Sri Lankan army truck kills 3 in Palai

08 January 2019

A Sri Lankan army truck killed three civilians on Tuesday morning, during a road accident in Iyakkachchi, Palai. 

The army truck collided into an auto rickshaw. 

A 32 year old business man, K Kukathasan, a 38 year old man from Palai, Perumal Jeyakumar, and a 27 year old man from Jaffna, Sivapatham Ratheesvaran, died at the scene. 

The bodies have been taken to Kilinochchi General Hospital. 

The police are investigating the matter. 

Picking up the Pieces Villagers of Oddusuddan struggle with life after floods

 

With just six days of rainfall the Muththuiyankaddu tank reached spill level

2019-01-09

Adorned with pleasant greenery on either side, the Puthukkudiyirippu – Oddusuddan road is permeated with an uncharacteristic dampness in the air. Even though the soil has absorbed much of the water, traces of waterlogged fields remain among the lush paddy fields. 

An evacuation centre in Kerudamadu houses 47 families temporarily, following the flash floods which struck the North-East of the island last month. Kerudamadu, is located in Oddusuddan, a small town, nearly halfway between Maankulam and Mullaitivu. Since heavy showers were reported in many parts of the area, at least 123, 862 people have been affected by floods and heavy winds in the Northern Province alone, while 7,286 of them are from the Oddusuddan division. 

The villagers of Kerudamadu greet —albeit reluctantly— a team of doctors and interns from the Medical Faculty of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Equipped with medical supplies, these professionals are here to conduct a health camp for the residents of the area, with the generous help of the officers of the Sri Lanka Air Force Station Mullaitivu. 

At least 15 children are seen inside the dim lit evacuation centre, some playing while others lie on their backs. Still others who are old enough to understand, with looks of despair and confusion on their faces. Infants cling on to their mothers, who complain of fever, cough and various ailments they had observed in their children since the onslaught of incessant rains. The stench of mud and murky waters surround the evacuation centre, which shelters almost 100 people including very young children. Stray pups with what appears to be skin disease scramble playfully in the very place where the children lie, creating an ideal breeding ground for disease. 

The stench of mud and murky waters surround the evacuation centre, which shelters almost 100 people including very young children. Stray pups with what appears to be skin disease scramble playfully in the very place where the children lie

As the doctors set up their makeshift work desks, a woman approaches with her teenage daughter in tow, complaining of fever. The girl clearly troubled and uncomfortable with the physician’s questions, unwillingly describes her symptoms at the behest of the mother. She goes on to show the doctor her arms and feet, which are spotted with light-coloured bumps and abrasions on the skin, a result of disease spreading flood water, the doctor explains. 

On a nearby table, another doctor attempts to examine a screaming, protesting baby suffering from a dreadful cough. The young mother, helped by several women tries to pacify the infant with no luck. Next to them a teenage boy moans in pain while getting aggravated lacerations cleaned. At least a dozen villagers look on. Old men and women complain of breathlessness and fatigue while waiting for their turn to be examined. 

The evacuation centre in Kerudamadu houses nearly 100 victims of the recent floods

The scenes at the Kerudamadu camp, the smallest of three temporary shelters set up in the area only detail the helplessness of this community in addressing a disaster they were least prepared for. Flash floods, let alone floods are rarely heard of in this part of the country. However, December 2018 brought forth an unexpected volume of rain after a prolonged dry spell of three years in Mullaitivu. 
As dusk sets in, we set off on unsurfaced terrain towards the second camp at the Munnakandal GTM School in Puthukkudiyirippu. Here, another 40 families with over 200 members are stranded unable to return to their homes. While dozens of children play outside in the dark, young men sit under an expansive tree. Some of them, we are told, will return home after checking with their families, to safeguard the houses they’ve left behind. 

Dire Straights

When Kanageswari moved to Mullaitivu in 2004, never did she imagine that it would be an intimidating body of water that would endanger her life one day. Insuring herself and her children against this kind of natural disaster was far from her mind, when she left her family home in Kundasale. Almost a decade later, after what she believes was a peaceful period, Kanageswari describes a new kind of fear she was forced to endure. 

“On Saturday (December 22) we experienced heavy rains during the night. Suddenly our neighbours received the message to evacuate. Almost immediately after the message was received, water flooded into our homes. Everything was so confusing. We wanted to save the little possessions we had from being washed away. But we had no choice. Either we could save our things or carry our children to safety, we certainly couldn’t do both. Now we only have the clothes on our back,” Kanageswari laments. 

She is one among many who are truly appreciative of the authorities for their efforts. “It was shortly after midnight but government officers were swift to respond to our needs. We received clothes, rations and all meals from the district officials for the first three days. If not for the rescue efforts by the forces, we would have even lost our lives,” she remarks. “What we need right now is for our wells to be cleaned so that we can return to our homes. Without safe drinking water, it is impossible to return” Kanageswari stresses. 

A school teacher from the area, Theeban also notes that the youth and civilians of the area were quick to support rescue efforts as well as the distribution of relief and aid. Nevertheless not all camps have received equal attention, according to Theeban. “Camps in cut off areas such as Oddusuddan don’t receive any aid apart from the rations provided by the government and the Disaster Management Centre,” he said. 

When Disaster Strikes

Muththuiyankaddu Kulam, some seven kilometers away from this camp is a sizeable tank of which the sluice gates had been opened following the heavy showers of December 22. The average rainfall in Mullaitivu is 1,476 mm. However in just one night, the district experienced continuous rainfall over four to five hours. The precipitation was measured at 301 mm, covering almost a quarter of the average rainfall received in a year. 

No aid or relief material had been received by the Muthuvinayagapuram camp

According to sources at the Irrigation Department, the nearby tanks which were evidently incapable of holding such volumes of water reached spill level in a matter of hours, forcing the officials to warn the public in the nearby low-lying areas. Mullaitivu, let alone the Northern Province did not anticipate this kind of rainfall as they had experienced a prolonged dry spell for the past three years. 
“We didn’t open the sluice gates immediately as we wanted to allow time for the residents of the area to reach higher ground,” sources revealed. Instead of a gradual release of water into the floodplains, we gather that the district authority released the bulk of water at 12 noon the following day, which resulted in the immediate flooding of low- lying areas. 

Restoring Livelihoods

In nearby Muthuvinayagapuram, closer to the intimidating Muththuiyankaddu tank, one transitional centre houses 180 families, making it one of the largest temporary camps set up in the area. “We had never experienced rains like these in the 40 years that we lived here” claims Markandu Yogarasa, the leader of the local farming association. The Irrigation Department and officers of the tri-forces warned us that there would be a risk of flooding. It’s because of this timely warning that we were able to save our lives and seek shelter on higher ground,” Yogarasa opines. 

The catchment area of the Muththuiyankaddu tank

However he adds that no aid or relief material was received by the Muthuvinayagapuram camp other than those allocated by the government. “After sustaining much difficulty for decades, we were able to restore our lives to normalcy, until this disaster took place,” he says. “Our lands and produce have been destroyed, but we are thankful that we’re alive,” Yogarasa adds. 

Out of 6,210 acres of land in this area, almost 3,000 acres were inundated and crops have been destroyed, according to Yogarasa. He believes that the Thattaiyanmalai tank, a smaller tank of about 14 feet in depth, must be deepened by the irrigation authorities. “The containment area needs to be strengthened in order to avoid a repetition. The bund of the Thattaiyanmalai tank must be reinforced,” he states. 

Sridaran Yogamalar echoing his sentiments says that state authorities have quickly responded to their needs immediately after the disaster. “The following morning, water levels of the Muththuiyankaddu tank was somewhere around 25 feet. They issued the warning in time, which we are thankful for. But our livelihoods have been destroyed and we need state support to restore our lives,” Yogamalar says, pleading authorities including the President and the Prime Minister to look into their needs. Farming, fisheries and animal husbandry are the chief sources of income and a majority of the occupants of this camp are now left with no means of income for the foreseeable future. 

Instead of a gradual release of water into the floodplains, we gather that the district authority released the bulk of water at 12 noon the following day, which resulted in immediate flooding of low- lying areas 

Meanwhile 68 year old Vadivel Alaikkalam recalls that the last time they experienced such heavy rains was back in 1984. “It was soon after I settled in Muthuvinayagapuram. After one month of heavy rains, the tanks started overflowing. Several people lost their lives. This time after just five to six days of rain, the tanks started to spill over. This is the first time since ’84, that we witnessed rains of this force,” he recollects. 

“Even though there was no loss of lives, we fear for the loss of property. Some remained to protect their houses despite the warning to evacuate,” Alaikkalam says. He now suffers from scabs and bruises as a result of wading through floodwaters to reach his home, where he struggled to secure the little he possesses. “Floodwaters may recede, but if I remain at the camp, my house will be burgled in my absence. This was our experience even during the war. I can’t afford to lose anymore,” he says adding that the police should have provided their properties security. Alaikkalam is not alone, as many men of the camp had left the women and children at the shelter, only to return to their inundated homes by nightfall. 

Villagers inform us that just a week prior to the floods, the Muththuiankaddu tank had been parched while the surrounding catchment area had been sapless. Now, the mighty Muththuiankaddu stands as a serene and tranquil body of water, concealed by surrounding shrubbery. It is clear that while the officials acted to the best of their ability, not a single person was able to predict or prepare for this disaster. While Northern politicians skilfully manoeuvre divisions to highlight animosity between the people of the North and the occupant tri-forces, the impression we were left with, was that in the remote parts of Oddusuddan, there was nothing but gratitude for authorities as well as first responders. The verdict is clear; the lack of disaster preparedness and unplanned development have significantly contributed to this devastation. In times of increasing natural disasters, isn’t it time that all of us — especially those in positions of power—focus on adapting to change and increasing resilience? 

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The containment area needs to be strengthened in order to avoid a repetition. The bund of the Thattaiyanmalai tank must be reinforced
- Yogarasa

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We had no choice. Either we could save our things or carry our children to safety, we certainly couldn’t do both. Now we only have the clothes on our back
- Kanageswari

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Even though there was no loss of lives, we fear for the loss of property. Some remained to protect their houses despite the warning to evacuate
- Alaikkalam

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They issued the warning in time, which we are thankful for. But our livelihoods have been destroyed and we need state support to restore our lives
- Yogamalar

---

Reaching out in their time of need

At the request of the Daily Mirror and Tamil Mirror of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. several health camps for flood victims were organised in Oddusuddan, Mullaitivu which had been cut off without access to rations or aid at the time. The camps were conducted by the academic staff members and interns of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, doctors from the Colombo South Teaching Hospital and Sri Lanka Air Force, under the guidance of the Vice Chancellor, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Prof. Sampath Amaratunge and Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Prof. Surangi Yasawardene. 

“I was personally troubled to find out the situation of the camps in the North. I couldn’t imagine why the response was so slow to help our people there. Within an hour, the medical faculty of our university helped put together a team of 27 members, who sacrificed their time, especially during the holiday season to reach Mullaitivu to conduct these camps,” Prof. Amaratunge said. 

Dr. Madura Jayewardene, Dr. Sajith Edirisinghe and Dr. Indika Liyanage from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Dr. Chanaka Jayawardene and Dr. Buddhika Weerakoon from the Colombo South Teaching Hospital as well as Flying Officer (Dr.) Yadeesha Rathnasiri from the Sri Lanka Air Force led the team as Medical Officers. The contributions of the 17 pre-intern doctors from the 22nd batch of Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Air Force officers including Squadron Leader W.K.S. Bandusena, Flight Lieutenant K.A. Rajaguru and Flying Officer K.A.J.K. De Silva were immense in helping the distressed victims of the floods in four locations across Oddusudan. 

While essential drugs were supplied by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation, the Department of Family Medicine and the Colombo South Teaching Hospital, dry rations, water and stationery for school children were provided by the medical team. Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. distributed mosquito nets at each camp while the Sri Lanka Air Force provided transportation and logistics.   

Need for two-engine growth: Public and private

Because of the failure to have a democratic approach on the economic policy after the January 2015 political change (giving equal priority to both the private and the public sectors), the current economic situation is in dire circumstances. Agricultural sector, local businesses and what can be called the ‘national economy’ have been neglected. The Government has not given any priority for poverty alleviation, and has tried to hide the situation through an erroneous Official Poverty Line – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

Wednesday, 9 January 2019

It is a wrong premise to argue that to encourage the private sector and the market, the public sector and the Government have to step-back, and get involved only in necessary reforms and encouragement. This is the main thrust of ‘Vision 2025’. In this kind of a reductionist vision even the State will be at risk.

It is both theoretically and practically possible to encourage the private sector (particularly the SMEs) and the market, while the public sector is preserved and strengthened to deliver all public services (education, health, welfare, pensions, age care, etc.) and undertake large scale enterprises (i.e. ports, airports, shipping, power, energy, airlines), and any other, to make the public sector sustainable and economically strong. There are other sectors like customs that can be profitable naturally for the public sector.   

Strengthening the ‘public sector and/or the private sector’ in the economy should not be considered a zero-sum game. It should not be one against the other or one verses the other. When one grows, the other should not shrink. When one is supported, the other should not be discarded. All these are misconceptions or misplaced policies. What is necessary is a generally agreed division of labour between the two, with adjustments in the course of the implementation. 
Three layers or circles   
The State is of primary importance in both society and economy. Four main components of the state are ‘territory, people, government and administrative (including military) structure,’ all protected through State sovereignty. People are organised in society. Economy is their means of survival and progress.

The demarcations between the State and society are well explained and established in democratic theory. But the demarcations between the State and economy have always been a controversy. The reasons are mainly class or unequal economic power in society.

No state exists in isolation, but within a sea of other states which makes the above matter more complicated. However, the application of democratic theory and people’s sovereignty to the economy should be able to resolve this controversy.

The simple figure 1 of three concentric circles roughly explains how these relationships could be maintained particularly in the case of Sri Lanka. Circle 1 is for the State structure, Circle 2 for the public sector and Circle 3 for the private sector. 

The middle circle is introduced to the figure to emphasise the importance of the State and its leadership in the economy. One of the recent brilliant books on the subject is by Marina Mazzucato titled ‘The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths’ (2018). Based on neoliberal or archaic liberal thinking, there are efforts in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to reduce or even dismantle the state and/or state structures/functions. Similarly, there can be authoritarian thinking geared to control and subjugate the economy, entrepreneurs and businesses in a bureaucratic manner to control the economy for different interests.

A balanced and a rational approach would be to allow the third circle or the private sector to grow as much as possible while the second circle is strengthened and expanded to serve not only all necessary public services but also to ensure that sector’s and the state’s economic sustainability. The state (or the first circle) can be entrepreneurial as Mazzucato has explained. That kind of an approach would address underdevelopment, poverty, imbalances between regions, agricultural neglect, environmental problems and natural disasters. 
Need for two engines 
There are three main reasons why the public sector/State should be strengthened at present. (1) Since 1977, the public sector has been neglected and distorted. (2) A vibrant public sector is necessary to ensure basic needs, economic and social (human) rights, and to eradicate poverty. (3) Looking after the public sector is a major task of representative democracy. Otherwise, what is the purpose of a democratic state?

However, none of the above should preclude an equal or important role for the private sector. Once a core functions are secured for and undertaken by the public sector like education, health, social security, old age pension, infrastructure, ports and airports, energy supply, and in my opinion main transport (rail and bus), many of the other sectors can be left for the private sector. They can be unlimited.

What can they be? They can be heavy industries (vehicles, appliances, machinery), IT, wholesale and retail trade, food production, agricultural products, apparel, imports and exports, tourism, pharmaceuticals, etc. Of course there is no need to produce them all locally as some of them could be easily and cheaply imported. However, there can be certain areas where the country could develop some expertise in industrial production for exports.

There are of course other essential state functions that even the most ‘liberal’ state would undertake like national security, law and order, justice, death and birth certificates, customs, etc. Then there are other areas that both sectors could do or undertake jointly or parallelly. Here we are talking about the tasks that are important for economic growth, services and functions. Some of these are banking, tourism, IT, pharmaceuticals, the media or any other areas agreed through policy discussions.

What is importance to have is a two-engine ‘train’ for economic development. Because the country’s development is an up-hill task. Believing or depending on one engine is a mistaken or erroneous policy. (My imagination goes back to childhood holiday travel to hill country where we were eagerly awaiting to reach Rambukkana to see the second engine is fixed to the back of the train by engine drivers! Can our political engine drivers learn something from that experience?).

Past experience 
Sri Lanka in fact inherited a fair balance between the two sectors at independence thanks to the British Labour Party influence in colonial policies and the pressure of the labour/left movement in the country (both in the urban and plantation sectors). However there were efforts from the beginning to dismantle what could be called a Welfare State. Apart from disenfranchising the plantation workers in 1948, an attempt was made in 1953 to cutdown the rice ration, signalling the trend. From the beginning, political leaders did not have a clear or a balance economic policy to develop the country. Otherwise, keeping the Welfare State intact, both the private sector and State enterprises could have been developed in the economy. Although there were no proper welfare states in East or Southeast Asian countries, the ‘two-engine’ growth was what those countries implemented during that period. That is how they progressed well ahead of Sri Lanka.

The absence of progress and development thereafter tempted the second generation political leaders to largely depend on the State sector. There were other reasons like nationalism, left movement’s influence and Soviet example that generated this trend. Then became the unbridled market economics dismantling the welfare state since 1977, with variations under different leaders (JR, Premadasa, Chandrika and Rajapaksa). The State sector was kept for political reasons, mainly to give employment for party supporters. This kind of a State sector undoubtedly is a liability to the economy.

Present situation 

There is no question that the present UNP leadership has been attempting a different strategy. The following is what the Vision 2025 declares in terms of economic strategy (p. 16).

“The private sector will play a key role: achieving high productivity, innovating, enhancing quality, as well as investing and creating new jobs. The Government will coordinate with the private sector to make the economy competitive and successful in the global environment. With market principles, economic competitiveness and social benefit in mind, we will drive appropriate economic and social policies and strategies to ensure prosperity for present and future generations.”

“The Government is undertaking macroeconomic, factor market, institutional and regulatory reforms to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the economy. These reforms are expected to raise private investment, especially knowledge-intensive and technology-driven FDI for export growth in both goods and services.”

Private sector is the declared (sole) engine of growth in the Vision and expressed in policy statements. No mention of the public sector as part of the main strategy. Private sector is defined more in an international context than in a national dimension. Complete external dependence is one hallmark through free trade agreements and other means. Another attempt is to reduce the State and the public sector to barebones.

Under such circumstances the declared ‘vision to make Sri Lanka a rich country by 2025’ (p. 11) appears wishful thinking. The Vision also declares ‘to raise per capita income to USD 5,000 per year’! (p. 13) without any foundation. The Vision 2025 cannot at all be considered a realistic economic blue print or plan by any means under the circumstances.

For the economic failures so far, four main reasons can be attributed. (1) Inherent contradictions and weaknesses of the one-engine growth strategy and extreme neoliberalism. (2) Political contradictions within the UNP-SLFP coalition, and its disintegration. (3) Contradictions and uncertainty within the UNP itself over the economic policy or business vs welfare. (3) The futile attempt to follow an extreme neoliberal policy when the world was moving away from that ideology and practice.

Conclusion 

Because of the failure to have a democratic approach on the economic policy after the January 2015 political change (giving equal priority to both the private and the public sectors), the current economic situation is in dire circumstances.

Agricultural sector, local businesses and what can be called the ‘national economy’ have been neglected. The Government has not given any priority for poverty alleviation, and has tried to hide the situation through an erroneous Official Poverty Line (OPL).

There is no question that strengthening and resurrecting the public sector is not an easy task. A major reason is that it has continuously been used for political appointments and employment. One solution might be to use a suitable business (or organisational) excellence framework for reforming it. There are several of them in the world and in Australia it is the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF). More important is to have a common strategy to develop and assist both sectors, the State taking an entrepreneurial leadership. The necessary vision should be a two-engine growth and development.

Post-2015 Foreign Policy Framework

Ganeshan Wignaraja and Dinusha Panditaratne-Wednesday, January 9, 2019

The fourth anniversary of the Unity Government’s election is an opportune time to consider the recent evolution of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. Evident changes to Sri Lanka’s foreign policy since January 8, 2015, include Sri Lanka’s engagement with a wider range of international partners, as well as its willingness to undertake necessary commitments to address the country’s post-conflict concerns.

These well-known changes have been pursued within a new and overarching foreign policy framework that is perhaps less well-known; a framework of positioning Sri Lanka to become a vibrant and prosperous centre of the Indian Ocean. Developed with the vision of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in view of the increasing prosperity and competition in the Indian Ocean, this fresh foreign policy framework complements and builds on Sri Lanka’s established status as a non-aligned, South Asian nation.

Opportunities and risks

The Indian Ocean is emerging as a new global growth pole. The rise of Asia, spearheaded by China’s rapid growth, has transformed the Indian Ocean into one of the world’s busiest East-West trade corridors, carrying two-thirds of global oil shipments and a third of bulk cargo. Growth in the Indian Ocean is on an upward trend; benefiting from a rich natural resource base, vast fish stocks and a talent pool of educated youth. Economic reforms in India, Sri Lanka and others are unleashing the private sector as the engine of growth. The 28 dynamic economies that border the Indian Ocean across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific are expected grow at about 6% per year in the next few years compared with only 3.7% for a fragile world economy. Per capita income in the Indian Ocean region is expected to double from USD 3,200 to USD 6,150 between 2017 and 2025, marking it out as an upper-middle income region.

This represents a huge economic opportunity for Sri Lanka which is strategically located at the centre of the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka relies on open sea lanes for its imports of petroleum, food and machinery and its exports of tea, apparel and rubber products. The country is pursuing its plan to become a regional trading, logistics and financial hub, situated between the leading hubs of Dubai and Singapore. For instance, streamlining red tape and prudent macroeconomic management are expected to give birth to an international financial centre at the Colombo Port City and complement the shift towards services-led development. Success in this venture will mean higher quality jobs and better incomes for millions of future generations of Sri Lankans.

However, four external risks are looming on the horizon to peace and prosperity to Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean economies. First, the Indian Ocean is at risk of heightened competition between the big powers – similar to what is visible in the South China Sea. An impasse between these powers or a skirmish at sea could spiral and disrupt regional trade, including that of Sri Lanka. Second, natural resources and fisheries are being depleted at unsustainable rates. There are worries about large fishing trawlers from neighbouring countries overfishing in Sri Lankan waters which could affect fisherman’s livelihoods. Third, there are difficulties in containing maritime crimes– people smuggling, drug trafficking and piracy. Fourth, trade protectionism is on the rise partly due to a backlash against globalization, as well as disruptive technological change and a simmering emerging market debt crisis.

Sri Lanka’s diplomatic initiative

A major tenant of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy since 2015 has been to revive the country’s support of a rules-based order, both regionally and internationally. This mirrors what Lee Kuan Yew pursued for Singapore, in the knowledge that rules-based orders protect the interests of smaller countries against larger ones. Sri Lanka has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 1995and a member of GATT since 1948 which deal with the rules of international trade between countries. Sri Lanka has also played a role in the development of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which codified customs and set rules to maintain order and peaceful relations at sea.

In an important new initiative for a rules-based regional order, the Sri Lankan government convened a landmark conference entitled “The Indian Ocean: Defining Our Future” that was held in Colombo on October 11-12, 2018. This Track 1.5 dialogue, coordinated by the Foreign Ministry, brought together over 300 government officials and academics from over 40 Indian Ocean littoral states and maritime users. Participants included senior officials from India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the US, China, Germany, Japan and several other nations; as well as the UN Special Envoy for the Ocean; and think tank representatives from the region and beyond.

As a country located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is vulnerable to the aforementioned risks to regional security, sustainability and trade. And as a smaller state that cannot afford huge military power, Sri Lanka is unable to address the four above-mentioned risks alone.

Sri Lanka, therefore, convened this conference to understand the impact of these risks and to address them jointly with other countries in a transparent and orderly way. This approach is the tried and tested method of all successful small countries – like Singapore in ASEAN, New Zealand in the Pacific and the Netherlands in Europe– that have faced similar risks.

In his keynote address at the conference, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe highlighted the need to maintain freedom of navigation and freedom of digital connectivity for the region to prosper. The conference laid important groundwork for an eventual inter-governmental conference to arrive at a shared understanding of the future of the Indian Ocean.

A last word

Sri Lankans have recently been occupied by pressing domestic political and economic issues. Foreign policy, including the all-important Indian Ocean which surrounds Sri Lanka, seems distant from most peoples’ minds. However, complacency would be a mistake. A rapidly-changing economic and geopolitical scenario makes engagement with the Indian Ocean fundamental for Sri Lanka’s future peace and prosperity.

In the final analysis, Sri Lanka will not automatically benefit from the economic opportunity simply by being an Indian Ocean country. The road ahead for Sri Lanka’s diplomatic initiative may not be easy and will take some time. Patience and perseverance at quiet diplomacy are needed. This approach will bring lasting economic and security gains for Sri Lanka and for other Indian Ocean littoral states and maritime users.

(Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja is the Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI). Dr. Dinusha Panditaratne is a Nonresident Fellow of LKI.)

The Constitutional council

By Neville Ladduwahetty-January 7, 2019, 9:28 pm 

Continued from last Friday

The Constitutional Council (CC) consists of ten members with the Speaker as its Chairman. Of the ten members in the CC, seven are members of Parliament and three are outsiders nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Article 41B (1) states: "No person shall be appointed by the President as the Chairman or a member of any of the Commissions specified in the Schedule to this Article, except on the recommendation of the Council".

Article 41C (1) states: "No person shall be appointed by the President to any of the Officers specified in the Schedule to this Article, unless such appointment has been approved by the Council upon a recommendation made to the Council by the President".

However, prior to the establishment of the Constitutional Council all appointments of public officers and the judiciary were made by the President in keeping with Articles 54, 55 and 107 of the 1978 Constitution.

Article 54 states: "The President shall appoint all public officers…as well as the Attorney-General and the Heads of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Police Force" and Article 55 states: "Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers is hereby vested in the Cabinet of Ministers and all public officers shall hold office at pleasure". Article 107 states: "the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and every other Judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal shall be appointed by the President…".

It is apparent from the foregoing that the President or others to whom power was delegated were responsible for all appointments. However, with the establishment of the Constitutional Council, the powers the President had were removed and transferred to another body – the Constitutional Council. Based on the "first rule" and going by the "ordinary meaning" that "No person shall be appointed by the President…unless approved by the Council" it is clearly apparent that what is attempted is nothing but a brazen attempt to "transfer…or removal of power attributed to one organ of government to another organ or body", the Constitutional Council where seven of its ten members are from Parliament. The very establishment and the functioning of the CC therefore has to be inconsistent with Article 3 read with Article 4 as stated by Court in S. D. No. 04/2015; the implication being that the establishment of Constitutional Councils should have required the approval by the People at a Referendum.

Despite warranting the need for a Referendum the very same Court also stated: "The establishment of the Constitutional Council was considered …in the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution (S. C. Determination 6/2001), and held that the establishment of the Constitutional Council would not impinge on Article 3 or 4 of the Constitution, even though the Court noted that there is a restriction in the exercise of the discretion hitherto vested in the President, the said restriction per se would not be an erosion of the Executive power by the President , so as to be inconsistent with Article 3 read with Article 4 (b) of the Constitution".

The fact that one Court considers the transfer and/or removal of power from one organ-the President to another body-the CC to be inconsistent with Article 3 read with 4, in which case a Referendum is required and the same Court citing a previous Court determination (S. C. Determination 6/2001) states that since such a transfer amounts to a "restriction in the exercise of the discretion hitherto vested in the President" a Referendum is NOT required reflects a degree of inconsistency that is unacceptable to the ordinary. Therefore, the legitimacy of Chapter VIIA that establishes Constitutional Council should be revisited.

FORMATION OF A NATIONAL

GOVERNMENT

Article 46 (1) of 19A states: "The total number of (a) Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers shall not exceed thirty; and (b) Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall not, in the aggregate exceed forty".

Notwithstanding this limitation in Article 46 (1), Article 46 (4) and (5) permit Parliament by resolution to exceed the limits set in Article 46 (1) provided a National Government is formed.

According to media reports every possible subterfuge is being explored to increase the Cabinet to thirty two on the pretext that the President and the Prime Minister should not be included in the count of thirty despite both being assigned specific Ministries. Another subterfuge attempted is to claim that the UNF – the political party with the largest majority in Parliament together with one member of the SLMC constitutes a National Government. Notwithstanding the sheer duplicity and corruption associated with such efforts every possible interpretation of Article 46 (5) is being explored to exceed the limit of thirty Cabinet Ministers and forty non- Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers in order to secure the largest possible majority; a practice that was mastered from September 2015 until October 26, 2018.

Article 46 (5) states: a "National Government means, a Government formed by the recognized political party or independent group which obtains the highest number of seats in Parliament together with the other recognized political parties or independent groups".

Using the first rule of giving their ordinary meaning to words in statutes as stated by the 2018 Court a National Government can only be formed by the political party with the largest number of seats in Parliament "TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER RECOGNIZED POLITICAL PARTIES" must mean a government formed by the UNF together with the UPFA, the TNA, the JVP, the one Member each of the SLMC and EPDP since they represent six of the politically recognized parties represented in Parliament. Using the first rule of "ordinary meaning" of the wording "together with other recognized political PARTIES must mean all the parties represented in Parliament and not with one party as it was until October 26 2018.

Based on an "ordinary meaning" of Article 46 (5) the government that functioned from September 2915 until October 26, 2018 was in violation of the Constitution because it was a coalition government and not a National Government. However, judging from numerous interpretations given in Parliament and what is expressed recently, this issue can only be resolved by seeking an interpretation by Supreme Court under provisions of Article 125 as the sole and exclusive authority to determine any question relating to the interpretation of the Constitution.

An attempt was made in 2016 to seek such an interpretation when a Fundamental Rights Petition was filed in the Supreme Court (SC. FR. No. 116/2016) challenging the legitimacy of the so called National Government that was formed between two political parties-the UNF and the UPFA. This formation increased the Cabinet of Ministers to 48 and the rest to 45. The ruling of the Court was that since the matter had been debated in Parliament the Court did not grant permission to proceed. Having failed to secure relief from the Courts in 2916 the need to seek an interpretation from a fresh Court is imperative if abuse associated with expanding the Executive is to be avoided.

CONCLUSION

The material presented above relating to the five issues addressed above demonstrates the urgent need to seek clarification regarding several issues associated with the 19A that have been the source of considerable contestation and challenge over the life of this government. Such an exercise may require the intervention of the President to consult the Supreme Court to bring greater clarity and for the Courts themselves to revisit their own determinations as an exercise in judicial review for the sake of their own credibility.

Politicians who rule the roost and destroy education of nation’s children

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Sri Lanka is not the only country that has seen a gradual decline in the quality of education over time; but this is one of the few such places which pride that deterioration as ‘progress’. Half-baked and insular scholarship that was produced over the decades actually tend to believe in this fallacy. The political class, majority of whose success was down to the bastardization of the overall polity, seems to consider it as something that would guarantee the continuation of a favoured status-quo.   

2019-01-08 

What hides the magnitude of the real problem is the reliance on tradition indicators such as adult literacy rate, percentage of children of school age who attend primary and secondary school etc.   

Those numbers are important to gauge the bare minimum of a nation’s performance, and nothing more than that. Any aspiring nation has undertaken to send its kids to school. Adult literacy has increased worldwide from 55% in 1950 to over 86% by 2016. ( Even there, Sri Lanka is not one that had done heavy lifting. At the independence, our literacy rate was 70%, well ahead of the world average, now it is around 90%)  

Modern measures that gauge the standard of education and its relative performance vis a vis other countries are far more nuanced. There is also no compulsion that a country should excel in them, or produce data. After all, successful states are built from within. That also allows many others to ignore these areas. They will never know the extent of the rot in their midst, until it is too late. Sri Lanka is one such country.  

That is because Lankan students have never taken international comparative exams such as Program for International Student Assessments known in its acronym as PISA

No one knows the standard of Sri Lanka’s secondary education vis a vis its competitors of the emerging economies. That is because Sri Lankan students have never taken international comparative exams such as Program for International Student Assessments known in its acronym as PISA.   

But, a cursory glance of the quality of the workforce, and the nature of labour export, which is largely semi-skilled or unskilled, suggest that a good deal of the system is rotten.   

The absence of global supply chains, though may be due to general tardiness of regulations and infrastructure, is also partly due to the failure of the education system to produce a responsive workforce.   

See the contrast in countries such as Vietnam, which has just a half of Sri Lanka’s per capita. Vietnamese 14 years-old out-perform their peers in developed Germany in Mathematics and Science. Why that country is a future Asian Tiger, a probable Taiwan in the making, is partly down to its education system.  

Our tertiary and university education do not fair any better. Our relative position is vindicated in the absence of any Sri Lankan university in the top 500 world universities, and endless supply of vernacular graduates in social science, humanities and management, most of whom lack employable skills.   

Our general apathy towards things which we could have excelled at, but, have since screwed up, is partly due to the fact that much of our earlier achievements were not of our own making. They were products of the administrative prowess of the colonial British. Subsequent native leaders neither had cold realism , nor the pragmatism of the British. They are also poor administrators. They supplemented their weakness by catering to populism of a restless, and clueless populace. Unforeseen outcome of this dynamic interaction led the former colonies no where. Baring a few, they all got stuck in the middle of economic, political and democratic transition (Whereas the United States contributed to build sustainable liberal democracies ranging from South Korea, Taiwan to Chile, by propping up pro-growth authoritarian regimes, and campaigning for their gradual liberal democratic transition).  

Education (and economy) were the immediate victims of the buffoonery and opportunism of the native leaders. The gradual deterioration of education also had predictable outcomes. One such was it crowned the nincompoops as masters of universal knowledge.   

The inward looking and revisionist local intelligentsia created by that education oversaw the second phase of a much rapid decline.   

The magnitude of this overall erosion is seen not just in education, but also in the perception and common sense; at one point Sri Lankans were at a loss in distinguishing loud mouth charlatan from the real talent. Since, a good deal of those genuinely bright minds, the islands of excellence in a larger swamp, had left the country for the greener pastures, or not been as expressive in vernacular as one should, it was those loud mouth charlatans who stole the show.   

Now they are dictating the destiny of this nation. Last week, one such, Bandula Gunawardena protested against allowing the students of the international schools to sit GCE Advanced Level exam with their peers of the government schools. That was after one bright student from an international school topped the island ranking in the Arts stream. That she studied her subjects in English, the closest, one would have to a universal language, would likely to make her a better equipped intellectual than an aberration that her detractor was. Yet Sri Lankans are fond of swaggering fools and mistake their idiocy for wisdom.  

Genuine intelligentsia should expose these politicians. And the government should confront them before they hijack the discourse on these pivotal issues. Lee Kuan Yew or Paul Kagame would have put them in jail. Education is too scared to be exploited for political gain.  

However, the incorrigibility of the government policy on education makes things worse. Last week, Buddha Sasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera told a media briefing that he would present a Cabinet paper to ban tuition classes on Sunday, so that students could attend Daham Pasal. The demand for the prohibition of tuition classes on Sunday had been made by sections of Buddhism clergy and Cardinal Malcom Ranjith. Children of this country are not expendable forces to appease the insecurities of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, whose portfolio is just a name board. Countries drenched in religious conservatism, such as Ireland now has an openly gay prime minister. Myanmar has blown an historical opportunity, thanks to Buddhist monks’ instigated pogrom of Rohinya Muslims. Clergy in the developing world should take a clue from their rich world cousin and withdrew from public space.  

The intelligentsia should expose these politicians.  The Govt. should confront them before they hijack the discourse on these 
pivotal issues

The folly of banning of Sunday tuition is that it would deepen the divide in access to education between the rich and poor kids. Those who could afford would pay the private tutors for home visits, while the children of the poor would be herded to the Daham Pasala. At the end, the corporate recruiters would not check the knowledge of Tripitakaya and Bible. They generally go for those who are bright in Science and Maths, and can speak passable English.  

Native political elites began to squander the education in this country, even before the British left the shore. That began with C.W.W. Kannangara’s proposal for a compulsory vernacular education in primary school, which, J.R. Jayawardene later took to a disastrous end, by proposing to expand to the secondary education.  
 That Sri Lankan leaders could not spare education from their machinations of political opportunism is at the heart of the country’s post- independent downfall.  
Politicians like Bandula Gunawardena are products and symptom of that overall decline of the quality and sanity.  

Follow @RangaJayasuriya onTwitter   

Poverty cutoff mark rises by 50%

PANEETHA AMERESEKERE- JAN 08 2019

Rising inflation, coupled with the rising cost of living (CoL), driven by the effects of the 26 October abortive political coup, has seen the island’s poverty cutoff mark increase sharply by 50% in a mere two months to last month, compared with its overall increase for the totality of last year, official data showed.

Sri Lanka’s poverty cutoff mark which was Rs 4,648 as at end October, rose to Rs 4,711 last month, an increase of Rs 63, compared to an overall increase of Rs 127 for the totality of last year. The poverty cutoff mark as at December 2017 was Rs 4,528.

Foreign exits from the country’s financial markets as a result of the 26 October coup, coupled with importer panic has led to a rapid depreciation of the Rupee since, pushing up inflation and CoL pressures as Sri  Lanka is an import dependent economy. Matters have been compounded by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s high money printing since 26 October to finance the Government in the backdrop of inadequate revenue, thereby causing further inflationary and CoL pressures.

The official poverty cutoff mark is the minimum amount of money required per person, per month, to be declared as being non poor. Sri Lanka’s last poverty census was in 2016. At that time the poverty cutoff mark was Rs 4,166. It was then found that 4.1 per cent or 843,913 of the island’s population were in poverty.

Counting The Dead In Sri Lanka

Patrick Ball-ANUARY 6, 2019

In advance of the tenth anniversary of the end of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009, HRDAG and  the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) urge groups inside and outside Sri Lanka to share existing casualty lists, and even more importantly, to go out and record new ones.

“We at least owe the dead the courtesy of collecting their names,” said ITJP Executive Director, Yasmin Sooka. “The scale of human loss is important to quantify and the final list of names which we will collate can also inform the memorialisation process which is key for communities.” Ms. Sooka’s video invitation to participate can be seen here:

A decade after the war ended, nobody knows to the nearest ten thousand how many people died in Sri Lanka in 2009, let alone in the decades before. The aim of this initiative is to use a statistical approach to estimate the probability of a final death toll. ITJP and HRDAG used the same approach recently to estimate the number of surrendees who disappeared at the very end of the war in 2009.

We urge Tamils all around the world in the next few months to speak to their families, their friends, and their neighbors to collect the names of the dead. We have suggested a spreadsheet format to collect the information. Several groups inside and outside the country have already started collecting lists. Recording the names of the dead is a way of collating the available information. And we can use statistical models to estimate how many people are likely missing from the data collected. Don’t worry about duplication! We will take care of the lists. A video explanation of the project can be seen here:

Though the initial focus is on collecting information from the Tamil diaspora, the project is also keen to collate information regarding war related deaths among Sinhalese and Muslims. Existing lists of deaths are especially important, so if you know of one, please contact us.

Information can be sent to HRDAG or the ITJP at: itjpsl@gmail.com or info@hrdag.org

Please note the source or sender of the information will be kept confidential.

Click here for a downloadable spreadsheet in English, Sinhala, and Tamil. The spreadsheet provides a template describing what information is required about each death. We have addressed Frequently Asked Questions here.

See here for more information about HRDAG’s work in Sri Lanka.

Image: ITJP.

Why do we need further constitutional reform?

Part II

Ravi Ratnasabapathy-Wednesday, January 9, 2019

States exercise power through the machinery of state: bureaucracies, the bodies of state and local government, legislatures, judiciaries, police and armed forces.
To prevent abuse, this machinery must be controlled. Power must be limited in how it may be used. This requires:

a) Setting rules that circumscribe its use. It cannot be exercised arbitrarily by those in authority but only in defined circumstances and must follow set procedures. These are laid down by laws. Laws must be universal, applying equally to all including the government itself, no one is above the law (the rule of law).

b) Distributing authority, so no single organ of government has the practical ability to exercise power unchecked (separation of powers).

As the law is the principal check on power it is essential that the process of law-making itself be subject to checks.

These are the principles that must be ingrained in the constitution and the organisation of government.

How true is our system to these principles?

1. Elections and accountability to the public

The president and parliamentarians are elected which creates accountability to the public. The weakness is that once elected, voters have absolutely no control over their representatives, except to remove them at the next election. Requiring candidates to submit to regular and periodic elections is important but other checks that restrain power on a day-to-day basis are critical.

2. Separation of powers: Parliament as a check on Government.

At the apex, parliament must be a check on government. The two are not synonymous.
The political party that wins the most seats takes charge of government, until the next election. The Government is responsible for running the country.

Parliament is made up of MPs elected by voters and is there to represent citizens’ interests and make sure they are taken into account by the Government. They are not a part of government. Government ministers may have seats in Parliament but most of their work is done in Government departments.
Parliament must scrutinise the activities of government- examining expenditure, administration and policy in detail, requiring the government of the day to explain itself to parliamentarians as representatives of the citizen. This happens through:

(a) debate

(b) questions

(c) investigation

Parliamentary Debates may be about legislation, government activity (policy or implementation), or issues of public concern.

“For government the purpose of debate is often to showcase the political argument or philosophy behind a particular policy or approach to an issue, or to test opinion on it. For the Opposition and backbenchers it provides an opportunity to demand an explanation of why a particular policy has been pursued, to identify weaknesses in the evidence base or formulation of a policy, or to provide new evidence or analysis.” (White, 2009)

Parliamentary questions (in the UK tradition) allow MPs to seek information or to press for action. They oblige Ministers to explain and defend the work, policy decisions and actions of their Departments.

Investigation-drilling deep into issues, is carried out by Committees.

The ultimate form of parliamentary control is that it can force individual ministers, or even the entire Government, to resign in votes of no-confidence.

For these processes to work, MPs must be independent. It requires opposition MPs and backbenchers in government who will question their own policies but in Sri Lanka this is absent.

MPs not independent

According to the prevailing version of proportional representative system, the constituency votes for the party first and the individual later. The party hierarchy is empowered to expel any of its members who vote against the party and replace him/her with another member of the party. An expelled MP automatically loses his/her seat.

As MPs who dare defy their leaders may be ejected independence is lost. Instead of representing the citizens’ interests, they represent the party leaders’ interests.

Power of government strengthened in the legislature

MPs cannot defy party diktat but a Supreme Court ruling allows them to cross-over without losing their seat. This enables the government to lure MPs by offering them positions, securing a permanent voting majority.

As MPs fear to question, parliament becomes a rubber stamp, not a check. Laws are what limit power, but if parliament cannot check government bad laws may be passed.

Under bad laws, power is legitimately exercised but oppresses citizens, a situation of rule by law as opposed to the rule of law. The Emergency laws or the Prevention of Terrorism Act are examples.
Committees are weak

Debates and questions allow issues to be discussed but committees are concerned with fact-based investigation. They go into issues in-depth in a way that Parliament, as a whole, has no time for, collecting and examine evidence to develop an understanding of what the government is (or is not) doing under its democratic mandate.

They can examine what the outcomes of activity (or inactivity) have been, including by requiring explanation from government. They can summon experts, stakeholders, demand answers from ministries, send for papers, and documents.

In the UK, there is a strong emphasis on committee reports being based on evidence, primarily that collected by the committee. The Government is required to respond to reports.

Committees provide the greatest scrutiny but until the 19th amendment, Sri Lanka had only ceremonial “consultative” committees. Instead of opposition members chairing committees (as in the UK) Sri Lanka’s were chaired by a minister of government. The government was not required to respond to any reports, effectively rendering them useless.

The 19th amendment has charged committees with oversight and they are now chaired by an opposition MP which is a big improvement but the reforms still fall short.

Recommendations:

(a) Upper House of Parliament

A single chamber legislature, if unchecked, could become dictatorial. Creating an upper house of parliament that checks and challenges government is one safeguard to bad laws. The Soulbury Constitution had an upper house- the Senate consisting of 30 members; 15 elected by the lower chamber and the rest appointed by the Governor-General.

(b) Strengthening committees

Although the 19th has provided the framework of independence, creating a culture of scrutiny is harder. A generation of MPs who hitherto toed the official line must learn to ask questions. This requires:

(i) Specialised training

MPs (and their staff), particularly those in committees would benefit from specialised training. Even established democracies (UK, Australia, Canada etc.,) have induction programmes for new MPs. At a minimum Sri Lankan MPs must be made more familiar with their constitutional responsibilities, rules of procedure, human rights, gender equality and public finance.

(ii) Open committee hearings to the public.

One way to improve scrutiny is to open the hearings to the public. The presence of media and interested citizens will have a salutary effect on the participants and allow greater public discussion on relevant issues.

(iii) Government must be required to respond to committee recommendations.
(iv) Adequate resources including access to external specialists

Committees must have proper resources- their reports claim they are hampered by lack specialist skills (legal, accounting etc.,), equipment and research capacity. Addressing these shortcomings is a must.

(c). Creating a committee on the Constitution

Sweden has a Constitution Committee that is tasked with ensuring that the Swedish government ministers follow the rules for the government—namely, the Swedish Constitution and Swedish law.

The committee consists of forty-four members representing all parties of and has the power to hold hearings, conduct investigations, and request classified materials from Mps. The Committee can act on its own initiative or in response to complaints from MPs (not citizens) and can initiate the prosecution of crimes committed by MPs in their capacity as MPs (decided by the Supreme Court).
(d) A Constitution Committee of the upper house

The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s role is to examine all bills for constitutional implications (a check against legislation that infringes basic rights) and, even more importantly, keep under review the operation of the constitution. This prevents the constitution itself from being undermined by ensuring that changes are not made “without a full and open debate and full awareness of the consequences”.

It fulfills the second limb of its remit by carrying out investigative inquiries into constitutional issues, engaging specialist advisers (external experts) and taking written and oral submissions.

Examples of constitutional implications include:

(I) any substantial alteration to civil liberties, including the right to habeas corpus and trial by jury;
(ii) alteration to the powers of the courts or measures that would place the exercise of power beyond the purview of the courts, or which would affect the independence of the judiciary;

(ii) alteration to the balance of power between Parliament and government, including the conferment of unduly broad or ill-defined powers to legislate by order.

(e) Revisions to the proportional representation system to restore constituency ties of MP’s.
(f) Judicial review of legislation.

To Re-assess, to re-think

 

2019-01-09 


A New Year has begun, new opportunities present themselves, new horizons to explore but most importantly and most of all, positive thinking, must be the hallmark of every Sri Lankan if we are going to get our country back on the right track!!! It is not correct to say it is all in the hands of the politicians – Oh No! Our country would be doomed then!!! We, as the people of Sri Lanka must begin with the upcoming elections and vote intelligently to put the correct people in power, to leave the old cronies out, they have had their time and done their thing; they can no longer think positively, generate new ideas or act aggressively in the face of daunting opposition!!! It is time for the YOUNG ONES TO TAKE OVER AND THEY CAN!!! 

Mandela said  

I would like to quote what Nelson Mandela said before he left prison!!! He said and I quote: “As I stand before the door to my freedom, I realize that if I do not leave my pain, anger and bitterness behind me, I will still be in prison.”!!! Self-imprisonment is worse than that imposed; but how many of us are in self-inflicted pain today for lack of forgiveness??? How many of us have imprisoned ourselves inside the walls of anger and bitterness??? Holding grudges does not make you strong, it makes you weak!!! Forgiveness does not make you weak, it sets you free!!! We must all consider this while we are preparing to move into 2019 and all that it holds!!! THIS HOLDS TRUE PARTICULARLY FOR OUR ERSTWHILE PRESIDENT – WHEN RANIL HAD TO FACE THE IMPOSSIBLE WHEN WE ALL THOUGHT THAT EVERYTHING HE HAD WAS LOST WHEN EVERYTHING HE HAD BUILT ON WAS SHATTERED, HE WALKED AWAY HONOURABLY, THAT IS THE TRUE HALLMARK OF A MAN!!! RANIL DARED THE IMPOSSIBLE BUT HE BUILT THE INCREDIBLE!!! THAT, IS WHERE YOU FAILED, MR. PRESIDENT AND FAILED MISERABLY!!! You persisted in your autocratic idiocy, sublimely oblivious to the fact that you are still living inside the walls of anger and bitterness!!! It is time you freed yourself and became strong; you are weak because you are steeped in the bitterness of your own making!!! 

Rich man, poor man  

Not only the President but all of us have to do our share in building and maintaining our country, rich and poor alike!!! It is very rare in our country that the rich and the mega-rich spare a thought for the poor, one often wonders if there are poor in Sri Lanka, because all we see are people dining at Five-Star Hotels, holidaying in Five-Star Holiday Resorts, shopping at the haute couture arcades and boutiques, people being driven in stretch limos, the roads congested with luxury vehicles, SO WHERE DOES THE POOR MAN STAND IN ALL OF THIS GRANDEUR??? The poor man searches desperately to buy school books for his children, others need shoes for school, some others need uniforms!!! So, who does the poor man go to for his needs??? Is there a Government Fund that gives them even a semblance of relief??? Do any RICH PEOPLE CARE ENOUGH TO SET UP A FOUNDATION TO HELP THE POOR??? Even greater than this, where or whom do they go to when they are ill when they desperately need life-saving surgery when disaster strikes in untold of an unheard of ways??? Who do these people turn to, whom or where do they go to??? What is the difficulty to set up a Ministry, or a Foundation or some such charitable organization within a Ministry, that can disburse the necessary funds??? 

Chuck Feeney 

We have millionaires, multi-millionaires, and billionaires not willing to part with anything except for the singular exceptions!!! One of them donated the Cancer Hospice, another built an additional Cancer Hospital, one or two of them support some of the orphanages and yet others like the Paynter’s Home in Nuwara Eliya; BUT, there is a magnitude more to be done, with only a minuscule number of people willing to help!!! 

In order to help us reassess and rethink our lives, I am quoting a shining example of one magnanimous human being: We have seldom or never heard of a billionaire called Chuck Feeney because he lived with his wife in an ordinary rented apartment in San Francisco!!! He never wore branded clothing, his glasses were trusted and aged; his watches were practical and unglamorous; he did not have his own car because his primary means of transportation was omnibus and the bag he used for work was an old plastic one!!! Surprisingly, over the course of his life, he had donated more than $8 billion to charitable causes!!! We will naturally ask “Who is this man?” Well, his name is Chuck Feeney, he was frugal with himself but generous with others; he liked to make money but he did not like to spend it on himself!!! Throughout his lifetime he contributed $580 to the Cornel University, $125 million to the University of California and $60 million to Stanford University!!! 

Outside the United States, he spent over 1 million dollars renovating and building a further seven new universities in Ireland!!! Incredibly, he also founded a charity fund aimed at providing cleft lip surgery for children in developing countries!!! More incredibly still, Chuck never sought praise for his many contributions!!! He admirably never revealed his name in association with each donation but asked for his donations to remain anonymously!!! Towards the end of his life, Chuck Feeney’s selfless and astounding deeds were revealed by the media!!! When Chuck eventually did face the press, he was asked the inevitable question of “Why did you choose to donate all of your wealth to charity?” Chuck Feeney simply smiled and said, “People are born naked, and then finally die alone!!!” “No one can carry the wealth and reputation that he himself has been striving for, for a lifetime!!!” A reporter asked Chuck “Why did you donate all of your fortunes?” Chuck Feeney smiled cheerfully and gave an unbelievable answer, beyond anyone’s imagination “Because the corpse cover does not have a bag!!!” Chuck Feeney has set an example for the rich all over the world!!! The two great American tycoons, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have attempted to adopt his way of thinking and strive to follow his actions!!! “THINK FOR THE PEOPLE WHILE ENJOYING LIFE AT THE SAME TIME” Chuck Feeney. The absolute beauty in the simplicity of this great man’s life is what we must all strive to emulate, especially our rich and famous and our Members of Parliament, who seek to be SERVED AND NOT SERVE!!! 

Lead by example  

Our leaders should cultivate a willingness to awaken their inner leadership qualities!!! Their commitment to work at their absolute best should reawaken the people and most importantly, their readiness to leave everyone they meet better than when they found them should encourage our leaders to give even more of their life in helping people!!! Leading without titles, setting examples that people would be honoured to follow!!!