Sri Lanka: Budget 2019 By The Man For All Seasons

The situation became different after 1977 with the changeover to a presidential system, proportional representation and the establishment of provincial governments and their elections. 

by Rajan Philips-MARCH 12, 2019

 

By any measure, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera is Sri Lanka’s man for all seasons in politics. He has been in opposition to both UNP (1989-1994 and 2002-2004) and SLFP (2007 to 2014) governments. Equally, he has been a Minister in both SLFP (1994-2007) and UNP (2015 - ) governments. He has been a Minister, as well, under every President after 1994, and has had more than a hand in ending the presidency of two of them and is about to play the same role for the third and the current President. However, in the spirit of social camaraderie that cuts through political acrimony in Sri Lanka, all three Presidents and the Prime Minister showed up to concelebrate Mr. Samaraweera’s 30 years in politics at the BMICH. Quite simply, there is no one to match Mangala’s versatility and his political peer-popularity. In the matter of inter-communal politics, or national reconciliation, Mangala Samaraweera is the most popular Sinhalese minister among the Tamils just as Lakshman Kadirgamar was the most popular Tamil minister among the Sinhalese. The elusive common ground is lying somewhere in between.

 

The common ground that Mangala Samaraweera (MS) is now more urgently looking for is in the realm of the economy, to offer the largest amount of goodies to satisfy the largest number voters and their families or businesses in the hope garnering votes for the UNP and its allies in the upcoming elections. Which one? Economic commentators have advised the Minister against producing an election budget, cautioning about the long term economic pains involved in going after short term electoral gains. But no government or Finance Minister can ignore electoral and political realities in presenting an election year budget. The conventional economic wisdom of short term pain for long term gain, while it will not find any political traction in an election year, is also becoming questionable in light of the frequent ups and downs in national and global economies.

 

What is more, austerity and belt-tightening are almost always undertaken targeting the more vulnerable in society, whereas the more consequential businesses who time and again trigger economic collapses are protected by governments from self-destruction because they are deemed too big to fail for the good of everyone else. This tautology is not applicable to Sri Lanka, where the private sector is not a big shaker of the economy and its role in the economy is defined more by fits and starts than by consistent policy framework of the government or by coherent responses of the private sector to market forces.

 

The good and the bad

 

In his new budget, the Finance Minister chose to differentiate the good segment of the private sector from its bad segment. The good ones are represented by "the genuine entrepreneur" competing in a "fair market", the "small and mid-size businesses that embody the spirit of Sri Lankan trade and commerce, and the Sri Lankan companies that compete on the global stage and win." The reprobates are the Rajapaksa favourites and the "beneficiaries of crony capitalism … walls of tariff … (and) inflated Government contracts." In a bit of bravado, the Minister declared: the latter group "is not the private sector that we want to see as the engine of economic growth, but (is) a vestige of a bygone era." The elections will determine who will be gone and who will return to power. But which election and that is the question.

 

The next one and a half years are going to see a presidential election, a parliamentary election, and potentially quite a few or all nine provincial elections. We do not know if the Finance Minister and his advisers prepared a budget for any particular election, or for any and all elections. While an electorally appealing budget might tip the scales in favour of a reasonably popular government, no amount of budgetary inducements will be enough to help a chronically unpopular government win a national election. It is fair to say that until 1977, when we had the parliamentary system and the elections were based on the first-past-the-post method, no finance minister was able to produce a magical budget that could help a sitting government win an election. With the exception of the sitting UNP government winning the 1952 election, every sitting government was thrown out of office in spite of or regardless of the election year budget. So the argument that Sri Lanka’s economy has stumbled and stalled because of election budgeting does not hold much water.

 

The situation became different after 1977 with the changeover to a presidential system, proportional representation and the establishment of provincial governments and their elections. Budgets became of even less significance – as governments in power manipulated the timing of elections and blatantly abused the resources of the state to win any and all elections for the governing alliance. In contrast to the fate of sitting governments before 1977, the governments after 1977 have been able to extend their stay in office beyond a single term simply by electoral manipulations and abuses of power. Their economic performance had very little to do with their relative longevity in office. Thus the UNP government elected in 1977 stayed on till 1994. And its SLFP successor lasted even longer from 1994 to 2014.

 

The present government is in a peculiar pickle. It is a divided government. There is President Sirisena who is pre-occupied with staging his own ‘nadagama’ and seeking his own re-election. Then there is the parliamentary government of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe that includes Mangala Samaraweera as Finance Minister. In a presidential election, Sirisena and Wickremesinghe might be contenders, and while Prime Minister Wickremesinghe goes about claiming credit for whatever he considers as economic success, President Sirisena will be denouncing UNP economic policies and claiming that it was he who protected the country from being sold out by the UNP. Mr. Samaraweera’s budget will be criticised by his President who is also the Head of the cabinet of ministers.

 

Which election?

 

Whether it is the presidential election or parliamentary elections, the real contest will be between the UNP and the SLPP of the Rajapaksas. President Sirisena and his shrinking band of SLFPers will be put in their place even before the nominations are closed. The Samaraweera budget is full of ammunition to be used against the Rajapaksas in an election campaign. Without naming names, the budget blames the political crisis triggered by the Sirisena-Rajapaksa constitutional misadventure on 26 October 2018 for the country’s failure to take advantage of global economic changes towards the end of last year. But the October crisis also gave a political advantage to the Prime Minister and the UNP allies. The advantage has since been lost mostly. And the budget attempts to recapture some of that advantage by distributing generous handouts to please different sections of the population through 15 program avenues ranging from "Gamperaliya – Accelerating Village Development" to "Reconciliation through economic development".

 

One of the 15 avenues is "Public Sector Service Delivery," which is nothing more than a euphemism for providing salary increases in the public sector, continuing the trend that was started in the present government’s first budget in 2015. The measure was ridiculed then as a ploy to win votes in the August parliamentary election. In that election the momentum was clearly with the UNP and the salary ploy may or may not have played any significant part. In fact, in the assessment of some UNP insiders the UNP failed to win a clear majority because of the Central Bank bond scandal. 2019 is a different political world entirely, and the salary increases are more likely to end as more money down the drain than assured votes in the ballot box.

 

The fundamental challenge facing this government or any other government is not about finding a mix of economic measures to facilitate steady economic growth. It is about putting in place structures and institutions of governance to implement the different policies and programs for economic growth and social welfare. That was supposed the biggest purpose of this government. It has now become its biggest failure. The budget envisions an "Enterprise Sri Lanka – Empowering the People and Nurturing the Poor." Ideologically, this is trying to be all things to all people. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with it so long as there will be as many things as possible available as many people as possible. The budget may not have the long life it needs to test its own success or failure.

 

The budget will soon become secondary to the main question about the sequence of elections that our political leaders will foist on the country. There seems to be growing interest among President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa – to modify the existing presidential system along the lines of the JVP’s 20th Amendment proposal. That will eliminate the presidential election this year and will advance the parliamentary election from next year to this year. Provincial elections will have to slip through the gap one more time. The ideas around this move have been there for years. Only now they are germinating because it suits the selfish needs and political constraints of the three leaders.

 

Each one has a major handicap in being a presidential candidate. So why not get rid of the damn presidency itself. That seems to be the motivation. Mahinda Rajapaksa is barred from running again. Gotabhaya Rajapkaksa is a problem candidate in many ways. Maithripala Sirisena can’t find anyone who will trust him as a candidate again. And after so many defeats, Ranil Wickremesinghe must surely be overburdened with self-doubt about his own chances again as a presidential candidate after 14 years. So it must make awful sense to them, cynically and severally, that it is best to modify the presidential system and get rid of the direct presidential election.

 

Should these developments take place, Miathripala Srisena could have another term as President, but only as the Head of State and not the head of government. Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mahinda Rajapaksa will be left to duke it out in a parliamentary election. The budget and its effects may be forgotten by then. What might loom larger than any other spectre is what is going on in the courts - how the political actors will position themselves in response to what the police are finding and what cases are brought to trial. All three leaders have long thought that such a day of reckoning may never come. It may yet come and no one knows how that will impact any and all elections.

 

Political instability for 52 days led to country’s economic downturn - Mangala

Camelia Nathaniel and Menaka Indrakumar-Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera delivering his summing up speech in Parliament yesterday said that the country was downgraded by international ratings due to power hungry politicians like former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the 52 day illegal government that created political instability.

“This led to the country’s economic downturn,” he said. He said that the government was compelled to borrow at higher rates due to the poor ratings.”

“The rates increased by 3% . We have lost Rs. 6.4 billion at least,” Minister Samaraweera said.
Samaraweera added that the Rajapaksa regime established the micro credit mafia putting innocent women in the country into great difficulty.

“It is true that the interest on sovereign bonds had increased more than Thailand, Greece etc., Minister Samaraweera said.

Responding to allegations by the Opposition about those caught up in the microfinance mafia, the Finance Minister said that it is the Rajapaksa regime that established the micro credit mafia which had placed the innocent women of this country into great difficulty.

However, he noted that the government has taken a decision to write off the loans of 45,000 poor women.

“During the 52 days, the Minister of Finance who occupied my seat forcibly, Mahinda Rajapaksa should have read his speeches prior to delivering them as they were utter lies. I have no idea who writes these for him. After all he is our Opposition Leader. Whatever said and done he was the President for 9 years,” Samaraweera teased.

“Wimal Weerawansa who coined the word economic hitman was in fact responsible for destroying the economy during the 52 day illegal government. It is ironic that the economic slayers who destroyed the country’s economy are trying to preach to us, he said in response to Weerawansa.
The Finance Minister said Budget 2019 is aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs and increasing production rather making the entire country dependent on the government.

“We are putting our best foot forward to enable them to have skills rather providing them with free food. It is true that there is concessionary food offered in Budget 2019. We want to create people who can stand on their own feet. We don’t want to give them some food and make them happy, but we prefer to give them a fishing rod and have them fend for themselves. We don’t want to give them a roofing sheet and a bag of rice and hoodwink them.”

The Government has allocated 87 billion for the development of the agriculture and fisheries sectors and 65 billion for irrigation, Samaraweera noted. “Was there ever a time when so much was allocated for farmers? We want the farmers to be entrepreneurs. We have catered for the safekeeping of agriculture products in warehouses and freezers. Enterprise Sri Lanka has provided more facilities to start their own business. They will be granted loans under Ran Aswanu loan scheme of up to 5 million at 7% interest, payable in 8 years. We have allocated Rs.1.3 billion for the development of fisheries harbours and anchorages.”

“There were so many small vehicles imported to Sri Lanka,” the Finance Minister said, adding that vehicles flooded the country’s roads like a vehicle tsunami leading to the country’s money being sent out.
“According to statistics, the highest number of private vehicles were bought during our government.

 Since last Friday, we have removed the 100% cash margin. In terms of vehicle permits, discussions are underway to remove barriers along with the appreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee. During the past 2 months, the rupee has appreciated by 2.5%. As our currency is stabilising, we have decided to remove the restriction of importing motor vehicles by public servants under the concessionary permit.

 Retired public servants who have obtained the concessionary permits will be able to import their motor vehicles effective from May. Similarly, public servants who have obtained concessionary permits will be able to import their motor vehicles stage by stage on a first come first out basis effective from June 1,” he said, adding that the Finance Ministry will issue the guidelines by March end.

Referring to the NBT levy, Samaraweera said there is a levy of 3.5% NBT applied on the Internet purchases made from abroad only.

“Facebook advertising will also be affected. However, it will not be applied on the local websites and ecommerce transactions. The NBT would be charged in place of the 2.5% stamp duty.For instance companied such as Uber, the revenue is sent overseas, unlike local companies such as PickMe. Hence, by this levy, the country retains some of the money that is sent out of the country.”

However, the Finance Minister stated that this is the only era that the salaries of state sector employees had increased by 107% within three years.

“We have increased salaries of all state sectors and this year we have provided an allowance of Rs.2,500 until the schemes are made. The previous regime survived by marketing the military. But we have increased their allowances. We have increased the salaries of police by 40% by our government and their allowances.”

Commenting on the lack of proper toilet facilities in many public places, especially the courts, he said the government will build new toilets for all courts from this Budget. “The Justice Minister gave me a list of courts in the country and we will build toilets for men, women and for those with disabilities. Each of the nine provinces will get international standard stadiums. We have allocated moneys for this.”

In response to claims made that children’s savings accounts were being taxed, the minister said that it is false that the government charges taxes from children’s accounts. “This is wrong. The taxes will apply only if your interest income is Rs.5,000 or more. You will have to have Rs.1.2 million to receive an interest income of Rs.5,000,” he clarified.

Exposé: Tiran-Dilith And Sirisena: How The President Interfered To Prevent The Arrest Of Murder Suspect Wasantha Karannagoda

MARCH 11, 2019

Colombo Telegraph can now reveal the shocking saga of how President Maithripala Sirisenastepped in to prevent the arrest of former Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda by influencing the Attorney General and the judiciary ahead of his fundamental rights petition being heard in the Supreme Court on Thursday March 7.

President Sirisena who is now in charge of Law and Order was briefed ahead of time about the AG’s plans to indict Karannagoda for allegedly aiding and abetting the murders of 11 youth abducted by a Navy gang in 2008 and for deliberately concealing evidence about the abductions. The aiding and abetting murder charge being non-bailable the former Navy Commander would have been arrested by the CID once the charges framed by the AG’s Department were read out to him.

Colombo Telegraph learns that following a thorough briefing on the issue by Solicitor General Dappula De Livera, President Sirisena had claimed he would not stand in the way of the law taking its course against all those who had been involved in the kidnapping and murder of the 11 youth.

The fear of being remanded drove Wasantha Karannagoda, Sri Lanka’s commander of the navy during the final phase of the war into hiding from the CID by February 21 the day he was scheduled to appear before the CID. After pursuing him at two of his known residential addresses in Colombo 05 and in Kotte, the CID reported to the Fort Magistrate that Karannagoda was absconding and the Fort Magistrate impounded the former Commander’s passport and ordered the Controller General of Immigration to stop him from leaving the island.

While being a fugitive from justice Karannagoda used his high-end legal team led by President’s Counsel Romesh De Silva to file a petition in Supreme Court on 22 February trying to block his arrest by the CID. Romesh De Silva PC has become the lawyer of choice for suspects in high profile criminal and corruption investigations who want to get their arrest by law enforcement agencies blocked. When the case initially came up on February 28 Supreme Court Justice Priyantha Jayawardane recused himself from the case claiming that he had once appeared for Karannagoda while he was practicing as a private lawyer. But before he recused himself Justice Jayawardane tried to get the AG to agree to give an undertaking to Romesh De Silva that his client Wasantha Karannagoda would not be arrested by the CID until the case was taken up again on 7 March. The AG flatly refused to give this undertaking to Court which meant that if the CID found the former Navy Commander between February 28 and March 7, Karannagoda could still be arrested. The AG was represented in the Supreme Court on February 28 by Additional Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne.

The former Navy Commander continued to remain in hiding from the law.

On 6 March the eve of Karannagoda’s case in Supreme Court businessmen and media captains Tiran Alles and Dilith Jayaweera met President Sirisena. Both Alles and Jayaweera are members of Team Gotabaya. Both are under criminal investigation themselves for financial dealings during the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency.

During the meeting with Sirisena, Alles and Jayaweera begged the President to request the CID not to arrest Wasantha Karannagoda. They told him that if Karannagoda was arrested he would not be able to get bail due to the seriousness of the charge.

President Sirisena offered to speak to the Attorney General’s Department on the ex-Navy Commander’s behalf. While offering to speak with the AG, President Sirisena quipped to Jayaweera and Alles: “Those two (AG and SG) are constantly running to me asking me for promotions to the Supreme Court. I can talk to them”.

After the meeting with Alles and Jayaweera, Sirisena spoke with Attorney General Jayasuriya and instructed him that the AG’s Department should not insist on the arrest of the former Navy Commander.

Dilith Jayaweera

Accordingly the next morning – 7 March – shortly before the case was due to come up in Supreme Court, Attorney General relayed the President’s instructions to the state attorneys who would represent the CID in the case filed by Karannagoda. The message was clear – there was no longer a need to insist on arrest.

Meanwhile based on his chat with Sirisena on Wednesday Alles relayed the information the President had given him that the AG and SG were angling for promotions to the Supreme Court.

A shrewd litigator, Romesh De Silva was well aware that Justice Buvaneka Aluvihare who was presiding that day was entertaining hopes of becoming the next Chief Justice. A promotion of Attorney General Jayasuriya to the Supreme Court could stymie those plans since an AG can be elevated to CJ automatically.

Tiran Alles

Last Thursday 7 March Romesh De Silva PC appearing with attorneys Sugath Caldera and Niran Anketell made submissions for two hours and 10 minutes. His first salvo – which lawyers said were aimed at immediately prejudicing the bench – was to tell the three judges that the AG and the SG were seeking promotions as judges of the Supreme Court. The situation was a “disgrace” he said and that AG’s Department was not what it used to be.

He then launched an attack against the CID, calling their investigation politically motivated and even referring to CID IP Nishantha Silva as the “hangman”. Distorting facts reported in CID B reports and claiming that the former Navy Commander could have got away with murder in May 2008 because he and his men were war heroes but had still chosen to make a complaint to the police De Silva said his patriotic blood was boiling because of how the CID had conducted its investigation to implicate “the man who won the war for us”.

Officials from the AG’s Department remained silent throughout the vicious attack on the AG and the CID never even protesting against De Silva’s malicious claims against their own boss. ASG Dayaratne also never saw fit to defend CID IP Nishantha Silva the first respondent in Karannagoda’s petition, whose counsel he was supposed to be.

Instead all the false facts reported to court about frivolous charges against Karannagoda, the lack of evidence, the former navy commander’s actual role in the sordid story of how men under his command abducted and killed boys from rich families for ransom were never corrected for the court record.

At one point Justice Surasena even asked the AG if there was really enough evidence to indict Karannagoda since Romesh De Silva had painted a shocking picture about a shaky case that the ASG with all the facts the CID had given their ‘legal team’ never tried to counter or set straight.

In fact ASG Dayaratne told court that the AG’s primary interest in the case was not the arrest of a suspect hiding from the law and wanted on a charge of aiding and abetting the murder of 11 young boys.

The surreal day in Court ended with Romesh De Silva having his way with the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court. Led by Justice Buvanekha Aluvihare the bench refused to allow President’s Counsel J.C. Weliamuna who was appearing on behalf of the mother of one of the abducted boys to make submissions in the case. The judges appeared to be so pliant towards De Silva that they even allowed him to make changes to the order.

All three justices who heard the case were former judge advocate generals who had served on military tribunals when they were officials at the AG’s department.

In the face of Sirisena’s blatant interference in the process of justice and his unashamed partisanship towards members of the former Rajapaksa regime the UNP Government has chosen complete silence. Despite the 19th Amendment’s best efforts to make the Office of the Attorney General independent by preventing his removal except through a Resolution of parliament the AG’s Department remains a pliant institution ever willing to be manipulated by those wielding political power.

Update: Contacting Colombo Telegraph after this report was published Jayaweera denied meeting President Sirisena. The media boss said that he had not met President Sirisena in many months. He also claimed that he was not under investigation.

However several sources confirmed the meeting between the two businessmen and the President. Jayaweera was also present in court on both dates that the Karannagoda’s FR petition came up. On the 7th media reports said Jayaweera’s mobile telephone had been on during the hearing. When the SC judges were ordering the date and time at which Karannagoda was to present himself before the CID it was Jayaweera who confirmed that Monday at 9AM will be suitable for the former Navy Commander. Dilith Jayaweera and Admiral Karannagoda are known to be close associates.

Jayaweera’s claim that he was not under investigation is also false. Jayaweera was investigated for stock market manipulation through the infamous pump and dump schemes by the FCID in 2015. But after the sacked former FCID boss DIG Ravi Waidyalankara began making “deals” with criminal and crooked elements of the Rajapaksa regime he concluded the case.

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stand up for survival of democracy

• Attacks on Rathupaswela and Chilaw protesters were clear violation of democracy

• The UNP propaganda machine is weak and has to be activated to make the people aware of what has been done and achieved

• I hope there will be new appointees to the media institutions who will help to reach the grassroots on the achievements of the government

We experienced the very worst of time in our somewhat turbulent political history, with the constitutional coup when the country was plunged into chaos and losses to the economy on all fronts. The chief culprits in this unfortunate exercise are shouting their mouths off unashamed, airing their ignorant views on a myriad subjects like absolute fools, suffering from delusions or selective amnesia about how things were conducted, when they were at the helm of the ship of state.We have undignified, inappropriate, ill-advised statements from those who should know better, and are disgracing the high office they hold.

"My criticism is that nothing has been done to punish those guilty of corruption, misuse of public funds and murder during the tenure of the former regime. The movement on these issues has been very slow and has led to dissatisfaction among party supporters"

12 March 2019

Mahinda Rajapakse, on the one hand, protests vehemently about the STF attacking protestors, has he forgotten the many attacks on protestors during his tenure of office? One in Rathupaswala, where protestors demanding clean drinking water were attacked with one killed and a similar incident in Chilaw against protesting fishermen. He objects to the CID being brought into the inquiry on the unprecedented destructive, disgraceful behaviour, including chilly powder attacks by his group in Parliament. He stood watching with his son by his side, leading some to remark that not only did he condone this unfortunate incident,but had orchestrated it. He now shows deep concern for the Muslim community. 
Again he forgets the attacks on them even during their time of prayer. He starts an Institute for International Affairs. I doubt that there is even one democracy in the world, who will support him or ever have confidence and trust in him. Holding his own with dignity, through all this verbal diarrhoea from his opponents is Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose sharp humour and clarity of thought can cut through the most persuasive argument. It takes much more than intelligence, discipline, relentless determination, courage; but also values and principles that one is blessed with at birth, to have come through the trauma he went through at the time of the constitutional coup,which was soundly condemned by countries in the democratic world. I doubt that any other politician today would have survived it, and taken such insulting slander without slandering back even once. He has never indulged in an outpouring of vitriolic loathing against political opponents. It is due to him and his efforts, that we regained GSP + and increased our international standing in the wider community.  
Though armchair critics criticize the government for inaction on several issues, there is a lot that has been done. There have been unprecedented strides taken and much done for education, housing and health. The ambulance service has been a great boon to the people which I saw in action at the Galle Literary Festival. The CMC, headed by a dynamic  UNP woman Mayoress, is doing a great service with opening up community centres, which has helped working mothers, senior citizens and children in the area. The recent budget also brought many benefits to the people. Much more to be done, promises kept, time is short and memories even shorter. 

"MR stood watching with his son by his side, leading some to remark that not only did he condone this unfortunate incident, but had orchestrated it. He now shows deep concern for the Muslim community"

My criticism is that nothing has been done to punish those guilty of corruption, misuse of public funds and murder during the tenure of the former regime. The movement on these issues has been very slow and has led to dissatisfaction among party supporters. The government had to cope with crippling loans taken by the former government as they came into power, which was undoubtedly, an obstacle to progress and development. Critics must realize that the extravagance of former rulers, was visible even through those horrific 51 days of an illegal government. 
The UNP propaganda machine is weak and has to be activated to make the people aware of what has been done and achieved. In this respect I am glad that State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene has been made the Minister for Media. His background of media will stand him in good stead in his new role and I hope there will be new appointees to the media institutions who will help to reach the grassroots on the achievements of the government. His genial, simple personality has endeared him to one and all and he has never made unreasonable demands for positions. In short, he does not act as if the party or country owes him a favour, because of his political ancestry.  

"The government had to cope with crippling loans taken by the former government as they came into power, which was undoubtedly, an obstacle to progress and development. Critics must realize that the extravagance of former rulers, was visible even through those horrific 51 days of an illegal government"

It was interesting to read recently a response from Nat White from England to a question asking why some Brits dislike Trump. Some excerpts reminded me of politicians here! I quote those here; “For instance he has no class, no coolness,no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no humility, no honour and no grace”. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. He doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults -- he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. He punches downwards, -- which a gentleman should, would, could never do and every blow he aims is below the belt. He turns being artless into an art form. He is a Picasso of pettiness, a Shakespeare of shit. God knows there are plenty of nasty people in the world and stupid ones too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty or nastiness so stupid.He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.’  
 As a nation, we are experts at listening to rumours and spreading them. Shadowlands of rumour and counter rumour are very disturbing and each day, new fuel is added to the flames of speculation. It is a few rotten apples among politicians which give the entire barrel a bad name. The good among them must fight and fight to the end, to make democracy survive and be an undying force in our country.     

STRAY DOGS – WHAT WE CAN DO

March 9, 2019, 6:23 pm 

The stray dogs got a lease of life, and began to live freely on the streets of Sri Lanka, after the government rightly banned their killing and thereafter they got a more respectful name ‘Community dogs’. As an alternative to killing, it was decided to sterilize the existing community dogs, so that the stray dog population gradually declined to manageable numbers. Finally hitting number zero when the last well lived sterilized community dog departs will be for the satisfaction of many animal lovers. All community dogs are vaccinated against rabies at government expense and through animal welfare organizations. The latter also provide vaccinations in addition to anti-rabies (i.e. parvo, DHL etc.) care for the dogs by giving them treatment for mange, etc. according to the needs. We should remember that dogs having been domesticated by primitive man, began to depend on cooked food, and it is the ONLY ANIMAL dependent on man for its very survival.

Over the past few years, the community dogs have lived happily on the streets of Sri Lanka, with caring people providing them with food and water, and providing care when they fall sick. In spite of all these benevolent acts, it is unfortunate that some authorities decide to take the law into their hands and kill these dogs to appease the whims and fancies of some people who have wrong notions about stray dogs. Last month 38 dogs who lived around the Kandy Dalada Maligawa went missing mysteriously. If you were in the Kandy town on Saturday March 2, you would have witnessed the silent vigil by a group of individuals demanding to know what happened to these animals.

Looking at the larger picture, stray dogs happen to be there simply because irresponsible individuals dump puppies on to the streets. This is where we too can do our part. Many people turn a blind eye when it comes to caring for these animals, and unfortunately some even go to the extent of preventing them from being fed. Often, those who talk of the menace of stray dogs, do not even realize that they too can do their part to eradicate stray dogs from the streets. If one cares for dogs, one could make the lives of these strays tolerable on the streets. This write up is to catch the eyes of seemingly well meaning people, as an appeal to them to have a fresh look at this problem.

What you can do as community work is as follows:

1) Sterilize both female and male pet dogs or even cats in your houses. If pet owners did their part, by now we would have achieved zero growth of stray dogs. The welfare organizations carrying out sterilization of street dogs, cannot cope with the sheer numbers of puppies getting conveniently dumped in the streets by irresponsible people.

TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STERILIZING ALL PET DOGS & CATS, MALE AND FEMALE. YOU ARE NOT DESTROYING A LIFE WHEN YOU STERILIZE AN ANIMAL!

2) Do not forget that these animals also feel thirsty just like we do. They cannot open a tap to get water on hot sunny days. Today, in the concrete jungles that we live in, both dogs and cats have to wait eagerly for humans to throw some water or open a tap so that there is water in the drains for them to drink.

IF YOU DECIDE TO PROVIDE WATER IN A VESSEL FOR STRAYS, REMEMBER YOU HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE NOT TO CREATE ANOTHER DENGUE "BOMB".

3) Stray dogs feel hungry too. They flock around you expecting some morsel to survive. Encourage your children to leave some food for a stray animal, specially when you go on a trip and there is excess of food, or if there are strays living close to your house. The general belief is that if you provide food it will encourage more and more strays. Dogs are territorial animals and they will not allow outside animals in their territory. It is not easy for a newly dumped dog to find a safe place on the streets.

In other countries such as India, with similar stray dog problems, powerful animal activists have encouraged public institutions to have special designated areas, where left over food could be dumped, so that the stray dogs know where to come for food. If done in an organized manner, this will prevent breeding of flies on dumped stale food, and keep the community dogs contented.

If you decide to adopt this practice, you must remove food that dogs cannot eat such as drumstick fibre, jak seeds, and the like, as well as paper to prevent littering.

Think of this; by any standard depriving strays from getting any food is cruel, when at the government level a decision has been taken to let them live.

CARING PEOPLE HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE, SO THAT FLIES DON’T BREED ON LEFT OVER FOOD GIVEN TO STRAYS. THE LOCATION WHERE FOOD IS PROVIDED SHOULD BE CLEANED PERIODICALLY.

4) Decide to adopt a stray dog instead of looking for thoroughbred animals. If there are dogs in the institution/office, this is the most convenient place to get one for adoption. Also, there are clean cared for, vaccinated, sterilized dogs available from many welfare organizations free of charge.

Also consider having more than one dog if there is space in the house, as dogs, just like humans need companionship. Street dogs deserve a home, and they are very loyal if you give them a warm place to sleep and some food and water. Such dogs are relatively resistant to disease and need minimal care. Having lived on the streets, they are quite independent too. Often the homes of those who care are already filled up with picked up strays. If there are more people to adopt a stray, then every dog in this country will be an owned dog.

ADOPT A STRAY DOG, SO THAT THERE IS ONE STRAY DOG LESS ON THE STREETS.

Animal welfare organizations are very much dedicated to what they are doing, and surprisingly they are often at the receiving end of a lot of criticism. Such people who care for community animals often don’t have time for themselves. Strangely many people do not realize that the benefit of such welfare work is for humans. Apart from the time and energy spent, when donations run dry, they do not think twice in utilizing their own private funds to carry out animal welfare work.

We must not forget that the earlier method of controlling stray dogs, was through killing them, which was truly a brutal act that some of us old enough have witnessed. Obviously this inhumane uncivilized method did not result in any significant control of stray dogs. Instead it probably inculcated more revulsion among young and tender minds creating a lasting feeling of hatred in some while in others, it helped endorse cruelty.

Hope the reader will consider that together, we can easily eliminate stray dogs from the streets humanely, if we too can do our part, until the day dawns when every dog becomes an owned dog.

It is noteworthy that in the eyes of Mahathma Gandhi, the great Indian leader and humanitarian, a society is civilized when it takes care of the elderly, the poor, the destitute and the dumb animals.

Anjani and Jayantha Karunaratne

Kandy

Street vendors in urban cities

Street vendors have an entrepreneurial ethos that is not lower than that of formal entrepreneurs. By providing them with a level playing field, their potential could be developed and utilised for a better inclusive economy and society – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

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 Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Shaved king coconut with straws. The ‘maalu’ shouts to the residents among the neighbourhood for salty fish. The knotted sacks of the laundry clothes in the tuk. Early morning whisk away of the newspaper at the doorstep. These hustles and bustles of the informal work have mellowed down, but it is still woven in city life.

The City of Colombo has transformed majorly through economic, social, political and spatial means. Street vending has survived through the reorganisations against the vying competition and demand for urban spaces and resources.

There is no reliable data on the number of street vendors in Colombo. But it is noticeable that there is a growth in the number of them. As a direct effect of urbanisation.

The three primary causes in the growth of street vendors are 1) In addition to poverty, less beneficial employment has made these workers migrate from rural areas to cities for better opportunities. 2) Workers who lost their jobs in the formal sectors were compelled to seek work in the informal sector as a survival strategy. Due to closures or downsizing in the factories. 3) A shortage of economic resources such as capital, property, and information to solve their situations.Street trading is the most popular option among various constraints in the urban economy’s informal sectors.

Street vendors use public spaces like roadsides, sidewalks, shop edges, marine drives, and crowded premise fronts to trade for their families’ daily needs. Be it the food stall in front of mosques, or garland shops outskirting temples or the ice cream bicycles in school fronts, street vendors work with the main activities of the region where they are located. To use it for development and reinforcement of the role of urban public spaces.

They receive direct visibility from passers-by and travellers in vehicles by placing the goods in the open which they hope will arouse buying interest. Prices are not taxed, they are cheap. The goods are in high demand among the people of the middle class. Also, they are quick in the fast-paced world as there are no receipts when effecting sales.

The trade is done through maintaining trust with raw materials in food businesses and purchasing vegetables directly from the farmers or wholesale businesses.

“My wife handles the money. I and my brothers take turns at the stall to reduce payment costs to others and supplement the family income,” said Anura, while he weighed the fruits for a customer in the scorching heat. They are exposed to sun, rain, noise, and pollution. And most of them are standing throughout the day. They are tremendously resilient and independent in the face of challenges.

Personally-motivated workers are frequently looked at as a public nuisance and have generated numerous debates around the world. Fishermen go out for catches in seasons that are not favourable despite the Government’s warned ban. Similarly, street vendors trade in prohibited places to earn some money. Vijith was threatened by a three-wheeler driver to stop selling soon to protect himself from arrest. How we handle the street vendors has not been very encouraging from people of all walks of life. The least good doers of the incense stick or naphthalene ball sellers are the ignorers or the sympathetic buyers. The frustration in the middle of traffic is understandable.

The city gloss and space demand have made the urban poor less attractive and unwanted. They are often considered as misfits against their urban structure, performance and physical appearance causing conflict in the space utilisation and visual representation.

The urban planners and Government must restructure the sector and fit them into the city by understanding their motivation for their location presence and recognising them as local identity. We should have a detailed survey study through vendor registrations and their place(s) of business to understand their needs and vulnerabilities. And to design aesthetically, well-planned and paced stalls to allocate vendors for their trading activities as in developed countries.

Fair and effective regulations and policies should comply with street vendors’ needs and welfare. Mumbai enacted its Street Vendors act in March 2014. After a decade of debate, Los Angeles has agreed to legalise street vendors in 2019. These are aspirational developments for the street vendor community which we could adopt from the other countries.

In cases such as health officers inspecting a food truck’s kitchen, consumers will also benefit. The government can provide a more secure place, such as the street vendors’ bazaar. Even women who make handmade goods and jaggery could get a space for their stalls. Locals and tourists everywhere enjoy street food and shopping if done appropriately. It can be a place for consumption and recreation.

A job reduces the criminality of a person. Work is the heart and soul of human life. And street vendors survive by working. We should all promote social inclusion and realisation of human rights.

These vendors have an entrepreneurial ethos that is not lower than that of formal entrepreneurs. By providing them with a level playing field, their potential could be developed and utilised for a better inclusive economy and society.
(The writer is a research writer and designer at SpaarkLab, an analytical storytelling agency. She can be contacted at varshika15@live.com.)

Israeli sniper fatally wounds Gaza child

Mourners carry the body of Saif al-Din Imad Nasir Abu Zaid during his funeral in Gaza City on 7 March. The 15-year-old was fatally injured by an Israeli sniper during protests the night before. 

 Ashraf AmraAPA images

Tamara Nassar - 8 March 2019

A 15-year-old boy died hours after being shot during protests Wednesday evening in the Malika area east of Gaza City, the health ministry in the territory announced early Thursday.

Israeli snipers shot Saif al-Din Imad Nasir Abu Zaid in the head and wounded six others with live bullets, according to Wattan TV.

Photos of Abu Zaid circulated on social media following his death:

View image on Twitter

وكالة الرأي@alrayps

® وزارة الصحة: استشهاد الطفل سيف الدين عماد ناصر أبو زيد(15عاماً)، متأثراً بجروح خطيرة أصيب بها، برصاص قوات الاحتلال شرق مدينة غزة، الليلة الماضية.

2:44 AM - Mar 7, 2019

View image on Twitter

شبكة فجر الإخباريه@fagerps

الصحة: استشهاد الطفل سيف الدين عماد ناصر ابو زيد 15 عاما متأثراً بجراحه التي اصيب بها شرق غزة قبل ساعات قليلة.

12:50 AM - Mar 7, 2019

Targeting children

Israeli forces have killed at least 40 children in the context of the Great March of Return protests along the Gaza-Israel boundary since their launch on 30 March last year.

About 190 Palestinians have been killed during the protests.

A United Nations independent commission of inquiry recently published its preliminary report stating that it had collected evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israel which has used lethal military force against unarmed protesters.

“[Israeli forces] have intentionally shot children, they’ve intentionally shot people with disabilities, they’ve intentionally shot journalists, knowing them to be children, people with disabilities and journalists,” Sara Hossain, one of the investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said.

The report calls for the individuals responsible to face international sanctions and arrest.

“Israeli forces caused permanent disabilities to many of the 940 children shot during the demonstrations,” the UN report states.

Five Palestinian children have died after being struck by tear gas canisters since the start of 2018, according to Defense for Children International Palestine.

Israel killed 60 Palestinian children in 2018.

Targeting journalists and media organizations

Israel also targets journalists during the protests, but its war on Palestinian media continues outside that context as well.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa TV channel a “terrorist organization” on Wednesday.

Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza, condemned Netanyahu’s decision as “a dangerous precedent.”

“Occupation forces target journalists, employees of the press and media institutions systematically,” Al Mezan stated.

Israeli forces have killed 18 journalists or media workers since the start of the second intifada in 2000, according to Al Mezan. The Israeli military has attacked 32 media organizations as well.

This includes bombing al-Aqsa TV buildings and killing its journalists in Gaza.

In November, an Israeli airstrike targeted the headquarters of al-Aqsa TV, which is located in a heavily populated area of Gaza City.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has rejected Israel’s assertions that al-Aqsa TV’s links with Hamas make it a legitimate military target.

This claim “has no basis in international law,” CPJ stated. “Journalists, like all civilians, only lose their protected status if they directly take part in hostilities.”

Al Mezan warned that Israel’s designation of al-Aqsa TV as a “terrorist” organization could escalate Israel’s attacks on Palestinian journalists and media.

Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian journalists covering the Great March of Return protests and injured many others.

An Israeli sniper fatally wounded journalist Yaser Murtaja, who was wearing a flak jacket marked with the word PRESS on 6 April last year.

A week later journalist Ahmad Abu Hussein died of injuries sustained while covering protests.

In December, photographer Mohammed Asad, a regular contributor to The Electronic Intifada, narrowly escaped a similar fate.

The fragment of a bullet fired by an Israeli sniper destroyed his camera but left him physically unscathed.

But that same bullet had hit 16-year-old Muhammad al-Jahjouh in the neck, killing him.