning on company propaganda. Today, lobby groups  who are heavily funded by “natural-foods” supermarket chains, anti-GMO activists, as well as a public frightened by the false belief that their “food is poisoned”, have grouped together. They are underwritten by  fortune-hunting “class-action” lawyers.

When juries are called upon to decide on extremely complex technical questions that experts have debated for decades, in a mere two weeks, and when huge fines are determined on that basis, then justice is miscarried and the public good is endangered. Furthermore, each such case adds vast amounts to lawyers pockets. It is the mercenary legal system of the United States that fuels this type of process which transforms into “class-action” projects leveled against public and private enterprises, with the sole intent of extracting money by using the psychological tactics of ancient witch hunts.

The idea that a jury picked up form the street can quickly decide if a cancer contracted by a farmer is due to use of glyphosate, or some other cause, is absurd. Only detailed lab tests, carried out over a period of time can say if a substance causes cancer or not. The belief  that expert presentations brought in by the two litigating sides will bring the jurors up to the task goes contrary to our knowledge that even students selected by rigorous examinations take many years of study and training to acquire the necessary capacity to evaluate such complex information. Can a jury determine if the gardener’s family shows any genetic propensity to such cancers, or if he had been exposed to other carcinogens? The gardener can refuse to release such information using his rights to prevent self-incrimination.

Modern research on the causes of disease uses advanced statistical methods applied to extensive health records of patients and control groups. However, the more intuitive, easily understood “common-sense” approach is still based on a number of “criteria” used by field epidemiologists. When such criteria point to a possible causal link, more expensive statistical studies involving long-term monitoring can be taken up.

Thus the so-called Bradford-Hill criteria are often used as a “common-sense” way to related putative causes with a diseases. They are usually stated as  seven criteria. 

(I) Strength of association between so called “cause and effect (disease)”.

That is, when the strength of the cause is doubled (say, by using more of the pesticide), the illness or the epidemic increases proportionately. Thus countries which use a very large amount of agrochemicals and pesticides should show higher incidence of, say, cancer. However, no such correlation is seen. For instance, New Zealand or Qatar uses far more glyphosate per hectare than California, but no cases of cancer associated with glyphosate use have been reported from such countries. The use of agrochemicals is proportionate to the use of fertilizers. The figures for New Zealand and USA are 1717 and 137 kg/hectare (2015 World bank data) respectively, while Qatar uses  over 7100 kg/hectare.

(ii) Consistency: a causal factor must be consistently associated with the “effect” (the disease). That is, the disease should manifest when the cause is present unless clear mitigating effects are seen. Although glyphosate is extensively used in soya, maize and tea plantations all over the world, no correlated presence of cancer has been observed. 

(iii) Plausibility: the proposed cause and the effect (i.e., the disease) must be connected by a plausible physiological or environmental mechanism, or by statistical  data.

The US department of health studied  90,000 farmers for nearly 25 years and found no signs of any cancer attributable to glyphosate formulations, and yet, the one alleged case of the farmer Johnson is enough for the California Jurors even when a cause-effect relationship is not scientifically plausible. 

(iv)The proposed cause must be coherent (not contradictory) with existing chemical, physiological and epidemiological knowledge. 

For instance, the claim by Dr Jayasumana (physician and politican), Dr. Sanath Gunatillleke (physician from California) and Ms. Senanayake (“Natha-Deviyo” clairvoyant) that glyphosate joins with hard water and arsenic to form a  new substance that causes a new kind of kidney disease is contrary to well established chemistry and  to available epidemiological data. This claim was made in 2014 and publicized by Dr Mercola, Ven. Ratana and others, but the authors have not produced even an iota of evidence for the existence of the alleged substance.

(v) There should be experimental evidence linking the proposed cause to the disease. Currently, there is no conclusive evidence of glyphosate or its agricultural formulations causing cancer. The classification that it could probably be carcinogenic was made in 2014 by the IARS, an arm of the WHO. It is purely a hazard classification and NOT a health-risk classification. The IARC classification  has been misconstrued and used as publicity against glyphosate formulations by the “organic food” lobby. A further clarification by the WHO on 16th May, 2016 clearly stated that no chronic toxicity is expected from Glyphosate use. However, this as well as the study on 90,000 farmers for 25 years (showing no cancer) have been ignored and swept under the carpet, even in the reporting of the California judgment by the news media.

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President Gamarala displays his traitorous colors! Dayan to Russia despite opposition mounted an dhis putrid antecedence !

(Lanka e News -12.Aug.2018, 11.30PM) President Pallewatte Gamarala who has driven the country into an irretrievable muddle and morass by appointing misfits as foreign envoys once again demonstrated his traitorous traits when he appointed Dayan Jayatileke a notorious opportunist ,a snake under the grass and enemy of good governance as the SL ambassador to Russia yesterday (11) . Mind you Gamarala who is by now well known as incapable of doing anything good for the benefit of the country at large and therefore a foe and not a friend of the masses , appointed infamous Dayan despite tremendous opposition mounted from all quarters against this appointment.

The president along with Dayan made ten appointments to diplomatic missions of foreign countries. In keeping with his characteristic incapacity to gauge what must be given priority , he failed to appoint today a High Commissioner to most important Washington , which post had remained vacant for over a year.

It is well to recall when Dayan’s name was proposed to the parliament committee on high posts for the first time , the committee decided to ask from the president again due to opposition from many of its members to his appointment ,why and wherefore he should be appointed , and whether there is nobody else ? Any president with a sane mental equilibrium would not have appointed Dayan . But this Gamarala who is far fetched from sane , sensible and ethical thinking stubbornly acted like a Mule and recommended Gayan’s name again despite bitter opposition and latter’s well known putrid antecedence.

On the second occasion ,Bimal Ratnayake of the JVP , , and R. Sumenthiran of the TNA the representatives of the Committee roundly opposed the appointment of Dayan as ambassador to Russia.

Following the opposition mounted on the first occasion , Dayan on his face book stated he can wait for another year to secure that post after talking to Mahinda Rajapakse.

At any rate , John Amaratunge of the UNP a representative of the parliamentary committee spoke as though Dayan was a child of his defending him most vehemently . Of course the abominable conduct of John who is suffering from senile and mental decay ,and has outlived his utility on earth is not surprising. In the end the Committee acceding to the request of president gave its assent to the appointment of Dayan. Ten foreign envoys were appointed today …

Norway – Professor Arusha Cooray

Russia – Dr.Dayan Jayatileke.

Brazil- M.M.Jafeer

Canada – M.A. K. Girihagama

Poland- C.A.H.M.Wijeratne

Sweden – S.S. Ganegamarachi

Vietnam – S.S. Premawardena

South Africa- Anurudha Kumara Mallimarachi

India- Austin Fernando

Pakistan – Noordeen Mohomed Shaheed

---------------------------
by     (2018-08-12 19:06:25)

Strikes: Why the Govt. should sell off SOEs ?

It is not always easy to tell whether a wildcat work stoppage is an act of deliberate sabotage or a desperate act of last resort. Often, trade union activism in this country tends to have shades of both.   

Last week, locomotive engine drivers stopped work, bringing the railway services to a grinding halt for four days. Stranded commuters clashed with striking workers and damaged railway property. The strike was called off on Sunday after the President agreed to look into the salary anomalies, the main grievance of the strikers. During the same week, another strike by the government doctors left the hapless patients without treatment. The doctors were demanding an increase of their travelling allowance from Rs.35,000 to Rs.70,000. Journalists who pointed out the arbitrariness of the trade union action were labelled as traitors. The GMOA is reportedly preparing a traitors’ list, perhaps taking a clue from former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.  

This kind of trade union vigilantism suggests that something is rotten within the system. When these same folks are up in arms against free trade agreements such as with Singapore and India, which would increase both the productivity and completion at home, that implies a bigger problem of ideological lowliness and self-centeredness in so called professional elites.  

On the other hand, there is no gainsaying that Sri Lanka’s professionals are poorly paid, which has resulted in an exodus of the educated class, who are competing with the displaced Tamils to go to the greener pastures. The vacuum they left behind cannot be easily filled. At the end, when you pay with peanuts, you get monkeys to run the show.   

Public servants should be remunerated adequately; however, Sri Lanka’s economy is ill-equipped to sustain its overblown public sector and loss making public sector enterprises. Successive governments have enlarged an already bloated public sector workforce, filling up non-existent positions with acolytes, eroding productivity and damaging the economic well-being of employees who made an honest living. At the end, no one is happy.  

 There is no easy solution to this conundrum. When each disgruntled party resorts to trade union action, the government has acceded to their demands. However such ad hoc pay hikes, have created fresh salary anomalies within the public sector. Public sector salary bill has increased by a whopping Rs. 290 billion during the last three years, largely due to the Rs.10,000 increase offered to fulfil an election promise in 2015 and irregular salary increases agreed at various times to settle strikes.

  Still there are too many, idling mouths to feed with relatively limited allocations. During the last decade, public sector workforce alone increased by 39%, from 626,992 in 2006 to 874,395 in 2016. Those numbers are excluding the three armed forces, which also recorded a massive boost in the rank and file during the period. Then State owned enterprises (CEB, CPC, Railway, Sri Lankan Airlines etc.) are bleeding the economy white.  

Successive govts have enlarged an already bloated public sector workforce, filling up non-existent positions with acolytes, eroding productivity and damaging the economic well-being of employees who made an honest living

The bloated public sector and the wastage of under performing SOEs mean that the government cannot pay a decent salary to those who do an honest job. Nor can it afford to invest in areas where it really matters. When schools and hospitals are under-funded, Sri Lanka is losing out probably the only positive legacy of post independent history. We will soon lose out to those emerging economies such as Vietnam in primary and secondary education. Repercussions of this under investment is already manifested in the poor performance of local universities in international ranking and low research output.  

The country should get its priorities right;downsize its bloated public sector and sell a stake of its SOEs. Then, the savings should be invested in education, re-training, healthcare, and infrastructure which would increase the total factor productivity of the economy.   

The notion that fresh money would rejuvenate the loss- making SOEs is also open to question. Even after multi-billion rupees of investment, Sri Lankan railway and SLTB lag decades behind their peers in emerging market economies. CEB, CPC, the Srilankan Airlines are incurring billions of rupees of losses. The government does not have sufficient capital to refinance these institutions, nor the capacity to foster an institutional culture that support their resurgence. That is why the best practices of the private sector should be adopted and management of these ventures be transferred to the coperate sector.  

Take for instance, perhaps the only sound economic decision of the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration: the liberalization of telecommunication industry. Those days of several years of backlog to obtain a telephone are long forgotten now. Today, Sri Lanka has one of the best telecommunication infrastructure, and the lowest tariff. Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has, somehow, survived and adopted to the competition, thanks to the earlier Japanese stake in the SLT. That is a pleasant departure from the past practice of fleecing the public for its survival.  

Some of these loss making institutions are allowed to wallow in a deepening rot because, they are termed as strategic sectors- too important to hand over to the public sector and foreign competition.  

Much of that terminology is nonsense. Sri Lanka should interpret strategic importance of these things relative to the country’s immediate and medium term priorities, and the assorted risk perception. Strategic cost of retaining these institutions are in fact much higher. Rather than trying to run these institutions by itself and then screwing up, the government should play the role of the regulator and enabler of the economy.   

However, privatization is not a politically easy proposition. A succession of political charlatans has nurtured a false sentimental value to the state ownership. Trade Unions are also hell bent on sustaining the ‘good-for-nothing’ status quo.   

However, paradox of last week’s wildcat work stoppages and blackmail is that the public is gradually realizing the hollowness of the continuation of the rotten status quo in the public sector and SOEs. The government should make use of that new sense of public enlightenment. It should forge ahead with a new set of public sector reforms that would benefit both the public sector workers and the country.  
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Issues surrounding EPF

Monday, 13 August 2018

In a previous article, I discussed about the contemplated policy changes of the EPF system. One of the main concerns was the proposal to entrust the management of the investment portfolio of the fund to a specially appointed fund management company. The underlying argument is the need to invest the EPF balances more profitably, with a view to generate additional income for the beneficiaries. Indeed a creditable and admirable motive, if the rationalisation is bona-fide.

The EPF is the largest fund in the country, having a balance to its credit close upon Rs. 2000 billion. Approximately about 95% of the fund remains as investments in Government stock, which is considered as the safest form of investment. The Fund is authorised to bid for Treasury Bonds like any other primary dealer competing with them, and is hence ensured the opportunity of taking the advantage of the best prevailing market conditions and rates. Approximately amounts not exceeding 5% of the Fund balance are allowed to be invested in stock market operations. As was highlighted in the previous article, these operations and the results have not been successful, and fallen short of expectations.

Besides, there have been instances of highly questionable investment deals tainted with fraud and corruption in the EPF. The Fund has been the final borrow of shady operations perpetrated towards the alleged embezzlement of funds. The surmise regarding the proposed investment plans has arisen in this context. It is therefore necessary to examine the nostrum of the elixir by the policy makers, and the surrounding facts behind certain other changes in the administration and controls recently effected. Regarding the latter, we observe that the ETF and the EPF administrations have been distanced from the Treasury, under the policy changes effected by the Yahapalanaya Government. When the CBSL was removed from the purview of the Finance Ministry, the EPF too, which was under the operational control of the CBSL, moved out of the purview of the Finance Ministry. The administrative control of the ETF too was subject to a ministerial change. There have been many corrupt and unethical happenings in the aftermath of these unconventional changes. Some remain undisclosed, due to high-level influencing, while many have come out and are well-known in the public domain now. When such things are happening under the purview of public officers responsible and statutorily accountable, the extent of possible misdoings and corrupt deals that could transpire under a private fund management body is unimaginable. In a country where the appointed Governor of the Central Bank has run away after a fraudulent operation involving public funds, and remains as a fugitive, can we expect sacramental operations by imported fund managers?

The proposers of the move are citing examples of success stories where fund managers are performing wonders in this field.  The focus, as announced by the policy makers, is to allow the external fund managers /private fund managers, with their international best practices, to use the EPF for better returns. While it is not correct to disregard these views, we are of the opinion that at the same time it is imprudent to ignore the wisdom of some nasty experiences elsewhere in this regard. An often cited case in favour of the proposal is the Temasek Wealth Fund of Singapore, and the Central Provident Fund investments in Temasek.  I wish to indicate certain relevant facts relating to Temasek and its operations, as discussed in the financial circles.

Singapore has at their disposal huge reserves, which needs to be invested to generate highest returns. Temasek has been created to take strategic control of this aspect, and it is professionally managed by fund managers with the PM’s wife as the Chairperson. Right throughout, this position has been reserved specially for a person of this calibre.

CPF monies are included in the Temasek fund investments. The Investments so far have been able to earn guaranteed returns of more than the normal savings returns. The two rates are 2.5% and 0.25%, respectively. Currently, the members are quite happy with what they are getting.

There have been large scale investments from the Temasek fund at different times, which have fallen far short of risk standards and returns expectations.

The Temasek portfolio and the CPF funds at its disposal are not available in the public domain. With a well-guarded democratic space as is prevailing there, stakeholders remain confused between the fiction and the truth, in an environment where outside news reports carry information not available to the country. The Singaporean Government has successfully managed these perceptions.

It is believed that the cash inflows from the CPF contributions are substantial to meet the requirements of outflows, which are quite different to our situation. There is a large migrant work force contributing to the CPF, allowed to withdraw their balances when they leave the country facing no retirement eligibility. Out of a total number of 5 million shown as the working population about 2 million are migrant workers.

There are some significant differences between the EPF Sri Lanka and CPF Singapore, which warrants careful consideration in trying to emulate.

Singapore has no minimum wage, and the average is around SGD 1800. There are no Government welfare schemes for health or social security. Employees contribute more than the employers. The Government uses this money to provide healthcare insurance and hospital expenses, with some subsidies extended.

CPF members cannot withdraw their fund balances when they reach 55 years, as before. Due to the aging population, the funds are managed offering an annuity payment similar to a pension. In 2015, a monthly (annuity) payment of S$600 was announced if a member kept a CPF saving of approximately SGD 160,000 in the account for 10 years.

Many Singaporeans have taken HDB housing units by pledging as mortgages from the CPF. As the property values are not rising, the expectation of selling the HDB housing unit and settling the CPF loans has become an uncertainty. In the context, the Government has come up with an option to buy back the HDB units from retirees, and give them a monthly pension.

The Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) are also sometimes managed by fund managers. The amount of money in an SWF is substantial. As of 2018, the UAE’s fund was worth about $683 billion, and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has exceeded $1 trillion in 2017. The management cost of this fund has risen significantly over time. They are spending about $446 million as management costs.

There are claims that Singapore Temasek does not disclose even the remuneration paid to the Chairperson.

China SWF, worth $575 billion, has mismanaged some of its overseas investments, leading to heavy losses, according to the country auditor. It is reported that some employees in China Investment corporation (CIC) have failed to exercise sufficient due diligence in investing funds overseas during the last six years.

There is a growing global trend of plans to reduce the actively managed strategies of the SWFs, due to many such disadvantages experienced, including the cost of funds for engaging fund managers etc.

Ours is a comparatively small fund, approximating to about $12.5 billion at today’s rate of exchange. The Asian Development Bank is interested in advising us to take innovative steps to maximise the returns from this fund. A US-based company, working under an ADB project loan facility, is engaged in formulating schemes for the proposal. We are yet to find and determine whether it is a proposal originating from the ADB, or the ADB coming forward to assist us in a proposal made by our economic wizards. Either way, the cost to the nation is significant, even at this early stage of deciding whether we should hand over the EPF to External Asset Managers. The Government will repay the ADB loan, which is getting added to our “mountain of debts”, and the burden of the cost of funds for the management and the risks inherent in speculative investments will be our baby to nurse, with no ADB around then.

All these years, the CBSL, except during the periods where certain  planned corrupt acts were executed, has been able to provide a good rate of return to our EPF, in keeping with the prevailing market rates of interest, with facilitation to competitively enter into the fray with other players in the bond market. The Monetary Board of the CBSL, being the highest responsible body and authority for the country’s finances, has been entrusted with the task of safeguarding the EPF, while ensuring sound investment policies to generate the best possible risk free investment income.

Therefore rushing to areas gradually shunned elsewhere due to unhealthy experiences has to be carefully considered, and the right to safeguard the wealth that belongs to the working population should not be compromised on grounds that things “seem to be all right.”

Regrettably, our new generation of politicians have failed to create the confidence of reliability in their new approaches, due to the hitherto-displayed imbecility. So the fear expressed by the Fund members is justified.

(Tennakoon Rusiripala is a former President of the Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union, a former Chairman of the Bank of Ceylon, and a Councillor of the Colombo Municipal Council.) 

Sri Lanka: Dr N.M. Legacy — Time to Reiterate

Cooperatives must be revived in the agricultural and consumer sectors as we re-introduce collective action to go along with individual entrepreneurship to develop our economy.

by Tissa Vitarana- Aug 12, 2018

( August 12, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Commemoration of Dr. N.M. Perera’s 39th Death Anniversary, along with the historic Great Hartal of August 12, 1953, will take place at 3pm on Tuesday August 14 at the Public Library Auditorium, Colombo. Speakers will include political leaders of the Centre/Left – Dinesh Gunawardena (MEP), Tissa Vitarana (LSSP), DEW Gunasekera (SLCP), GL Pieris (SLPP), Vasudeva Nanayakkara (DLF), Asanka Navaratne (SLMP), D Kalansuriya (DVJP), and Trade Union leaders WH Piyadasa and AK Namasivayam. Rev. Baddegama Samitha will chair the meeting.

Dr. N M Perera obtained a B.SC(Economics), Ph. D and D.Sc from the London School of Economics where he was a favourite pupil of Prof. Harold Laski, the Economic Advisor to the UK Labour Party. He rounded up his political and economic knowledge through an extensive study of the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.As both a socialist internationalist and nationalist, his life was devoted to the fight against Imperialist exploitation and aggression in all its forms. As the leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) he fought for all against poverty and social injustice and to derive the full benefit of the advances of Science, Technology and Innovation.

His main achievements are being lost – Modern Imperialism is systematically and covertly destroying past gains and future prospects by the global Neoliberal project of the USA and its agents, the IMF, World Bank, CIA and “think tanks”. They are operating through puppet regimes, established democratically (UNP in Sri Lanka) or autocratically (Thailand). With the global economic downturn affecting the West more than the East, more direct, but covert, exploitation of our countries is being resorted to, weakening our state and Government, while strengthening market forces controlled by the USA and its allies (MNCs etc), misusing the UN.

1. Complete Independence: for which NM suffered in British jails. He helped Colvin draft the 1972 Republican Constitution. Sri Lanka is now in the USAs military network e.g. Trinco base.

2. Sovereignty: NM helped establish the Economic G23 to fight against unequal terms of trade; this later led to the formation of the G77 of NAM leaders of independent sovereign states. He attempted, along with Colvin R de Silva, to establish a cartel of tea and rubber producing countries to get a proper price, (like OPEC for oil). To emerge from a British dominated economy based on the sale of raw materials with profits going abroad, NM supported the nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy and strengthening the state sector, with active workers councils. He promoted self-sufficiency in food and import substitution industry. But FDI/LDI was also effectively promoted. A national social welfare economy to serve all Sri Lanka’s people was developed. Value added industry by developing our human resources and STI were funded. He reduced the foreign trade gap, increased our foreign reserves, minimizing debt andbalanced the Budget. Present UNP/SLFP Government has increased Sri Lanka’s national debt to the point of bankruptcy, widened the trade gap, become more dependent on imports and loans, weakened the Rupee – from Rs 8 then to Rs 160 per dollar now. National Assets are being sold to foreigners; and the Welfare State dismantled.

3. Parliament: NM made it a respected institution with strong democratic traditions reflecting the will of the people. He opposed the grafting of the Executive Presidency and making large District based constituencies. LSSP stands for a mixed electoral system on the German model. In his booklet “A Critical Analysis of the 1978 Constitution” NM warned of the inevitable conflicts that would arise between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary; the instability of Parliament and the emergence of dictatorial tendencies that would undermine the sovereignty of the People and of Parliament. The UNP undemocratically imposed the dictatorial Executive Presidency, the large electorates and the hated “Manapa electoral system”, that has split parties and the Government itself. The present UNP-led Government has reduced Parliament to an undemocratic farce, without having a proper Opposition (Joint Opposition ignored with 70 members out of 92), a highly biased Speaker, responding to serious criticism of Government’s misdeeds and blatant corruption by making a joke of it with the PM playing the role of clown.

4.Governance: NM as the Cabinet Minister of Finance and MP was the epitome of good governance. He was free of corruption, and never guilty of political interference or nepotism. He stood for appointments and promotions based on merit first, making allowance for poverty based disadvantages second. He respected good administrators while being opposed to bureaucracy itself. Serving the people was his priority. The present UNP-led Government is the most corrupt and incompetent one in our history without any sense of honour or desire to respect the truth or keep to its promises. With open conflict within the Government and Cabinet political and economic Instability has resulted. Government’s harsh attitude towards officials, employees and the people has alienated all of them, leading to non-cooperation.

5.National Unity: NM sacrificed his political future (being PM) by standing up for Tamil also as an official language and against the UNP disenfranchising the people of recent Indian origin. He fought against discrimination based on race, religion, caste, gender and class. NM was a true statesman committed to national unity to build one Sri Lankan Nation of equals. The present UNP-led Government had a golden opportunity to achieve this, but seems to have missed it. To divert the people’s attention from its failures the “divide and rule” policy of promoting racial and religious discord is emerging. The trend is social and political chaos with conflict promotion.

6.Tax Policy: NM raised the maximum direct taxation to 70% so that the super-rich were the main source of funds to balance the Budget. But by giving tax concessions to local investors he promoted development. By minimizing Indirect taxes, specially on essentials, and low priced goods on the ration through an efficient cooperative system, the burden on the people was minimized, and inflation kept low. With the global food crisis no one died here unlike in other countries. By demonetizing, he brought out black money strengthening the economy. The stable political and economic environment maximized FDI (Levers, Nestle etc. came here). The UNP Government has extracted 85% as indirect taxes, burdening the people, and only 15% as direct taxes at the very low maximum rate of 24% (in Europe it is 45%) so that the very rich have it good, and the rich/poor gap is widened leading to social instability and more crime. The import of luxury goods increases the foreign trade imbalance and debt, also devaluing the Rupee and adding to inflation. The unstable economic climate has reduced FDI based development.

7. National Welfare Economy with greater equity: NM stood for a National Welfare State and supported the complete dismantling of the British Colonial Economy through nationalization of their major Banks, Insurance, Ports. Plantations, Mineral resources and by bringing all Utilities into Public hands – Railways. Roads, Transport, Power, Water, Import and distribution of fuel and other essentials. He fought for a Welfare Society that empowered people based on cooperation, and the Rights of the working people and the disadvantaged. Distilleries and private land over the limit of 50 acres were nationalized and distributed among the landless, while also establishing State plantations. Based on a National Plan he promoted the development of value added industry utilizing our natural, agricultural and human resources. He gave the highest allocations for Science, Technology and Innovation (0.4% of GDP) to develop local Industries, and promoted Developmental Banking. NM gave maximal support for Free Education, Free Health (Including the implementation of the Senaka Bibile Medicinal Drug Policy making all essential drugs available free in the State hospitals). At the behest of the USA and IMF, the Neoliberal Project to make Sri Lanka a neo-colony, is being meticulously planned and executed. The present UNP-led Government is dismantling the Welfare State and selling all national assets (land, ports, utilities like the Water Resources Board and even State Departments like Survey) to foreigners (MNCs etc) who are getting control of our economy. Individual gain, by hook or by crook, supersedes collective good.

Conclusion: NM was a pragmatist and would have shifted his policies to accord with the process of Globalization, but without giving into the Neoliberal Asenda of USA led Imperialism. He was always ready to develop the economy using the capitalist system under Government regulation, without surrendering to MNC led market forces. He would have seen the progress made by China and Vietnam and opted to adapt the East Asian model of development to suit our needs. But rather than giving into the forces of individual profit alone he would have preserved the welfare state and the dominance and regulatory role of the Government. But in a Centre/LeftGovernment the negative impact of petty political interference with appointments and decisions would require change, together with bureaucratic obstruction, lethargy and corruption.

I am sure he would have supported the “solidarity concept” being adapted to overcoming these problems as suggested by me and colleagues from the LSSP. While giving full support for private capitalist and state enterprise based development, the solidarity model of ownership would have appealed to him. In this model enterprise ownership is shared equally among all employees, from top professional management down to the most unskilled worker. A Council of Management is elected by secret ballot and all selections and promotions are based on merit. The profits are shared equally while the differential salary structure is observed.

This has worked well in UK, USA, Spain (Mondragon Province that produces 13% of the GDP) and in a Kerala tea plantation. Why not here?

Cooperatives must be revived in the agricultural and consumer sectors as we re-introduce collective action to go along with individual entrepreneurship to develop our economy. Development Banking (Venture Capital) support is vital. for development. Sri Lanka must discard the Neoliberal project of the USA and IMF and return to a truly national development model adapting what Dr. N. M. Prera started to the modern world to suit the needs of all Sri Lankans.

Kili Maharaja is sponsor of Wadduwa drug party which claimed 4 lives ! Presidential secretariat tells police chiefs to suppress !!

(Lanka e News -12.Aug.2018, 11.30PM) It has now come to light it is the English electronic channel of Kili Maharaja - Capital Maharaja chain which was the main sponsor along with other sponsors in the DJ musical party which served ‘heavens gate’ illicit drug pills at Saffron Beach hotel , Wadduwa on the 4 th (Saturday) during which mirth and merriment 4 youths died.

Although there were a number of other companies which were also sponsors , those were not high profile companies . It was only high profile Kili Maharaja’s Co. which was the leading sponsorship Co. The Avant Premier Co belonging to Samarasekeras who are the agents for Red bull liquor also played a key role in this deadly ‘drug scourge’ party

The four youths who died bore tell tale signs of taking drugs , and the cause of death is an overdose of drugs leading to a rise in body temperature , a medical specialist who is a resident of Britain , and an inquirer into sudden deaths told Lanka e News.

The medical specialist confirmed that deaths were not due to the surrounding temperature rising but because of the temperature within the body shooting up due to the excess intake of drugs . Just within a short time the organs within can get destroyed , the medical specialist pointed out.

When treating , what must be considered is not the rise in temperature but the drug overdose and an anti dose must be administered . The specialist regretted that when the true cause of death is overdose of drugs , those responsible in SL are trying to suppress it.

The worst part ! the Kili Maharaja’s mahajara media channels which telecast breaking news every hour when such a tragedy occurs, only telecast this most grave incident just once or twice after long intervals in order to conceal information about those individuals who organized the ‘drugs party’

The Mt. Lavinia Municipal council halted the issue of permits when the drug pills cum DJ parties were widespread and multiplying in the area . The organizers of these parties then went to Panadura and Wadduwa to hold those parties . On the day of the party when tragedy struck , nearly 2000 guests were participating , and the tickets were priced at Rs. 3000.00 and 5000.00 each .

The party has commenced on the 4 th at 7.30 p.m. and the first victim had collapsed at about 3.00 early morning the following day. The organizers have had a hired ambulance in the ready . When the victims became unconscious , from time to time they have been taken to Panadura hospital by the ambulance. Even when three of the youths died the party had been continued uninterrupted. Finally the party had been terminated the following day(05) at 10.00 a.m. The fourth victim had died on the 5 th evening.

Though the organizers of the party should have been arrested immediately , Amila Pushpakumara and Harshan Eranga the two suspects were arrested only after a long delay on the 9 th.

Shame ! it is the presidential secretariat which had phoned the police chiefs and instructed not to publicize that deaths were due to drugs , based on a probe conducted by Lanka e News . When delving further into this , it was discovered these instructions have been given by those holding director posts in the presidential secretariat and who are under the pay of Kili Maharaja. The false excuse given by them is , publicity would be an impediment to the crusade of the president against drugs. But the true reason for issuing this instruction is , it is Kili Maharaja who has been the main sponsor for these drug pills cum DJ parties. It is worthy of note , Maharaja’s Company had been providing sponsorship to such parties over a long period.

Striking at the root of these vices is most imperative and important . Hence not only those who organized these drug parties , even the sponsors including Kili Maharaja should be arrested and interrogated . Otherwise the big din made by president that he is going to hang the drug dealers is just another farce and a loud fart .

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by     (2018-08-12 19:03:20)

Judges Met Mahinda At Night

By Suranimala Umagiliya –AUGUST 13, 2018

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, speaking at a public function last week was in a sombre mood, as witnessed in the telecast on News First. He was as usual griping away over the court cases that were to come up against the family. Mahinda went on to charge that Ministers gathered at night to decide on cases against him and his family members. He stated they were forcing the Attorney General to forward indictments to the Chief Justice. That is rich coming from the former President who treated the judiciary and the Attorney Generals Department like his domestic servants. Has he forgotten that high officials of the Judiciary as well as the Attorney General’s Department were appointed by him during his Presidency? Has he conveniently omitted to state that Independent Commissions are in place to appoint such persons after the Yahapalanaya Government came to office?

I am reminded of an article that was published in The Colombo Telegraph by it’s Editor Uvindu Kurukulasuriya many moons ago which has relevance. I produce a section of his article,

“I am reminded of my own experience of the then burgeoning signs of absolute impunity that I saw when I met Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008. I was meeting him as the Convenor of the Free Media Movement. We were not alone. Other members of his then cabinet were present. After a cordial conversation the President rose from his chair, saying, “Have some dinner before you go.

“one more issue” I said.

“What?” asked the President.

“Tissainayagam’s issue”, I said.

“Oh that. I want to free Tissainayagam. His wife had sent a message through Mangala Moonesinghe”, said the President with a smile on his face.

“Then why did you summon the Deputy Solicitors General two weeks ago and order them to file action?” I asked.

The President was visibly angered by this. He glanced at Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and SLFP General Secretary, Minister Maithripala Sirisena, and then looked directly at me. Angrily banging his palm on the table, he said, “We can fix cases and we can free people.”

He then came near me and hit my solar plexus with a bunched fist in friendly way. “You know everything, don’t you?” he asked.

The above conversation took place in mid September 2008, when we met with him. The president of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association, Sanath Balasuriya, and it’s secretary, Poddala Jayantha, accompanied me as the convenor of the Free Media Movement to this meeting with President Rajapaksa.

You know everything, don’t you?

What was the story President Rajapaksa had tried to cover-up?

This was it. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had summoned the Deputy Solicitors General from the Attorney General’s Department for a meeting in third week of August 2008. He was impatient with the Department’s lack of success in securing convictions of ‘suspects’ detained by the Police. One was the case of Mawbima journalist Parameswary Munusamy arrested on suspicion of aiding the LTTE and released for the lack of evidence.

The President’s first query was directed to the Deputy Solicitor General in charge of the Tissainayagam case. The DSG said that the grounds for prosecution were poor. The President ordered him to prosecute regardless. The DSG in charge of the ACF case (The gruesome execution-style murders of 17 aid workers with the French organisation Action Contre La Faim in 2006) was asked about the case. The DSG replied that there were two strong witnesses in Australia. Presdient Rajapaksa’s younger brother Senior presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa who was present then inquired whether people in Australia died in road accidents?

An angry Deputy Solicitor General rang me the following day and asked me to come to Independence Square – a popular place for walkers. I met him there. While we were walking he told me the story and asked me to leave the place. Until now nobody dared write about this issue fearing for their lives. The international media would not write about it because they could not get the story from an original source.”

And this from a man who conveniently forgets. Now consider the following,

It was after the defeat of General Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 Presidential elections, President Mahinda Rajapaksa revealed his true personality. The manner in which he arrested Fonseka, incarcerated him and thereafter cobbled up charges to shunt him in jail were symptomatic of his inner nature which he had camouflaged cleverly over a long period of time. Remember Mahinda was deemed “King” after the LTTE was vanquished and Sri Lanka was his country to do as he willed. Nay, the country belonged to him and his extended family.

The initial charges to hold Fonseka were based on purchases made by the Army during his tenure as Commander where his son-in-law was named as a dealer. The public did not react to these charges as expected and the Rajapaksa juggernaut had to find alternate charges to hang on Fonseka. This they did with the infamously titled “White Flag” case. “Treason” screamed Gotabaya Rajapaksa to Hard Talk journalist. He went further,” We will hang him”.

Foreign journalists declared the last stages of the so called war against the LTTE was a war without witnesses. It was not entirely true. The military did have a few select journalists from the government owned media in the front lines. In fact they were in the bunkers with the regular troops and dispatched reports and footage as dictated by the Army. When Gen. Fonseka was coerced to contest the 2010 Presidency as the common candidate some of these journalists joined him. Gen. Fonseka therefore was privy to all which took place in the front lines through these journalists. It was in fact one such story that he spoke of which led to the White Flag case. That is part of the known history. Now the unknown.

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