SepalAmarasinghe

Chamara Wijesooriya

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 19-25 January 2025

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Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Actually England’s Chamber…Yes, despite the name, it is not a Sri Lankan grouping. It is made up of unrepentant and inveterate importers of foreign goods. Their commerce serves someone else’s industry. Not ours. This Chamber is sponsoring yet another ‘Economic Summit’ titled ‘Shaping Sri Lanka’s Future: Transformational Growth Rooted in Sound Economic Policies.’  

     Then there is England’s Overseas Development Institute (ODI) offering ’27 actionable policy proposals’ by 24 experts, in a book titled Sri Lanka: From Debt Default to Transformative Growth.

     But just what do they all mean by ‘transformation’? Replace the word ‘development’, with the word ‘colonial’ and you better get their idea. Overseas Colonial Institute. It is the old business of tea & tourism & transportation to transit lounges afar. Chambers of Commerce & Boards of Trade are all rusty colonial instruments, And they were all part of the English offensive launched last week, in their usual obstreperously unobtrusive modus operandi, hiding in plain sight. Touting debt-for-nature swaps. Meanwhile their troll armies & columnists are set to escalate attacks on ‘Leftist’ incompetence, as well as openly pooh-poohing whatever deals the government has had to make with an elderly New Delhi and a buoyant Beijing.

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Political and economic history in Sri Lanka only begins to make more sense if we glare at it as a long rigorous sentence of preempting modern industrialization and of hindering the formation of a class that enables any such advance. To put it more abstractly: our colonial history has always been about preventing capital accumulation and crippling a class that could enable capital accumulation. Capital accumulation? What is that? It is more than money. It is about wealth that creates fresh wealth. And who may this class be? Our merchants & moneylenders have no interest in any such long-term endeavours. And one cannot expect the English-controlled media in Sri Lanka, as agents of the merchant, moneylender, and multinational banks & corporations (MNCs) in Sri Lanka, to tell us of what such a class could actually accomplish.

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So there was that garishly hued Anglo-literary affair led by the ‘premier opium dealer’ in Asia, HSBC, at the popular though defunded Colombo Public Library! The HSBC were irritably stealing a march on those effete litterateurs at that renovated (minus the defused canons) and overpriced Dutch Fort in Galle. The merchant bankers strode out of their closets. Peppered among the tired pallid Northern Anglo-Indian hacks were the perennial privatizers and their Advo Kata stipendiaries, plus that species of performative ‘executives’ performing as ‘artists’, spluttering smooth in those elevated tonalities and fatuous phraseologies usually discernible only in airconditioned nooks and crannies. (Who or what these executives ‘execute’ is not exactly a popular subject for our mystifying mystery novelists.)  

     The Summit includes English Standard Chartered Bank’s Bingumal Thewarathanthri and Keell’s Krishan Balendra, not to mention pharma-importer Hema’s Kasturi Wilson. And the ODI (odious?) book includes the usual suspects (see Random Notes) one sees paraded perfunctorily across electronic screens and down news columns, as experts in unison demanding fungible conjugal rights with the IMF.

     Last week, that top official Englishman visited a Dutch ‘World Photo’ Exhibit at the Independence Square Arcade awash in gloss about Russian ‘atrocities’ against over-armed NATO. The Russians were perplexed how the thieving Dutch had gotten so snowy white in Sri Lanka? This tottering English envoy also met Colombo MP Mano Ganesan to discuss ‘Malaiyaha Tamil issues’. Then there was England’s ICI-CIC announcement about the ‘World’s 1^st Red Basmathi-type Rice’. Cutting-edge, the English kaduva always are.

     The neo-English invasion continued this week with ‘Artisanal Tea Importers’ surveying the green plantations (even as Unilever is diluting our teas with their latest chemical cocktails). Oh yes, a turbaned English Trade Commissioner too was seen about – how exotic these newer Anglo-Saxons have gotten… Meanwhile, in a fit of petulant pique, the Planters Association, in order to keep avoiding payment of remunerative wages to plantation workers, points defensively at the country’s ‘2.3 million agriculture workers’, and wonders out loud why ‘paddy farmers cannot also be given a monthly salary…?’ Like executives, perhaps. (see ee Agriculture, RPCs want state plantations to show the way)

     All these literary and oh-so English diversions are to try to make us forget not just history but the latest painful strangling daily economic twists of their astronomically growing debts, thanks yes to the IMF! As Tricontinental Research’s Vijay Prasad says: From 1980 when Tanzania’s leader Nyerere warned – ‘Every few years, countries in the Global South go through the same cycle. After surrendering to the IMF & its debt-austerity regime, a deep crisis inevitably takes hold & leads to political turmoil’… no independent agenda has been possible…’ (sound familiar?) But now – ‘The emergence of China, and other Asian countries… as finance for industrialization in the Global South has tilted the balance of forces for developing countries. Now, they no longer have to rely on the IMF… No country has developed without modern machine industry, and – as far as we can tell in our time – it is not possible for any country to develop without building up its industrial capacity.’

     Meanwhile, ‘UNCTAD’s A World of Debt, shows us that global public debt is at a ‘record high’ of $97trillion (2023)… in developing countries and ‘has grown twice as fast as in developed countries’ since 2010. …for decades, Global South countries have been told by institutions like the World Bank & IMF that the only way to climb out of debt is to borrow – ie, take on more debt. In 1998 the Wall Street Journal wrote bluntly that the IMF ‘has not been fighting financial fires, but dousing them with gasoline’. (see ee Random Notes)

     So, while we burn in their debts-on-debt fires, they want us to join their ‘fireside chats’ (in AC-d rooms) to try to douse it with a little bit more tea and light literature, anyone??

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• The Useless Arts? – This ee Focus looks at the doings of the ostensible founder of US industrialization, Alexander Hamilton, who planned ‘raids’ on England’s industrial secrets, famously declaring, ‘Do as the English do, not as they say’. The English treated their ‘economic discoveries’ as ‘precious state secrets’, outlawing the export of machinery and banning the migration of skilled mechanics. This was a time when the USA was not ‘yet in full possession of workmen, machines & secrets in the useful arts.’ Of course, the US now vigorously joins in those English tunes of exclusion… Which makes us wonder, what the ‘useless’ arts may be? Perhaps England’s Hongkong & Shanghai Bank (HSBC) can now tell us…

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ee also continues the attempt to depict Sri Lanka’s ancient historical links with China, which peaked during the 8^th century Tang Dynasty. Sri Lanka was building some of biggest ships in Indian Ocean, with the powerful Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya in what’s now Indonesia. The tales of such famous travelers as the monk Xuan Zhuang, who traveled along the northern Silk Road and eventually further south to Lanka, gave rise to the Chinese classic ‘Monkey King’ novel Journey to the West. Buddhist learning in Sri Lanka, its important texts and leading teachers were the main attractions for some Chinese pilgrims as cited by I-Ching…(see ee Focus).

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It was one of SBD de Silva’s favourite questions: He would ask – as if he already knew the answer, as if he was just verifying his suspicions or conclusions, or perhaps as if testing the listener’s dedication to analysis & transformation: ‘What enabled US-occupied Korea (UoK)’s industrialization?’

     He would dismiss our ready, relatively thoughtless, or automatic answer: US colonialism! After all, there are 130 US bases stationed in occupied Korea, and those 40-50,000 soldiers have urgent industrial and biological needs. Did SB feel UoK was not really industrialized?  He would point to the UoK’s huge shipbuilding industry. He would speak of the role Japan played in developing Korea’s agriculture, cementing channels for rice cultivation (in order to provide less-expensive food to feed Japan’s industrialization).  

     This ee Focus examines the Heavy-Chemical Industrial (HCI) policies, their origin in the 1972 coup-d’etat by General Park Chung-hee, and their demise with his later 1979 assassination. Those policies directly targeted certain industries, and nonetheless shifted Korean manufacturing into ‘more advanced markets’. The writer echoes the prejudices of the imperialist historiography of Korea (all but ignores the example of an industrialized north – DPRK!), but places the UoK’s policies midst increasing militarization and offensive actions, including US President Richard Nixon declaration that ‘the US would no longer provide direct military support to its allies in the Asia-Pacific region’. Heavy industrial policies were seen as key for military-industrial modernization, and pursued despite the ‘scepticism by foreign lenders’ such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and several European nations. The article provides a rather extended but related excerpt of a bibliography of references to those HCI policies.

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• Financial Times columnist WA Wijewardena (see ee Random Notes) has taken to listing those economists who have at least feebly challenged certain capitalist orthodoxies, like the joys of ‘the market’, ignoring that large multinational banks & corporations clog its arteries. He quotes Kautilya calling merchants thieves, and others who did not see the milk of human kindness as flowing unmetered in the workings of capitalism, such as Adam Smith, and Thorstein Veblen and Ken Galbraith and Joe Stiglitz. And JM Keynes, too. The problem is with just talking about Keynes as some benevolent, while ignoring how a large part of his ‘welfare’ schemes was for boosting the war machines.

     Apparently, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva was in Davos this week, reminding another set of chosen people about Keynes’ optimism in 1930:

‘I predict that both of the 2 opposed errors of pessimism which now

make so much noise in the world will be proved wrong over time: the

pessimism of the revolutionaries who think that things are so bad that

nothing can save us but violent change, & the pessimism of the

reactionaries who consider the balance of our economic & social

life so precarious that we must risk no experiments.’

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However, what followed Keynes’ good cheer was a huge Depression in the biggest economies, the rise of Fascist & Nazi forces, and World War 2, and 60 million killed… (see ee Economists, Davos 2025: Trump v Von der Leyen – Michael Roberts)

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• The US embassy in Colombo’s lip-service EconomyNext, an online business tickertape, largely written by rusty robots it seems – considering the number of nonsequitors and odd mistakes they make – alongside their routine sermons and flaccid invective against – take your pick! – state-owned enterprises, import substitution, money printing, etc… – has taken to hitting Sri Lanka via Bolivia, accusing both of some macroeconomic demeanour, as seen from the heights of Mont Pelerin via Washington DC. Several new items, the latest headlined: ‘Bolivia blames supply factors Sri Lanka-style for 9.97% inflation in 2024’ also hits out at NATO’s most-favored demons: ‘In 2024, so-called blockades linked to ex-Presidenet [sic!] Evo Morales, who is embroiled in a case over sexually abusing a minor… Bolivia had been printing money and running out of reserves… Bolivia’s central bank has gone to the IMF 20 times… Bolivia has a Leftist government which came to power as the commodity bubble was fired in 2006, amid protests over petroleum privatization. After nationalization, gas production had gradually petered out.’ Such is the quality of business journalism! It is no surprise the merchant media have taken to rewarding themselves with even more lavish awards & prizes & trophies – all of which can be ordered online from you-know-where, complete with printed honors & honorifics…

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• The Rockefeller family’s Exxon Corporation wields influence over both local & foreign US policy. When US President Don Trump cries out, ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’, he is not just invoking a caricature of 1960s Black radicalism ‘Burn, Baby, Burn’…, but also moistening the wettest dreams of the oil & mining corporations.

     Last week, one of the USA’s longest imprisoned political leaders, Leonard Peltier (now 80 years old) was told almost 50 years later, he could serve out the rest of his sentence in his home on an ‘Indian reservation’ in the Dakotas, starting on February 18. While his many supporters around the world wonder if the ailing Peltier will make it home alive, this ‘commutation’ (for being accused, with only falsified evidence, of killing 2 US undercover FBI agents) – was one of demoted US President J Biden’s last acts – along with rather intriguing ‘pre-emptive pardons’ of his supporters involved in trying to jail his opponent, D Trump. What balm was Biden applying to assuage the guilt of his fellow genocidaires?

     Leonard Peltier was sent to prison after the US invasion of Wounded Knee, midst the US government’s COINTELPRO campaign of assassination & jailing of the leaderships of the American Indian Movement (AIM) & the Black Panther Party (BPP). The US Vice President at the time was Nelson Rockefeller, who in the decades previous had been Governor of New York, ordering the massacre of prisoners at Attica penitentiary in August 1971.

     Peltier’s release (after 2 hospital stays last year) was curiously signaled by a letter from an ‘Indian front’ (NDNs) of the Rockefeller Foundation, 3 days before Biden’s ‘pardon’. Nelson Rockefeller had also notoriously ordered Diego Rivera’s murals removed from the walls of the Rockefeller Center because they depicted Lenin! He had vacated the MoMA presidency, 1940-46 to work as President Franklin Roosevelt’s Coordinator of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, where he was made intimate with the CIA’s covert training of terrorists & torturers in the Americas. He was also assistant secretary of State for US Republic Affairs under Harry S Truman, as well as Undersecretary of Health, Education & Welfare (HEW) under Dwight D Eisenhower. Nelson Rockefeller often spoke of the need to develop a Black Bourgeoisie. He died in 1979, just as Leonard Peltier was beginning what ended up as being entombed for 50 years.

     An entire generation of US political prisoners and their stories have been tightly locked away…

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Contents:

Victoria’s Secrets of De-Industrializing Debts: What English Literary Festivals Never Tell

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

වැවිලි කර්මාන්ත අමාත්‍ය සමන්ත විද්‍යාරත්න විසින් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාරවර රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් හට ‘අපහාසාත්මක, වැරදි සහ නොමඟයවන සුළු උපහාසාත්මක’ ප්‍රකාශ 15 ක් පමණ සිදු කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 100 ක වන්දියක් ගෙවන ලෙස ඉල්ලා නීතිඥවරුන් විසින් එන්තරාවාසියක් යොමු කර ඇත.  

2024 ජනවාරි 9 වැවිලි කර්මාන්ත අමාත්‍යාංශයේ පැවැත්වූ පුවත්පත් සාකච්ඡාවක දී “අන්නාසිගලට ඇත්තටම මොකද වෙන්නේ?” යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ සමන්ත විද්‍යාරත්න විසින් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්ට ‘නම සඳහන් කරමින්, අපහාසාත්මක, උපහාසාත්මක ප්‍රකාශ රැසක් සිදු කරමින්, නීති විරෝධී රාජ්‍ය ඉඩම් කොල්ලකෑම් සහ තවත් දූෂිත ක්‍රියාවන් කිහිපයකට සම්බන්ධ බවට අපහාස කර ඇතැයි එන්තරාවාසියේ දැක්වේ.  ඇමති සමන්තගේ ප්‍රකාශයෙන් තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ‘පහත් මතයක් ඇති කිරීමට කටයුතු කර ඇතැයි ද, ඇමතිවරයාගේ ප්‍රකාශයේ ‘අන්තර්ගතය අසත්‍ය වන අතර, එය මගේ සේවාදායකයාට අපහාසාත්මක’ වන බව එච්.ඩී.සී.ඩී.හතුරුසිංහ නීතිඥ විසින් මහියංගනය, රදීමාලියද්දේ සමන්ත විද්‍යාරත්න ගේ ලිපිනයට යොමු කර ඇති එන්තරාවාසියේ දැක්වේ.

කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් ගේ යැයි දැක්වෙන හැදුම්පතක් පිළිබඳ විස්තර, රක්ෂිත වනාන්තරයක් බලහත්කාරයෙන් අල්ලා ගැනීම, ජාවාරම්කරුවෙකු බව නැවත නැවත ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම, අනවසර ඉදිකිරීම් සිදු කිරීම, කැලෑ කැපීම, ඉඩම් අල්ලා විකුණා ඇති බව, රජයේ අඹ පැල මුදලට විකිණීම ආදී වශයෙන් චෝදනා හා අසත්‍ය ප්‍රකාශ 15 ක් පුවත්පත් සාකච්ඡාවේ දී ඇමති විද්‍යාරත්න විසින් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් වෙත එල්ල කර තිබුණි.  

එන්තරාවාසියේ තවදුරටත් දැක්වෙන්නේ කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් වෙත එල්ල කළ ‘චෝදනා වැරදි සහ අසත්‍ය බවත්, ඔහු අපකීර්තියට පත් කිරීමේ අරමුණින් සහ රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයක හිටපු නිලධාරියෙකුගේ නොකැළැල්, ගෞරවනීය චරිතය විනාශ කිරීමට, සමච්චලයට ලක් කිරීමට සහ අවමන් කිරීමට චේතනාන්විතව’ අරමුණු කර ඇති බවයි.

තව ද, ‘හිටපු රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරියෙකු ද, වර්තමානයේ සමාජයේ මත සාදන්නෙකු ලෙස ද කටයුතු කරන කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් හට සමන්ත විද්‍යාරත්නගේ ප්‍රකාශ මගින් බරපතල හානියක්, හොඳ නමට සහ කීර්ති නාමයට, චරිතයට සහ ගෞරවයට හානි සිදුවී ඇති බව’ දැක්වේ.  තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා ට සිදු කළ හානිය රුපියල් මිලියන 100 ක් ලෙස ඇස්තමේන්තු කරන බවත්,  එම කතාවේ සහ ලිපියේ එම අපහාසාත්මක අන්තර්ගතයේ කථිකයා/කර්තෘට ගෙවිය යුතු මුදල ගෙවීමට ඔබ පෞද්ගලිකව බැඳී සිටින බව’ ත් දැක්වේ. ලිපිය ලැබී දින 14ක් ඇතුළත එම රුපියල් මිලියන 100 ක් ඉල්ලා සිටින බව ත්, එම මුදල ගෙවීමට අසමත් වන්නේ නම්, එම මුදල අයකර ගැනීමටත්, එයට අමතරව පොලී සහ නඩු වියදම් ලබා ගැනීමට නීතිමය පියවර ගන්නා බවත් එන්තරාවාසියේ දැක්වේ.

Courtesy ifj.org

The BBC has closed the Sinhala Radio service broadcast due to financial crisis, effective from November 30. The International Federation of Journalists and its Sri Lankan affiliates the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU) express concern at the closure of BBC’s Sinhala broadcast and urge the media organisation to reconsider its decision.

The BBC made the urgent ruling to cease the broadcast from the end of November, stating that the closure would save £180,000 (242,000 USD) annually, despite original intentions to close the radio service from March 2021. Employees who were expecting to work till March, 2021, were informed of the decision on November 20, just ten days before the closure of the broadcast. The BBC has said it will continue its service via social media and online services; the Sinhala service was previously comprised of a radio broadcast with regular bulletins transmitted through partner stations across the island, and the deliverance of journalism through various social media platforms.

The decision impacts the right to information to free and impartial news in the local language of more than 833,000 listeners, representing around 7 per cent of the total Sinhala-speaking population of Sri Lanka. Although the BBC claims to be expanding the Sinhala broadcast service digitally through an online service and social media, the current reach of Sinhala Radio through these platforms remains at just 80,000 people, a much smaller audience compared to its number of radio listeners.

The closure has been widely criticized in both the UK and Sri Lanka. Three members of parliament in the UK tabled a motion named ‘Human Rights in Sri Lanka and the Relocation of the BBC Sinhala Service’, to highlight the need for continuity of the Sinhala radio broadcast at the time of political instability, increased human rights violations and degenerating security in Sri Lanka. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK issued a press release on the same day urging the BBC to reconsider the decision. Likewise, media fraternity in Sri Lanka have been voicing their concerns against the decision. 

The FMM Convenor, Seetha Ranjanee, said: The decision to close the Sinhala radio broadcast by BBC at a time when Sri Lanka is going through the violation of media rights, press freedom and human right,  is not appropriate. The FMM hopes that the BBC will reconsider their decision and continue Sandeshaya radio program.”

The FMETU General Secretary, Dharmasiri Lankapeli, said: The impending closure comes at a crucial time when Sinhala audiences are increasingly deprived of accurate and independent information. We opine that this move deprives Sri Lankan people from the right to know the impartial and accurate news. We urge the BBC management to reconsider the decision.”

The IFJ said: The Sinhala radio broadcast has earned a good reputation among the Sri Lankan population, providing 833,000 populations with accurate, balanced and credible local and international news in their local language. The proposed plan to conduct the Sinhala service online and via social media platform serves merely the urbanities and thereby deprives a large portion of the rural population from credible information in their native language. Therefore, the IFJ urges the BBC to reconsider its decision.”

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

රටේ වාර්ෂික සහල් අවශ්‍යතාව මෙට්‍රික් ටොන් ලක්ෂ 24ක් වන අතර මෙට‍්‍රික් ටොන් ලක්ෂ 30ක් පමණ නිෂ්පාදනය කළ බව සියලු වාර්තාවල ඇතැයි ද ආණ්ඩුවේ නොහැකියාව නිසා එය කළමනාකරණය කරගත නොහැකි වී ඇති බව ද  හිටපු කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද අමරවීර පවසයි.

වැඩි දුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ ඔහු කියා සිටියේ  රුපියල් 10කින් සහල් පාලන මිල ඉහළ දැමීම නිසා පමණක් එක් හාල් මෝල් හිමියෙකු අවම වශයෙන් කෝටි 50ක පමණ ලාභයක් ලැබූ බවයි. 

ඇතැම් මෝල් හිමියන් මෙම රුපියල් 10 මිල ඉහළ නැංවීම නිසා රුපියල් බිලියනයක පමණ ලාභයක් උපයා ඇති බවත් ඒ මහතා කියයි.

එම ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් කෝටි පනහ, සියය දක්වා පක්ෂවලට වියදම් කර ඇති නිසා මෙලෙස මිල වැඩි කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවක් පවතින බව ද හිටපු ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කරයි.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, January 26 (Daily Mirror)- The government is planning to fill approximately 30,000 existing vacancies within the public service and to allocate necessary funds in the upcoming budget.

This was revealed during the Anuradhapura District Coordination Committee meeting held today at the Anuradhapura District Secretariat.
 
Delays in recruitment due to technical procedures, including interview processes, were also discussed in the meeting, emphasising the need for an unified human resource management within the public service.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who attended the meeting disclosed that proposals to provide a fair basic salary increase to public officials and to resolve pension disparities within three years will be included in this year’s budget.

The President emphasised that the government is taking steps to strengthen the public service as a right of the citizen and a responsibility of public officials.

Highlighting the dissatisfaction among citizens regarding the current public service, the President stated that the government aims to deliver efficient services to citizens through the digitization of government services.

The President revealed that efforts are underway to establish an accurate data system for the public service by June and pointed out the significant complexity in the current volume of data within the public service, which hampers the ability to make precise decisions.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, January 26 (Daily Mirror)- President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today that if former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has no other house to settle in, the government will provide him with a suitable house.

Speaking at a meeting in Thambuttegama, President Dissanayake said he and the Ministers have not moved into mansions and questioned why the former Presidents cannot change.

“It is not reasonable to live in a mansion at the cost of tax payers’ money. If the President and the Ministers have changed, why can’t they change? If the two have no place to go to, we will provide them with a suitable house to live in. The mansion they are residing in is too big,” he said.

“When they are asked to move out, they say it is political revenge. We are not taking revenge from anyone. We are taking the country in a new direction. They need to move out before they are asked to do so. We ask them to change. We need to think twice before we spend tax payers’ money,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has emphasized that the government is taking steps to strengthen the public service as a right of the citizen and a responsibility of public officials.

Highlighting the dissatisfaction among citizens regarding the current public service, the President stated that the government aims to deliver efficient services to citizens through the digitization of government services, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

These remarks were made by President Anura Kumara Disanayake during the Anuradhapura District Coordination Committee meeting held today (26) at the Anuradhapura District Secretariat.

The President revealed that efforts are underway to establish an accurate data system for the public service by June and pointed out the significant complexity in the current volume of data within the public service, which hampers the ability to make precise decisions, the PMD stated.

President Disanayake also disclosed that proposals to provide a fair basic salary increase for public officials and to resolve pension disparities within three years will be included in this year’s budget.

The meeting also focused on strengthening the public service while managing its costs effectively.

Attention was drawn to the urgent need to fill approximately 30,000 existing vacancies within the public service, with discussions on allocating necessary funds for this initiative in the upcoming budget. Delays in recruitment due to technical procedures, including interview processes, were also addressed, emphasizing the need for unified human resource management within the public service, the statement said.

The President directed attention to multiple sectors in the Anuradhapura District, including education, healthcare, irrigation, agriculture, and human-elephant conflict.

Discussions were held on the potential to develop Anuradhapura as a tourism hub, with a focus on leveraging the City Branding” approach to transform Anuradhapura into an attractive tourist destination.

The city, which already attracts a significant number of local tourists, was identified as having excellent potential to appeal to foreign tourists as well. As the site of Sri Lanka’s first kingdom and the location of the first reservoir, the city’s historical and cultural significance could be further promoted globally.

The President further emphasized the importance of implementing the Clean Sri Lanka” program to foster positive societal attitudes and build a better society.

The Chairman of the Anuradhapura District Secretariat Committee, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security, and Cooperative Development, Mr. Wasantha Samarasinghe; Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation, Dr. Susil Ranasinghe; Governor of the North Central Province, Mr. Wasantha Jinadasa; Members of Parliament, Mr. Susantha Kumara Nawarathna, Dr. Sena Nanayakkara Attorney-at-Law Mr. Bhagya Sri Herath, and Mr. Thilina Samarakoon;Mr. P.D.N.K. Palihena; Mr. Rohana Bandara; Chief Secretary of the North Central Province, Mr. R.M.W.S. Samaradiwakara; and Anuradhapura District Secretary, Mr. K.G.R. Wimalasooriya, were also present at the meeting.

–PMD–

Courtesy the Daily Mirror

The Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) raised concerns over the failure on the part of the government to declare a minimum purchase price for paddy and asked whether it had not been done as a help for the millers who helped the ruling party during the elections. 

JNP Farmers’ Wing leader Karunathilaka Herath said although President Anura Kumara Dissanayake claims to be the son of a farmer, a solution had not been offered yet to the paddy crisis. He said the government had knelt before not only multi-national companies but also five leading millers in the country. 

“A few months have lapsed after the government was formed. It came with a series of promises to address farmers’ issues. Like the previous governments, the present government is also letting the farmers down. The government does not seem to be working with any clear-cut policies. Paddy harvesting has already begun. Today, farmers are in the lurch without a proper price for their produce,” he said.  

He said paddy prices vary from district to district.

By Imesh Ranasinghe Courtesy The Morning

Sri Lanka imported about $ 950 million worth of goods on average from Singapore prior to the import restriction in 2020 as it is Sri Lanka’s fourth largest import destination.

According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), exports to Singapore amounted to $ 123 million in 2023, which is about 1% of the total export revenue in that year while imports amounted to $ 866 million, which is 5.2% of the total import share.

The Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) was initially signed on 18 January 2018 and came into effect on 1 May 2018.

However, due to various decisions that had to be taken due to issues that arose after enforcing the FTA, it was suspended until 2023 when former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was able to get the go-ahead from the Singapore Government.

The main areas covered by the FTA include goods, services, investment, intellectual properties, telecommunication, e-commerce, trade facilitation, government procurement, competition, and economic and technical cooperation.

NPP Govt. has second thoughts about SLSFTA 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the phasing out of the para-tariff of the SLSFTA had been discussed at the COPF as part of the undertaking that Sri Lanka had made in relation to the implementation of the agreement.

However, Government MPs in the COPF wanted to revisit the FTA before providing approval, citing it was not in their policy to sign the FTA with Singapore.

However, Dr. de Silva added that phasing out the para-tariffs over five years was also part of what Sri Lanka had agreed to with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In the staff report released after the completion of its second review in June 2024, the IMF said that the Sri Lankan authorities had committed to reducing the para-tariffs under the World Bank’s Development Policy Operation, while more trade reform initiatives were underway including updating the National Export Strategy, expediting trade agreements, and participating in global value chains.

Dr. de Silva said that there would be many implications if Sri Lanka were to stop the implementation of the SLSFTA now as it was a Government-to-Government agreement and legally binding.

He noted that although the Government said that it would go ahead with the SLSFTA, there would be a case-by-case study on other FTAs as well.

However, he added that revisiting every single FTA was not viable as entering the global supply chain was part of the IMF agreement.

Removal of para-tariffs under SLSFTA

Speaking before the COPF on Tuesday (21), Department of Fiscal Policy Director General Dr. Kapila Senanayake said that the SLSFTA had come into effect from December 2023 after a delay of five years.

He said that as part of the removal of para-tariffs, such as Customs duties, CESS, and Ports and Airport Development Levy (PAL), certain goods under these taxes had been categorised under zero-rated and 10th-rated phases.

According to the agreement, zero-rated tariffs have already been removed, while the 10th-rated ones will be phased out in 5-6 years.

Senanayake said that a gazette was issued to remove the zero-rated one and one-fifth of the PAL rate, where the PAL rate which was at 7.5% in 2018 would be adjusted to 6%, with the one-fifth or 1.5% being removed.

Basic Customs Duties (BCDs) on imports of all products except motor vehicles, liquor, and tobacco are free into Singapore. From the market access point of view of Sri Lanka, only four products at Harmonised System (HS) 8 digits, namely medicated or other samsu-alcoholic products, are included in the Negative List of Singapore.

The SLSFTA eliminates tariffs for 80% of all tariff lines through staging periods of up to 15 years, allows for third-party invoicing arrangements, safeguards market access, and ensures a more predictable operating environment for service suppliers.

Other key benefits of the SLSFTA include:

• A Certificate of Origin that shall be valid for 12 months from the date of issue of the exporting party
• Protection of Singaporean investors and investments in Sri Lanka

Speaking before the COPF, Dr. de Silva said that the Government’s position was that Sri Lanka should continue with the SLSFTA without any adjustment because it had been agreed upon after a suspension under the Maithripala Sirisena Government in 2018 and restarted in 2023 although FTA implementation was five years behind schedule. 

He said that the Government of Singapore made a special provision to confirm that they could continue with the FTA despite the delay.

Goods under SLSFTA

The goods schedule of the SLSFTA from Sri Lanka covers 7,438 tariff lines at HS 8-digit level on the tariff schedule, where 80% of tariff lines with Customs duties (i.e. 5,950 tariff lines) are to be phased out over 15 years while 20% of tariff Lines (1,488) are in the Negative List.

Singapore has already liberalised 99.9% of tariffs, while only six products are in the Negative List; it has 9,575 tariff lines at HS 8-digit level on the tariff schedule. 

The tariff schedule of the SLSFTA specifies staging categories 0, 6, 10, 12, and 15, which specifies the period in which the Customs duty will be eliminated for products that are not in the Negative List.  

CESS and PAL applicable on imports as specified by the staging category 10 in the tariff schedule will be eliminated in five equal instalments from 31 December 2023 to 31 December 2027. 

The elimination of CESS and PAL will not be applicable for products in Sri Lanka’s Negative List. 

Speaking before the COPF last week, Treasury Deputy Secretary A.K. Seneviratne said that under the SLSFTA, Customs duties were removed one-sixth annually for six years, CESS removed one-fifth annually over five years, and PAL removed one-fifth annually over five years for all para-tariffs to be zero-rated. 

He added that two-sixth of Customs duties had already been removed while one-fifth of CESS had also been removed, but the first one-fifth removal of PAL was yet to be approved.

Seneviratne noted that through the SLSFTA, both countries would create a free trade zone for goods and services, adding that services had already been demarcated in the FTA while more services would be added later.

Commenting on the goods under the SLSFTA at the COPF, Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security, and Co-operative Development Secretary K.A. Vimalenthirarajah said that the Singapore FTA and Thailand FTA were comprehensive agreements. He therefore noted that taking trading goods on a stand-alone basis was not the proper evaluating basis and that it should be taken on a comprehensive basis. 

He said that under the SLSFTA, rules of origin applied to goods produced wholly on Sri Lankan soil such as tea, while goods such as apparel were considered value-added products from Sri Lanka. 

Vimalenthirarajah further noted that under the SLSFTA, any product which had more than 35% of value addition was only eligible to be imported or exported under the agreement.

He added that in the FTA, tea was on the Offensive List of goods as it needed to get market access in Singapore, while petroleum products were on the Defensive List as most petroleum products were imported from Singapore and were a revenue-sensitive matter.

The items in the Defensive List are not included in the FTA but are subjected to taxes as usual.

According to him, petroleum products, tobacco, and alcohol are on the Defensive List of the SLSFTA and are subject to all para-tariffs for importation.

Services under SLSFTA

The services classification is based on the 12 main categories of the World Trade Organization (WTO) services sectoral classification. The coverage of services in the SLSFTA schedules includes business services (including professional services and computer services); communication services; construction and related engineering services; distribution services;  educational services; environmental services; financial services (including insurance and banking); health-related and social services; tourism and travel-related services; recreational, cultural, and sporting services; transport services; and other services.

Singapore’s schedule of services commitments has 100% coverage of 12 broad services sectors of the WTO classification compared to the 75% coverage in Sri Lanka’s schedule.

The SLSFTA liberalises several industries to facilitate trade in services. It provides commitment, transparency, and certainty for Singaporean service suppliers operating in Sri Lanka.

Trade in services was negotiated on a Positive List basis, requiring each State to specify sectors for liberalisation and the corresponding degree of openness. 

Some of Sri Lanka’s commitments include liberalising telecommunications services, including internet, mobile cellular, and satellite services; computer-related hardware and software services; financial services covering insurance and banking; maritime services such as seaborne transport, repairs of seagoing vessels, and cargo handling services; general construction services; and hotel, travel, and tourism services. 

The SLSFTA covers consultancy and advisory services in sectors such as legal advisory for international and third-country law, but not for Sri Lankan law, advisory of architectural and engineering services, or management consultancy. 

Singapore’s commitments are more extensive and liberalise several sectors, including professional services, construction and engineering services, and goods distribution services.  

No risk of Singaporean professionals coming to SL  

 Addressing the COPF, Dr. de Silva said that although architects, doctors, and accountants were concerned that under the mode 4 movement of natural persons in the SLSFTA, professionals from Singapore would come and establish their businesses here, there was no such clause in the agreement.

In international trade, services can take place through four distinct categories referred to as modes 1, 2, 3, and 4, where mode 4 refers to the movement of people.

In the SLSFTA, mode 4 has been opened to only two of the four sub-categories, namely to business visitors and Intra-Corporate Transferees (ICTs), with the latter requiring Singaporean nationals working as ICTs to work in a company that has made an investment in Sri Lanka and is incorporated (as specified in horizontal commitments under mode 3 linked to commercial presence through investment). 

The SLSFTA does not permit entry for Singaporean nationals to work in Sri Lanka under the other two sub-categories of mode 4, which are contractual suppliers and independent professionals. 

Furthermore, Sri Lanka has put in place guidelines for the two sub-categories of mode 4 that are open (i.e. ICTs and business visitors). The entry of business visitors is restricted to 30 days.

In terms of ICTs, they have to be a national of Singapore (not a permanent resident), be employed in a Singaporean company for no less than 12 months, and have a minimum of five years of relevant industry or professional experience before the date of application. 

In addition to the above guidelines, ICTs are further restricted to the positions of managers, executives, and specialists which are clearly defined in the agreement. 

Sri Lanka has listed only three professional services for Singapore. For these services, modes 3 and 4 are closed for Singaporean nationals. The resultant position is that Singaporean firms cannot incorporate companies to provide these professional services in Sri Lanka and bring down any Singaporean nationals to work as ICTs.

Govt. going ahead with SLSFTA on the basis of continuity 

Also speaking at the COPF, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Harshana Suriyyaperuma said that the Government had decided to support and move forward with the Singapore FTA as it had been started some time back and since both parties had engaged and met part of the commitments under the agreement.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe said that the Ministry of Trade was not involved in the creation of the SLSFTA, although the ministry had been consulted when creating the Sri Lanka-Thailand FTA. 

He said that in the SLSFTA, Sri Lanka was in a trade deficit as mostly oil-related commodities were imported to the country.

SL’s losses through SLSFTA suspension 

Speaking before the COPF, Vimalenthirarajah said that Sri Lanka had lost significant avenues due to the delay in implementation of the SLSFTA over the last five years.

Unfortunately, when it was signed in 2018, there were big avenues for Sri Lanka to capitalise on, but due to decisions taken by the previous governments, the Easter Sunday attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the subsequent economic crisis, Sri Lanka could not take certain economic benefits from the Singapore FTA,” he said.

He also added that even certain Singaporean investors had vacated their investments in Sri Lanka during the 2018-2022 period.

SLSFTA opens up ASEAN economies to SL

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Frontier Research Head of Macroeconomic Advisory Chayu Damsinghe said that the main purpose of the SLSFTA was to open up Sri Lanka’s exports to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies.

We don’t have a strong entrance for exports into the ASEAN market and the SLSFTA primarily opens up the export market for South East Asia,” he said.

He noted that although Sri Lanka imported from the ASEAN region, the exports to that region had been weak.

However, Damsinghe said that an FTA alone would not solve the issue of a lack of exports to the ASEAN, as it also depended on what ASEAN economies wanted to buy and what Sri Lanka could produce.

He added that the industries in Sri Lanka were significantly different to industries in the ASEAN regions and therefore, there was not much competition between Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries.

SL missed out on importing quality products at lower prices

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council (SLSBC) President Shiluka Goonewardene said that Sri Lanka had missed out on two things due to the delayed implementation of the SLSFTA.

He said that businesses had missed out on the opportunity to import quality products at lower prices in the past when compared to current global economic conditions.

Further, Goonewardene said that due to businesses losing out on importing quality products, consumers also missed out on having the benefit of using quality products.

As a trade chamber, our job is to promote trade and investment between the two countries and some of our members import goods under the FTA,” he said.

He added that the business council was creating awareness on the use of the FTA as most businesses did not use the FTA to import as they were unaware about the benefits available under these agreements.

Sri Lanka-China FTA

According to a media briefing held on Wednesday (22), Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath said that during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to China last week, both countries had agreed to form a working group to discuss the China-Sri Lanka FTA.

Sri Lanka had to temporarily stop Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with China under the previous Government because Beijing disagreed with Colombo’s three requests.

This was due to Sri Lanka wanting a list of products, about 500 tariff lines, to go to zero on the day the agreement comes into force, which then has no element of reciprocity. However, China later indicated its wish to reciprocate.

China wanted Sri Lanka to liberalise 90% of the tariff lines and the value of the trade. Sri Lanka’s position was that the country could go for an 85% tariff line, but not the value.

The other issue was that Sri Lanka proposed that if the tariff liberalisation programme is 20 years, a review should take place in the 10th year due to the uncertainties of how the economy will look by the 10th year. However, China opposed the review mechanism.

China is the second largest import destination of Sri Lanka after India with over $ 3 billion worth of goods imported annually.

Madyawediya

සමන්ති පෙරේරා / ගාමිනී විතාණ

රජක කුලයේ ව්‍යාප්තිය ගැන ඓතිහාසික වාර්තා හොයන පරියේෂිකා අනෝමා යකුම්පිටියටත් මටත් වැදගත් වන තොරතුරු ටිකක් ලැබුනා. රජක කුලය, රදා කුලය හේන කුලය , රජක කුලය, ඩොබී කුලය, පේඩි කුලය යනුවෙනුත් හඳුන්වනවා.ඔවුන් ගේ පටබැඳිනාම පේඩි, පේඩියා, චාකාලි, හේනයා වෙනවා. රජක කුලයේ සාමාජිකයෝ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් අටවන වීර පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජු කාලේ ඉන්ඳියාවෙන් එනවා. මොවුන් එන්නේ රජු ඇතුළු රාජකීයන්ට සේවය කිරීමට. තවමත් ඉන්දියාවේ තෙලංගනා, ආඳ්‍රා, කර්ණාටක, තමිල්නාඩු හා උඩුප්පිලි දිස්ත්‍රික්ක වල රඳා කුලයේ ආදිතමයෝ ජීවත් වෙනවා.

මේ එන කණ්ඩායමේත් ධූරාවලීන් තියනවා. එහි පහල ධූරාවලියේ පිරිස් හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ කුලීනයන්ට සේවය කිරීම සඳහා යවනවා. ඔවුන් හම්බන්තොට කටුවන , වලස්මුල්ල, ඕකිවෙල වගේ ප්‍රදේශ වල පදිංචි වෙනවා. මෙයින් කටුවන ප්‍රදේශයට යන රජක කුලයේ සාමාජිකයෝ ආනත්ත පතිරණ මානික්කු හේනයලාගේ, කිර හේනයාලාගේ කිරාගේ , නයිදගේ , සරෙන්ති කොන්ඩෙගේ , ආදී නම් දරනවා. මන්දාරම් පුවතේ සඳහන් වන අන්දමට මොවුන්ට තිබුනේ ද්‍රවිඩ සම්භවයක්.

මේ පරම්පාරාවෙන් එන සාමාජිකයෙක් සමග අදහස් හුවමාරු කර ගැනීමට මට ඉඩ කඩක් ලැබුනා. ඔහු නමින් හර්ශණ පතිරණ. වර්තමානයේ වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් ලෙස සේවය කරනවා. ඔහු තමන් ගේ මුතුන් මිත්තන් ගැන අපිට හෙළි කලා. ඔහුගේ ගම හම්බන්තොට කටුවන. හේන වංශිකයන් වන ඔවුන් එන්නේ ඉන්දියාවේ ආන්ද්‍රා ප්‍රදේශයෙන්. පෝල් ඊ පීරිස් මහතාගේ ලංකාව පෘතුගීසි යුගය පොතේ හම්බන්තොට කටුවන හේන වංශිකයන් ගැන සඳහන් වෙනවා. සිංහල සමාජයේ කුල පිලිබඳව කේ. ටී. සිල්වා ලියන ලද පොතේ කටුවන රජකයන් ගැන සඳහන් වෙනවා. ඔවුන් ගෙන් සමහරක් පෘතුගීසීන් හමුදාවේ රෙදි සේදීම සඳහා ගෙන යනවා. සමහර විට වහලුන් වශයෙන් බලහත්කාරයෙන් ගෙනියන්න ඇති. ඔවුන්ව කටුවන බලකොටුවට ගෙන යනු ලැබුවා.

මේ කාලයේ හේන වංශිකයන් රෙදි සේදීම කලේ දේශීය ගස් පොතු ,සෙංකොට්ටං වගේ ස්වභාවික ද්‍රව්‍ය මගින්. පෘතුගීසීන් විසින් ඔවුන්ට රසායණික සබන් හඳුන්වා දෙනවා. දොස්තර හර්ශණ පතිරණ ගේ ඥාතීන් කටුවන පමණක් නෙවෙයි කළුවම්මෝදර මහඉදුරුව කොස්ගොඩ අහුන්ගල්ල බලපිටිය බ්‍රාහ්මණාවත්ත ආඳාදොළ මාදම්පාගම වේනාමුල්ල අකුරළ රත්ගම වගේ ප්‍රදේශ වලටත් විසිරෙන බව කියනවා. ඔවුන්ට රාජකාරී කිරීමට හම්බන්තොට ප්‍රදේශයේ ගොවිගම කුලීනයන් ඉඩම් ලබා දෙනවා. ඔවුන් තම කුල කාර්‍යය ඉෂ්ඨ කළේ එම කාර්‍යය ඉඩම් භුක්තිය වෙනුවට කළ යුත්තක් ම වශයෙන් සලකාගෙන.ඔවුන්ට නියමිතව තිබුනේ රෙදි ඇපිල්ලීම හා කොටහළු චාරිත්‍රයන් ඉටු කිරීමයි. මේ හේන වංශිකයන් තද කහට පැල්ලම් ඉවත් කරගැනීම සඳහා රෙදි උණු වතුරින් තම්බා ගැනීමට විශාල වෙල්ල හැලි භාවිතා කරනවා. මේ වෙල්ල හැලි භාවිතය එන්නේ ඉන්දියාවෙන්. කටුවන , රත්ගම ආදී ප්‍රදේශ වල ජීවත් වන හේන වංශිකයන් බොහොමයක් තම මුල් නම් අත හැරලා ආනත්ත පතිරණ හෝ පතිරණ නාමයන් දැන් භාවිතා කරනවා.

ඉන්ඳ්‍රකීර්ති සිරිවීර ලියූ “රජරට ශිෂ්ඨාචාරය හා නිරිතදිග රාජධානි” නම් පොතේ කටුවන හේන වංශිකයන් ගේ මුල් නාමයන් ගැන සඳහන් වෙනවා. රැල්ෆ් පීරිස්ට අනුව හේන වංශිකයන්ට නියමිත ඇදුම් ආයින්නම් තිබුනා. ඔවුන් උඩුකය නග්නව තබාගත යුතුයි. රොබට් නොක්ස්ගේ වාර්ථා වලත් හේන වංශිකයන් ගැන කියනවා. මහින්ද ප්‍රසාද් මස්ඉඹුලගේ සෙංකොට්ටං නවකතාව රජක කුලයේ සාමාජිකයන් ගැනයි. සිංහල කුල ක්‍රමය ගැන ලියන සේපාලි මායාදුන්නේ ගේ පොතත් වැදගත්. රජක කුලයේ චාරිත්‍ර වචන සිංහල ප්‍රධාන සමාජයටත් එක් වෙලා. මේ අතර ජන කතා ජන කවි තියනවා. රඳා ගෙදර යන පාරේ ඩංඟු ටුකුරු ගසක් ඇතේ. මල් පුසඹයි ගෙඩි තිත්තයි නොතේරුවොත් ටොකු විස්සයි” – සිංහල තේරවිලි කවි අතරට වැටෙන මෙම කවියෙන් කියවෙන්නේ රදා (රජක කුලයේ) ගෙදරට යන පාරේ දකින්නට ලැබෙන ඉඹුල් ගසක් ගැන.

රජක කුලයේ වර්තමාන සාමාජිකයන් අද සමාජයේ වැදගත් මෙහෙවර කරනවා. දොස්තර හර්ශණ පතිරණ ඕමානයේ වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් ලෙස සේවය කරනවා. ඔවුන් තමන් ගේ සම්භවය ගැන කතා කරන්නේ අභිමානයෙන්

සමන්ති පෙරේරා / ගාමිනී විතාණ

Palitha Ariyarathna, Geopolitics View on Security

The security of former presidents in Sri Lanka is a matter that goes beyond personal safety; it is an essential part of national stability. In recent years, the government’s decision to reduce the security detail for former presidents has sparked controversy. These figures, having led the country through times of conflict and peace, play a significant role in the nation’s political landscape even after stepping down from office. The debate over security meaningfully reflects a broader question about how a society protects and respects its past leaders. This article critically examines the consequences of such security reductions, highlighting why protecting these figures is crucial, not just for their personal safety but also for the country’s overall stability.

Historically, Sri Lanka has provided former presidents with considerable security due to the nature of the political environment, which has often been marked by violence, political upheaval, and external threats. Former presidents, as prominent figures, can become targets for those with political or ideological motives, and their protection has been seen as a matter of national importance. In light of recent policy changes, where security responsibility has shifted from the tri-forces to police personnel, questions have emerged about whether these new measures are sufficient to address the unique security risks faced by former leaders.

The government’s justification for reducing the security of former presidents is rooted in cost-saving measures and addressing public dissatisfaction with the perceived excessive spending on political figures. While these goals may appear reasonable from an economic standpoint, the decision overlooks the very real threats these leaders face, particularly in a nation where political opposition and violent extremism have deep roots. The shift to police personnel handling the security detail raises concerns over whether these officers are adequately equipped to handle the complex and varied threats that former presidents may face, especially when political divides are involved.

Public reaction to these changes has been polarized. Some view the reduction in security as a necessary adjustment to cut costs, while others see it as politically motivated, aimed at undermining certain leaders who have been associated with resistance movements or the fight against terrorism. This public backlash highlights a deeper issue: a sense that those who have contributed to national peace and stability deserve to be protected, regardless of the political climate. In this context, the reduction of security can be seen not just as a logistical decision but as a symbolic attack on their legacy and contributions to national unity.

Looking at global examples helps illustrate why the security of former leaders is such a significant issue. In the United States, former presidents are afforded lifetime protection by the Secret Service, reflecting the recognition that those who have held the office remain potential targets even after their tenure. This protection is not only a matter of personal safety but also an expression of respect and the recognition that former leaders continue to play a role in national affairs. Similarly, in Russia, former leaders receive state security, although sometimes the level of protection is influenced by current political dynamics. In South Africa, the case of former President Jacob Zuma demonstrated how changes in security arrangements, driven by political motivations, can spark controversy and public concern. Similarly, in the Philippines, the reduction of security for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo raised questions about the political implications of such decisions. These examples demonstrate that security decisions must be made with an understanding of the unique risks former leaders face, regardless of the political context.

The reduction of security for former leaders is not just about the individuals involved; it is a national security issue. Former leaders, especially those who have played pivotal roles in the fight against terrorism or civil unrest, are often still seen as targets long after their time in office. Reducing their security leaves them vulnerable to retaliation, and in some cases, their safety is intrinsically tied to the stability of the country as a whole. In Sri Lanka, the importance of protecting former leaders, particularly those involved in the battle against groups like the LTTE, cannot be overstated. These individuals are not just political figures; they are symbols of national resilience and unity. By reducing their security, the government risks creating a sense of instability and insecurity, which could have far-reaching consequences for the nation’s political and social fabric.

Moreover, decisions about security should always be based on genuine threat assessments rather than political agendas or financial pressures. If these decisions are driven by a desire to target political opponents or save costs, it risks eroding public trust in the government’s ability to protect its citizens impartially. This is especially true when those in power have a history of fighting violent extremism. The reduction of security for former leaders who have played vital roles in protecting the country could be seen as an attempt to weaken them politically or even expose them to harm, undermining the sense of safety that the government is supposed to guarantee for all its citizens.

This issue also speaks to a larger concern about the erosion of national unity. In a country like Sri Lanka, which has faced decades of conflict, political violence, and terrorism, the safety of former leaders is a reflection of the nation’s commitment to peace and stability. When leaders who have helped guide the country through its darkest times are left vulnerable, it sends a troubling message about the country’s dedication to protecting the very figures who have fought to preserve its integrity. The reduction of security in such circumstances could lead to political instability, reigniting divisions and exacerbating tensions that have long been a source of strife in the nation.

In Sri Lanka, former leaders who played pivotal roles in ending the civil conflict and fighting terrorism should be viewed not merely as political figures but as protectors of national peace. These individuals made personal sacrifices and faced countless threats during their time in office, and their legacy continues to shape the nation’s future. Undermining their security is not only an affront to their personal safety but a disregard for their contributions to the country’s hard-won peace. In a country that has struggled with terrorism, reducing security for those who have fought to keep the peace sets a dangerous precedent. It is essential that security decisions consider the specific threats faced by each individual, ensuring their safety not only for their protection but for the broader protection of national unity.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka, through Article 9, emphasizes the state’s responsibility to protect and foster Buddhism. The President, while holding political office, is not only the political leader but also a symbolic leader of the Buddhist community. This adds another layer of importance to the President’s protection, as the figurehead of national integrity. Any actions that undermine the President’s safety or dignity could be seen as an attack on the very essence of the nation’s spiritual and political foundations.

While the President enjoys certain legal immunities during their tenure, such as in Article 35 of the Constitution, it is important to recognize that these powers are not beyond scrutiny. If actions are taken in secrecy that harm the national interest, they may eventually be subject to scrutiny after their term ends. Article 126 also allows for legal accountability when actions infringe upon fundamental rights, ensuring that no one, including the President, is above the law. The Constitution provides mechanisms to hold leaders accountable if their actions jeopardize the nation’s well-being. Furthermore, while the written Constitution lays out the legal framework, unwritten constitutional conventions also play a critical role in ensuring accountability, as they establish norms for governance and checks on power that complement the formal legal provisions.

The protection of Sri Lanka’s leaders, particularly former presidents who have played critical roles in safeguarding the nation, must be prioritized. Security decisions should be made with a focus on genuine threats and national security, not based on political motivations or financial considerations. Any attempt to undermine the protection of these leaders sets a dangerous precedent that threatens not only the safety of individuals but the stability of the nation as a whole. It is imperative that Sri Lanka’s leadership is protected as a reflection of the country’s commitment to peace, stability, and the values that have sustained it through decades of conflict.

“Weakened security for individuals or a nation is an invitation for terrorists to exploit vulnerable spots, turning high-profile figures into prime targets in a game of strategic destruction. Future political administrations must not have the right to alter security measures based on personal or political grievances. Former presidents should receive lifetime Secret Service protection, ensuring consistent and impartial security measures regardless of political changes.”

— Palitha Ariyarathna, Geopolitics View on Security

Vox Veritas

Written by Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam. Willetton, Australia.

Sri Lanka and its majority people must not be looked upon as a country that perpetrated human rights abuses when the USA and the current Trump Administration are worse.

Every country in the world has and continues to perpetrate human rights abuses based on majority dominance and prejudices.  The present Untied States of America President and his Admiration does not want to recognize citizenship of asylum seekers to America even if one is born in the USA as they are brown or black skinned people. If they were white skinned asylum seekers to the USA Trump and his current Administration would have accepted with open arms and given them citizenship straight away. So what is the difference when Sinhalese Sri Lankans wants to keep Sri Lanka as a predominantly Buddhist Sinhala Nation. I am sure that if Sri Lankan Tamils were given Tamil Elam they would have kept it predominantly as a Hindu Tamil Nation. So primordial and race politics operates all over the world. Based on this it is not fair to single out Sri Lanka as a nation which committed human rights abuses as it was a civil war and in war innocent people along with the perpetrators get killed. Look at the Middle East and Israel for example as no western nation, including USA which helped arm the present Israeli government and its soldiers when everyone knows that apart from HAMAS that innocent people are targeted every day in Gaza and its occupied areas. Is this not human rights abuse if ever there was one?  The point is Sri Lanka is a small island nation in comparison with Israel or USA, which is the leading Super Power in the World and Western World in particular at present. 

Australia for example the country, which I have called home since December 1984 had the famous Dictation Test” and even today want to keep Australia as a White Nation even if they may state that their migration polices are non-discriminatory and open to all the same way. Please ask asylum seekers to Australia how they were treated when they first arrived to Australia based on Mandatory Detention and thereafter when released to work within the community based on Temporary Visas. In this regard white migrants from the UK and South Africa are requested to stay and seek Permanent Residential Status in Australia and thereafter become citizens of Australia where else asylum seekers from Asia and the Middle East who come to Australia via the sea cannot get Permanent Residential Status even if they are refugees coming from war torn countries and are displaced. So what does this mean? It means that race and to a great deal religion and skin colour matter a great deal in Western Countries.  So why is this different when Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lankans the majority people in Sri Lanka want to keep Sri Lanka predominantly Sinhala by ethnicity or race and Buddhist religion wise. In my view there is no difference at all. The manner to achieve this may have differed, but the intention and reasons are the same.  

In convulsion, I don’t condone racism and primordial politics but it is more in existence today than the past based on globalization and migration from all parts of the world especially to the developed nations from the developing nations.        

by A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jana’at, Sri Lanka.

The Annual Convention (Jalsa Salana) of Sri Lanka Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at was held on the 14 January 2025 at Baitul Basit Mosque Sri Lanka in Pasyala, chaired by Representative  of Ahmadiyya Khalifa His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. To mark the event, Tahajjud Prayer ( a voluntary night prayer) was held at 4.15 a.m followed by Fajr (pre-dawn) Prayer and Holy Qur’an Dars (Qur’an recitation with short commentary).

Prior to the main program, flag hoisting was done by the Markaz (Headquarters) Representative followed by silent prayer.

The main event started at 9.30 a.m. with the recitation of Holy Qur’an followed by its translation in Urdu, Tamil and Sinhala.

After the presentation of Urdu nazm (poem) composed by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community  – Promised Messiah (peace be on him), the National President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Sri Lanka S. Nizam Khan delivered the welcome address and spoke on the advent of Imam Mahdi (later day Reformer) based on signs foretold by Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH). He also highlighted about the formation of Israel in 1948 by the Western and its current situation. 

Anis Ahmad, President, Colombo Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spoke on the blessings of Nizam-e-Jamaat (Administration of Ahmadiyya Community) and our responsibilities.

R. A. Hafiz Ahmed, President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Pasyala spoke on Ahmadiyya Founder Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’’s unparalleled love on his Master Prophet of Islam Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

I. Aslam Ahmad, President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Negombo ispoke on importance of financial sacrifice.

 Moulavi T. A. Tahir (Negombo) and Chief Missionary Javed Rahim also addressed.

Markaz (Headquarters) Representative in his concluding address spoke on the time of Prophet Noah, peace be on him and his opponents, and Allah’s command to Prophet Noah to build an arch to board him and his people who accepted him. When flood came in, all of his opponents were drowned out destroyed. Similarly Allah’s Command to Promised Messiah, peace be on him, to build an arch in the name of his Community for those who accepted him.  Headquarters Representative explained in detail on this subject.

He went on to say about the blessings of Khilafat (Spiritual Leadership established by Allah),  through having unbreakable bondage with him, and put forward some incidents that proved this fact.

Urdu addresses and poems were translated into local Tamil language. Presentation of Urdu Poem and Group Kasheeda were also part of the Convention. The day-long event concluded with vote of thanks by National President S. Nizam Khan followed by silent prayer led by Headquarters Representative. Ahmadi Men, Women and Children from all parts of the country attended and it numbers one thousand. Refreshment and meals served.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය මහත්මිය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පසුපස මාර්ගයෙන් පිටවන්නේ වාහනක් තුනකින් බව සමගි ජන බලවේග පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී චමින්ද විජේසිරි මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ඇය වොල්වෝ රථයකින් පිටවෙන බවත් ඒ අවස්ථාවේ මාර්ග තුනක් වසා ඇයට ඉඩ සලසා දෙන බවත් ඔහු පවසයි.

තමන් විසින් තම ජංගම දුරකථනයෙන් මීට අදාළ රූප රාමු වීඩියෝ ගත කර ඇති බවත් ඔහු සඳහන් කළේ ස්වර්ණවාහිනි නාලිකාවේ රතු ඉර වැඩසටහනට එක්වෙමිනි.

ඊයේ දිනයේ මෙම සිදුවීම සිදුව ඇති බවත් පැවසූ ඔහු තමා අසත්‍යයක් කියන්නේ යැයි කියන්නේනම් ඕනෑම පරීක්ෂණයට මුහුණ දීම සූදානම් බවත් පොලිස් පරීක්ෂණයක් ආරම්භ කරන ලෙසත් ඔහු තවදුරටත් කියා සිටියේය.

අදාළ වාහනය අංකයද ඔහු විසින් එහිදී හෙලි කළේය.

කෙසේ වෙතත් එම වැඩසටහනට ආණ්ඩුව පාර්ශවයෙන් සහභාගි වූ මහජන ආරක්ෂක නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමති සුනිල් වටගල මහතා කියා සිටියේ තමන් අදාළ වීඩියෝ පිලි නොගන්නා බවය.

එමෙන්ම මාදිවෙල මන්ත්‍රී නිවාස සංකීර්ණයෙන් මේ වන විට රේන්ජ්රෝවර් වර්ගයේ ජීප් රථ නවත්වා ඇති බවත් විජේසිරි මන්ත‍්‍රීවරයා තවදුරටත් සඳහන් කළේය.

Courtesy Financial Express

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has revoked a decision announced in June last year to award a controversial 484 MW of wind power plants in Mannar and Pooneryn to Adani Green Energy SL Ltd.

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has revoked a decision announced by his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe in June last year to award a controversial 484 MW of wind power plants in Mannar and Pooneryn to Adani Green Energy SL Ltd, stated a report by DailyFT. 

On this, shares of Adani Green dropped by 1.19 per cent on an intraday level.

Earlier in June, the project was awarded by Ranil Wickremesinghe to Adani Green Energy and according to a report by PTI, the company was planning to invest more than $1 billion (Rs 83.5 billion) in wind energy projects in Sri Lanka. The investment was directed towards establishing two wind farms with a combined capacity of 484MW. To be located in the north of the country in the town of Mannar and the village of Pooneryn, the wind farms represent $740m of the investment. The project was to be completed by mid 2026. 

Later, the project was challenged on multiple grounds and concerns were raised over the arbitrary price of US cents 8.26 per kilowatt hour when the local bidders offered 4.88 cents.

It also faced opposition from many environmental organisations, including the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society and Environmental Foundation Ltd, opposed the project owing to deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment and because Mannar is a critical habitat for migratory birds. The local community, represented by the Bishop of Mannar too, opposed the project because of the harm to local industries and livelihoods.

The DailyFT report maintained that the present President had, during the course of his election campaign, pledged to cancel the deal and call for international tenders to develop wind power in Sri Lanka. In line with the same, on 30th December, the Cabinet decided to revoke the cabinet decision dated 2024-05-06 numbered CP No. 24/0850/621/047 submitted by the then Minister of Power and Energy on ‘Proposal of Adani Green Energy SL Limited for the Development of 484 MW of Wind Power Plants in Mannar and Pooneryn”.

Biodiversity scientist Rohan Pethiyagoda, who for the last year fought tirelessly against the proposal award told the DailyFT, Everyone interested in environmental integrity and financial transparency will celebrate the fact that President Dissanayake has delivered on his promise to defeat this conspiracy to defraud the people of Sri Lanka.” 

Personally, I am delighted by this decision. But it is not enough. The Government must now release all the related files to the Bribery Commission and request a full investigation as to how this scam was perpetrated in the first place. Who was the mastermind behind it? Remember, the last Government agreed to buy electricity from Adani at a rate that was 70 per cent higher than the locally tendered price. Into whose pockets was that 70 per cent going? It added up to billions of dollars,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The government will assume full responsibility for the 323 containers recently released from Sri Lanka Customs without inspection, according to Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation, Janith Ruwan Kodituwakku.

The Deputy Minister said that the containers were released due to delays and congestion in the clearance of imported goods at the port.

Speaking on the matter, Deputy Minister Kodituwakku stated, This process is carried out under specific criteria. These 323 containers were released through a committee of three members. It is impractical to inspect and release all 2,000 containers that arrive at the port daily, so a portion is cleared without inspection to ease congestion. However, this issue cannot be resolved without expanding to new yards.”  

The release of these containers has sparked controversy following revelations by the Customs Trade Union Alliance. Concerns have been raised about the lack of inspections, and the government’s handling of the matter has drawn public attention.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has filed a fundamental rights (FR) petition with the Supreme Court seeking an order for the deployment of his security detail which had been reduced. 

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and other members of the Cabinet of Ministers have been named as respondents in the petition. 

The petition filed by the former President, through his attorneys, alleges that the security detail provided for his protection has been reduced to 60 personnel, without a proper security assessment.

The petition further states that presently no armed forces security personnel have been deployed for his protection and that only police officers have been provided for his protection.

In his petition, the former President says that as the leader who provided leadership to end the war that lasted for almost three decades in the country, he is facing terrorist threats and that there have also been threats to his life.

The petitioner therefore requested the court to deliver an order that the respondents had violated his fundamental human rights by arbitrarily removing his protection.

In addition, he requests that an order be issued to the respondents to conduct an assessment of the threats against him.

Rajapaksa has also requested the Supreme Court to issue an order to the respondents to redeploy the entire security detail provided to him, which has now been withdrawn.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ambassador of Switzerland to Sri Lanka and Ambassador designate to the Maldives, Dr. Siri Walt, has assured Switzerland’s support in recovering assets that have been moved out of Sri Lanka. 

Ambassador Walt made these remarks during a meeting held today (24) at the Presidential Secretariat with the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

During discussions, Ambassador Walt provided guidance on the international measures required for reclaiming such assets and expressed Switzerland’s readiness to extend support whenever necessary by providing essential resources and assistance, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

The discussion also focused on utilizing Switzerland’s expertise and technical knowledge to assist Sri Lanka’s on-going anti-corruption initiatives. The Swiss government reiterated its commitment to providing technical and financial support for Sri Lanka’s priority programs, including the Clean Sri Lanka” program, the PMD said.

The Ambassador additionally expressed Switzerland’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka in addressing social challenges, promoting national reconciliation, and assisting with the development of the Northern region through necessary aid and resources. 

The meeting was attended by Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Roshan Gamage. 

–PMD

Courtesy Adaderana

Leader of the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’, Member of Parliament Dilith Jayaweera claims that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is currently facing a challenge from within its own people within a very short period of time.

He also accused the ruling party of now covering up everything with fiction.

MP Jayaweera made this statement while speaking at a press conference held at the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ alliance’s headquarters this afternoon (24).

Referring to the PM’s speech in Parliament yesterday, he added: The Prime Minister says that only one person has been given a government vehicle, but MP Chamara claims that all the vehicles are at Madiwela (MPs’ housing complex). I too have seen them arriving at Parliament in vehicles.” 

Speaking on the decision to increase the price of meals provided at the parliament canteen, the MP said that one cannot eat three meals a day for a sum of Rs. 2,000 even if one buys lunch parcels from a small roadside shop. 

As Minister Bimal Rathnayake stated, a fee should be charged that is cost reflective. Rs. 2,000 is not the cost. I have seen that buffet. I believe an accurate calculation should be made so the public is not misled,” he said.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Kandy

Trinco Tanks Leased to India in 2002; Another 61 Leased to India Plus India Given Veto Power Over Use of All 99 Tanks in 2022 January, Posted on January 22nd, 2025 Dilrook Kannangara

   In reference to the above letter (Attached below) by Dilrook, I would be glad if you could please publish these comments.

   Both these betrayals appear to be concluded by Ranil Wickramasinha when he was Prime Minister (2002 & 2022)

    It is time at least now to cancel both these agreements and take back the 99 tanks as the property of the Sri Lanka Government and develop a project to make use of this billion RS, if not a Trillion, worth this asset for the benefit of this country.

   Thereafter charge the parties responsible for treacherous betrayal under treason.

And confiscate all their properties.

  Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Kandy 23.01 2025.

14 Trinco Tanks Leased to India in 2002; Another 61 Leased to India Plus India Given Veto Power Over Use of All 99 Tanks in 2022 January

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

A Master Plan to restore the lost physical stability of the central hill country

PRESS RELEASE  Pathfinder Foundation

A high-level delegation from the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Japan, visited the Pathfinder Foundation. The delegation led by Mr. Manabu Imakyuri, President of NIDS paid a courtesy call on the Founder of Pathfinder Foundation, Mr. Milinda Moragoda and engaged in a stimulating discussion with the Pathfinder team. The NIDS delegation also included Col. Hiroomi Ishiwatri, Planning Officer & International Exchanger, Mr. Osamu Koike, Research Fellow, Politics/Legislation Lab and Capt: Yuuki Yokohari, Defense Attaché from the Embassy of Japan in Colombo.

The National National Institute for NIDS is the Ministry of Defense (MOD) think tank in Japan. It is the only national academic research institute on security matters in Japan. NIDS researches and studies security and military history and preserves/opens military history-related documents. As such, the delegation was keen to meet with Pathfinder experts and engage in a discussion on current trends in geopolitics and regional security.

Whilst briefing the delegation on its work with Japan and related organisations, the Foundation noted its previous engagement with Prof. Eiichi Katahara, who was Director of International Exchange at NIDS and was part of the International Advisory Group of the Pathfinder Indian Ocean Security Conference (PFIOSC) held in March 2019. In conclusion, both parties expressed interest in joint programs focusing on security and strategic studies.

Courtesy Adaderana

Parliamentarian Chamara Sampath Dassanayake alleges that several government ministers, misuse government vehicles despite official claims that no such vehicles have been provided to them.

The accusations surfaced during the parliamentary session today (23), in response to a question regarding the allocation of vehicles to MPs. 

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya addressed the inquiry, asserting that no vehicles have been distributed to the members of the 10th Parliament.  

However, the Prime Minister noted that the Presidential Secretariat had issued one vehicle, KR-5844, to MP Sugath Wasantha de Silva considering it a specific requirement. She clarified that the vehicle was provided without a driver and that no fuel had been supplied for its use.  

Countering this explanation, MP Chamara Sampath highlighted alleged discrepancies. 

There are vehicles at the Madiwela Housing Complex being used irresponsibly,” he claimed, adding that A Range Rover, more expensive than a V8, is being driven by a minister in this Parliament. Should I name him? Wasantha Samarasinghe.”  

He further alleged that another Range Rover, which recently gained attention on social media, is registered under the name of the Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and is being used by another MP. While refraining from naming the individual, MP Chamara Sampath claimed that the vehicle is actively in use at the Poonagala Estate in Bandarawela.

Courtesy Adaderana

The National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) says that 3,649 dengue cases have been reported in the country within the first three weeks of this year.

Furthermore, two dengue-related deaths have been reported during this period, the NDCU reported.

The Western Province has recorded the highest number of cases, totaling 1,576. Of these, 491 patients are from Colombo District, 558 from Gampaha, and 95 from Kalutara District.

The NDCU also mentioned that 22 Medical Officer of Health (MOH) divisions across the island have been identified as high-risk areas for dengue.