UNP-SLFP domestic rivalry threatens to distort foreign policy

2018-10-23

That India played the most pernicious role of a destabilizer of independent Sri Lanka is an incontrovertible empirical fact. That phase of overt Indian interference, which saw arming and training of nascent Tamil separatists and then the ‘parippu’ drop and the induction of Indian peace keepers lasted less than a decade. However the monsters that India helped create haunted this country for three decades, robbed us two generations of prosperity, and a hundred thousand lives.   

This is not uniquely our plight. A cursory glance of India’s relationship with its neighbours, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal, would reveal that India has expected them to subordinate their national interest to New Delhi’s strategic interest. In each of these countries, India made a big mess. Though now it is trying hard to amend its course, and address the image problem, old habits die hard.  

India’s overblown geo-strategic interests in its ‘sphere of influence’ and peace and prosperity of small and medium size states therein are not necessarily mutually inclusive. India has a skewed relationship between relative limits of its actual material resources and enlarged geo-strategic interests it inherited from the British Raj. This asymmetry is better defended, and cost efficiently so, when the regional states are weak and in trouble. When they are in peace, other regional players step in- and India’s resource limits and opportunity cost of domestic trade- offs make it difficult for it to keep up with those competitors. That is what India is experiencing in the context of China’s economic expansion.  

No wonder that some Indian analysts are publicly complaining that the Congress government had compromised India’s most formidable leverage on Sri Lanka by letting Colombo to finish off the LTTE once and for all.  

In this backdrop, it is perfectly logical for Sri Lankans - or South Asians for that matter - to have a healthy dose of skepticism. However, getting paranoid by their big neighbour is a folly and is counter- productive. Going to town with unsubstantiated allegations makes things worse. Instead, they should all be reasons to devise means for proactive engagement with India and give it an economic stake. So that New Delhi would have a self- interest in Sri Lanka’s stability.  

Last week at the Cabinet briefing, President Maithripala Sirisena reportedly alleged that Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s intelligence agency, was plotting to kill him. He added that it might be acting without the knowledge of PM Modi. He was referring to a revelation by self-styled anti-corruption buster Nalaka Kumara, who had alleged that the former TID Director, DIG Nalaka Silva sought his assistance to assassinate the president. He has since claimed that an Indian national has threatened to kill him. The Indian national, whom the Indian embassy has described as mentally unstable was later arrested by the police. He is now in remand custody. The President’s remarks made headlines following day. Most importantly, it was picked up by the influential ‘The Hindu’ newspaper. Its correspondent Meera Srinivasan has said that she had verified the report with four cabinet ministers. The president’s media division later denied that the president had implicated RAW in the alleged allegation plot. However, notwithstanding the denial, unfound allegations unleashed a whirlpool of diplomatic activity to salvage the bilateral partnership. The president later telephoned PM Modi to clarify his remarks, after which a rather bland press statement was issued by the president’s office, effectively telling the people, everything is just fine. In a separate statement, the office of Premier Modi echoed same sentiments. The Prime Minister’s Office (in New Delhi) declared: “The President of Sri Lanka stated that he categorically rejected the reports in sections of media about him alluding to the involvement of India in any manner whatsoever in an alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka.”  

 However, another statement issued by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office after his meet up with Indian PM in New Delhi last week was a spoiler. The press release stated, Modi expressed disappointment over the delay in the Indian funded projects. It added, “Premier Modi said, he had spent the most of his time allocated to diplomatic matters, on Sri Lanka, and expressed his discontent over the response of the Sri Lankan government towards the assistance given by India.”  
It added, that Modi said that if there was any hint of any problem, it should be broached to him or India without hesitation.  

 This flew in the face of the two previous statements by the offices of Messers. Sirisena and Modi. That also contradicted a diplomatically worded press statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs about the meeting between the two prime ministers. The Indian statement said the main item on the agenda was a review of the “progress” in Indian projects.  

This brings out another element that has been holding back this government from evolving a unified position on anything: simmering disagreement between the President and PM, which has progressively worsened since the local government elections.  

Now, disturbingly, these petty politically calculated animosities are spilling into foreign policy. Interestingly, the president’s remarks on the RAW came in the context of a wider disagreement over the handing over of the development of Eastern terminal of the Colombo Port to a joint Indian-Japanese and Sri Lankan venture. The President vehemently opposed the proposal, claiming that giving ports to the foreign entities would leave Sri Lanka without a port to berth its own ships.  
There is an ideological divide between the lifelong SLFP stalwart Maithripala Sirisena and more economically liberal minded UNP. However, that divide has been deepened by politically calculated rhetorical posturing, especially on foreign direct investment.That has effectively dissipated the investor enthusiasm. Sovereignty concerns are cited as justification for opposing many such public-private partnership projects involving foreign entities. But, the blunt truth is that more often than not, it is electoral calculations of economic nationalism that are at play. Sri Lanka has lost a good deal due to this already.   

Now to make matters worse, the country’s foreign policy has also been dragged into this no-hold -barred contest. Granted that economic development through international cooperation dilutes the absolute notion of sovereignty. Such concerns could well be heightened in an asymmetric relationship where big powers take a stake. However, such partnerships also entail immense benefits to the host country. They increase connectivity, bring in much needed capital, and technology, and facilitate the economic catch- up of countries whose development has been held back by misplaced statism of economic policy. Thus the real challenge is to engage in a rational trade off of opportunities and threats. However, the internecine rivalry within the unity government, especially between the President and the UNP, is adding too much raw emotions, and opportunism to the discourse. That distorts the whole picture.   

Sri Lanka’s real danger has always been within. That is its opportunistic politics. In the past, divisive ethno-nationalism of primarily of Tamils and advanced by the Tamil political elites exposed this country to foreign, mainly Indian influence and intervention. Now the two main Sinhalese parties have taken it to a new low. They are dabbling their political calculations in the country’s relationship with both India and China. They should learn from the mistakes of recent history and desist from this dangerous gamble.   

Author can be contacted on @RangaJayasuriya on Twitter   

The Hindu mess and N. Ram’s tweet on the raw (or RAW) matter?

I was simply appalled when N. Ram’s quick tweet on this raw matter, not only defending The Hindu correspondent but also accusing the government or the President of falsehood.

by Laksiri Fernando- Oct 22, 2018

( October 22, 2018, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) A.S. Panneerselvan ran a story this morning in The Hindu (00.00am, 22 October 2018) titled “Don’t blame the messenger,” referring to the controversial front page report of the same newspaper five days ago by Meera Sirinivasan on “Sri Lankan President Sirisena alleges that RAW is plotting his assassination,” with the pretentious claim “for a responsible media organisation, telling the truth is imperative even if it means reporting tactless utterances.”

The Hindu or Meera Sirinivasan is the messenger. What is the message?

Reporting a news is perfectly acceptable or even imperative, after reasonable verification that the initial journalist had done. However to claim that report is the absolute truth, or nothing but the truth, is farfetched and unwarranted. Subjectively of course the journalist who reported the news or even the whole newspaper establishment may consider the story is the truth. But that claim is questionable, unless they are Gods, because the information has particularly emerged under questionable circumstances which the newspaper and the journalist/s are quite privy to.

Questionable Circumstances?

What are these questionable circumstances?

First, there had been reportedly a heated argument between the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka surrounding proposed development projects with the partnership of India.

Second, there had been reportedly some accusations and exchange between the President and some Ministers belonging to the other party of the coalition, the UNP, on the ongoing CID investigations on the alleged assassination conspiracy against the President and the former Defence Secretary.

It is well known that the Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera, publicly dismissed the conspiracy allegations, whether it has had any impact on the ongoing investigations or not. Therefore, the information coming under such circumstances should be circumspect, not to take the news as the final truth.

Panneerselvan has sufficiently defended the colleague journalist under a separate section of the article (“The act of verification”) and there is no issue of that defence except his questioning of ‘the President’s incredible statement,’ as if he not only believes that the President made such a statement,but also implying the accusation is not credible. The second implication is the most questionable.

The following is what the Indian Prime Minister’s office has stated in nutshell after President Sirisena’s telephone call on the matter.

“The Prime Minister appreciated the prompt steps taken by the President and his Government to firmly refute the malicious reports by publicly clarifying the matters. He also reiterated India’s emphasis on ‘neighbourhood first’ policy and the priority the Government of India and he personally attach to developing even stronger all-round cooperation between the two countries.”

It should be noted that the statement names “the malicious reports” not only referring to The Hindu, but also to many other news reports in Sri Lanka, apparently emerging from the same sources.

What is the Message?

It is a mindboggling question why Panneerselvanis appealing in his today’s article “Don’t blame the messenger?” The reason is not clear or ambiguous. There can be two implications.

First, don’t blame the messenger for exposing the ‘incredible statement’ of the President.

Second, don’t blame the messenger for exposing a possible RAW involvement in the alleged conspiracy.

Of course the second does not emerge from the initial report of Meera Sirinivasan, but from Panneerselvan’s report today. He says:

“It has never been easy for reporters covering neighbourhood politics to report on the roles of agencies like the Research and Analysis Wing [RAW] and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. As a reporter who has covered most of India’s neighbouring countries for nearly three decades, I can safely say that these agencies are named in most of the covert and overt operations — sometimes based on facts, sometimes based on pure hypothesis, and sometimes to suit domestic political realities.”

Is the above passage an indication that the President’s ‘incredible statement’ may be ‘credible’ under circumstances of, if not fact, but based on hypothesis? Or is it to ‘suit the domestic political realities’ that the report is made. However, it appears that it is the way at least Panneerselvan is operating or writing, as he says.

Under these circumstances, his initial claim that “responsible media organisations tell the truth” is questionable. I might be a last person to condemned media freedom, even if they tell lies, knowingly or unknowingly. I am an author of the “Lima Declaration of Academic Freedom” acclaimed by UNESCO, and academic freedom is not dissimilar to media freedom.

Therefore, this is a friendly spat to remind the ‘colleagues’ not to claim for ‘truth’ instantly,but to find, report and interpret facts and allow the law enforcement and particularly the judiciary to find the reasonable ‘truth’in this type of a case. Or allow the truth to emerge through a process, without jumping on a hurried ‘truth.’

Ram’s Tweet

I am not a person searching or getting involved in the social media. It appears they have absolute freedom, I mean the social media, even Donald Trump tweeting and tweeting on all matters on earth.

But I was simply appalled when N. Ram’s quick tweet on this raw matter, not only defending The Hindu correspondent, but also accusing the government or the President of falsehood. The question is not about the President or the government, but again N. Ram’s claim about the ‘truth.’ This is what I am particularly questioning. There were two tweets on the same day on the 19th.

First: “Our Sri Lanka Correspondent verified what she had learnt with multiple independent sources before publishing her report. Let them issue their lame denials, try to wriggle out of what was said — but we stand by our Correspondent’s meticulously fact-checked story.”

This is fairly ok, as I have already stated, defending The Hindu correspondent. N. Ram is not only the former Editor in Chief of The Hindu but also the Chairman of the Kasturi & Sons Limited, the publisher of The Hindu. Therefore, the concern is understandable. However, the second tweet is more questionable about the alleged truth.

Second: “Another case of saying something wild & bizarre, expecting it to remain within a closed room, and then blaming the media for the furore caused. The Hindu did its job — truth-telling.”

What is this ‘closed room’? The Cabinet meeting of a friendly neighbouring country which is supposed to have collective responsibility according to the democratic parliamentary norms, both India and Sri Lanka are supposed to follow.

Apart from The Hindu’s so quick jumping on ‘truth-telling,’ there is an apparent defence of RAW of any wrong doing, in Ram’s second tweet, by saying the alleged accusation is “wild and bizarre.” How does he know or so sure? This is not merely about a matter of fact, but of principle.

(Laksiri Fernando is former Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colombo)

Related Story: The family feud which is gripping India’s media: Editor of ‘The Hindu’ newspaper resigns

Family Members Confirm Indian Man Arrested Over Sirisena’s Assassination Plot Suffering From Grave Mental Illness Since 1997

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Family members of the Indian national who has been arrested over an alleges assassination plot on President Maithripala Sirisena confirmed that he had been suffering from a mental illness since 1997.

Sirisena

The Indian High Commission too previously stated that the Indian national was not of sound mind. However, at last Cabinet meeting President Sirisena had reportedly stated that RAW, the Indian intelligence agency, had orchestrated the assassination plot.

“This is a fabricated case. My elder brother is a victim of political insecurity in Sri Lanka,” the 52-year-old brother of the man who has been identified by Sri Lankan authorities as M Thomas has told the Indian Express newspaper.

Thomas was arrested from the home of a self-styled Sri Lankan anti-corruption activist and a former employee of the Presidential Secretariat, Namal Kumara.

The brother said he wasn’t in regular contact with Thomas and that they last spoke a week before his arrest. “Thomas then said his life was in danger and that he was surrounded by enemies,” he said.

The brother told The Indian Express that Thomas, a B.Com graduate, who had exhibited “severe symptoms of mental illness” since an accident in 1997 in which he sustained a head injury, “needs treatment, not jail”.

He said that Thomas worked as an office assistant-cum-accountant for several years in the Mumbai office of the Airports Authority of India and used to live in Andheri. In 1992, he shifted to an AAI office in Kerala.

For reasons the brother said were unclear to him, the AAI gave his job to Thomas’s wife. The husband and wife have been divorced for several years and have a son.

The brother said he last saw Thomas in 2016, after nearly a decade. In 2007, the brother, who was then working in the Middle East, got him a job there, “but he quit after a few months”.

After that, he met Thomas only in 2016, when he showed up at his Mumbai house and lived there for a few months. “He had a property matter in the south. He owned a seven-room bungalow there and feared that his wife would take the property away. We travelled together to Kerala to clear his property tax,” the brother said.

Thomas, the brother said, disappeared soon after, and the next he heard from him was in the beginning of 2017 when he called to say he was in Sri Lanka. “He sounded happy. He asked me to come to Colombo,” said his younger brother, adding that he never asked him how he was supporting himself, where he lived or what he did.

In the months that followed, the two kept in touch through “missed calls”.

“I knew he had no money, so sometimes I would call him back when I got a missed call from him. When I spoke to him last, in the third week of September, he said he had a lot of enemies. I told him to come back or to report to the police or the Indian embassy there. As usual, our conversation ended abruptly,” the brother said.

The brother said he was in touch with Indian and Sri Lankan officials. “But I haven’t had a chance to speak to my brother yet. Indian officials were also not allowed to meet him.

They asked me to visit Colombo but I am unwell. I request them to take his illness into consideration and drop all false charges against him. If they cannot release him immediately, I hope they will make sure that he gets mental health treatment,” the brother said.

Read More

President who tried to disband Director boards of banks falls headlong like the cat in ‘Tom and Jerry ‘

(Lanka e News – 22.Oct.2018, 11.30PM) The illegal directive issued by the president disbanding the boards of directors(including chairpersons) of two state banks as well as the Board of Investment owing to his ignorance of the powers vested in him following the enactment of the 19 th amendment of the constitution had created a huge uproar while the president himself was tossed overboard. This is because the ministers in charge of those Institutions have instructed those members of the boards not to resign as the order of the president is unlawful.

Consequently , none of the board members including the chairpersons have resigned so far .

In this disgraceful imbroglio which reflects poorly on the ignorant president , the secretary to the president had stated as usual , the latter had not issued such an order, in order to save face .All what the president made was a ‘request’ to them to resign with the permission of the relevant ministers, the secretary had pointed out.

However based on reports reaching Lanka e News , the president had not discussed with or made such a request to the ministers.

It were several media coolies now exclusively doing all the sordid biddings of the president who revealed to the mass media that the president gave the order to disband the boards of directors .These are the rascally journalists of a new disgraceful breed who only report whatever the president utters and mutters. They are the shameless stooges , an affront to the profession who are incapable of thinking or writing anything beyond what president blabbers.

The power to appoint the members to the boards of People’s bank , Bank of Ceylon and board of Investment is vested in the Secretary to the Treasury who follows the recommendations made by the relevant ministers .The president has no powers. It is a clear inference from this, the president who is the highest in the hierarchy has no knowledge of his own powers or even about the 19 th amendment. Whether he had read the 19 th amendment at all is another question.

The behavior of the president can only be compared with the ‘antics’ of the obese cat in ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoons where the foolish cat bungles everything by messing around. She runs atop the mountain and runs even passing it not realizing she is suspended in the air only to have a heavy fall when she stops. The actions of stupid Sirisena alias Sillysena are also akin to that.

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by     (2018-10-22 20:35:55)

Get the country back on track

 

2018-10-23

More than 75% to 80% belong to lower middle class but look at the new vehicles on the roads

• Parliamentarians need to realize that they must practise austerity
• The role of the politician is not to grant but to generate employment
• Bring down the glory of Parliamentarians

We are going through a very critical phase in Sri Lanka. The country needs immediate measures to put things back on track which will give short and long-term lasting results.

In order to achieve that we need procedures in place while being mindful that our programmes MUST give results, which benefit all citizens and not just a few, as previous programmes and projects have.

For example, we are all well aware that the airport in Mattala, the Port in Hambantota, the Convention Centre in Hambantota and even the Uma Oya Project in the Uva Province have not given us the expected results.

Some of these projects have become white elephants while others are yet to prove fruitful.

Austerity

First and foremost, the current Parliamentarians (And politicians in general) need to realize that they must practise austerity. Over the last few years, people have been talking about austerity. 

However, the Ministers and officials are still going for luxury vehicles and other commodities at the expense of the public.

About 75% to 80% live below the lower middle class level or even below. These people cannot afford to spend Rs. 250 to survive the day, but look at our roads, they are full of new and nearly new vehicles- when a large majority cannot even make ends meet.

Where is our conscience in all this? How can one strata of people afford luxuries while the other suffers in poverty?

A vast majority of Parliamentarians have come from similar backgrounds. They have not had luxuries as children. Probably their parents had to forego meals to feed them and send them to school. So, poverty and suffering is not something that they are unaware of. But, the moment they see any sign of money, they change and change for the worst.

The question is how the three levels of administration; Local Authorities, Provincial Councils and the Centre (Parliament) complement each other.

We need to, at some point, question whether the Provincial Councils are a requirement in this small country.

The vehicle permit is such an attraction to get into Government Service. And these professionals have no shame that housemaids in the Middle East, women in the clothing industry and the tea industry are paying for all these

Choosing the right people

If we look back into our history of post-independence politics and governance, we seem to have gone backwards.

We fail to choose the right people into the governance structures. At present we see candidates who have earned money by illegal means and contributed little to society.

A tin sheet or a cooking utensil had earned votes for unsavoury characters. However, it is not untrue, that the voter would like to vote for quality people; by which I mean learned, honest and with integrity.

Here, the political party must put forward the right candidates. The party can use a vetting process before offering candidacy.

Expertise in Ministries

There is  still a way to overcome this problem. The Government must get experts to the Ministries who will be responsible for fashioning the policies of the Ministry.
The experts should be paid an allowance for the work they do for the Ministry and not salaries and exorbitant benefits.

This way, we can ensure that only the committed experts will come forward. Money should not be the determining factor in appointing these experts.  

Do all Cabinet Ministers, read all the papers presented prior to voting for them? In such situations, these experts I propose could lead to healthy discussions before approvals.

Members of Parliament should find time to attend committees. Opening buildings and attending all events in their constituency is not really their job.

Doling out money is not the best way to alleviate poverty. Free money creates more poverty unless people are made to work somewhere to earn that dole.

By all means, the Government must protect the ultra poor as they are very vulnerable, especially with the rising Cost of Living.

There has to be a safety net but first, the Government must keep a tab on income disparity.

Protect the Farmer

The farming community in this country has been having a raw deal for decades now. They have serious problems with regards to fertilizer, then the unpredictability in the weather due to climate change such as drought and floods. As the food producers to the nation, they need a safety net as well. As a country, this is where we should place our investment because if we can ensure food security, we can resolve almost all the other problems. 

The Government needs to know why some food items are imported. For example, bananas are being imported? Then what about the local banana farmer? How can we safeguard his/her business? Why can’t the Government intervene to control the imports of this nature?

As a nation, we must popularize agriculture. During our schooling, agriculture was drilled into our systems. But no more.  

Permits

It is no secret that the issuance of vehicle permits has destroyed the country. In my opinion, no one should be given a permit.

If we do, there has to be a ceiling on the value or the engine capacity. The person should return the vehicle and not make a sale and make a profit or buy it from the government.

Today, the vehicle permit is such an attraction to get into Government Service. And these professionals have no shame that housemaids in the Middle East, women in the clothing industry and the tea industry are paying for all these.

And will any of these women be able to buy such a vehicle ever?

All benefits and perks should be removed and there should not be too many overheads and many employees

Members of Parliament

There is a notion that they can appoint people to be in his staff and have them being paid a salary. The Ministers should revert to the old but correct system of working with Ministry officials, who are qualified Public Servants.

There must at least be a limit to the number of persons that a Minister can appoint to his Ministry. The role of the politician is not to grant but to generate employment.
It is imperative that we bring down the glory of being a Parliamentarian. All benefits and perks should be removed and there should not be too many overheads and too many employees.

Water, electricity and telecommunication can be provided at a far reduced price than it is now. But because all these institutions are loaded with people, the costs are high. The burden is on the voter.

The Executive

It is no secret that President J. R. Jayewardene was the ideal Executive President we ever had. He knew the role and the requirements of that role. Although the position had ultimate powers he hardly exercised them. He never interfered with the Ministries.

Then again he had the right people in the Cabinet. But look at the Executive thereafter, the post-holder gets involved in everything. 

This started with Premadasa and continues TO DATE. Except for J.R. Jayewardene, all other Presidents have been having a large secretariat for the President to run the country. It looks like there is a Government within a Government (While having an Opposition within the Opposition)

The Judiciary

This is an extremely delicate topic which needs to be handled with care. The establishment of rule of law is essential for a country. But it has to be seen that it has been established. The Judiciary should not be subjected to pressure by the administration. They must deliver judgement in keeping with so many principles. They could be deliberate messages to society so that there will be no repetition.

Litigation cases piling up is a serious concern. It appears to be a systemic flaw. If a case is heard for 15- 20 years it serves no purpose. Especially child abuse cases which take over 10 years serves no justice to any victim.

They must come with a plan to reduce the backlog. The purpose of the judiciary is to be decisive and swift so that we create a law-abiding society.

JO backs Minister Wijeyadasa’s move:

‘Reveal all defaulters, including lawmakers’

By Shamindra Ferdinando-October 22, 2018, 12:00 pm 

The Joint Opposition (JO) yesterday backed Higher Education and Cultural Affairs Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse’s move to pressure university academics and officials to repay what they owed to the state, by publishing the names of defaulters as well as guarantors.

The head of the JO’s Economic Research Unit Bandula Gunawardena said that he believed tangible measures should be taken to recover loans. The issue was taken up at JO briefing at a temple in Punchi Borella. Gampaha District MP attorney-at-law Sisira Jayakody refrained from commenting on the issue.

Gunawardena said that there was nothing wrong in revealing the names of those who hadn’t paid loans. The former Education Minister said so when The Island sought his views on the Higher Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC) taking unprecedented measure to pressure defaulters and guarantors. A Government advertisement also revealed they owed Rs 813 mn.

However, similar tactics should be taken in respect of others, including lawmakers, Gunawardena said, alleging that under the current dispensation loans amounting to millions of Rupees given to various catchers had been written off. Gunawardena challenged the government to reveal all defaulters. When The Island pointed out that some of his colleagues as well as their supporters, too, could end up in various lists, Gunwardena said it didn’t matter.

Gunawardena alleged that Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera recently tried to indicate that he (Gunawardena) may not have properly paid income taxes. Declaring that he would reveal his payments records next week for a period of five, perhaps ten years, Gunawardena challenged Samaraweera to do the same. Gunawardena said that both Samaraweera and the former Finance Minister should reveal their records. When The Island asked whether Gunawardena was referring to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who held the finance portfolio in the previous government, he said the reference was to Ravi Karunanayake.

The Island sought an explanation from the JO how lawmakers could justify well over Rs 20 mn received for each vehicle imported in terms of special permits issued to members and sold since the last parliamentary poll, Gunawardena said that let everything be revealed.

Gunawardena pointed out that the government recently suspended the vehicle imports under various duty free schemes following the unprecedented depreciation of Rupee against the USD.

At the onset of the media briefing, Gunawardena alleged that the country was now experiencing the worst ever economic crisis due to rampant waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government was taking advantage of the crisis to facilitate clandestine efforts to privatize two major state banks, the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank with a joint asset base of over Rs. 3,500 bn. Gunawardena said that the current situation should be examined against the backdrop of massive treasury bond scams perpetrated by the government in February 2015 and March 2016.

Regardless of the worsening crisis, the government was looking after the interests of various politically influential persons.

Gunawardena flayed the government for not inquiring into the circumstances under which the Bank of Ceylon provided funds required by the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) to carry out its operations. Gunnwardena pointed out that Sri Lanka’s premier bank’s involvement with the PTL transpired before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCI) last year. But, the government conveniently turned a blind eye to PCI revelations, Gunawardena said.

Gunawardena claimed that President Sirisena and the UNP were engaged in a battle over the state banks with the latter ignoring directive issued by the President to replace board of directors of both banks. Gunawardena asserted that President Sirisena was helpless and couldn’t ensure implementation of instructions issued by his office.

Gunawardena recalled how the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa acted swiftly and decisively when Dingiri Banda Wijetunga declared in parliament that both state banks were bankrupt. Gunawardena said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa intervened in 2007 to save the Seylan Bank.

The JO heavyweight warned of dire consequences unless the government took corrective measures. The MP revealed that several exporters had brought to their notice the possibility of Australian banks declining to accept letters of credit issued by the two state banks.

Gunawardena warned of state sector bank employees resorting to trade union action against the moves to privatise them. A two-day state bank strike launched on a Thursday could bring immense pressure on the government as all transactions would be affected over a period of four days, Gunawardena said.

Current Rupee crisis had messed up the economy, Gunawardena said that in some parts of the country, including Anuradhapura those engaged in lucrative illegal currency market were engaged in collecting US Dollars. Gunawardena said those collecting USD in Anuradhapura paid Rs 175 for each USD whereas the official buying rate was Rs 173, he said.

The MP said that the government was planning to slap yet another tax on the banks. The banks wouldn’t have any other option than passing the burden to their customers, Gunawardena said.

Where are we now?

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

Lionel Wijesiri-Tuesday, October 23, 2018

World Development Information Day falls tomorrow. The UN General Assembly in 1972 established this day to draw the world attention to development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them. The Assembly also decided that the date for the event should coincide with United Nations Day.

The UN Assembly believes that improving the dissemination of information and the mobilization of public opinion, particularly among young people, would lead to greater awareness of the development problems.

United Nations Organisation from its inception in 1945, has been focussing mainly on improving all inhabitants’ well-being. For example, two and half decades ago, nearly 40 per cent of developing world’s population existed in extreme poverty. Since then, the world has halved extreme poverty, with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) greatly contributing to this progress.
Recognizing the success of the MDGs, and the need to complete the job of eradicating poverty, in September 2015, the UN adopted an ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

MDGs helped end or minimise poverty for some, but not for all. The UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are expected to complete the work begun with the MDGs.
The SDGs

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development predicts a safe and secure world which is, amongst others, free of poverty and hunger, with full and productive employment, access to quality education and universal health coverage, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and an end to environmental degradation.

Energy is also at the heart of many of these SDGs – from expanding access to electricity, to improving clean cooking fuels, from reducing wasteful energy subsidies to curbing deadly air pollution that each year prematurely kills millions around the world. One of these goals – commonly known as SDG 7 – aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by the end of the next decade.

The Sustainable Development Agenda is a universal framework of action integrating social, economic and environmental factors of sustainable development, peace and governance. The Agenda also includes an overriding principle of ensuring that “no one is left behind” in the achievement of the SDGs.

Sri Lankan experience

The Government of Sri Lanka also has embraced the universality of the 2030 Agenda and is committed to supporting its implementation in Sri Lanka. Most of the Government’s policies and programmes, both domestically and internationally, are currently aligned with the 2030 Agenda.
However, for a country like Sri Lanka, where noticeable social and regional disparity exists, an inclusive approach is needed for the implementation of the SDGs. The national programme should ensure that all marginalized and excluded groups are stakeholders in development processes so that no sector is left behind. This is particularly applicable to those groups who are marginalized or otherwise vulnerable, which include rural people, women, youth and children, people with disabilities.

Sri Lanka has been an on track with regard in realising many MDGs and even had met some of them well ahead of the scheduled dates. Those relate to poverty, education, and certain areas in health.

World Bank Report issued in April this year confirms: “Sri Lanka has made significant progress in its socio-economic and human development indicators. Social indicators rank among the highest in South Asia and compare favourably with those in middle-income countries. Economic growth has translated into shared prosperity with the national poverty headcount ratio declining from 15.3 percent in 2006/07 to 4.1 percent in 2016. Extreme poverty is rare and concentrated in some geographical pockets”.

The country’s unemployment rate stands below 5%. Free education and health policies have resulted in high life expectancy (75 years) and high youth literacy (98.7%) rates. UN has recognized Sri Lanka among “high human development” achieved countries.

Policy

The Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs with the support of Department of Census and Statistics has already prepared a comprehensive report titled “Status of Sustainable Development Goals Indicators in Sri Lanka, updated December 2017. It includes a holistic policy framework on the implementation of the SDG Agenda 2030. It has taken evidence-based policy research to identify economic, social and environmental priorities of the county.

Extensive consultation with relevant government agencies, civil society and the business sector and the relevant international organisations have been done before preparing the report.

The Government has also formulated key plans and strategies for implementation of SDGs. For example, the National Budget 2018 focuses on a “Blue Green Economy” envisaged to create an eco-friendly environment where all can co-exist harmoniously. The government’s “Vision 2025” provides the overall vision and the Public Investment Programme, the three-year rolling plan align significantly with SDGs.

Means of implementation

As a step towards improving the institutional coherence in implementing the SDGs, in October 2017 Sri Lanka enacted the Sustainable Development Act No. 19 of 2017. The Act provides for the establishment of a Sustainable Development Council as the national coordinating body for implementing the SDGs. The Council is already appointed by the President.

There are a number of challenges encountered in meeting this target.

Poverty

Although country-wise poverty rate has dropped, yet due to the regional disparity in achievements of targets, gaps are detected in some districts. Moneragala and Mullaitivu are two examples, where the poverty stands around 15 to 20 %. Therefore, both efficiency and coverage of the existing social protection programmes need to be improved to support the poor and vulnerable.

Health

Sri Lanka can be happy about improvement in most sectors in health, particularly, maternal mortality, under-five mortality and neonatal mortality which have reduced remarkably. However, population aging and increasing non-communicable diseases are challenges. The Government Health Policy has addressed these issues but more dynamic actions need to be taken.

Education

While Sri Lanka has achieved successes in many areas of education, yet challenges remain. Some areas are: improving the quality and relevance of education, increasing access to modern higher and vocational education, standardizing non-state education and strengthening linkage between general and vocational education.

Gender equality

One segment where Sri Lanka’s weak rating reflects is in gender equality. The country ranks 73rd out of 188. Although women’s share in local authorities has been increased through legislation, on other political representations, gender inequalities are particularly observed.

Water and sanitation

Around 90% of the population has access to safe drinking water. However, disparities exist regionally and issues exist on quality and quantity of drinking water. Eighty seven percent of the population possesses onsite sanitation facilities. Providing facilities to the rest and managing wastewater in urban centres and industrialized areas remain challenges.

Transport

Public transport accounts for 57% of passengers. Transport has number of challenges. Measures such as railway electrification, Light Rail Transit System and fuel-efficient vehicles need to be introduced to modernize transport. Consideration must be given and solutions found for the traffic congestion in urban areas, increasing private vehicle usage and increasing road accidents are challenges.

Tourism

Sri Lanka has tremendous potential for tourism with its geographical location and the many diverse attractions within a relatively small area. Annual tourist arrivals have increased five-fold during the last ten years. The potential is very much more. A transformation in the tourism strategy is urgently needed for its development and sustainability.

Natural resources

Sri Lanka is one of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots. High level of endemicity is observed in most taxonomic groups. However, a considerable number of species are threatened species. Meanwhile, deforestation has become a challenge due to increased demand for land. Solutions need to be identified and start a long-term National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan.

As World Bank says in their report, “For Sri Lanka, the political uncertainty is the key risk to an otherwise favourable medium-term outlook. External risks include lower growth in key countries that generate foreign exchange inflows to Sri Lanka. Steeper than expected global financial conditions would increase the cost of debt.”On political level, these challenges too, must be taken into account. 

Value of regulated landfills: Megapolis Ministry must communicate

As the Ministry of Megapolis correctly points out, the landfill is sanitary, is located in a sparsely populated area, and Colombo’s waste is everybody’s waste, but protesters are not swayed by such logic. With the memory of the negligence and/or the misdemeanours of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), as noted in the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Meethotamulla Garbage Disaster still fresh in people’s minds, the protestors have a point – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

Tuesday, 23 October 2018

Our policymakers may do the right thing but not do it too well by not communicating the larger purpose of their actions. The current fuss about the proposed Aruwakkalu landfill is one such example.

As the Ministry of Megapolis correctly points out, the landfill is sanitary, is located in a sparsely populated area, and Colombo’s waste is everybody’s waste, but protesters are not swayed by such logic. With the memory of the negligence and/or the misdemeanours of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), as noted in the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Meethotamulla Garbage Disaster still fresh in people’s minds, the protestors have a point. Will Aruwakkalu be another dumping place for incompetent local authorities?

In response, the Ministry needs to communicate two important facts to general public – i.e. 1. Almost all of the stinky and ground water polluting food waste and other biodegradable is already removed from the waste before they go the landfill and 2. It is going to be a regulated landfill with carrots and sticks in place for reducing the waste to be dumped.

If the protestors and those who ready to sympathise with any protest are not informed properly in this manner, this country will once again miss an opportunity to address our waste problem.


Protesters should not be allowed to repeat ’80s mistakes

As the Auditor General noted in his 2003 audit report in regard to solid waste management at the CMC: “An agreement had been signed in 1992 between the CMC and the World Bank for an environmental land filling project at the Alupota Estate, Meepe. The project had been abandoned due to opposition from the public. The total expenditure incurred on the project is not available for audit. Alternative sites had not been considered for the continuation of the project and the funds received had been returned.”

One of the actors of the drama, in an article published on the website of the Center for Environmental Justice on 14 January 2009, confesses to being part of a political game: “The sanitary fill proposed at the peak of the debate on garbage had to be abandoned due to public protest. The site moved from Ragama to Alupotha in Meepe. It was proposed to have few central collection stations and bring to the sanitary fill. The scientific and environmental debate on the issues such as best site and best waste management mechanism was transformed to a political game of certain politicians in the area. The slogan ‘No to Colombo garbage’ was a creation of this political game. Although it was not the best solution, abandoning of this sanitary landfill was the biggest mistake. I feel ashamed because I was also part of this debate.”

Eventually, a sanitary landfill at Dompe was constructed, but it is under-utilised because it is in a relatively populated area and the people in the area are not allowing waste from outside of the area. Until 2015, citing unavailability of disposal sites, CMC and others indiscriminately dumped their garbage in Meethotamulla, leading to the disaster of April 2016 with the loss of 31 lives.


60% of waste saved from dumping through differential fees now

A week ago I had the opportunity to visit the Kerawalapitiya Waste Park managed by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC). I was happy to see garbage trucks coming in an orderly fashion, getting their identities checked and tonnage recorded.

Trucks with food waste and other biodegradables went in one direction to be composted and the trucks with comingled waste dumped those into a pile awaiting transfer to a proper landfilling site. Having observed the Meethotamulla site sometime back, the contrast was a painful reminder of what could have been.

After a difficult start soon after the emergency of the disaster, today the park is functioning smoothly. The Ministry of Megapolis was smart in overlooking engineers with paper qualifications to recruit tried and tested expertise to support the SLLRDC.

Nimal Prematilake, a public health inspector with an exemplary track record in waste management locally and internationally, is assisting the SLLRDC to manage the operations at the Kerawalapitiya Waste Park. The Waste Park received around 590 metric tons (MT) of waste per day on average during the 1-15 October 2018 period. If food waste and other biodegradables are brought separately, a user is charged only Rs. 3,000 per metric ton. If the waste is mixed or co-mingled, the charge is Rs. 5,000 per metric ton.

From March 2009 until the disaster of April 2016, CMC was sending unsorted waste to Meethotamulla with CMC incurring only the maintenance cost for the site. The estimates of CMC’s daily tonnage vary from 800-900 MT. The wonder of economic incentives is such that, after waste disposal was taken over by the ministry of Megapolis imposing differential fees, CMC found the motivation to reduce the waste to 490 MT per day on average plus separate 60% of waste as compostable food waste and other biodegradable to claim the lower dumping fee. Latest statistics from 1-15 October are given in the graphic.

A simple economic incentive administered and enforced by a central body was all that was needed. It is too late for victims of Meethotamulla, but not too late for bystanders to wake up and defend regulated landfills.




A vision 2028 to reduce landfilling further to 15% or less

If civil society and media is to defend the Aruwakkalu landfill, the Ministry needs to be proactive in not only publicising its success in Kerawalapitiya, but project a vision 2028 where the 40% of mixed waste currently to be sent to Aruwakkalu will be reduced further. In particular it should be communicated to the public that the food waste and other perishables that can cause a stink during transportation and problems in the landfill are mostly removed, and the Ministry will make a commitment to remove those to near 0% in the future.

Sweden, a country which is held up as the epitome of solid waste management, currently recycles 99% of its household waste. Sweden did not achieve this overnight. In 2000, the Swedes were landfilling about 30% of their waste. We don’t have data on previous years when they landfilled more, but current recycling rates of USA and UK are indicative. According to the Environmental Protection Agency of USA, in 2014, the recycling rate of municipal waste in the USA was 35% and the rate in In UK in 2015 was 44%.

In comparison, Kerawalapitiya Waste Park has achieved much since April 2016 to rescue 60% from the waste and leave only 40% for landfilling. With its demonstrated capabilities, it is now possible to envision a future, say, into 2018, when we can have a target of reducing the percent of waste sent to Aruwakkalu to 15% or lower.

This vision can be achieved through further refinement of economic incentives and upgrading of facilities provided through the waste park. The economic incentives have to be refined from the simple formula of two types of waste to a further differentiated formula with a time component added to that. For example, each local authority would have to agree to reduce the percent of waste sent to landfills according to a pre-agreed time table or face hefty surcharges if they don’t.


A Pricing Formula for waste disposal

For example, if CMC is required to reduce the amount they sent to the landfill to 34%, say, from the present 40% by 2020, anything over and above that limit will be charged at almost double the regular rate. Given our experience of local authorities acting without accountability, the best solution is to impose controls such as these at the disposal site. The Waste Park can provide technical assistance but it is up to each local authority to decide what method they would use to reduce the amounts they send for dumping. 

Israel puts West Bank Bedouin village eviction on hold for several weeks

A general view shows the main part of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar that Israel plans to demolish, in the occupied West Bank September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Files

Jeffrey Heller-OCTOBER 21, 2018

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it would put on hold for “a number of weeks” its threatened razing of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank amid international calls to drop the plan, saying it would try to negotiate an evacuation.

The decision was announced after a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet.

Israel, which has long sought to clear the Arab nomads from tracts of land between the Jewish settlements of Maale Adumim and Kfar Adumim, has said the hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar was built without the required permits.

Palestinians, who lost an Israeli Supreme Court appeal against the evacuation, say such documents are impossible to obtain.

The European Union and the United Nations have urged Israel to abandon the plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and relocate its 180 residents to an area about 12 km (seven miles) away next to a landfill in the West Bank.

Palestinian students make their way to school in the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar that Israel plans to demolish, in the occupied West Bank October 16, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Files

Foreign pressure was ramped up on Wednesday when the International Criminal Court prosecutor said in a statement about Khan al-Ahmar that population transfers in occupied territory constitute war crimes. Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war.

“The security cabinet is allowing an extension of a number of weeks for negotiations on a consensual evacuation to be exhausted,” ,” the Israeli statement said.

Israeli authorities have been expected to send in bulldozers at any time after an Oct. 1 deadline for the villagers to demolish their own homes expired. Pro-Palestinian foreign activists have flocked to the site.

In remarks to reporters earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu echoed a statement on Saturday by an official in his office who said the eviction had been postponed and an alternative relocation plan was being considered, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

But Netanyahu said the demolition would not be delayed indefinitely.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, commenting on those remarks in statement, dismissed the postponement as “nothing more than an Israeli attempt to calm foreign and local criticism”.

Slideshow (2 Images)

The Palestinians say razing Khan al-Ahmar’s tents and tin shacks is part of an Israeli plan to create an arc of Jewish settlements that could effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank, areas occupied by Israel since a 1967 war.

Most countries consider settlements built by Israel on land it captured in 1967 as illegal and say they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians seek for a viable state. Israel disputes this.

Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky