Friday, April 3, 2009, 13:01 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Apr 03, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s election monitoring watchdog today said that the election related violence is increasing day by day ahead of the upcoming Western Provincial Council election.

Issuing a special statement the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said that they have already received 60 complaints from various political parties. According to the Center 20 incidents out of them were major incidents.

A majority of election related violence had been reported from Colombo District with the total number of 23 incidents.

The Center has received 19 complaints from Kalutara District and 18 from Gampaha District.

Another monitoring agency, Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) listed a total of 38 incidents of election violations out of which 27 are election violence.

Mahatma Gandhi once said the best way to judge a nation was how its animals were treated. One may argue that a nation could also be judged by the way it handles its garbage. If that yardstick were to be adopted by any chance, where would Sri Lanka rank as a nation? The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind sweeping the streets of Colombo.

Colombo has earned notoriety for its noisome stench. Garbage has a ubiquitous spread adding to its squalor. In some places like the Pettah private bus station, roads have been turned into public urinals. Drains are veritable mosquito and rat farms. The first thing that greets a foreigner coming to the city from KIA is the garbage mountain at Bloemendhal. And Sri Lanka is trying her best to market herself as a tourist destination! We must thank foreign tourists for not running back to the airport and taking the next flight out of the country!

The situation has certainly taken a turn for the worse during the past few days. The city is awash with garbage piled at every conceivable place as a recent court ruling banned garbage dumping at the regular sites. Two new sites are reported to have been named and the garbage disposal is expected to resume shortly.

The real problem is not geographical location where garbage is dumped but the fact that it is not properly managed. All these years the CMC has been shifting the problem here and there without trying to find a lasting solution. The garbage mount at Bloemendhal is a monument to callousness and inefficiency of the city stepfathers under successive political dispensations. They have let the grass grow under their lazy feet all these years. And they will be more than willing to create several more Himalayas of garbage at other places instead of solving the problem. Garbage collected daily from the city weighs over 700 tons and this amount is enough to bury a small village.

People in several suburbs are already on the warpath, unable to bear the ill-effects of others` garbage unloaded at their doorstep day in day out. They cannot use their wells as ground water is highly contaminated because of the toxic seepage from garbage heaps which in most cases include even waste matter from hospitals and factories. The plight of people at Karadiyana, Werahera is a case in point. That once serene hamlet hugging a picturesque waterway has today become a hellhole. Thugs are controlling the garbage dumping operations there and the voiceless people have to suffer in silence in this Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka! The same goes for the Bloemendhal dump in the hands of the scum of the earth thriving on others` agony. `Where there`s muck,` they say, `there`s brass`-for thugs with political backing.

What is required, we repeat, is not the relocation of the stinking problem of unplanned garbage disposal but the formulation of an action plan to solve it once and for all. In fact, the real problem is that the CMC has turned a blind eye to the solution which is being successfully implemented in some areas like Bandaragama, where garbage has ceased to be a problem as such thanks to the innovative thinking of the Pradeshiya Sabha there, which is turning waste matter into fertiliser. If a small local government body could tackle the problem so effectively, there is no reason why the CMC with a great deal of funds at its disposal should fail to do so.

Yesterday, a former state official pointed out that a plan to generate electricity with garbage had been shelved. Some years ago, there was a much publicised proposal to manufacture fertiliser with the Bloemandhal garbage heap. It was said that the dump was sufficient for producing fertiliser for years on end. But, as is the way with the policy makers and politicians nothing came of that proposal and the garbage mount continued to grow until it became a volcano of sorts with gases formed underneath.

This newspaper alerted the CMC and the environmental authorities, on August 29, 2008, to the possibility of the Bloemendhal dump exploding but to no avail. On March 08, the `volcano` erupted destroying as it did several shanties in the vicinity. Although no lives were lost and a major disaster was averted by the fire fighters and the public who doused the flames immediately, experts believe the worst is yet to happen. Given the sheer volume of gas forming waste, the day may not be far off when we have a second and bigger explosion. But, the environmental pundits of the present regime and the CMC bigwigs continue their slumber only to be shaken awake by a court order or a public protest from time to time.

The city stepfathers and the environmental nincompoops whose forte is making all sorts of noises must not be allowed to get away with their dereliction of duty by attempting piecemeal solutions. They must be made to tell the public how they are going to solve the problem and do as they say. The government and the CMC together could turn garbage into a goldmine, if they adopt the right approach as the lesser councils have already done. The public, too, cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for this sorry state of affairs. They are totally devoid of any concern for the environment in disposing of garbage. Tons and tons of polythene are released every month into the underground drains, blocking them and causing floods even during light showers. They seldom sort out waste matter.

While people are educated on the importance of reducing and reusing as well as sorting out trash, the CMC ought to give priority to recycling and not to shifting the problem. In the short term, the CMC may adopt some desperate remedy to clean the city fast and make it livable. But it must not lose sight of the need to evolve a durable solution. There are no short cuts.

By Sampath Perera
1st April 2009

Earlier the government was giving pregnant women ‘threeposha’ (a type of nutritional flour) for six months before and six months after the baby’s delivery—two packs a month. That has now been slashed to at most two months before and two to three months after the delivery. Our women need nutrition. How can they continue to work if they are weak?”

A Socialist Equality Party (SEP) team visited rubber plantation workers in Puwakpitiya, near Awissawella, about 50 km southeast of Colombo, to discuss the party’s political program for the Western Provincial Council elections. The SEP is fielding a list of 46 candidates in the Colombo district, and the visit was part of the campaign for an election meeting to be held in Awissawella on April 5.

The Awissawella electorate is one of the poorest in the Colombo district. The area is predominantly rubber producing, featuring large plantation companies as well as small planters. The history of the plantation industry goes back to the final decades of the nineteenth century under British colonial rule. Most workers on these estates are descendants of Tamil-speaking labourers brought from Tamil Nadu in southern India to work in the plantations. They are among the most oppressed layers of the working class in Sri Lanka.

Rubber exports used to be Sri Lanka’s third highest foreign exchange earner. However, since the late 1960s, world demand has declined. Workers’ conditions have also deteriorated as plantation companies intensified the rate of exploitation in order to boost profits.

The SEP team visited the Elston and Farnham estates of the Pussallawa plantation. Approximately 1,400 workers, from about 650 families, are employed in the two estates. Most of the families live in line rooms—long, narrow buildings divided into rooms to house a family in each. Clusters of line rooms are separated from each other by 1 to 5 kilometres. The land is hilly, and while the roads used for estate operations are in good condition, those leading to workers’ lines are not.

A few workers have been able to get small plots of land from the government. By earning additional money working outside the plantation, they have built small houses.

Female workers tapping rubber treesFemale workers tapping rubber trees

Rubber workers have to start tapping rubber trees early in the morning, even before sunrise. This continues for several hours until they start collecting latex into large heavy cans, which they have to carry from tree to tree.

A young worker, Ganesh, was rushing to collect latex because if he missed the vehicle that took the latex to the factory, he would have to carry his load himself. Although a co-worker retorted “we see all these politicians when an election comes,” Ganesh was eager to talk when the team explained that its aim was to start a discussion on the important political issues confronting workers.

Ganesh explained: “I have two children. I have to feed my family of five, including my mother. It is very difficult. I can earn only 280 rupees (about $US2.50) a day, provided I work 24 days a month. If not, the daily pay is even less. For this, we have to tap 325 to 350 rubber trees a day. It’s not just tapping 325 trees because we’ve to go back to each tree after tapping to collect the latex. We’re collecting at least 10kg of latex.”

SEP members explained that President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government were systematically militarising the whole country while waging war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north. The government was increasingly slashing spending on essential social services to fund the war, which cost 200 billion rupees in 2008.

Accommodation for plantation workersAccommodation for plantation workers

Ganesh commented: “Our young men, both from the north and south, die because of this war. ‘Our government’ lies to us. Who benefits from this war? Earlier the government was giving pregnant women ‘threeposha’ (a type of nutritional flour) for six months before and six months after the baby’s delivery—two packs a month. That has now been slashed to at most two months before and two to three months after the delivery. Our women need nutrition. How can they continue to work if they are weak?”

An expectant mother explained: “I can’t go to work because I’m pregnant. Only my husband is working. If he couldn’t go to work we would lose earnings for that day. We can’t tap [rubber] when it rains and we find it hard to even afford meals. This month will be difficult for us; we had to pay for my child’s treatment.”

Asked about the war, the young woman said it was sad to see so many young men die. “We have some kind of a job, but the war refugees have lost everything. We want to see the end of the war.” She continued: “We can’t travel without an identity card, or the police will arrest us. I applied for an identity card last year, but the application was returned a year later, asking for my birth certificate. Everything is blocked for Tamils. Did they need one year to inform me the application was incomplete? I had to wait five hours to get the application signed by the estate superintendent.

“They treat the estate workers like dogs. I have two children and I’m pregnant too. We don’t have toilet facilities—the estate management demolished them. We have to go outside. Often I face health problems and doctors ask me to drink more water. But where can I pass urine? So I don’t drink water.”

Workers carrying latex to factoryWorkers carrying latex to factory

Arumugam, who was about to finish work for the day, stopped to speak to the team, relieving his head of a latex can’s weight. “I’m retired, but I came here to help my wife. It is very difficult to live just with my wife’s salary. We’re in debt. We can’t have meat or fish in our meal even once a month.”

Awissawella was once a Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) stronghold and local workers took part in the 1953 Hartal (general strike). However, the LSSP betrayed the principles of Trotskyism by entering the bourgeois Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) government in 1964.

Raju, a retired worker, recalled those experiences: “In those days the LSSP was with the workers, irrespective of their nationality, religion—they had no differences. They fought for us. Now it’s not like that. I was a member of the LSSP trade union. Now it’s a rich people’s party.”

The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), a trade union/political party dominated by a small well-off elite, was one of the beneficiaries of the LSSP betrayal. In the ensuing years, the CWC exploited its base of support among the plantation workers to enter successive governments.

Raju added: “The CWC has betrayed workers. The union leaders say that it is not advisable to strike because there is a war going on. The JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna—a Sinhala extremist party) is also like that.”

Raju agreed with the SEP’s call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all troops from the north and east of the island in order to unite Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim workers to end the war. “This government depends on this war. Tamil people can’t walk freely on the roads nowadays. The army and police are looking at us suspiciously because we’re Tamils.”

Raveenthiran, a worker, wanted to speak about the JVP, which was prominent in the campaign to win office for Rajapakse in 2005. “I contested the 1994 election for the JVP. I thought they were principled—that’s why I joined them. They said there was no division between Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim ethnicities for them. But what happened? They betrayed us. Their principles were not there when it came to the war—they support it.”

None of these estates have a hospital—the nearest is at Awissawella, about 6 kilometres away once residents get to the main road. Running water and sanitary facilities are pressing issues and are always “election promises” by the main parties. As workers put it, “they speak so generously” in election campaigns but no promises see the light of the day.

SEP public meeting
Town Hall, Awissawella,
April 5 at 3 p.m.

Call for Sri Lanka Fonterra inquiry
02-Apr 07:37

3 News

A political party in Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition wants an investigation into claims Fonterra and other imported milkpowders have been adulterated with non-dairy fats.

“We need a select committee to examine these allegations and submit a report to Parliament,” National Freedom Front president Wimal Weerawansa told the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Fonterra Brands Lanka and Nestle Lanka last month filed four defamation cases and won an interim order in Colombo District Court to stop a “buy local” lobbyist Mawbima Lanka Padanama (MLP) repeating the allegation that 10 brands of milkpowder — including their own — were not full cream milk products.

But now MLP and two newspapers have gone back to court asking for the order to be lifted and have alleged the milkpowder multinationals had misled the court.

Instead, Colombo District Judge Sampath Wijeratne yesterday ordered Nestle Lanka and Fonterra Brands Lanka to submit written submissions on April 7, and MLP, Sayuri Newspapers Pvt Ltd and Heladiva Irida Sangrahaya newspaper to file objections on May 5, to the defamation cases against them. The interim order against re-publication was continued to April 7.

MLP is chaired by Ariyaseela Wickramanayake, who also chairs a local rival dairy company, Pelwatta Dairies (Pvt) Ltd, and has alleged that Fonterra expressed interest in buying the milkpowder made by his company, then took the court action when he refused to sell.

Fonterra imports over 39,000 tonnes of milkpowder annually in Sri Lanka, and New Zealand milk sold through its brands and those of other companies make up much of the whole milkpowder that represents 62 percent of the local dairy market, worth $NZ591 million.

Fonterra today declined to comment further on the case, but earlier strongly denied that its milkpowders in Sri Lanka had been “adulterated” or had any kind of non-dairy fats added, and has characterised the MLP allegations as a “smear campaign”.

But before the court action re-opened yesterday, Mark Wilson, Fonterra’s managing director of the multinational’s Asia-Middle East arm, told NZPA in Colombo that in some other Asian markets such as Malaysia and the Philippines the company is offering cheaper alternatives to full cream milkpowder by offering formulations containing vegetable oil.

In Sri Lanka, where prices for milkpowder have gone up 68 percent in the past 18 months — despite prices being controlled by the government — Fonterra offers a full-cream powder under its local brand — Ratthi — for 18 percent less than its premium Anchor product. But Mr Taylor said if the global recession continued to make things tough for consumers, there might be scope to offer a cheap powder with non-dairy fats.

“If the economic environment remains relatively hostile for the next couple of years, then one of the things we need to start thinking about is how do we create and offer to consumers more affordable alternatives,” he said.

Another possibility was to sell milkpowder in smaller packs to make it more affordable — in Indonesia its bone-strength product Anlene is being offered in 100g packs for this reason.

“It may look odd in the context of the (Sri Lankan) court order — but we will look at whether the consumer would prefer to pay something less for a product that wasn’t necessarily 100 percent whole milkpowder,” he told NZPA.

“It may be that the poor rural communities here want that.

“If you can make a product that has a substantive part of the nutrition of a full cream milkpowder — but it’s just a different cost base and a lower unit price — there is a market for that.
“While we are a dairy, we also need to be cognisant of satisfying consumer demands,” he said.

NZPA

ONE News

Sri Lanka keen on NZ help to boost dairy sector

Sri Lanka’s minister of livestock development would like New Zealand help to develop dairy farming in the troubled island state.

RCMB Rathnayaka said providing 15,000 dairy cows and bull semen to breed herds would boost milk production.

But he said Sri Lanka would have to make aid repayments over time.

“We don’t have money to pay right now”, he said through a translator.

Prolonged civil war against Tamil separatists in the north and east of the country has hit both infrastructure and development, but the government wants to boost self-sufficiency in milk production from the present 20% to 50% over the next five years.

Fonterra

New Zealand provides most of the imported milk powder sold in the $591-million local dairy sector.
Advertisement

Fonterra Brands Lanka has a market share of over 53% of the total local dairy market, but much of that is based on the 39,000 tonnes of New Zealand milkpowder sold annually.

Rathnayaka was speaking after opening an expanded yoghurt plant at Fonterra’s site at Biygama, 35km west of the Colombo city centre which will nearly double the 5,200 tonnes of yoghurts and curds the company makes from local milk.

Fonterra has concentrated its Sri Lankan operations from three sites to two production plants at Biygama, where it also packages the New Zealand milk powders.

It is already the nation’s third largest collector of fresh milk, and has started a campaign to boost production, which included giving farmers access to finance and genetics of Australian bulls suited to producing cows for a hot climate.

Looking to the future

Rathnayaka also suggested after the opening ceremony that when the nation’s civil war against Tamil rebels ends the farmer-owned co-operative might be persuaded to open a new dairy factory in the east of the country, about 250km from Colombo.

The government is claiming to have over-run the last Tamil Tiger stronghold in the north but Rathnayaka says the east is clear.

Rathnayaka, who visited New Zealand three years ago, said he was also interested in the ways that dairy farmers were motivated to boost their production and how their dairy industry worked.

He was particularly interested in finding ways to encourage cooperative behaviour among 200,000 individual farmers and to improve pastures in a country where the average farmer has only two or three cows, and very fragmented landholdings.

He said he had been talking to investors from Korea about the potential for investment in agriculture in the north and the east of the country.

Agriculture in these areas has been disrupted by fighting, landmines, and displaced civilian populations.

Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena told about 600 guests at the factory opening that he struggled to balance the need to underpin local dairy production with the need to keep price-increases paid by consumers to a minimum.

Price increases of 68% over the past 18 months cut milkpowder consumption by 20% – though Fonterra sales have clawed back about a third of that lost ground – and the government has boosted its import duties on milkpowder.

Their monthly salary has stagnated at between 18,000 to 24,000 rupees (approximately $US175 to $225). Some would be entitled to 600,000 rupees in arrears if the increments to which they are entitled were paid. Over the same period, the cost of living index has skyrocketted from 1,131.5 in 1991 to 5,416 in 2007.

Sri Lanka: School principals protest in Colombo over pay claim

Sri Lanka: School principals protest in Colombo over pay claim
By Panini Wijesiriwardane
31 March 2009

More than 1,500 public school principals marched and protested outside the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Colombo on March 25 to demand an end to longstanding salary anomalies. The demonstration brought together Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim school heads across the ethnic divide that has been deepened by the government’s ongoing communal war.

teachersA section of the principals’ protest

As part of the protest, 200 principals handed over symbolic resignation letters to press for their demands. In their letters, they call on the education ministry to put them in their previous position as teachers, who receive higher wages than principals.

Backed by a heavy police presence, the officer-in-charge repeatedly threatened the principals with arrest under the country’s emergency laws, accusing them of supporting “Tiger terrorists”. The principals, members of the Association of Educational Professionals (AEP), ignored the threats and continued their demonstration.

The government has previously exploited its war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to crack down on striking workers and protests by students and farmers, claiming they were aiding the enemy.

About 3,000 school principals—one third of the total number—have threatened to resign if the government does not resolve their problems. The Grade One Principals Union did not support the protest as its higher-level members are not affected. The Grade Three Principals Union, which is affiliated to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), also did not take part.

Protesting principals told the WSWS that they had received no increments since 1991. Their monthly salary has stagnated at between 18,000 to 24,000 rupees (approximately $US175 to $225). Some would be entitled to 600,000 rupees in arrears if the increments to which they are entitled were paid. Over the same period, the cost of living index has skyrocketted from 1,131.5 in 1991 to 5,416 in 2007.

School heads have been given extra responsibilities, but fewer funds. Their monthly allowance has been frozen at 500 and 300 rupees according to their grade. Their travelling allowance has also been limited and their entitlement to buy a car tax free ended. To pay day-to-day expenses, most schools depend on donations from well-wishers.

A ministry letter to the union on February 27 noted that cabinet had approved a proposal on the salary anomalies and submitted it to the Public Services Commission in 2007 but had received no reply. The commission oversees the salaries of higher categories of public employees and other administrative matters.

The letter, however, is an evasion. President Mahinda Rajapakse has flatly refused to increase salaries of public employees, including teachers, on the grounds that there is no money because of the huge cost of the war.

Prior to a one-day teachers’ strike in September 2007, the AEP along with the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) and the Ceylon Teacher Services Union (CTSU) met with Rajapakse over their salary demands. When the president asked whether they wanted him to withdraw the army from the North and East, none of the unions—including the CTU which claimed to oppose the war—were prepared to challenge him.

An unprecedented 200,000 teachers took part in the one-day protest on September 14, 2007. Incapable of waging a political struggle against the government and its war, the unions adapted to the pressure exerted by Rajapakse and ended any campaign. In October, the AEP and other unions called off a two-day strike on the basis of a worthless government promise to grant their demands by the end of 2007.

The AEP’s protest last week was primarily aimed at letting off steam among its members. After handing over the resignation letters, AEP leader Wasantha Dharmasiri emphasised to the media just how moderate his union had been, saying “principals had been patient for 16 years, unlike other government servants”. He claimed that another round of talks next month with the education ministry secretary represented a victory.

The government has no intention, however, of granting the demands of school principals or any other public sector workers. Having mortgaged the country to pay for his war, Rajapakse is confronting the worst global economic crisis since the 1930s. Desperate for funds to overcome a chronic balance of payments deficit, the government has been forced to turn to the IMF for a $1.9 billion loan.

While details of the loan talks have not been released, the government is already signalling its willingness to impose savage austerity measures and the IMF’s free-market agenda. Earlier this month, the government passed a bill that sets the stage for the privatisation of the power sector. On March 12, it presented legislation to parliament that will open up tertiary education to private universities.

Last Thursday, government spokesman Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena announced further plans to slash public spending. Last week the Public Services Commission gazetted a series of new measures, including an efficiency test for all public sector workers that opens the door for mass retrenchments. Anyone who fails the test three times faces dismissal.

School principals and other public sector employees will not achieve their demands by pleading with and pressuring the Rajapakse government, which has already demonstrated that it will not hesitate to use police-state measures against any opposition. Workers can only defend their basic rights and living standards by unifying, opposing the war and building an independent movement based on socialist policies in the struggle for a workers and peasants government.

Copyright © 1998-2009 World Socialist Web Site – All rights reserved

That is the perspective on which the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is campaigning in the Colombo district for the Western Provincial Council elections.

The official opening of an expansion to Fonterra’s main dairy factory in Sri Lanka has become a high level security operation as government ministers are expected to attend.

The factory went into lockdown early today as security forces cleared the complex for the official visit by several government ministers, and the wife of a government leader.

Tonight (7.30pm NZ time) the company is due to open a big expansion of its yoghurt plant at Biygama, about 35km west of the Colombo city centre, in a bid to more than double production.

But company officials said security concerns because of 20 years of fighting, between the predominantly Sinhalese government and Tamil Tiger rebels seeking a homeland in the north and east, mean there will be little notice if the official guests do arrive.

All workers are leaving the site so that it can be searched, and then only people with security clearance will be re-admitted for the official opening.

The ministers – and the woman VIP expected to officially open the plant – will be surrounded by three or four rings of soldiers, police and other security staff.

These distractions aside, Fonterra’s local managing director Achyut Reddy, said the 1.2 billion Sri Lankan rupees (NZ$12.2 million) locally funded expansion was a big deal for the multinational.

Increasing the local milk supply could provide a buffer against volatile international prices for milkpowders, he said.

But the step up from producing 6.3 million cups of yoghurt a month to 10.6 million requires a big boost in local milk production in a nation where the average farmer has only two or three cows and takes his milk to a collection centre by bicycle.

The biggest of Fonterra’s 3900 suppliers has about 10 cows and the biggest herd in the country – owned by a rival milk brand – numbers about 100 cows.

The company is offering farmers advice on boosting production, improving feed and animal health, and backing interest-free loans in a micro-finance scheme.

Artificial insemination of local cows with semen from Australian dairy cattle that can cope with tropical heat is also being offered to farmers.

At present Sri Lanka produces only about 200,000 litres of the nearly one billion litres of milk it consumes annually, and any increase in self-sufficiency is expected to score points for the company with the government, which has said it wants to lift local production to 50 percent of consumption.

Relations with the Sri Lankan government are crucial to Fonterra farmers in New Zealand, who earn 94 percent of their revenues in the country from price-controlled milkpowders.

The company not only has to make a business case to win permission to raise its prices, but has been faced with big jumps in import duties.

It is also making political points with nutrition campaigns for schoolchildren, and “nutrition camps” for parents, which include advice that growing children need two or three glasses of milk daily.

- NZPA

Sharing some heretical thoughts on creating a Sri Lankan nation

by K Godage

With the penultimate phase of the conflict now drawing to a close, it is indeed gratifying to note that the President has gone on record as stating that this country belongs to all of us, whether we be Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays, Burghers, Parsis or Sindhis, all of whom have come to call this their home. This is indeed a most heartening statement coming as it does from the Executive Head of the government, who certainly has the power to see that this expectation does come true, namely that all minority ethnic groups in particular, come to feel that this is indeed their homeland as it is of the majority community. Let us make them all feel proud to be Sri Lankans. The realization of this laudable goal would ensure for the President a permanent place in the history of our land, as a farseeing leader who ended the terrorist menace and brought peace to this land. The foremost issue we need to address at this critical juncture is the divisive polarization of the different communities who inhabit our country. The language policy of the country and the manner of its implementation is of particular import in this regard, which needs to be sensitively reformulated and boldly readdressed.

What are the building blocks that need to be in place to build a new nation of Sri Lankans? The 1972 Constitution took away Article 29 of the Soulbury Constitution; to my mind this was a dreadful mistake, we need to have Constitutional protection, not in the form spelled out in the present Constitution but in a more inalienable form. I recall how Minister/ Professor GL Peiris wanted to introduce legislation to ensure the equality of all citizens —- could that act not be reintroduced? The language policy of the country needs to be readdressed. Should not the Constitution recognize the reality of the existence of ethnic minorities and ensure that they be constitutionally brought into the decision-making process at the highest level? Yes this Constitution needs to be changed in the country’s interest and with it the electoral system which is a caricature of what it should be.

Building a new Sri Lankan Society.

Building a new Sri Lankan society would of course require not only values that would bond us closely, but equally importantly, it would require all our people to be in a position to communicate with each other? Once again the President has, with practical foresight, paved the way for such a transformation to begin by declaring this year as the year of English and IT. This is indeed a momentous decision. English is today THE Language of all facets of international relations. As it is no longer the language of the English people alone, and being now the widely accepted language of international communication, the President would be equipping our children in a meaningful and practical manner by making it possible to have English taught to all children, from the age of five upto the age of eight, after which they could be made to study in their mother tongue along with English. Surely, we can find the teachers to teach English to little kids of five, six, seven and eight? The government could also make it a ‘fun thing’ by establishing language laboratories in all schools equipped with computers to enable children to play computer games and engage in practical learning exercises. I have no doubt that countries which have been helping us over the years in our development efforts would surely come in enthusiastically on a project like this, to help build a new Sri Lanka. If only our different ethnic groups could communicate with each other, as our own generation did as we had the good fortune of learning English, then our current differences would be better appreciated and to that extent be alleviated. We should ensure that all our people are uniformly endowed with this ability. Language has divided us and I am convinced that such measures will above all, act as the strongest bonds that would unite our people. Yes, the child to be taught in English in the first three years and thereafter for the child to study in the mother tongue whilst continuing with the study of English as a subject would ensure the rapid breakdown of the cleavages that exist at present among the different communities. The education system needs to be most decidedly re-vamped if we are to achieve the cherished goal of building a new Sri Lankan nation.

Of equal importance are values, social, religious and cultural, which inculcate discipline, tolerance and social cohesiveness. Newspapers have reported that students of a school in Balapitiya assaulted their Principal! I consider it to be a slap on the face of the nation. Is it not a damning indictment on our society? I believe religion though taught as a compulsory subject in schools has failed —- what is the purpose if the products of this education system hold nothing sacred? We have never heard of such horrible happening in our time. ! What we need most is a total transformation in our value systems if our society and our country are to be saved from the current spate of violence and lawlessness rapidly deteriorating into a state of anomie. We need, in the first place, to make the teaching profession an attractive, respected and noble one, drawing quality people into its fold. Aspiring teachers should, in the first instance, be tested for the required ‘aptitudes’ and, those seeking to enter the teaching profession only to obtain employment, should never be recruited as teachers. We need to effect a revolutionary change to save our society and our country. We need to make the teaching profession a noble one; it should be a Service that attracts the best human beings —- persons worthy of being entrusted with the task of moulding the minds of our children, persons able to inculcate values; persons who would be living examples to the students to take to the teaching profession. To make the profession attractive, the salaries of those who have been trained for at least two years and have been tested in every sense of the word, should be equal to that paid to an executive in the Public Service.

The Public Service.

The Public Service should be thoroughly professionalized if the efficiency expected of it is to be consistently maintained, equally important is the matter of putting the spine back of the Public Servant who has today become a servant of the politician. A professional public servant must be afforded the security necessary to enable him to give of his or her best. The Public Service Commission should be enthroned and made absolutely independent as was envisaged in the 17th Amendment. It was the first Srima Bandaranaike government, after the attempted Coup in the early 1960s, which took political control of the Public Service. The 1972 Constitution sanctified this control and the Public Service became a ‘kept’ service after that; The micro minded politician would of course prefer this arrangement little realizing that having the independent and impartial advice of professional executives would be in his own interest, as most politicians nowadays are essentially men of rather poor calibre whose thinking is mostly centred round narrow notions of self love and self interest as the beginning and the end of human motive! A complete transformation of the Public Service is indeed of vital interest if we are to move meaningfully towards the objective of building a new Sri Lankan nation.

Reform of the Criminal Justice System.

As much as I was shocked to read of the brutal assault on the Principal of a school quite recently,I was also shocked to read of the conviction of a Magistrate on the charge of a felony! and of another Judge who is said to have embezzled and committed fraud and has been sentenced to 45 years in jail. What a disgrace for the once respected judiciary of our land. It is indeed time that we sat up and addressed the much delayed question of the reform of our Judicial System. Has our Criminal Justice System ensured the security of all citizens of this country? A survey commissioned some years ago by the Marga Institute, titled ‘A System Under Siege”, indicated that the majority of those surveyed expressed the view that they had no confidence in our judicial system as it was not always fair or impartial. Furthermore, they felt that it was susceptible to corruption, not easily accessible and hardly ever affordable, while at the same being far too slow. That was indeed quite an indictment! Although many years have gone by since that survey, I have reason to believe that the situation quite apart from improving, has deteriorated further. Although, a Presidential Commission on Law and Order was appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunge and its report was officially submitted to her, the report has sadly, never seen the light of day! I am reliably informed that this report had advocated far reaching reforms to the entire Criminal Justice System which would amount to a complete revamping of the system and the substitution in its place of an alternative system that would :-

1)Make the Criminal Justice System more responsive to the communities it serves.

2)Enable the Criminal Justice System to function as a coherent whole,ensuring greater co-ordination with the established structures of the component agencies while safeguarding the independence of the judiciary and the prosecution.

3)Strengthen the management of performance of the system in service delivery, by instituting reporting structures in consultation with the concerned agencies,with clear lines of responsibility.

4) Initiate reform of the Criminal Justice System and its law regime, ensuring thereby a co-ordinated approach of the agencies to meet the objective of law and order by gearing the process towards its clear legal function of getting at the truth, consistent with justice, by balancing the system in favour of the victim and the community.

Policing

Another imperative need is to change the concept of Policing; the emphasis must change from mere enforcement to community policing. The Police department has indeed an important role to play in the building of a Sri Lanka nation. Today most minorities in particular dread to visit a Police station, this situation must change. Sri Lanka needs to have a truly Sri Lankan Police Force. The government could consider even requiring all youth over the age of eighteen to undergo a period of three months Police training as apart of national service, just as some countries, including Singapore, require all youth to undergo military training as a part of national service. This would not only discipline our youth but also promote camaraderie and would also help the Police to maintain law and order more effectively.

A respected lady who once held office with integrity wrote to me and stated that she “strongly feel examples must be set by the very top leaders in Government and the private sector; they must profess sincerity, honesty and integrity, those with poor track records must never be nominated for high office and leaders must set the tone for good governance and institutional honesty and stability…and this should be reflected in a world-class education system which is accessible to all children; that is how countries like Singapore prospered”

In conclusion, I can do no better than quote from a recent statement put out by a group of eminent citizens of our country, invited to a brain storming session by the Marga Institute, “Managing the future that is emerging requires a profound transformation of our politics and a full commitment to the core human values of a just society. The challenges we face transcend the narrow partisan agendas of gaining or retaining political power”. Let us dedicate ourselves to this worthy cause.

Abused Sri Lankan housemaids return to the country
Sunday, 29 March 2009 – 8:56 AM SL Time
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Another group of Sri Lankan house maids who faced severe hardships at their working places in the Middle East have returned to the country yesterday.

Sri Lanka`s Foreign Employment Bureau said a total of 40 women workers reached the country after spending some time in welfare camps of their respective countries of employment.

According to the Bureau the women have worked as house maids in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain.

Most of them came back even without receiving their salaries while some others have even received injuries at the hands of abusive employers.

The Foreign Employment Bureau has sent the women to their villages after providing them with food and money at the Katunayake International Airport.

Twin crises hit Sri Lankan Economy

Global economic and financial crisis and the home grown crisis have hit the Sri Lankan economy. To get the advantages of the post crisis recovery, Sri Lanka should be able to improve its balance of payment and budgetary position, make a competitive and investment friendly climate and a rapid phase of export promotion towards diversified markets, said Dr. Sirimal Abeyratne.

Dr. Sirimal Abeyratne

Dr. Abeyratne a senior lecturer of the Department of Economics in the University of Colombo was addressing the launch of Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2009 survey report in Colombo last week.

We have faced a twin crisis global and domestic. Global financial and economic crises have hit our financial sector and the real sector. Since our financial sector is not much integrated to the world the impacts of the financial crisis is less. We feel the indirect impacts of the global financial crisis. Our capital account is not open and FDI is not significantly high. The government borrowing is affected as it is open for foreign investors. As a result foreign reserves have declined.

However, the real sector has been directly hit by the global recession. As our real sector is integrated to the world, we experience serious crisis. Our exports have dropped drastically because the 60 per cent of our exports go to the most affected regions US and Europe. Our agricultural sector is little integrated and is less affected and the domestic food consumption too has not been affected. Locally we face the crisis of fiscal deficit and balance of payment problems seriously. The global economic outlook forecasts 0.9 per cent global GDP growth, 0.3 per cent contraction in high income countries and East Asia and the Pacific a 6.5 per cent growth. Commodity prices including oil have drastically decreased last year and still the prices are falling. Inflation has dropped from over 20 per cent to 7 per cent and still the domestic prices of commodities are increasing at a lower phase while they are decreasing in the international market.
Poor performance

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit is growing since last decade because important sectors are under-performing. Tourism sector has not grown and tourist arrivals have not increased and the figure is still equal to the tourist arrivals 30 years ago. Sri Lanka has failed in attracting FDI and there is a very poor performance. Since policy reforms in 1977 our entire accumulated FDI is only 3.5 billion. We are far behind the other developing countries. For instance Vietnam which initiated policy reforms much later than us gets $ 6 billion FDI annually.

Dr. Abeyratne said that Sri Lanka does not feel BOP crisis due to two factors; foreign remittance and high government borrowing cushion the impact. In 2007 the government has borrowed $ 1.2 billion. Our reserve position is not satisfactory and last June we had $3.5 billion and it has drastically declined. Our reserve position is very low compared to other countries. In this financial crisis even some individuals lost several billions. China fears of losing over US$ trillion it has invested in the US and Russia hundreds of billions.
Fiscal deficit

He said that country’s fiscal deficit will increase due to three factors. First the Government expenditure will increase because the government has to assist the people who are vulnerable to the economic crisis.

Second the stimulus packages have to be given to affected sectors. Third the government will have to spend money for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the North and the East provinces. However, lower import prices will ease pressure on BOP. While the expenditure is increasing there is no way of increasing income. The government heavily depends on tax income. The only sector that will be least affect by the crisis or boost is the agricultural sector. However the agricultural sector is not taxable and it depends on government subsidies. Industrial production will be cheap but demand will remain low.

Therefore revenue side is under pressure and we have gone to the limit before the global crisis. Dr. Abeyratne said that the agriculture and fisheries sectors in the North and the East will boost and will contribute positively to the economic growth.

However, he said that the agricultural sector has its own limitations and will not be able to significantly increase the income of the people. The sector is not attractive for youth labour.