By Oneindia Copy Writer

Sri Lanka is also mulling to trade with countries like Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan in Indian rupee. Being a leading economy in the world, India is offering the much-needed respite to the countries that are short of US dollars.

New Delhi, Dec 21: Although this is being done in the most amicable manner, and India has clearly admitted that acceptance of Indian rupee (INR) is merely to help out the nations falling short of US dollar, it is definitely a challenge to the hegemony of US dollar (USD) for over a century. Now, the latest entrant into the ‘INR club’ is Sri Lanka which has agreed to use INR for international trade, especially with Russia.

In addition to Russia, Sri Lanka is also mulling a plan to trade with countries like Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan in INR. India being a leading economy in the world is offering the much needed respite to the countries that are short of USDs. These nations are facing difficulties in their trade settlements and to help them India has decided to support the INR.

Read more at: https://www.oneindia.com/india/challenging-dollar-hegemony-sri-lanka-to-trade-with-russia-in-inr-3502348.html?story=1

by Russian Foundation for Basic Research

RUDN University mathematicians with colleagues from Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka for the first time investigated a wireless network model with NOMA and PLNC technologies . It allows serving a large number of users at once, while ensuring security. The results are published in IEEE access.

For more efficient operation of wireless networks, the NOMA technology was introduced (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access). Its essence is that the station serves several users at the same time, and using the same frequency bands. The base station sends superimposed signals to two users simultaneously. The device that turned out to be closer to the station subtracts the part of the signal that does not belong to it and decodes only its own. The device that turned out to be further perceives the signal of a first user as noise and detects only its own signal. The problem with this approach is security. It is necessary to ensure that an attacker cannot read someone else’s signal instead of a first user. To do this, it is proposed to use the so-called physical layer network coding (PLNC). However, this combination has only been studied for a small number of users. RUDN University mathematicians with colleagues from Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka for the first time modeled the NOMA – PLNC network with any number of users.

NOMA allows many users to share the same block of time and frequency resources. In everyday life, people often use mobile applications to exchange some sensitive messages – bank details, medical data, command messages in military services. Therefore, it is important to ensure the security of the network. To solve these problems, a new idea of security at the physical layer is proposed,” said Ammar Muthanna, PhD, Director of the Research Center for Wireless 5G Networks Simulation of RUDN University.

Mathematicians proposed a model in which the base station serves any number of pairs of users. A pair means two devices located in the near and far zone from the station. The system also has a listening device, or interceptor. The network is built on the principle of NOMA and PLNC coding. At the first stage, all devices send signals to the base station, which splits them into pairs and assigns timeslots. At the second stage, the station encodes the signals using PLNC and sends them out simultaneously according to the NOMA principle. 

RUDN University mathematicians not only investigated the model in computer simulation, but also obtained exact mathematical expressions for calculating network performance. By substituting specific indicators of the system, you can get exact values, for example, for the probability of a network break and the probability of information leakage. 

Although some authors have already proposed using NOMA-PLNC schemes, the study of such a network with an arbitrary number of users remained an open question. In practice, each cell in a cellular network operates with a large number of users, so it was important to develop a suitable cellular network model with any number of users,” said Ammar Muthanna, PhD, Director of the Research Center for Wireless 5G Networks Simulation of RUDN University.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted Rs. 8 billion to Sri Lanka for the benefit of paddy farmers, the President’s Media Division (PMD) says.

The grant comes at the request of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Accordingly, small-scale paddy farmers cultivating lands to the extent of one hectare or less will receive an allowance of Rs. 10,000. Meanwhile, Rs. 20,000 will be given to farmers who are engaged in paddy cultivation on lands of more than one hectare.

This non-refundable financial assistance is provided only to the paddy farmers and the money will be directly credited to their accounts, according to Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.

The amount of paddy to be cultivated during the Maha Season is 800,000 hectares and it is planned to give this allowance to all the paddy farmers to purchase MOP fertilizer.

Minister Amaraweera has stated that the amount proposed to be spent for this purpose is Rs.08 billion and 1.2 million farming families will be entitled to this benefit.

Courtesy Adaderana

Chairman of the Lanka Coal Company, Shehan Sumanasekara, reassured today (Dec. 21) that the country will not run out of coal by December 31.

They expect the 6th vessel carrying coal to dock at the Puttalam anchorage within the first week of January 2023.

He added that the shipment had been delayed due to a derailment at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in South Africa and therefore had to be diverted to the Maputo port in Mozambique.

The chairman further stated that the company has made payments for 3 out of 6 vessels carrying coal to arrive in the country in the month of January.

In the meantime, Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera reiterated today that the electricity tariffs will definitely be revised in January 2023.

A detailed report on the matter will be submitted at the first Cabinet meeting of next year scheduled for the 02nd of January, he added.

Reportedly, Wijesekera, in his capacity as the Power & Energy Minister, is taking necessary legal measures in this regard along with the Cabinet of Ministers.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s International Advisor on Climate Change Eric Solheim has proposed him to invite all global organizations on renewable energy for a conference to discuss Sri Lanka’s way forward in this regard and to obtain their assistance in preparing policies to achieve these targets.

He made these comments during a meeting held yesterday (Dec. 20) on climate change.

Meanwhile, President’s Local Advisor on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardene stated such a conference will be beneficial for Sri Lanka and its people.

A discussion on climate change was held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday under the patronage of Wijewardene and Solheim.

The discussion focused on bringing in foreign investors to Sri Lanka for climate change mitigation projects.

Courtesy Adaderana

Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, Hu Wei has called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday (21).

The two parties have reviewed recent fruitful discussions on Sri Lanka’s debt issue both bilaterally and multilaterally.

President Wickremesinghe has appreciated the continued support rendered by the Chinese government and the banks amidst the difficult times facing Sri Lanka.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that an environment will be created for small and medium-scale industrialists to become successful using modern technology and the government is ready to empower the industrialists as the main stakeholders in earning foreign exchange for Sri Lanka.

President Wickremesinghe made these remarks at the 21st ‘Achiever Awards 2022’ which was organized by the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, held at Hotel Galadari, Colombo, yesterday (Dec. 20).

The President pointed out that instead of looking at the fallen economy and regretting it, everyone should work together to create an environment that can enable us to have a prosperous future. He also said that Japan and Germany, which were destroyed by the World War, provide us with an example of how to rebuild the country and the economy.

President Wickremesinghe also added that the industrialists have a great responsibility in rebuilding the fallen economy of Sri Lanka. Industrialists are a group of people who contributed immensely to the country’s economy.

We have no option but to increase the taxes, but I am confident that we can pull through and we will pull through. We have gone through this earlier. You ran through wars. We have gone through the worst of what has happened this year. We have to pull through and that is where we have to look at all of you. Because we have to preserve what is left. We still have issues. Nevertheless, the government’s aim is to revive and help as many businesses as possible. Many businesses as possible must survive,” the President added.

The government focuses on Small and Medium enterprises with economic difficulties, as without the Small and Medium enterprises no one can survive. The government is going through a whole series of exercises in correcting the economy and uplifting small and medium-scale enterprises. Modern technology can be used for that. We should look at the development of small and medium-scale industries in other countries of the world and use the modern technology they have used it for the development of these industries. We are ready to provide all the support we can provide as a government for that.

The President asked the industrialists whether they would like to strengthen the economy with new innovations to win the international market or to remain with the same old methods. He further said that with new technology and new innovations, the industrialists have a good chance of becoming economically stronger to conquer the world. For that, we need to make a change in attitude, he said.

At present the country needs foreign exchange, with increasing foreign exchange, the economy will be strengthened. This enables the government to provide solutions to allocate more financial assistance to the education and health sectors and to solve the problems that have arisen in the field of education and health.

The President presented awards to the top 10 achievers.

The Vice Chancellor of the Jayawardenepura University, Prof. Sudanta Liyanage, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries Thilaka Jayasundara, CNCI Chairman Canisius Fernando and several others participated in this event.

–PMD–

Courtesy Adaderana

Headline inflation of Sri Lanka, as measured by the year-on-year (y-o-y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) has dropped to 65% in November 2022 from 70.6% in October 2022.

According to the Department of Census and Statistics, in comparison to November 2021, the reported inflation for the month of November 2022 was mainly due to the higher price levels that prevailed in both food and non-food groups.

On a monthly basis, the y-o-y inflation of the food group decreased to 69.8% in November 2022 from 80.9% in October 2022 while the y-o-y inflation of the non-food group also dropped to 60.4% in November 022 from 61.3% in October 2022.

According to the department, on a y-o-y basis, the contribution of food commodities to inflation was 33.94% in November 2022 compared to the month of November 2021.

By Dr Tilak Fernando –  Ceylon Today– December 20, 2022

There was so much hoo-ha about ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s intention to revert Sri Lanka towards a self-sufficient nation (Sawbagya Dekma). His main aims were to build a healthy nation for future generations by reducing toxic fertilisers and replacing them with carbonic fertilisers. The ex-President received the wrong advice from his so-called  ‘new advisers’ to execute it overnight. He made a horrible decision by listening to his new advisers and ignoring the intellectuals (Viath Maga) who supported him in seeking power (6.9 million) votes. Ultimately, the farmers’ protest, which led to a general public protest (argagalaya), cost him the presidency and he had to leave the country. Meanwhile, a new President had to be appointed according to the Constitution.

There was so much opposition from the farmers, who constantly disagreed with the proposal to an overnight decision to introduce carbonic fertiliser. However, in Sri Lanka, all the opposition parties joined the bandwagon for political gain. Usually, all international opposition parties would be inclined to object whenever their government attempt to tread the wrong path. For example, England can be cited as a typical example in this connection because, during the recent war with ‘The Falkland Islands, the main Opposition Party, the Labour, supported the Conservative Government to the hilt because they always placed the country first before politics. In Sri Lanka, of course, it works in the opposite direction where every action, whether good or bad, the opposition finds faults with the Government.

History of Ceylon

Sri Lanka has been a self-sufficient country from time immemorial. She holds a record in exporting rice and spices to other countries. Merchants arrived from foreign countries to ‘Ceylon’ to buy and export spices and rice. In doing so, the good old ‘Ceylon’ was self-sufficient many years ago. One needs to research the 5th century BC to delve into our ancient history.

Historians believe a ‘Ceylonese’ race descended from an Aryan stock before the foreign invasion took place. At that time, Islanders were called Yaksa Clan, and the whole Island was governed according to a caste system that prevailed. The Mahavamsa also reveals how Prince Vijaya from Western India, with his entourage, arrived in Ceylon with the help of Kuveni and settled down in various parts of the Island.

Paddy cultivation had been the leading agricultural industry in India at the time Prince Vijaya invaded Ceylon. With his ruling experience in India, Prince Vijaya quickly adapted to similar rulership methods in Ceylon and introduced paddy farming.

The King’s adaptation

King Vijaya was very much familiar with the customs and traditions of ‘Ceylon.’ A unique feature was that wherever he established his kingdoms in Ceylon, he always made a Princess from his clan participate with him at Coronation ceremonies. To this effect, he sent presents to King Pandi with gifts of pearls and valuable jewels for princesses. It affected his fortune to a certain extent! It is mentioned in historical records that King Vijaya spent over Rs 200,000 on gems and precious stones (at that time) annually for Indian princesses.

Pious Rulership

King Vijaya led a pious lifestyle and ruled ‘Ceylon’ for thirty-eight years, giving sound advice to his subjects. The King protected and maintained self-sufficiency in ‘Ceylon’ during his reign. He made Tammannawa the Capital City.

The progress of Ceylon had a vivid history in all forms, economically, culturally, and agriculturally. However, it is tragic that after Vijaya’s rulership, a gradual degenerative nature influenced the country over the centuries.

It is impossible to fathom the economic deterioration over two thousand five hundred years of history. It also becomes difficult to analyse various stages of the historical development of Ceylon as G. H. Perera, Christy de Silva, and C. Mendis wrote Ceylon’s history because history is usually a comparison of the present and the past. Several historians have categorised the nation’s history as ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’, based on Kingdoms!

The transport of goods to long distances in Ceylon became impractical in the absence of any modern vehicles and logistic centres that have appeared today. Consequently, villagers were compelled to produce food, which augmented paddy farming.

Paddy cultivation consisted of two stages. Farmers had first to clear the jungle areas, prepare the ground, and separate those into patches, such that each Kanne (period) had access to the water required from the artificial drains which collected rainwater. Paddy farming seemingly became a profession and continued as an industry.

The King

The King was regarded as the sole owner of lands in the country. Therefore, every person who earned out of vegetation from the King’s land had to pay a certain amount as ‘tax’ to the King, This was known as the land tax. This tax was the King’s sole income. The King maintained a list of taxpayers by supporting authentic documentation called Lakam Mitiya. It consisted of details of every cultivated land, the owners of paddy fields and the size of the paddy fields, number of lakes, lochs and waterways that belonged to farmers. The Lakam Mitiya was placed in the Royal Treasury. The Royal assent declared that every official of the King appointed as Adikarm or Vidane was responsible for supervising their allotted areas to supervise and improve agriculture.

The lakes and lochs

After the recent coronavirus pandemic, concentration was centred upon a change in our attitudes and self-sufficiency. In the olden days’ lakes, lochs, and waterways were constructed systematically by ancestral engineers and artisans. We must emulate our ancestors to learn how they expanded irrigation systems elegantly with planning.

In 1910, an American tourist named Brigalow did a tour around Ceylon and commented on old Ceylonese irrigation systems as follows:

Many centuries ago, when the Western civilisation was in a dream stage, what Arians had constructed in Ceylon put the Western engineers to shame. The water management towards cultivation was astonishing. The Ceylon engineers’ work on huge lakes  compared with the Panama Canal appeared as a piece of cake for Asians!”

Ceylon was under British rule as a Colony for nearly one and a half centuries. Up to date, what people see today is only what the British achieved in Ceylon. Except for a few expressways. Fortunately, when the British left Ceylon, ‘locals’ had become intelligent in sorting what was good from the bad!

Foreign points of view

During the colonial era, British citizens did several tours around the country both officially and personally to study the land in and out. The following is an array of exclamations of the Britishers.

In 1815, the Government Agent in Badulla, Bailey, published a worthy report, with the consent of the ‘Government of Ceylon’. It is recorded as follows:

It is impossible to observe massive water projects constructed by Ceylonese engineers in any other part of the world. This is my opinion. Exclamations of Britishers came out as follows: ‘The gigantic irrigation work by Ceylonese engineers is a rare occurrence. It is impossible to imagine how such advanced irrigation engineering had taken place in a country like Ceylon!”

Sir James Emerson Tennent, who arrived in Ceylon as the new Colonial Secretary of Ceylon in 1845, had to exclaim about Ceylonese work in this manner:

Out of all the enormous projects in Ceylon lakes and waterways take prominence in my memory. Such advanced technological work could be compared to the Morris Lake in Egypt. It is one of the grandest engineering marvels of the ancient world. It is mysterious how such advanced engineering works were carried out.”

In recent times a typical example should be seen as the Mahaweli water project (Maduru-Oya) during the 20th century. British engineers used the latest and up-to-date equipment in working in Maduru Oya but could not find the Aniket (the dam constructed across a river to fill and regulate the water supply). Still, fortunately, an ancient sluice emerged accidentally, which was done during the Anuradhapura polonnaruwa era covered with soil and mud.

Records show that the gradient of old lakes and waterways was under one foot over a mile. The slope was only up to six inches per mile in certain areas. It goes to show how skilful the Ceylonese ancestral engineers were.

History further reveals that the old folk did not entirely depend on rain for water, but they found other ways to divert lake water by manually cutting drains for water supply to paddy fields.

Another mystifying occurrence recorded is how the ancestral engineers let water flow from lower levels to higher elevations. For example, Tissa Wewa was situated at a much higher elevation than the Kala Wewa; however, Ceylonese ancestral genii had managed to let the water flow to Tissa Wewa by constructing a 56-mile-long Yoda Wewa, with a gradient of only one inch per mile.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

courtesy:  Historians -G.H.Perera, Christy de Silva, .C. Mendis

MIKE WHITNEY AND PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS Courtesy The Unz Review

Question 1—You think that Putin should have acted more forcefully from the beginning in order to end the war quickly. Is that an accurate assessment of your view on the war? And—if it is—then what do you think is the downside of allowing the conflict to drag on with no end in sight?

Paul Craig Roberts—Yes, you have correctly stated my position. But as my position can seem unAmerican” to the indoctrinated and brainwashed many, those who watch CNN, listen to NPR, and read the New York Times, I am going to provide some of my background before going on with my answer.

I was involved in the 20th century Cold War in many ways: As a Wall Street Journal editor; as an appointee to an endowed chair in the Center for Strategic and International Studies, part of Georgetown University at the time of my appointment, where my colleagues were Henry Kissinger, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor, and James Schlesinger, a Secretary of Defense and CIA director who was one of my professors in graduate school at the University of Virginia; as a member of the Cold War Committee on the Present Danger; and as a member of a secret presidential committee with power to investigate the CIA’s opposition to President Reagan’s plan to end the Cold War.

With a history such as mine, I was surprised when I took an objective position on Russian President Putin’s disavowal of US hegemony, and found myself labeled a Russian dupe/agent” on a website, PropOrNot,” which may have been financed by the US Department of State, the National Endowment for Democracy, or the CIA itself, still harboring old resentments against me for helping President Reagan end the Cold War, which had the potential of reducing the CIA’s budget and power. I still wonder what the CIA might do to me, despite the agency inviting me to address the agency, which I did, and explain why they went wrong in their reasoning.

I will also say that in my articles I am defending truth, not Putin, although Putin is, in my considered opinion, the most honest player, and perhaps the most naive, in the current game that could end in nuclear Armageddon. My purpose is to prevent nuclear Armageddon, not to take sides. I remember well President Reagan’s hatred of those godawful nuclear weapons” and his directive that the purpose was not to win the Cold War but to end it.

Full Storey

“Putin has misread the West (and) if he doesn’t wake up soon, Armageddon is upon us”, by Mike Whitney and Paul Craig Roberts – The Unz Review

.Lakmal Seneviratna

Almost 100% of the people living in Sri Lanka can converse either in Sinhala or in Tamil or both.

I have lived in the lovely country,Wales which has a much smaller population than us about three million people.

It is just over hundred miles away from London.

For the majority of people living in Wales, English is their first and only language.

This was not always so.

Only a couple of centuries ago, Welsh was the language of most of Wales.

However Welsh was introduced in the national curriculum and from 1999 on wards Welsh became compulsory for school children.

This should open the eyes of those clamouring to introduce English as the medium of education for our children across the country.

There seems a campaign in English media by the interested parties to reintroduce English medium for our children.

A  non Sinhalese  female principal of school yesteryear uses her influence in this regard.

Don’t be surprised then if you find a couple of centuries later most of our population would only speak English!

The efforts of Wales today with such a small population living just across English borders  to safeguard their mother tongue is quite praiseworthy.

For an outsider like me it looks quite unnecessary as there is no any visible advantages seen shifting to Welsh medium but a hindarance.

Road signs have come up in Welsh and there is a long term approach to achieving a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

In short we have to safeguard and protect our Sinhala which is one of the most ancient languages as much as or more like Wales.

At a time when the country is facing difficulties to providing basic necesasities how can it afford to sustain an educational system based on providing good English teachers 

rightthrough out the country?

The poor rural children are going to be vastly discriminated with the city based children enjoying the luxury of English teachers.

From my personal point of view I’ve had whole of my primary and secondary education in Sinhala and Sinhala has been our only medium of comminucation at home.

However  it had not been a barrier at all to be employed & work successfully today in the UK.

.Lakmal Seneviratna

Comments

A Reader says;

you may have had no barrier at all to be employed and work successfully in the UK, but in reality, proficiency in the English language is required as a basic qualification to get a job in England. Even Sri Lankan doctors coming for their higher medical qualifications are required to sit for an English proficiency examination before their placement in the hospitals.

By Sana Jamal/Gulf News

Islamabad December 19: One of the world’s oldest Buddhist temples discovered last year in Pakistan has been featured in the ‘Top 10 Discoveries of 2022’ by the renowned Archaeology Magazine.

The temple was uncovered in the town of Barikot in the Swat region of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The rich cultural heritage of Swat attracts many foreign tourists and heritage lovers.

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Archaeologist professor Luca Maria Olivieri of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice led the excavation which was conducted in collaboration with the International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO) and the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums KP Province (DOAM KP) and the Swat Museum.

The structure dates back to the second half of the 2nd century BC or some 2,200 years ago. The site could be even older but only Carbon-14 dating analyses can confirm, according to the official statement. This discovery sheds new light onto the forms of ancient Buddhism and its spread in old Gandhara, adding a piece to the puzzle of what we know about the ancient city” of Barikot.

The other nine top discoveries of 2022 are from Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Mexico, Austria, Russia, Guatemala, Peru and Antarctica.

Top Discovery of 2022

In its top 10 Discoveries of 2022 feature, Archaeology Magazine featured the old temple, saying that the monument dated back to at least as early as the end of the second century BC. This makes it the oldest known Buddhist temple in the region and places its construction firmly during the period when Barikot is known to have been a centre of Buddhist teaching and a sacred pilgrimage site.”

This region in northwestern Pakistan, known as Greater Gandhara, was a crossroads for the exchange of goods and culture among the civilisations of the Middle East, Central Asia and India” from the sixth century BC.

Fascinating Finds

During the 2021 excavation, the archaeologists unveiled a fascinating Buddhist monument. The temple’s ruins stand around ten feet tall and consisted of a ceremonial platform that once housed a stupa or dome often found in Buddhist architecture. The structure included a smaller stupa at the front, a room or cell for monks, a podium or pillar, a staircase, vestibule rooms, and a public courtyard that overlooked a road.

The discovery of a great religious monument created at the time of the Indo-Greek kingdom testifies that this was an important and ancient centre for cult and pilgrimage,” says Olivieri in the statement. At that time, Swat already was a sacred land for Buddhism.”

In addition to the temple, the team unearthed pottery, coins, jewellery, statues, seals, terracotta objects, seals and other ancient artefacts. The temple was likely abandoned in the third century AD following an earthquake, according to experts.

We are now beginning to realize that, in addition to its strategic importance,” Olivieri was quoted as saying Barikot had its own importance for Buddhist communities.”

Besides a religious centre, Gandhara was at the nexus of multiple major imperial expansions, including those of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great, the Mauryan Empire of northern India, and Indo-Greeks from Bactria, or Central Asia, who were in power at the time the newly discovered temple was built” according to the Archaeology Magazine.

Pakistan’s Cultural Heritage

The oldest Buddhist monument in Pakistan is the largest complex of Dharmarajika stupa, locally known as Chir Tope, located about three kilometres from the Taxila Museum. The Dharmarajika complex covers almost the entire period of the history of Buddhism in Taxila from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century CE, according to Taxila Museum.

Pakistan is one of the most ancient lands and has been home to many cultures and civilizations” but its fascinating history and heritage remain less celebrated and little known. Dr Abdul Ghafoor, an archaeologist and director of Islamabad Museum, says Awareness programmes such as educational trips are needed to increase awareness about local heritage buildings to encourage an interest in conservation and bring the public closer to past heritage.” Pakistani archaeologists say they can do a lot better with funds and support from the government to present the country’s glorious past to the world”.

END

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to the proposal furnished by the Minister of Public Security to take necessary steps to introduce three new VISA categories for Colombo Port City.

The new Visa categories would be subject to the recommendations of the Colombo Port City Commission.

Accordingly, the new Visa categories are ‘Investment VISA’ category for investors under residential VISA category, ‘Employment VISA’ for employees and ‘CPC residential property lease vendor’ VISA category for foreigners who reside within the Colombo Port City on lease.

Issuance of VISA and fulfilling other relevant activities to the investors and other relevant parties expected to arrive for various services such as international trade, navel and monitoring, financial, information technology and tourism in the Colombo Port City should be done by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

Courtesy Adaderana

Discussions are underway to establish a new commercial high court within the jurisdiction of the Colombo Port City, President Ranil Wickremesinghe says.

He made this remark addressing an event organized by the Colombo High Court Lawyers’ Association in view of its 25th anniversary. The event was held on Dec. 19.

Dilrook Kannangara

At last the government is doing something about the ice mafia. It is a very lucrative industry and the mafia is fighting back. The mafia cannot fight the police or the STF directly as they know it will be their end. Instead they agitate sections of the people to support them and save their lucrative industry.

Paid supporters of the ice mafia question the usefulness of checking school children’s bags looking for drugs and ask why bigwigs are not arrested. It is a calculated attempt to save ice and heroin bigwigs. Tracing bigwigs starts from the lowest level. School children reveal who sold them narcotics. It is easier to extract this information from school children than adults. This has sent panic waves across the ice mafia.

In addition, school children are most vulnerable for addiction and if addicted, the mafia would have created lifelong users of their narcotics.

The government, police and media must continue to hunt down ice users, ice sellers and ice importers despite social media and other attacks on the operation. Paid supporters of the ice and heroin mafia are behind the move to disrupt it.

As many import industries have collapsed, it is said that some former importers have no resorted to sell ice and heroin instead. They are riled by the police sting.

Tilottama Rani Charulata

There is nothing new about the impact food has on politics. In the old days, many kings practiced food diplomacy in entertaining their guests; from serving the best unique dishes that could have been created only by the royal house’s finest chefs. The tradition continues in the modern political world. Many leaders of political parties and presidents use food diplomacy to strengthen relationships between allies or diffuse tension with the opposition.

Rice seems to have emerged as a favourite diplomatic tool for Myanmar and Bangladesh to build strong ties with their neighbors. The commodity is the staple diet for most people in countries like Indonesia, Thailand and also neighbouring country China, India.

The agricultural sector is one of the most important and most strategic sectors for the survival of a country, without food the country could be in a position of chaos and bankruptcy.

There are so many ways that the Bangladesh government does to maintain the availability of rice, one of the most ways is by importing rice, this import policy reaps a lot of cons because Bangladesh is known as an agricultural country or a country with most of the worker in the agricultural sector, but unfortunately, Bangladesh continues to import rice.

Due to the current state of the world, which is experiencing a global food disaster due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, many nations have closed the export door to maintain their domestic stock.

Rice is a very important commodity in the Bangladeshi people’s lives; there is even a term in Bangladesh that says that Bangladeshi people have not eaten if they have not consumed rice; from this term, it can be seen that rice has become a staple for the Bangladeshi people.

Despite tensions between Myanmar and Bangladesh, Dhaka, which imports about millions of tonnes of rice every year, has placed an import order from Myanmar.

As agriculture and livestock are the backbone of Myanmar’s economy, it earns foreign currencies from rice exports beyond self-sufficiency. The State is supporting the stockholders including farmers and investors in order to bring about business opportunities. According to the Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and Bangladesh regarding rice trade, 200,000 tonnes of white rice from Myanmar will be exported to Bangladesh.  A total of 2,650 tonnes of rice are to be directly shipped by the MV MCL-7 for the first time from the Ayeyawady International Industrial Port AIIP in Pathein Industrial City, Ayeyawady Region to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh and Myanmar officials signed a sales contract on 8 September in order for exporting 200,000 tonnes of Myanmar’s white rice to Bangladesh. About 30,000-50,000 tonnes of rice are scheduled to be sent to Bangladesh from the Pathein Port. On 28 October, the loading of 2,650 tonnes of Emahta rice (5% broken) onto the ship heading for Bangladesh commenced.
Rice exports generate foreign currencies as well as contribute to private sector development. It is the first step of the regional efforts with the first ever direct rice shipment from Pathein city to the external market, with an aim to spur the developments in public and private sectors harmoniously together. The next step is to facilitate the trade in the Pathein Industrial City as the government is looking forward to the city with good prospects. The exports of rice also cause the GDP growth in the region. In addition to rice, corn and sesame are also targeted to be directly exported to foreign markets through the Pathein City.

The loading process of 2,650 tonnes of rice was completed on 31 October and the MV MCL-7 left for Bangladesh through the AIIP. More ships arrived and departed at the Port. It was the direct export of local products from Ayeyawady Region.
Myanmar’s rice exports to the neighbouring countries can enhance the livelihood of the farmers and create business opportunities for the related businesses driven by rice exports. This achievement in Pathein city can also strengthen the tripartite relationship between the State, farmers and entrepreneurs for ensuring the sustainable market and export promotion.

More than 20,000 tonnes of rice have been sent to Bangladesh by up to October 2022, according to the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar. Myanmar and Bangladesh inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on rice trade in September this year.
According to this MoU, Bangladesh has agreed to buy 250,000 tonnes of rice and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from Myanmar between 2022 and 2027. Following the MoU, Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Food and MRF signed a sales contract for 200,000 tonnes of Myanmar’s rice to be exported to Bangladesh. As per the sales contract, Myanmar has shipped over 20,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh up to 31 October 2022.
Furthermore, over 15,000 tonnes of rice were loaded onto the vessel. The remaining over 150,000 tonnes of rice will be exported during the set period.
Since 7 September 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh have engaged in rice trade under the government-to-government pact. That MoU stated that Bangladesh has agreed to buy Myanmar’s white rice (250,000 tonnes) and parboiled rice (50,000) tonnes between 2017 and September 2022.
Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and MRF signed the sales contracts as per the MoU and Myanmar sent 100,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh each in 2017 for the first time and 2021 for the second time, as per the sales contract.

The Ministry of Commerce has granted an export licence for 191,700 tonnes of rice that will be shipped to Bangladesh according to the agreement between the two countries.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the rice trade, 48 companies, under the supervision of the Myanmar Rice Federation, are to export 200,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh with Chinese yuan payment between October 2022 and January 2023.
Following the contract, white rice (ATAP) GPCT Broken STX variety will be delivered. The FOB prices were 2.78856 Yuan per kilogramme and 2788.56 Yuan per tonne.
The Export/Import division of the Trade Department issued over 534 million Yuan worth 42 export licences for 41 companies to convey 191,700 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh.
Myanmar and Bangladesh inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on rice trade in September this year.
According to this MoU, Bangladesh has agreed to buy 250,000 tonnes of white rice and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from Myanmar between 2022 and 2027.
Under the MoU, Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and MRF signed a sales contract for 200,000 tonnes of Myanmar’s white rice to be exported to Bangladesh. As per the sales contract, Myanmar has shipped over 20,000 tonnes of white rice to Bangladesh till 31 October 2022. The remaining will be delivered before the deadline.
Since 7 September 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh have engaged in rice trade under the government-to-government pact. That MoU stated that Bangladesh has agreed to buy Myanmar’s white rice (250,000 tonnes) and parboiled rice (50,000) tonnes between 2017 and September 2022.
Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and MRF signed the sales contracts as per the MoU and Myanmar sent 100,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh each in 2017 for the first time and 2021 for the second time, as per the sales contract.

Myanmar plans to export a total of 200,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh under a G-to-G agreement. The first shipment was directly made by the Ayeyawady International Industrial Port (AIIP) in Pathein of Ayeyawady Region, and 10,565 tonnes of rice out of the targeted 200,000 tonnes has been exported from 2 to 22 November.
The AIIP exported 2,650 tonnes of rice by MV MCL-7 from Ayeya Hintha company on 2 November, 2,615 tonnes by MV MCL-21 on 7 November, 2,650 tonnes by MV MCL-12 on 13 November and 2,650 tonnes by MV MCL-18 on 22 November, 10,565 tonnes of rice in total. A total of 211,300 bags of 50-kilogramme Emahta rice were conveyed from the AIIP to Bangladesh. Efforts are underway to continue exporting the second batch of targeted tonnes of rice.
Deputy Director U Tun Tun from the Consumer Affairs Department commented on the benefits to farmers and businessmen due to direct export that there was an instruction to export 20,000 tonnes of rice as the first batch and 40,000 tonnes of rice as the second batch constantly, totalling 60,000 tonnes.
The direct shipment enhances the economic development of the region and brings advantages to residents and the State. There will be a ship to dock over the next two or three weeks as well, he added.
The respective ministry and export companies are working together to ensure the quality of export rice and fast shipping. Rice mills in Ayeyawady Region are running to export good-quality rice, it is learnt.

Myanmar has conveyed about 110,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh under the government-to-government pact, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar and Bangladesh inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on rice trade in September this year.
According to this MoU, Bangladesh has agreed to buy 250,000 tonnes of white rice and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from Myanmar between 2022 and 2027.
Under the MoU, Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and Myanmar Rice Federation signed a sales contract for 200,000 tonnes of Myanmar’s white rice to be exported to Bangladesh. As per the sales contract, Myanmar has shipped about 110,000 tonnes of white rice to Bangladesh as of 28 November 2022. Furthermore, over 2,000 tonnes of rice are being loaded onto the ship for now. The remaining will be delivered before the deadline.
As per the MoU between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the rice trade, 48 companies, under the supervision of the Myanmar Rice Federation, are to export 200,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh with Chinese yuan payment between October 2022 and January 2023.
Following the contract, white rice (ATAP) GPCT Broken STX variety will be delivered. The FOB prices were 2.78856 Yuan per kilo and 2788.56 Yuan per tonne.
The Export/Import division of the Trade Department issued 42 export licences worth over 534 million Yuan for 41 companies to convey 191,700 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh.
Since 7 September 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh have engaged in rice trade under the government-to-government pact. That MoU stated that Bangladesh has agreed to buy Myanmar’s white rice (250,000 tonnes) and parboiled rice (50,000) tonnes between 2017 and September 2022. Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and MRF signed the sales contracts as per the MoU and Myanmar sent 100,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh each in 2017 for the first time and 2021 for the second time, as per the sales contract.

According to the Government-to-Government pact between Myanmar and Bangladesh, Bangladesh has been purchasing Myanmar’s white rice. The country has shipped rice directly from Pathein Industrial City since 2 November 2022. Between 1 and 8 December, 5,260 tonnes of rice were loaded onto the two ships in the second batch and the MCL-12 ship carrying 2,650 tonnes of rice departed in the morning of 8 December 2022 from the Ayeyawady International Industrial Port AIIP in Pathein Industrial City, Ayeyawady Region to Bangladesh.
Earlier, Myanmar conveyed rice to Bangladesh through Yangon Port and Thilawa terminals. In the first batch from 2 to 22 November 2022, 10,565 tonnes of Aemahta rice (five-per-cent broken) were shipped by four ships directly from Pathein city to Bangladesh. The country delivered 2,610 tonnes of rice by MCL-19 ship on 1 December and 2,650 tonnes of rice by the MCL-12 ship on 8 December in the second batch, totalling 5,260 tonnes. On 7 December, the MCL-18 ship arrived at the   Ayeyawady International Industrial Port and further exports are to be undertaken.
Myanmar’s white rice direct delivery from Ayeyawady Region to Bangladesh accumulated 15,825 tonnes, with 10,565 tonnes in the first batch and 5,260 in the second batch.
The main export item from Pathein Port is rice. If Bangladesh buys corn in addition to rice, there is an adequate supply of corn in the region. Myanmar has indicated readiness to export corn depending on the market demand. The rice shipment for the second batch has finished. We plan to export agricultural products from   Ayeyawady Region to foreign trading partners. For the initial stage, efforts are being made to complete the rice shipment first,” said U Tun Tun, deputy director of the Ayeyawady Region Consumers Affairs Department.
Earlier, the second batch of rice shipment was slated for the second week of December. However, Myanmar managed to ship the rice in the first week to Bangladesh as rice outputs from Ayeyawady Region increased.  All the stakeholders involved in a supply chain including the Ayeyawady Region Government, departments concerned and private businessmen are being exerted to meet the rice demand of Bangladesh to ship them directly from the region. The direct rice shipment from Ayeyawady Region, Myanmar’s rice bowl, to the foreign markets brings about economic opportunities for rice millers, farmers and traders and employment opportunities for local communities.

Samina Akhter

According to the government-to-government pact between Myanmar and Bangladesh, Myanmar has conveyed over 140,000 tonnes of white rice to Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar .
Myanmar and Bangladesh inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on rice trade on 8 September this year.
In line with this MoU, Bangladesh has agreed to buy 250,000 tonnes of white rice and 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from Myanmar yearly between 2022 and 2027.
In accordance with the MoU, Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and Myanmar Rice Federation signed a sales contract for 200,000 tonnes of Myanmar’s white rice to be exported to Bangladesh. As per the sales contract, Myanmar has exported a total of 143,225 tonnes of white rice by 19 ships to Bangladesh as of 12 December 2022. The remaining will be delivered by the deadline.
As per the MoU between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the rice trade, 48 companies, under the supervision of the Myanmar Rice Federation, are to export 200,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh with Chinese yuan payment between October 2022 and January 2023.
Following the contract, white rice (ATAP) GPCT Broken STX variety will be delivered. The FOB prices were 2.78856 Yuan per kilo and 2,788.56 Yuan per tonne.
The Export/Import division of the Trade Department issued 42 export licences worth over 534 million Yuan for 41 companies to convey 191,700 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh.
Since 7 September 2017, Myanmar and Bangladesh have engaged in rice trade under the government-to-government pact. That MoU stated that Bangladesh has agreed to buy Myanmar’s white rice (250,000 tonnes) and parboiled rice (50,000) tonnes yearly between 2017 and September 2022.
Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Food and MRF signed the sales contracts as per the MoU and Myanmar sent 100,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh each in 2017 for the first time and 2021 for the second time, as per the sales contract. 

Myanmar conveyed 5,195.2 tonnes of rohu to Bangladesh through two cross-border posts (Sittway and Maungtaw) in the first half (April-September) of the current financial year 2022-2023, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar shipped 5,180.6 tonnes of rohu worth $6.314 million in the six-month 2021-2022 mini-budget period. The figures showed a small increase of $0.18 million this FY. However, the border trade has come to a halt since September amid transport security concerns, according to the Maungtaw border post.
Rohu is processed in Yangon and they are sent to the Sittway border post by cold-storage trucks or ships after pre-shipment inspection. Then, they are shipped to Bangladesh by motorboats. Myanmar has begun exporting rohu to Bangladesh through Sittway and Maungtaw border posts since 2016.
Agriculture and livestock are the backbones of Myanmar’s economy. Commercial fish farming businesses are found in some townships in Yangon, Bago and Ayeyawady regions. As rohu has grasped market shares in the international markets, farmers have expanded the scope of rohu farming.
Approximately 1,000 tonnes of rohu from Yangon city are delivered to Sittwe and Maungtaw border posts in Rakhine State with Bangladesh. Rohu from the other two cities is also sent to the border via sea route and road transport. Myanmar’s export has been surpassing imports in the cross-border trade with Bangladesh, including exports worth $19.066 million and imports valued at $0.14 million between 1 April and 2 December in the 2022-2023 FY.
Myanmar’s fishery export accounted for 65 per cent and dried groceries constituted 35 per cent of Myanmar’s two border posts with Bangladesh. The fishery products include farmed rohu, hilsa, mackerel, dried anchovy and dried fish powder. Tamarind, onion, ginger, dried jujube powder, jaggery, longyi (sarong) and clothes are also exported.
The values of fishery products to Bangladesh via two border posts stood at $6.318 million (7,093.413 tonnes) in the 2019-2020FY, $4.76 million (5,010.7 tonnes) in the 2020-2021FY and $13.987 million (11,362.97 tonnes) in the 2021-2022 six-month mini-budget period (October-March). 

Myanmar shipped 1,096.500 tonnes of areca nuts to Bangladesh in the first half of the current financial year 2022-2023, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The country delivered 890.345 tonnes of areca nuts during the six months 2021-2022 mini-budget period. The export volume was up by 206.155 tonnes this FY.
Myanmar’s agriculture and livestock businesses are the mainstay of its rural community. The rural people execute areca nut farming as a family business.
The areca nuts are sent to Bangladesh through the Maungtaw border.
Fresh supply of newly harvested areca nuts brought down the prices, according to the Mawlamyine areca nut market.
Last August, the price hit K8,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes). At present, the price of new areca nut is valued at K3,300 per viss only.
Earlier, dried areca nuts were exported to India. That export came to a halt amid security threats triggered by political changes along Kalay-Tamu Road, which connects to the border post with India. As a result of this, traders are heavily relying on the domestic demand, traders said.
The farm owners are keen on selling the soft and moist areca nut fruits rather than dried ones. China primarily buys them.
Myanmar’s areca nut fruit market has become widespread. The commodity depot of areca nut fruits emerged in the producing states and regions (Rakhine, Mon and Kayin states and Taninthayi and Ayeyawady regions).
As a result of this, the dried areca nut production is likely to drop in future and the prices are likely to go up on low inventory and possible foreign demand, traders forecast.

By A. Abdul Aziz, Chairman, Press & Media Desk Ahmasiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.

Ahmadiyya Muslims from number of countries including Sri Lanka are expected to participate in the 127th annual congregation of the community (Jalsa Salana) to be held December 23, 24 and 25  at Qadian in Punjab, India.

In 1891, the founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, had initiated this spiritual event to promote inter-religious peace and harmony. The event will be marked by a ‘world religions’ session in which people from different faiths will suggest solutions to the problems faced by world,

On the last day (Sunday 25^th December 2022), a televised address will be given by worldwide head of Ahmadiyya Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who is based in London. His address will be telecast LIVE from London at 10.30 GMT (Local time 4 p.m.) This address telecast by MTA – Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International, will have simultaneous translations including Tamil, English, French, German Bengali and Arabic to name a few.

The objective of this Convention (Jalsa Salana) is to present pure, pristine and peaceful teachings of Islam. Likewise to call people towards their creator, to develop love, affection and compassion among the creations of God, and promote brotherhood, are also its objectives.

At the convention, religious leaders of the community from around the country will address on the tenets of Islam and its power to promote peace and harmony in the world.

Ahmadi is a sect of Islam which is widely perceived to be different from the mainstream of the religion as they believe that the advent of a Messiah, as promised by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), has already happened. They believe, unlike the mainstream believers of Islam, that the Messiah was incarnated in 1835 in the form of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Under Divine Command, in 1889, Hazeat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad proclaimed himself the awaited Messiah, The followers of Ahmad thus came to be called ‘Ahmadis’ or ‘Ahmadiyyas’.

We are completely same as the other mainstream followers of Islam but for our belief in the advent of a Messiah, which they believe is yet to take place.

In Sri Lanka, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jama’at) was established in 1915 and the Community celebrated its Centenary in the year (2015). To mark the event, the Community launched the Holy Qur’an Sinhala Translation, whereas, this scripture has been translated into 76 world languages by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Islam.

Qadian is the birth-place of Hazrat Mirza  Ghulam Ahmad – Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam.

LOVE FOR ALL: HATRED FOR NONE.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

මේ දේශපාලුවනට ඇත්තටම පිස්සුද?

පසුගිය යහපාලන රජයේ සිමා නිර්ණ කොමිසමේ නිර්දේශ අනුව උතුරු/නැගෙනහිර සිංහල ගම්මාන වලින් සමහරක් එම පළාත් වලින් ගලවා උතුරුමැද පළාතට අනුයුක්ත කල යුතුය. මෙයින් වන්නේ උතුරු/නැගෙනහිර සිංහල ජනගහනය තවත් අඩු විමය. වත්මන් රජය මේ මෝඩ නිර්දේශ ක්‍රියාත්මක නොකරනු ඇතැයි උදක්ම පතමු.

දකුණ අද ජනගහනයෙන්  පිරි ඉතිරි ගොස්ය. මිනිසුන් පර්චස් 2 ඉඩම්වල පවා ගෙවල් සාදා ගනිති. තදබදය ඒ තරමට වැඩිය. අලි-මිනිස් අර්බුදය උච්චම තත්වයට පත්ව ඇත. කැලෑ වලින් පිරි ජන ශුන්‍ය ප්‍රදේශයක් වූ හම්බන්තොටද (ලෙනාඩ් වුල්ෆ්ගේ අති සුන්දර වනාන්තර ගමක් වූ බැද්දෙගමහි සිළිඳු, පුන්චි මැණිකා සහ හින්නිහාමි චරිත මතක්වේ) වරායක්, ගුවන් තොටුපලක්, ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රිඩාංගනයක්, සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවක්, සිනමා ගම්මානයක්, කෘතිම සංචාරක සෆාරි උද්‍යානයක් වැනි දේ බිහිවිම නිසා බෙහෙවින් වෙනස් වී ඇත. (මේ සියල්ලම වාගේ ජාත්‍යාන්තර මට්ටමේ ඒවාය, අධි පොලියට විදේශ ණය ලබා නිම කරන ලද තේරුමක් නැති ව්‍යාපෘතිය). හම්බන්තොට තව තවත් නාගරීකරණය වෙමින් පවතී.

හම්බන්තොට සුන්දරත්වය කෙළසා එය කොන්ක්‍රීට් වනාන්තරයක් බවට පත් කිරීමට මෝඩ දේශපාලනඥයනට උවමනා විය. වරායක් සෑදීමටය කියා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තිබු හොඳම සහ සුන්දරම මුහුදු වෙරළ (කලින් හම්බන්තොට තානායම  අවට පිහිටි ප්‍රදේශය) නැති කර ගත්තෙමු. 

අද හම්බන්තොට වරාය තුල කිනම් දේ (කටයුතු) සිද්ධ වේ දැයි රජයවත් නොදනී. එය රාජ්‍යක් තුල වෙනම ‘රාජ්‍යකි’. 

ගුවන් යානා නොඑන ගුවන් තොටුපොළක් සාදා, ක්‍රිකට් නොගසන ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩා පිටියක් සාදා, චිත්‍රපට නොහදන සිනමා ගමක් සාදා, සම්මන්ත්‍රණ නැති ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවක් සාදා, සංචාරාකයන් නොඑන සෆාරි උද්‍යානයක් සාදා ඩොලර් බිලියන ගණනින් මේ රට දේශපාලුවෝ ණය භරිත කළහ.

හම්බන්තොට වටිනා  කැලෑ කැපීමෙන් එහි සිටි වටිනා අලි, කොටි (දිවි), වලස්, ගෝන, මුවන්, රිලවුන්, මොනරුන් වැනි සතුන් අද යන එන මං නොමැතිව අන්ත අසරණ ව සිටිති. කැලෑ වල ලී දේශපාලුවෝ සහ නිලධාරීන් විකුණා ගත්හ.

මත්තල ගුවන් තොටුපොළට යන මාර්ගයේ මොණරු පැමිණ මෝටර් රථයේ ඉදිරිපස වීදුරුවේ වැදී මැරී වැටෙති (විශේෂයෙන්ම උදේ පාන්දර). වාහනවලට අසුවූ උරග සතුන්ගේ මල සිරුරු වාහනවලටම තැලී පාරේ මැදය. වල් අලි යන එන මං නොමැතිව පාර දෙපසට වී බලා සිටිති. ක්‍රිකට් තරඟ වේලාවල පවා (ඉතා කලාතුරකින් පැවැත්වෙන) වල් අලි ක්‍රීඩාංගනයට පැමිණ ඇති බව වාර්ථා විය.  සුරියවැව ඝන කැලයේ සිටී වඳුරන් අසරණව කෑම සොයා හුංගම. අම්බලන්තොට ටවුමට පවා පැමිනෙත්. සුරියවැව මොණරුන් කෑම සොයා අහංගමට ඉගිලී පැමිණෙත්.

මේ අයගේ අමන වැඩ නිසා රටේ ඉතා වටිනා වනජීවී සම්පත ඉතා ඉක්මනින් ක්ෂය වෙමින් යයි.

මේ ව්‍යාපෘති වලින් මුදල් ගසා ගත් දේශපාලුවෝ සහ උසස් රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරින් අද ආසියාවේ සුපිරි ධනවතුන් බවට පත්වී සිටිති. ඔවුන් අදත් කිසිදු බියක් නොමැතිව රිසිසේ වැජභෙත්. ඔවුන් අදටත් මේ රටේ ප්‍රභූ වරුය.

ගාල්ල වරාය සමහර විට කොළඹ වරයාටත් වඩා පැරණි විය හැක. තොටගමුවේ ශ්‍රී රාහුල හිමියන් සිය පරෙවි සංදේශයේ 84වැනි කවියෙන් (15වන  සියවසේ  අවසන් භාගයේ) ගාලු පුරය වර්ණනා කර තිබුනේ එහි සාප්පුවල මුතු, මැණික්, රත්‍තරන් ප්‍රදර්ශනයට තබා තිබු අයුරින් කෙනෙකුට සිතෙනුයේ මුළු මහත් මුහුදු පත්ලම හරා ඇද්දෝයි කියායි.

පවත්නා ගාලු වරාය සංවර්ධනය කරනු වෙනුවට (එය හම්බන්තොටට වඩා ජාත්‍යාන්තර මුහුදු මාර්ගයට ළඟය), එවක තිබු රජයන්හි ‘සියල්ල හම්බන්තොටය’ යන අමනෝඥ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය යටතේය හම්බන්තොට නව වරායක් ගොඩ නැඟීම ආරම්භ කලේ. ඩොලර් බිලියන් ගණනින් චීනයෙන් ණය ගනු ලැබීය. මේවා ගෙවා දැමීමට තව පරම්පරා 5ට  වත් බැරිය. අද හම්බන්තොට වරායට සිදුවී ඇති දේ ගැන අමුතුවෙන් කිව යුතු නැත.

ඉතා සජීවී ජාත්‍යාන්තර වරායක් වූ ගාල්ල අද මැරී ගොස්ය. එයට විදේශ නැව් නොපැමිණේ.

කාලකණ්නි වරායක් හම්බන්තොට සැදීම නිසා එහි බොහෝ ඉඩම් චීන  ආයෝජකයන් සඳහා ලබා දීමට සිදුවී තිබේ.   ඔවුනට ඉතා පිරිසිඳු ජලය පමණක් අවශ්‍යය යනුවෙන් නඟන මැසිවිලි නිසා සිංහරාජ  කැලය කපා ඇල මාර්ගයක් ඔස්සේ හම්බන්තොටට ජලය සැපයීමේ ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ඇත.  මෙම ලියුම්කරුගේ දැනුම අනුව දැනට මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය නතර වී ඇත. නමුත් මේ නිසා සිංහරාජයට කරන ලද විනාශය එලෙසමය.

ඉතා  අසාර්ථක වූ, උමා ඔය ව්‍යාපෘතියෙන් එකළ රජය අදහස් කලේ අවසානයේදී හම්බන්තොටට ජලය සැපයීමය. මේ වැඩ පටන් ගත්තේ කිසිම විධිමත් පාරිසරික අධ්‍යනයක් නොකරය. උමා ඔය නිසා ඇල්ල, බණ්ඩාරවෙල ප්‍රදේශවල ඉඩම් හිමියනට වූ විශාල හානි දැන් සැවොම දනී.

උමා ඔය වෙනුවෙන් විනාශ කර දමන ලද්දේ කෝටි ගණන් මහජන මුදල් පමණක් නොවේ, ඌවේ ඉතා වටිනා, සශ්‍රීක ඉඩම්ය. උමා ඔයාට ගත් ණය ගෙවා අවසන් කිරීම අනාගත පරපුරණට බාරය (දැනට ඉපදුනු සහ නොඉපදුනු).

උමා ඔය සඳහා නිවාස සහ දෙපළ විශාල පරිහානියක්  කර කෙසේ හෝ උමග බොහෝ දුරට තනා අවසන් කළහ. දැන් මුළු ක්‍රියාන්විතයම නවතා දමා ඇත (හානිය සිදු කර ඉවර වු පසු). සෑදු උමග කන්නද?

(රටේම තිබෙන කළු ගල් කඩා පෝර්ට් සිටියට මුහුද ගොඩ කල පසු, තමන් බලයට පත්වූ පසු එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය නතර කරනවා කියා ඒ දිනවල කරන ලද කීම වැන්නකි මෙහි සිදුවී තිබෙන්නේ).

හම්බන්තොට සහ රටේ අනෙක් නව ව්‍යාපෘති නිසා මේ රටේ, දකුණේද ඇතුළුව,  නව චීන ජනගහනයක් ඇරඹි ඇත. මෙහි ආදීනව ගැන සවිස්තර එලභෙන ලිපියක. 

හම්බන්තොට වරාය වසර 99ට චීනයට බදු දීම ඉතා අමනෝඥ ක්‍රියාවකි. (මේ නිසා රටේස්වෛරිත්වයට සහ භෞමික අඛන්ඩතාවයට හානි සිදුවේ).

99 අවුරුද්දක බද්දක් යනු දේපලක් සින්නකර විකිණීම හා සමානය. බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයෝ චීනයට අයත් හොංකොන් භුමිය ගොඩ නැගුවේ 99 වසරකට එය බදු අර ගෙනය.

වසර 99 ඇවෑමෙන් බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයෝ ගියාක් මෙන් චීනය 2114 දී හම්බන්තොට ආපසු අපට භාර දී ආපසු යාවිද? ඔබම සිතා බලන්න.

2114 දී (අපේ මී මුණුබුරන්ගේ) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව? –  

එවිට එය කෑලි කෑලි වලට කැඩී ගිය රාජ්‍ය සමුහයක් (සිංහල, දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම්) බවට පත් ව තිබිය හැකිද? නැතනම් මුළු රටම ඊලාම් රාජ්‍යක් වී තිබිය හැකිද?

දෙවැන්න සිදුවීමට වඩාත් ඉඩ කඩ වැඩිය.  

මහ ජාතිය වුවත්, ඔවුන් දුර්වල නම්, රටේ සිටින සුළු ජාතියට රාජ්‍ය බලය අල්ලා ගත හැක.                                                                          

උදා: රුවන්ඩාවේ මහ ජාතිය හුටුන්ය-  90% පමණ, නමුත් දැන් ඒ රට පාලනය කරන්නේ 10% පමණ වන ටුට්සින්ය. සදාම් හුසේන් යුගයේ සුළු ජාතිය වූ සුනී මුස්ලිම් වරුන් විසින් (ජනගහනයෙන් 20%ට අඩු ) ඉරාකය පාලනය් කරන ලදී. මහා ජාතිය වන ශිආ මුස්ලිම් වරුන් 75%ට අධික වේ.  

අඩුම තරමින් ඩොලර් බිලියන 5ක් වත් හම්බන්තොට වරාය බදු දිම සඳහා චීනයෙන් ලබා ගත යුතුව තිබුණි, ලබා ගත්තේ ඩොලර් බිලියන 1ක් පමණි.

එය කල හැකිව තිබු දෙයකි. එම වරාය සෑදීමට පමණක් චීනය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඩොලර් බිලියන 2.5ක් හෝ 3ක් පමණ ණය දුන්නා විය හැකියි. හම්බන්තොට චීනයට නැතිවම බැරි වරායකි. එය ඔවුනට සිය දෑස මෙනි. ඔවුන්ගේ නව මුහුදු සේද මාවතට ඔවුන් හම්බන්තොට ද එක් කර ඇත.

හම්බන්තොට වරාය වෙනුවෙන් ඕනෑම ඩොලර් බිලියන ගණනක් වියදම් කිරිමට චීනය  ලෑස්තිය. චීනය යනු සල්ලි  ආකරයකි.

අපි අවස්ථාවෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන නොගත්තෙමු.

රටට සැබැවින් ආදරය කරන දක්ෂ දේශපාලනඥයයෝ රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලනය කරන්නේ එලෙසිනි. තම රටට උපරිමව වාසි ලැබෙන සේ ඔවුහු රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික ගනුදෙනු කරති.

පෝර්ට් සිටිය නවත්වනවා කියා ගොස් එය චීනයට දෙගුණයකින් වැඩි කර දීමට කැමති වුයේද අපේ අයයි.

දැන් රටට (මහජනයාට) අයත් ඉතිරි දේපළ ටිකද විකුණා එයින් ඉදිරියේ කෙටි කාලයක් හෝ ජීවත් වීමට රජය උත්සහ දරයි. අභාග්‍ය නම් මේ දේපළද මොවුන් විකුණනු ඇත්තේ කුණු කොල්ලයටය.

මෙවර දේපළ බොහොමයක් මිලදී ගනු ඇත්තේ දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාවය. ඔවුන් විවිධ විදේශ කොම්පැනි නම් වලින් මේවා කුණු කොල්ලයට මිලදී ගනු ඇත. ඇතැම් විදේශිකයන්ද පැමිණ මිලදී ගනු ඇත. ‘රජ පවුලද’ විවිධ නම් වලින් මිලදී ගනු ඇත.

  ‘සිංහලයා මෝඩයා’ කියා මේ දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාව,  විදේශිකයෝ සහ ‘රජ පවුල’ හොඳට දනිති.

ජීවත්විමට ඉතිරිව ඇති හොඳම ඉඩම්

රටේ ජනතාවට ජීවත්විමට හොඳම ඉඩම් දැන් ඉතිරිව ඇත්තේ උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිරය. මෙය මේ රටේ 1/3 ක භුමි භාගයකි. මුහුදු තීරයෙන් 2/3ක් පමණ වේ. නමුත්, අදත් සිංහල ජාතිකයෙකුට උතුරේ සහ ඇතැම් නැගෙනහිර ඉඩම් කොටසක් මිලදී ගැනීමට, බද්දට ගැනීමට, ගොවිපලක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට නොහැකිය/ඉතා අපහසුය. මේවා මේ රටේ දැවැන්ත, දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්ණය. නමුත් ඒවා ප්‍රශ්ණ නොවන ආකාරයෙන් පෙන්වා රජයන් කටයුතු කරයි. වර්ගවාදී ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් අදහන TNA සහ බෙදුම්වාදී ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලඥයනට අවශ්‍ය ලෙස උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමට රජයන් ඉඩ දීම නොකළ යුත්තකි.

අප රණ විරුවන් තම ජීවත පරදුවට දී සටන් කලේ මුළු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවම සැවොටම භුක්ති විඳිය හැකි තැනක් බවට පත් කිරීමටය. රට යුද්ධයෙන් දිනුවේය. නමුත් සිංහලයාට අදත් උතුර සහ නැගෙනහිර අහිමිය. ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතිකයෙකුට කිලිනොච්චි අත්හැර තංගල්ලේ පදිංචි විමට හැකියාවක් ඇත. මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයෙකුට අක්කරෙයිපත්තු අත්හැර ගම්පහ පදිංචි විය හැක. මෙය රටේ දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම් ජනගහණයන් වර්ධනයට ඉමහත් රුකුලකි. නමුත් තංගල්ලේ හෝ ගම්පහ වෙසෙන සිංහලයෙකුට කිලිනොච්චි හෝ අක්කරෙයිපත්තු ඉඩමක් මිලදී ගෙන ගෙයක් සදා ගැනීමේ හැකියාව නැත.

ඒවාට යම් අවහිරයන් වේ නම් රජයන් ඒවා දුරලිය යුතුය. එය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 14වෙනි වගන්තියෙන් රටවැසියන්ට ලබාදී ඇති අයිතියකි. (freedom of movement).  නියම සන්හිඳියාව වන්නේ සෑම රටවැසියෙකුට තමන් කැමති ඕනෑම පලාතක ජීවත්වීමේ අයිතිය හිමිවිමයි.

සිංහලයා මුහුණ දී ඇති මෙම දරුණු අසාධාරණය දැන් පවත්නා සුළු ජාතීනට බලය බෙදීම සඳහා වූ සර්ව පාක්ෂික සමුළුවේ ( 2022 දෙසැම්බර් – 2023 පෙබරවාරි) මුලික මාතෘකාවක් විය යුතුයි.  නමුත්, කවදාවත් එය එසේ සිදු නොවනු ඇත.

සුමන්තිරන්, විග්නේස්වරන්, සිවාජිලිංගම්  එවන් යෝජනාවක් න්‍යාය පත්‍රයටවත් ඇතුළු කිරීමට ඉඩ නොදෙනු ඇත. ඉදින්, රටේ තිබෙන ප්‍රධානතම ජන වාර්ගික ප්‍රශ්නයක් සාකච්චා නොකරන සර්ව පාක්ෂික සමුළුවකින් ඇති පලය කුමක්ද?

අද කොළඹ

එදා බොරැල්ලේ වනාතමුල්ල, මට්ටක්කුලියේ සමිට්පුර 95% පමණ සිංහල බෞද්ධ වූ විශාල නාගරික ගම්මානයන්ය. පන්සල් වලින් නැඟුන සාධු නාදය, පිරිත් සජ්ජායනා වලින් ඒ ප්‍රදේශ සුපිරිසිඳුවත් විය. අද ඒවායෙහි සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් 50%ක් වත් නැති තරම්ය.

ජාතික නිදහස ගැන කෑ මොර දුන්, ඒ නමින් පක්ෂයක් හදා ගත්,  නිවාස ඇමතිවරයෙක් යටතේ සහශ්‍ර පුර, මුවදොර උයන වැනි යෝධ නාගරික ව්‍යාපෘති වල (7,000- 8,000 එහා ජනයා ජීවත්වෙන) සෑම විටම වාගේ සිංහල, දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම් 1/3 අනුපාතයට බෙදෙන පරිදි ජනයා පදිිංචි කරවනු ලැබිය (33% පමණ වන  බැගින්). ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපතිතුමා මිනිසුන් පදිංචි කලේ රජයේ  පත්වීම් දුන්නේ රටේ ජාතික ජනගහන අනුපාතයටය (72%, 20%, 8% වැනි. එතුමාට නායකත්ව ලක්ෂණ තිබුන නිසා ඔහු සමඟ කිසිවෙක් කට ගැසීමට නොපැමිණියේය. කරුණු යථා තත්ත්වයෙන් තෝරා බේරා දීමේ හැකියාව ඔහුට තිබුණි.

1970 දශකයේදී (1983 පමණ දක්වා), බම්බලපිටිය මහල් නිවාස සංකීර්ණයේ (Bambalapitiya Flats) (මෙය රජය සතු වූ ඉහල මධ්‍යම පංතිකයන් වාසය කරන ඉතා සාර්ථක මහල් නිවාස පද්ධතියකි) 80% පමණ වාසය කලේ සිංහලයන්ය. අද (2022), එහි 80% පමණ වාසය කරන්නේ ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයාය. මෙය ඔවුනට දොසක් කියනවා නොවේ. කොළඹ නගරයේ සිංහලයාට සිදුවී ඇති පසුබෑම පෙන්වීමට උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් පෙන්වනවා පමණි.

කොළඹ නගරය තුල සිංහලයා අද සුළු ජාතියක් බවට පත්වී හමාරද?

එදා (මීට වසර 40 – 50ට පෙර) කොළඹ මහ නගර සභා බල ප්‍රදේශය තුල (කොළඹ 1 – 15)  සිංහලයන් අඩුම තරමින් 65% – 70% ක් සිටින්නට ඇත. අද මේ ගණන 35% හෝ 40% තරම් විය යුතුය. මේවා පිළිබඳව නිවැරදි සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛන සොයා ගැනීමේ අපහසුතා ඇත.

කොළඹ නව සුළු ජාතික ජනාවාස ප්‍රදේශවල බොහෝ නව පල්ලි (ක්‍රිස්තියානි, මුස්ලිම්), හින්දු කෝවිල් ඉදිවී තිබේ. එම සුළු ජනයාගේ අවශ්‍යතාවයනට ඒවා අවශ්‍යය. නමුත්, උතුරේ සිංහලයාට ප්‍රසිද්ධ ස්ථානයක බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාවක් තනා වන්දනාමාන කිරීමට ඇති නිදහසට උතුරේ මහ ඇමති විග්නේස්වරන් විරුද්ධ විය. මධ්‍යම රජයන් එවිට නිහඬ විය.  යාපනය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ බුදු පිළිමයේ සිරස මීට වසර කිහිපයකට පෙර විටින් විට  කඩා දමා තිබු බව යාපනයේ වෙසෙන සිංහල වැසියෙක් මෙම ලියුම්කරු සමඟ පැවසීය.  මෙහි සත්‍ය අසත්‍ය බව මෙම ලිපිකරු නොදනී.

උතුරේ ඉඩම් මිලදී ගැනීමට සිංහලයා යොමු විය යුතුයි; තේසවලාමේ – ඉඩම් පිලිබඳ වූ නිතීය – තදබල  බාධාවක් නොවේ

බොහෝ සිංහලයන් විශ්වාස කරන්නේ තේසවලාමේ  නීතිය නිසා උතුරේ දේපළ මිලදී ගැනීමට හෝ බදු දීමට ඔවුනට නොහැකි බවයි. මෙය ඔවුන් තුල ඇති  වැරදි මතයකි.

තේසවලාමේ  ආඥාපනත  (1947 අංක 59)මගින් ප්‍රතිලාභ ලබන පුද්ගලයන් සිටින්නේ පන්ති දෙකක් පමණි. ඔවුන්ට පමණක් පූර්වයෙන් නිදහස් කිරීමේ අයිතිය (right of pre-emption) නිතීයෙන් ලබා දී ඇත:

• දේපලක සම-හිමිකරුවන් වන පුද්ගලයින්

මෙයින් අදහස් කරන්නේ විෂය ඉඩම නොබෙදුනු  – පුද්ගලයන් දෙදෙනෙකුට හෝ වැඩි දෙනෙකුට හවුල් විය යුතු එකක් බවයි.

දේපල විකිණීමේදී වෙනත් කිසිවෙකුට පෙර එය වෙළඳපල මිලට අනෙකුත් සම හිමිකරුට/කරුවන්ට පිරිනැමිය යුතුවේ.

උතුර ඇතුළු ශ්‍රී  ලංකාවේ ඉඩම්වලින් වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක්  තනි අයිතිය (sole ownership) යටතේ පවතීන අතර මෙම ආඥාපනත ඒවාට  අදාළ නොවේ.

• නීත්‍යානුකූල අන්තිම කැමැත්තක් නොසාදා අයිතිකරු මිය යාමේදී මියගිය පුද්ගලයාගේ උරුමක්කාරයින්ට (ඊළඟ ඥාතීන්ට)  එම දේපල  මිලයට ගැනීමේ  අයිතිය ඇත

උදා: දකුණේ සිංහලයන් ඇතුළු අනෙක් අයට විෂය ඉඩම මිලදී ගත හැක්කේ උරුමක්කාරයින්ට වෙළඳපොල මිලට මිලදී ගැනීම සඳහා වන  යෝජනාව අසාර්ථක වුවහොත් පමණි.

මෙම යෝජනාව උරුමක්කාරයනට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම ඉතාම තාක්ෂණශීලීව කල යුත්තකි. එසේ නොකළහොත් මුළු ක්‍රියාදාමයම බිඳ වැටේ. එවිට සිංහලයන් ඇතුළු ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට ඉඩම මිලදී ගැනීමට හැකි වනු ඇත.

17 වන ශතවර්ෂයේ අග සහ 18 වන සියවසේ මුල් භාගයේදී දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ කොරමැන්ඩල් (තේසවලාමේ) වෙරළ තීරයේ සිට දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සංක්‍රමණය වූ අතර අලුතින් පිහිටුවන ලද දුම්කොළ වතු වල වැඩ කිරීමට ඔවුන් ගෙන්වන ලද්දේ පෘතුගීසින්ගේ අවසාන කාලයේ සහ ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ලන්දේසීන් විසිනි. උතුරේ දෙමළ ජනගහනය මේ නිසා සීග්‍රයෙන් ව්‍යාප්ත විය (එළාර, මාඝ, චෝල යුගයේ පැමිණි ද්‍රවිඩ ආක්‍රමණිකයන් ආපසු දකුණු ඉන්දියාවටම පලවා හැරීමට එකළ සිටී සිංහල රජවරුන් සමත් වුහ).

ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයා මේ රටේ වසර 3,000ට වඩා පැරණියයි යන විග්නේස්වරන්ගේ 14/12/22 දේශනය පුස්සකි. රටේ නැති ප්‍රශ්ණ ඇති කිරීමකි. ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කිරීමකි.

මේ නව ද්‍රවිඩයන් සතුටු කිරීම සඳහා එවකට වූ ලන්දේසි ආණ්ඩුකාර සිමන්ස් මෙම තේසවලාමේ නීති සංග්‍රහය 1706  දී පිළියෙළ කළේය.

ලන්දේසි ජාතික ජෑන් පයිරස් මෙය දෙමළ භාෂාවට පරිවර්තනය කරන ලදී.

මෙම නව’ මලබාර් නීති’ පිළියෙළ කිරීමේදී ලන්දේසීන් යාපනයේ (යාපා පටුනේ) එවකට පැවතී දෙමළ සිරිත් විරිත් සහ තේසවලාමේ විවාහ සහ බුදල් නිතී ද එයට  එකතු කළහ.   

බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාලන සමයේදී මෙම තේසවලාමේ නිතිය දිගටම ක්‍රියාත්මක විය. ශ්‍රීමත් ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් ජොන්ස්ටන් තේසවලාමේ නිතී සංග්‍රහය ඉංග්‍රීසී බසට පරිවර්තනය කරන ලදී. 

මුල් යුගයේ තේසවලාමේ නිතීය යාපනයට පමණක් ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ බවක් පෙනේ. එවිට යාපනය යන වචනය එම නිතී සංග්‍රහයේ ප්‍රධාන යෙදුම වූ අතර උතුරු පළාත යන්න එහි සඳහන් නොවීය.

සිවගනලිංගම් එදිරිව සුන්දරලිංගන් (1988)සුවිශේෂී නඩුවකි. එවකට අගවිනිසුරු ශර්වානන්ද  (ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ) තීන්දු කළේ මෙම නීතිය (තේසවලාමේ) යාපනයට පමණක් නොව මුළු උතුරු පළාතටම අදාළ වන බවයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොතැනක ජීවත් වුවද  උතුරු පළාතේ වැසියෙක් නම් ඔහුට හෝ ඇයට මෙම  නීතිය බලාත්මක වන බව එතුමා වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළේය.

උතුරු පළාත සමඟ සමීප සබඳතාවක් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය බොහෝ කොළඹ පදිංචි දෙමළ ජනයාට (උදා: වැල්ලවත්තේ, මට්ටක්කුලියේ) මෙය ප්‍රතිලාභයක් විය.

මෙය ගරු අධිකරණය මඟින් නව නිතී සැකසීමක් යයි කෙනෙකුට සාර්ථක ලෙස වාද කල හැක.

නිතී සෑදීමේ වරම ඇත්තේ උත්තරීතර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පමණි.

මෑත නඩු නීති තීන්දු,  1988 න් පසු  පෙන්නුම් කරන්නේ සමහර විට තේසවලාමේ  නීතිය චංචල දේපළවලට අදාළ වන බවයි.  මානික්කසාගර් එරෙහිව කන්දසාමි නඩුවෙහි මෝටර් රථයක්  පවා මෙම නිතීයට නතු කරන ලදී.

පුර්ව නිදහස් කිරීමේ අයිතිය (right of pre-emption) දැන් යාබද ඉඩම් හිමියන්ට ද අදාළ වේ.

ඕනෑම නඩු නීතිවල ඇති දෝෂ/විෂමතා ඇත්නම් ඒවා අභිබවා යාමේ බලය ඇත්තේ රජයට පමණි.

නව පනත් සම්මත කිරීමෙන් හෝ පවත්නා පනත් සංශෝධනය කිරීමෙන් දැනට පවත්නා නිතී වල ඇති අඩුපාඩු, අසාධාරණකම් රජයනට වෙනස් කල හැක.

තේසවලාමේ නිතීය අහෝසි  කිරීමට TNA සහ විග්නේස්වරන් එකඟ විය යුතුයි. දැන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බලය බෙදීමේ සර්ව පාක්ෂික සමුළුවේදී ඔවුන් මේ බව ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කිව යුතුයි. නැතනම්, ඔවුන් මේ රටේ සිංහල, මුස්ලිම් සහ ඇතැම් දෙමළ ජනයාට (විශේෂයන්ම වතුකරයේ) ජනයාට ද්‍රෝහී වුවන් ලෙස ඉතිහාසගත වනු ඇත.

අඩුම තරමින් එකී 1988 නඩු තීන්දුවට පෙර පැවති ලන්දේසි/ඉංග්‍රීසි පාලන කාලවල ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ තේසවලාමේ නීතියට නැවත යාමට හෝ ඔවුන් එකඟ විය යුතුය. ගරු ශර්වානන්ද විනිසුරුතුමා විසින් 1988 හඳුන්වා දුන් තේසවලාමේ අර්ථකථනය මහ ජාතිය වන සිංහලයාට සහ සුළු ජාතියක් වන මුස්ලිමානුවනට ඉතා තදබල අසාධාරණයකි.

නැඟෙනහිර පළාතට තේසවලාමේ  නීතිය අදාළ නොවේ. එබැවින් නැගෙනහිර පළාතේ ඕනෑම නිශ්චල දේපලක් සිංහලයන්ට නිදහසේ සහ පහසුවෙන්, කෙලින්ම මිලදී ගත හැකිය. ඔවුන් මඩකලපුවේ, ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ ඉඩම් මිලදී නොගන්නේ මන්ද?

කෙසේ වෙතත්, සීමිත අවස්ථා වලදී හැර – ඉහත තේසවලාමේ අවස්ථා 2, උතුරේ ඉඩම් මිලදී ගැනීමට සිංහලයන්ට විශාල බාධාවක් නොමැති බව මෙම නිතී හැදැරීමේදී පෙනේ. බාධාවක් තිබේ  නම් එය සිංහලයාට පමණක් නොව තේසවලාමේ  ප්‍රතිලාභ නොලබෙන ද්‍රවිඩයනට ද, මුස්ලිමානුවනටද බලපායි.

තේසවලාමේ ලන්දේසීන් ගෙනාවේ සිංහලයන් යාපනයට ඒම වැලක්වීම අරමුණු කර ගෙන නොවේ.

සිංහලයන් යාපනයේ ඕනෑ තරම් ජීවත්ව හිඳ ඇත. දෙවානම්පියතිස්ස රජතුමාගේ ශිලා ලිපි, ගල් කුළුණු උතුරෙන් හමුවී තිබේ. උතුරෙන් හමුවූ බෞද්ධ පුරාවස්තු නැගෙනහිරටත් වඩා වැඩියයි ඇතැම් තතු දත්තෝ පවසත්.

උතුරේ ඇති සියළුම  කෘතීම වැව් සදා ඇත්තේ සිංහල රජවරුන් විසිනි. මන්නාරමේ යෝධ වැව, කිලිනොච්චියේ ඉරණමඩු වැව ධාතුසේන රජුගේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ට  නිර්මාණයි. ගරු සංඝමිත්තා මෙහෙණින් වහන්සේ යාපනයේ දඹකොළ පටුනේ සිට මාන්තොට (වර්තමාන මන්නාරම) හරහා  අනුරාධපුරයට සිය පිරිවර සමඟ පයින් වැඩියේ පණ්ඩුකාභය රජතුමා සහ ඉන් පසු රජවරුන් සෑදු (දේවානම් පියතිස්ස ඇතුළු)  මල්වතු ඔය ආශ්‍රිත මාර්ගයේය.

බෞද්ධ නටඹුන්, ඉපැරණි සිද්ධස්ථාන, කැඩුණු ඉපැරණි බුද්ධ රූප   අදත් මුලතිව්, කිලිනොච්චි, මන්නාරම ආශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශවලින්  හමුවේ.  

ඊනියා දෙමළ රජුන්ගේ එකම ශිලා ලිපියක්, ගල් කුළුණක් හෝ වෙනයම් පුරා විද්‍යාත්මක සාක්ෂියක් උතුරේ හෝ නැගෙනහිර හමුවී නොමැත.

ප්‍රභාකරන් සිංහලුන් උතුරෙන් එලවන විට යාපනයේ අඩු තරමින් සිංහලයෝ 35,000ක් වත් ස්ථිරව සිට ඇත. ඒ අය බොහෝ දෙනෙක් ඉතා සාර්ථක ව්‍යාපාරිකයෝ විය – එළවලු, පලතුරු, මාළු වැනි. සමහරු උතුරේ රැකියා කර යාපනයේ පදිංචි වූ විශ්‍රාමික සිංහලයෝය. දෙමළ අය සමඟ විවාහ වූ සිංහලයෝද වුහ.  මුළු යාපනයටම වාගේ පාන් සැපයුවේ යාපනයේ විසු සිංහල බේකරි හිමියන්ය යන කථාවක් තිබේ,

උතුරේ ඇති අධික රශ්මිය, ජලය හිඟතාවය ආදිය  සමහරවිට විශාල සිංහල ජනාවාස එහි ඉදි නොවීමට හේතු වුවා විය හැක. දකුණේ ඇති වඩා සෞම්‍ය දේශගුණය නිසා (උතුරට සාපේක්ෂව)  සිංහලයෝ එම ප්‍රදේශවල වැඩිපුර රාශි භූත වුවා විය හැක.

සිමන්ස් තුල කිසිදු ජාතිවාදී අදහසක් නොවීය. ඔහුට අවශ්‍ය වුයේ තව තවත් ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයා කොරමැන්ඩල් වලින් යාපනයට ආගමනය කර වීමටය – යාපනයේ සාරවත් දුම්කල වගාවන් සඳහා. ඔවුන් දිරිමත් කිරීමට ඔවුනගේ එම දකුණු ඉන්දීය නිතී කොටස්  හෙතෙම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්ථාපිත කළේය.

නැවතත් – වතුකරයේ ද්‍රවිඩයනට කිසිදු තේසවලාමේ ප්‍රතිලාභයක් හිමි නොවේ.  මේ සම්බන්ධව CWC, NUW මෙම සර්ව පාක්ෂික සමුළුවේදී  හඬ නැඟීය යුතුය.

මේ නිතීය ගෙනෙන විට (1706) උඩරට ද්‍රවිඩයන් (Up Country Tamils) කියා කොටසක් මෙහි නොවීය. ඔවුන්ව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන්වන ලද්දේ (නැවතවරක් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවෙන්) බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයෝය. ඒ 1815 උඩරට ගිවුසුමෙන්ද අනතුරුවය; 1860 න් පමණ පසු මේ දකුණු ඉන්දීය ද්‍රවිඩ ආගමනය විශාල ලෙසින් ඇරඹුණි. 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කෝපි වගාව අසාර්ථක වීමෙන් පසු ඇරඹි තේ වගාව සඳහා (ක්‍රිස්ටිනා විල්සන්  ස්පිට්ල්ගේ ‘The Bitter Berry ‘ නවකථාව හෝ එහි  සිංහල අනුවාදය, අනුල ද සිල්වා ගේ  ‘තිත්ත කෝපි’ නවකථාව කියවන්න) දකුණු ඉන්දියාවෙන් ද්‍රවිඩ සේවකයන් ගෙන්වීම සුදුසු යයි සුද්දන් සිතීය. 1818, 1848 කැරලි නිසා සිංහල – බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය හොඳ හිත පළුදු වී තිබුණි. තවද, නව තේ වතු සඳහා විශාල ප්‍රමාණයෙන් නව සේවකයන් බඳවා ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය ව තිබුණි. දකුණු ඉන්දීය සේවකයන් ඉතා කඩිසර, කීකරු, යටහත්, ඉතා හොඳින් අවනත වන අය බව සුද්දෝ දැන සිටියහ.

නමුත් උඩරට දුම්රිය මාර්ගයේ වැඩ සඳහා ඒ පළාත්වල සිංහලයන් යෙදවිණි. ලෝක ප්‍රසිද්ධ දෙමෝදර ආරුක්කු 9 පාලම සිංහලයන්ගේ නිර්මාණයකි.

පාලම සෑදීමට අවශ්‍ය වානේ සොයා ගැනීමට නොහැකිව එම කාර්යය සුද්දෝ අත් හැර දමා තිබුණි. වානේ භාවිතා නොකර ඉතා ශක්තිමත් ලෙස එම පාලම නිර්මාණය කලේ සිංහලයෝය (මෙම කථාවේ සත්‍ය අසත්‍ය භාවය මෙම ලියුම්කරු නොදනී).

අදත් මෙය ඉතා හොඳින් සිය කාර්යය ඉටු කරයි.

දස දහස් ගණනින් මෙම පාලම බැලීමට යන සංචාරකයනට (විදේශි සහ දේශීය) දුම්රිය පාර අසල තිබෙන එයට  යාමට හරි හැටි පාරක් නැත. පාලමට යන, කැඩුණු පස් ඇති අඩි පාරේ කිසිම මාර්ග සංඥවන් සවිකර නැත. කඳු, පල්ලම් බසිමින්,පාර වරද්දා ගනිමින්, ගම්වසින්ගෙන් පාර අසමින්,  විදේශිකයෝ ඉතා අමාරුවෙන් මේ ස්ථානය සොයා යති.

සවස කළුවර වැටුණු පසු ඒ පැත්තට යෑමට කොහෙත්ම හැකියාවක් නැත. හරි හැටි පාරක් නැති තැන විදුලි ආලෝක පහන් ගැන කුමන කථාද?

සංචාරකයන් නිසා ඇල්ල ප්‍රදේශයට විශාල නව ආදායම් මාර්ග ලැබී තිබේ.

පාලමද දැන් කළු පැහැ වී ගරා වැටී මෙන් ඇත (ව්‍ය්ව්හාත්මකව එය තවම ඉතා හොඳය). පාලමට තීන්ත අලේප කර (අවට පරිසරයට ගැලපෙන සේ) එය දර්ශනීය තත්ත්වයට ගෙන ඒමට, පාලම නරඹන්නන්ට (කෝච්චිය එන තෙක් ඉඳ ගෙන සිටීමට වැනි) බංකු  කිහිපයක් තැනීමට තරම් වත්කමක් ඇල්ල ප්‍රාදේශීය සභාවට නොමැති විය නොහැක.

ලෝකයේ ඉන්ස්ටර්ග්‍රෑම් ‘හොට් ස්පොට්ස්’ අතරින් ඉහලම ස්ථානයක ඇත්තකි මේ දෙමෝදර ආරක්කු 9 පාලම. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක ස්ථාන අතරින් එය 1වෙනි ස්ථානයේ සිටී.

තේ වතු වල වැඩ කිරීම සඳහා මේ ද්‍රවිඩ අය පැමිණියේ ‘උසස් යයි සැලකෙන’ ද්‍රවිඩයන් විසු  කොරමැන්ඩල් වෙරළ තීරයෙන් නොවේ. ඔවුන්ව ගෙන්වන ලද්දේ තමිල්නාඩුවේ දුප්පත් කළාප වලිනි.

මේ අනුව නිවැරදි නීති උපදෙස් ලබාගෙන, තේසවලමේ  නීතියට කෙලින්ම හසු නොවන, උතුරේ ඉඩම් මිලදී ගෙන ඉදිරියට යාමට සිංහලයා කටයුතු කල යුතුවේ.     

TNA සහ අනෙක් ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලනඥයන්

සන්හිඳියාව කර පිට තබා කෑ ගසන TNA සහ අනෙක් ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලනඥයන්   මේ රටේ සිංහලයනට  උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර ඕනෑම තැනක ජීවත්වීමේ අයිතිය ඇති බව ඉතා පැහැදිලිව, ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ ප්‍රකාශ කල යුතුයි. එම කාර්යය සඳහා ඔවුන් තමන්ගේ සහ තම පක්ෂවල  (TNA ඇතුළු) පුර්ණ සහාය ලබා දිය යුතුයි.

උතුරු, නැගෙනහිර පදිංචියට එන සිහලුනට (රාජ්‍ය අනුග්‍රහයෙන් නොව සිය ස්වෝත්සාහයෙන්) ජාතිවාදී නොවී ඔවුනගේ රාජකාරිය නිසි ලෙස ඉටු කරන ලෙසට එම පළාත්වල සේවය කරන රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ට නිර්දේශ නිකුත් කිරීමට එකඟ වන බවට මේ අය ප්‍රතීඥා දිය යුතුයි. 

TNA (සම්බන්ධන්, සුමන්තිරන්, ධර්මලිංගම්, රාසමාකික්කම් වැනි) සහ වෙනත් ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලනඥයන්  (විග්නේස්වරන්, පොන්නම්බලම් වැනි) මේ දේට සර්ව පාක්ෂික සමුළුවේදී එකඟ වුවහොත් සහ එය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා පැහැදිලි මාර්ග සැලැස්මකට ඔවුන් රජය සමඟ අවතීර්ණ වුවහොත් (road map),  ඔවුන් අවංක, සාධාරණ,  සියළුම  ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයනට ගරු කරන ගෞරවනීය දේශපාලනඥයන් යයි හැඳින්වීමට සියළු රට වැසියන්, විශේෂන්ම සිංහලයන් සුදානම් බව ඔවුන් දැන සිටීම වටී. ඔවුන්ගේ පක්ෂ මේ තාක් කල් සිංහලයනට කර  ඇති සියළු ‘පව්’ මේ සත්ක්‍රියාවෙන් සෝදා, පිරිසිඳු කර ගත හැකි වනු ඇත.

අරගලය

සිංහලයාට මේ ප්‍රදේශවලට ගොස් පදිංචි වීමේ අයිතිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් ඔවුනට ලැබී තිබේ.

මෙම මූලික අයිතිය – සිංහලයන්ට උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර නිදහසේ පදිංචි වීමේ අයිතිය – ඉල්ලා අරගලකරුවන් සටන් පාට කිව යුතුය.

එය අරගලයේ ප්‍රධානතම  ඉල්ලීමක් විය යුතුය.

මෙම සාධාරණ ප්‍රතිපත්තියට විරුද්ධ වන්නෝ එක්කෝ එය නොතේරන මෝඩයෝය, නැත්නම් ජාතීවාදීන්ය (racists).  

මතු සම්බන්ධයි ….

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Mihintale Raja Maha Vihara Chief Prelate Valahagunawewa Dhammarathana likened monks in universities to the Taliban.

The Thera made these comments stating that laws should be drafted to limit the number of years students can engage in academic activities at universities.

They can engage in politics, but in a way that doesn’t harm others. Their actions are despised by the people and it reflects badly on the entire Sangha community,” he said. (Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa)

Courtesy Adaderana

China will donate 90 million RMB (5 billion LKR) worth of school uniform material to Sri Lankan students to meet 70% of the whole country’s requirement in 2023, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said.

Accordingly, the first batch of finished material of 3 mln meters of finished material in 38, 000 boxes via 20 containers has already left China for Sri Lanka, according to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo.

In a tweet, the Chinese Embassy has mentioned that the first batch of school uniform donation contains 2374427.5 meters of white shirt/ frock materials, 350031.5 meters of white trouser materials, 150003.5 meters of blue trouser materials and 138134 meters of orange robe materials bringing the total donation into 3012596.5 meters of uniform material.

All together 3012596.5 meters of material, about 10 times the distance from Colombo to Jaffna”, it added.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to discuss with all the Mahanayake Theros to come to an agreement on the academic and administrative affairs of the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the Cabinet has also decided to close the university until then, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

Courtesy Adaderana

As part of ongoing investigations into the murder of prominent businessperson Dinesh Schaffter under mysterious circumstances, authorities have uncovered several new leads.

Following the murder of Janashakthi PLC Director, Dinesh Schafter on the December 15, the Homicide and Organised Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had launched an investigation in collaboration with the Borella police.

https://youtu.be/4Tc5WdU1LQ0

Footage from the CCTV cameras which were inspected by authorities today has established that Mr. Schaffter had travelled alone from his residence to the Borella Public Cemetery, where he was later found tied up inside his car.

Authorities have further informed that the mobile phones of Dinesh Schaffter and Brian Thomas have been handed over for forensic reports.

While investigators have already started to go through the data from the mobile phone of Dinesh Schaffter, it is reported that the examination process will take time due to the large volume of data stored.

However, the Criminal Investigation Department stated that the examination of the data from the mobile phone of Mr. Brian Thomas has still not commenced.

Shenali D Waduge

There are some harsh realities that Sri Lankans need to accept. We have enjoyed nominal independence since 1948 and artificially celebrate that every year. We ignore that we became a republic only in 1972. We have had 18 Prime Ministers & 8 Presidents since 1948. We have had countless manifestos, policies but the country is in massive debt & now declared default. We have had national plans which get overturned or overruled with each government while subversive oppositions are used to derail good initiatives adopted. We have had a business community who are happy to fund any party that brings xmas goodies for them if they win & we have quite a number of people who fail to think of what suits the nation & get agitated only when their comforts zones get affected. In all this a group of people who get no dividends from any government are getting larger and larger because they have been used only to bring parties to power & saddled with debt.

Every govt from post-independence have failed to draw up industrial/manufacturing plans utilizing our resources for development. This would have set the foundation from education to build a proud nation.

The above failure was due to our colonial mindset & lack of desire to think & act in national interest resulting in following a policy of appeasement which over time external forces manipulated to their advantage. This appeasement policy has turned Sri Lanka into a begging state led to believe we cannot do anything on our own without seeking permission from outsiders. From political parties downwards we are playing to the gallery only. Even many among the rich & educated think from the prism of political bias. Their understanding of world politics, history, external subversive ploys & international monetary systems is such that their opinions are always politicized (pro-party friendly or anti-country)

As a result Sri Lanka finds itself in dire stratis.

• Our imports are more than exports
• Our revenues are less than our expenses
• Our creditors are increasing with every loan taken
• On top of this we have issued bonds & we need to make these payments on maturity

This means we have a piling loan deficit to meet.

Any new loans is not only going to add to this loan but is likely to be used to pay off creditors (those we have taken loans from)

Let us not forget we have to also pay interest for the loans taken.

But some are ready with champagne awaiting IMF LOAN.

They have not given thought to what will happen to the loan money

They fail to see that the loan money will first be used to repay past loans with interest

They don’t bother to wonder how much is left for Sri Lankans.

Many are even exploring taking another new loan.

Every new loan means – adding to an already piling number of loans

Is taking loan after loan the answer?

Sri Lankans must realize that our problems will get only worse with every new loan.

So the next question is – what is the solution?

We certainly need to repay loans, but why have we not approached the ISB holders (all investment entities) & see how they can assist Sri Lanka by investing in order for them to recover their money as well as enable Sri Lanka to also make profits.

Instead of privatizing SOEs why not divest a component of the state entity & invite investors to turn it around as a joint effort.

Prior to taking any decision on SOEs – it is advised to know what its core strengths & weaknesses are, what is needed to generate profits & productivity. Having identified this & the costs & other requirements, invite investors to join the project to turn it around sharing profits. In this manner the SOE remains under state ownership & both State & Private Party can make & share profits. This mechanism prevents the entire state entity from being privatized. State must ensure it does not foot bill for loses & proper legal advisors & officials are needed. At present public officials appear more corrupt than politicians.

SOEs can create one separate entity or several for the purpose of divesting a target activity. This is called Special Purpose Vehicle created for a specific business objective. Where there is a collaboration with a private company (PPP model) is it best to follow SPV.

SPV’s can be used 

• Secure assets under SOE
• Security for debt so investors are assured of repayment
• Pool capital to invest to reduce negative financial impact to SOE & its investors
• Create joint ventures

SPVs should not be used to hide company information (financial situation) or company debt (ex Enron misused SPV by transferring stocks to it taking cash in return while the Enron SPV used stock for hedging assets kept on Enron balance sheet using SPV as guarantee. Stocks price dropped & guarantee came into effect, resulting in Enron being unable to pay creditors & investors)

Austerity – not how IMF/WB or CBSL wants

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has widened gap between rich & poor. The rich refuse to cut down any of their comforts & happy to heap burden on the rest. Their voices emerge only when their comforts are impacted as seen during fuel, gas shortages that affected them personally. How other people were living mattered only so long as they too stood in queues – the moment their comforts were provided, not too many bothered about others. It is the middle class that always feels the pinch many as a result of living beyond their means.

Therefore Sri Lanka needs to identify what is essential-non-essential for all first & prioritize at next levels.

The austerity” that is prescribed by IMF/WB & its promoters is not the austerity that should be adopted.

Let us understand why – taking Europe as example.

Countries taking loans & undergoing IMF/WB bailouts after default or bankruptcy have much in common which warrants Third World governments to demand flaws in international financial system be addressed for equitable development & growth.

Governments must stop agreeing to austerity measures but start questioning the likely outcome having studied other nations in similar situation & forecasting what is likely to happen to Sri Lanka!

This role is being completely ignored by Central Bank & decision makers.

When 15-25m Europeans are likely to end up in poverty by 2025 due to austerity measures, why is Sri Lanka’s leaders not concerned about our people? Tight fiscal austerity & tough labor reforms have failed in Europe & elsewhere & is going to land Sri Lanka in a bigger fix.

Economic policy cannot simply be taking loans, repay debt, & take more loans and agree to adopt extreme austerity that lands citizens in extreme poverty. This is where Sri Lanka is heading & not many seem to be reading the alarm bells.

The connotation of austerity & its mechanisms only serve a handful of rich while majority citizens end up poorer. Austerity measures cannot result in more people in poverty, no growth & no development while a handful distribute wealth amongst themselves with rest as servants.

IMF/WB austerity being rolled out has failed in Latin America, Africa, South East Asia & even Europe.

What should be happening is determining austerity for the rich & providing stimulus for the rest. This mechanism will reduce inequalities & start the engine of growth & development. 

A nation’s economy declines when private sector demand-supply engine stops, when investors don’t invest, when consumers lose jobs & have no money to consume.

A government must intervene not to make the conditions worse but to provide a stimulus for the needy / give incentives to economic & social infrastructure that creates jobs to start engine.

We must awake to reality.

Politicians & Officials have declared Sri Lanka as bankrupt. Our growth & development are at a standstill.

International agencies are demanding austerity” – why is it always applicable for only the middle class & poor? – why do IMF/WB never recommend cuts for the rich & ultra rich?

A closer look at the austerity measures applied across continents & their outcome that reversed social gains, increased poverty & destroyed productivity is not the option for Sri Lanka.

Europe’s banking system was saved by a IMF bailout but at what cost to the ordinary Europeans? Their governments reduced spending on education, health & social services. These resulted in dismantling entities that reduced social inequality. Millions are virtually falling into poverty. Do we want this happening in Sri Lanka?

The solution to coming out of an economic crisis is investing in People & giving them Jobs. A Govt must serve interest of public at the minimum level. That is its first duty. A crisis shows imbalance of power & exposes dysfunctional systems as well as inefficiencies & ineffectiveness of people. This means all those who were part of the problem cannot continue to be part of the solution. It will never result in a solution. So if any hard decisions and actions have to be taken, it should be to first remove all those who contributed to the problem & not tax the people who end up footing the bill.

The austerity that seeks to reduce people into further poverty is no restructuring solution. Austerity must be for the rich & stimulus must be given to the Middle Class & Poor.

Shenali D Waduge

By Rohana R. Wasala

Consequent to Siridhamma Thera’s insulting comments on the Dalada and his critical outbursts against the (in his opinion) foolish relic worshiping lay Buddhists, and  against the Ven. Mahanayakes, the Karaka Sangha Sabha of the Malwatte Chapter to which he belongs wrote to him ordering him to tender a formal apology for his outrageous conduct. They warned him that he would be expelled from the nikaya if he failed to obey this ruling. (Threatened excommunication was a serious matter, for had it been imposed, it would have deprived him of the legitimacy of his monkhood and put an end to his credibility and influence among the general Buddhist public. Even at present, most Buddhists do not take him seriously.) Accordingly, the monk went to Kandy and tendered his abject apology to the Ven. Mahanayake Thera on October 1, 2017. I wrote a comment on this event as a sequel to the article you have just read, two weeks later on October 16. Lankaweb carried it the same day, and The Island published it a day or two later. As evident today, however, the anticipated closure has still not been achieved. Following is the piece I wrote about what I then thought was a real settlement of the matter:

Closure of the modern day Arhant case?

By Rohana R. Wasala

The media reported today (October 16, 2017) that Ven. Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thera  (self-styled  Arahant Siri Samanthabhadra)  called on the Ven. Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter and formally apologized to him over his recent offensive conduct, and insulting remarks attacking the Dalada and criticizing the Mahanayake Theras. He said he sincerely regretted it if he knowingly or unknowingly offended those Theras or others by his conduct. The controversial monk, it was revealed, had been written to by the Karaka Sangha Sabha of the Malwatte Chapter of the Siyam Maha Nikaya on October 1^st warning him that he would be excommunicated from the Nikaya if he failed to abide by its ruling, according to which he had to tender this formal apology. The Ven. Mahanayake Thera stressed that this was the second time he was pardoned, and that there would no leniency if he committed the same offence a third time. Ven. Siridhamma Thera pledged to obey those injunctions. The Ven. Mahanayake Thera pardoned him and wished him success in his religious life. However, the Karaka Sangha Sabha members had decided that a verbal apology was not enough, and that a written undertaking had to be made. Accordingly, they produced a written declaration and had  Ven. Siri Dhamma Thera sign it. We offer our respectful thanks to the Ven. Mahanayake Thera and members of the Karaka Sangha Sabha for their compassionate but firm assertion of their legitimate authority in this case. It is too early for one to be sure that Ven. Siridhamma is not going to make a similar volte-face in the future .

Addressing the media soon after, he said that he was not ashamed about making apologies to the Ven. Mahanayake Thera. But there is no doubt that the majority of his followers, fans and well wishers were thoroughly embarrassed that their Arahant Samanthabhadra has all along been an impostor. Arahants are not known to commit mistakes like those that he offered apologies for. He asserted unashamedly that he never uttered any insults against the Dalada or the Ven. Mahanayake Thera of Malwatte (He may be technically true concerning the charge of insulting the Ven. Mahanayake Thera, for he didn’t mention him by name though he made a contextually explicit reference to the Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera). He further said it was a section of the media that took something he said out of context and made a video to implicate him in such an offence. But the truth we know is that it was a video posted on the You Tube by his temple Sirisadaham Ashramaya at Naedimala, Dehiwala; the authenticity of the video is not in question; the voice of the monk is unmistakable. So, for him to deny those allegations is plainly mendacious. He has forfeited all his credibility.

It will be an uphill task for Ven. Pitiduwe Siridhamma Thera to refurbish his image, but he doesn’t have to worry if he is sincere in his efforts to cultivate the special virtues that characterize the disciples of the Buddha that make them worthy of offerings, hospitality, gifts and reverential salutation from the laity. The compassionate teaching of the Buddha will show him the way. He won’t face capital charges of blasphemy or apostasy, for these are non-existent, even unthinkable, in Buddhism, which allows maximum freedom of thought for the individual, and perfect democracy for the Sangha (community), and these are applicable to the laity as well (however, these must be accompanied by wisdom). There is ample opportunity for reform. The traditional lay Buddhist community whom he too harshly denounced as foolish and superstitious over their ritual practices have been very patient with him. But there has been a growing suspicion among the discerning Buddhist public including the monks that he is probably being made use of by some anti-Buddhist subversive agents to create internecine conflicts within the Buddhist establishment.

The wise Malwatte hierarchy seems to have decided on a kind of rehabilitation regimen for Siridhamma Thera under the learned Nayake Theras of the Chapter. The Mahanayake Thera said that luckily for him one of them, Ven. Diviyagaha Yasassi Nayake Thera, was present on that occasion. Those who are concerned about the future of the Buddhasasana in Sri Lanka will be pleased by this. At the same time, it is to be hoped that the legitimate criticisms that Ven. Siridhamma Thera raised, in his role as Arahant Samanthabhadra, both about obvious deviations from the rational pristine teaching of the Buddha found in the present day popular practice of Buddhism and in the unBuddhistic behaviours of some members of the Sanga will also receive serious attention from the Maha Sangha hierarchy and the lay Buddhist leadership of the country.  However, they must be even more mindful of the fact that seeking Nibbana is not the real burning issue before the Sinhalese Buddhist majority community, but the internal and external conspiracies that threaten the very survival of their homeland as a unitary state and their distinguished cultural identity. Because of this, it needs to be impressed on Ven. Siridhamma Thera that though his criticisms of some established Buddhist cultural norms and practices (which  clearly clash with the authentic Buddhist teaching) are valid, the problems have to be addressed in a way that does not render the majority community even more vulnerable to attack and aggression from outside and to internal disharmony and disintegration.

Sugath Kulatunga

A few days back the President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that new laws are expected to be introduced in the future to ensure food security. The President also emphasized the need to obtain accurate data in establishing food security and the nutritional status of the people and stressed that there have been disparities in the data available at the national level and at the regional level which should be rectified immediately. This is crucial as the past experience with lack of precise information had led to wrong decisions and political fiasco. Gentleman Dudley Senanayake who led a previous grow more food campaign earned the sobriquet as Pacha Bahu due to cooked up information fed to him by the bureaucracy. It would be useful if an operations center is established in the office of the President to monitor, evaluate and direct the national campaign.

In the month of May this year the President when he was the Prime Minister predicted a famine in August and proposed an urgent food production drive. The country survived August without a famine. Although six months have passed since the PM’s exhortation to launch a food production drive, food has become scarce, and prices have escalated which means the planned food drive has not accomplished its objectives.

The government has intervened through the Sathosa to manage prices, but the supply has not improved appreciably. Case in point of the abject failure of the present drive is the scarcity and high prices in eggs and chicken. It is a sad situation when egg prices have to be determined before courts. Now the President seems to have shifted from growing food on the ground to grow food by statute.

In the month of May this writer pointed out that there were many such drives previously which fizzled out quickly. This time it has not even started fully. There will be real hunger and it will not be possible to import food stuff from abroad as the food shortage is global. It is imperative to contend with both production of food and making the food available to the consumer at an affordable price.

We have over 20 distinct agroclimatic zones with their distinctive advantages. Of course, the farmers are quite knowledgeable about them. But for optimal results a holistic view pf the problem is imperative. This should take into account not only the production of vegetables and fruits but also animal husbandry and fisheries.

The urgency for addressing the whole basket of food has arisen with the detection of malnutrition in children. It has been disclosed that due to the high price of meat and eggs and non-availability of fish even at a high price, the problem has aggravated.

The large-scale battery type poultry industry has suffered due to short supply of poultry food, especially maize and soya. In deep litter type small scale household poultry, the producers depend more on kitchen refuse as feed. Where it is possible the birds can be allowed free range feeding as well. A ten-by-ten deep litter coop can house 10 hens producing an average of 7 eggs a day for household use and sale to generate some extra income. Deep litter compost is also an excellent fertilizer. Just as done in the groundbreaking campaign in 1960, the government must organize a well-coordinated effort to provide model projects, arrange with Banks for financing, expand incubator capacity, increase the issue of day-old chicks and offer an efficient veterinary service to overcome the shortage of eggs and poultry meat.

Fish has become scarce and expensive and with the fuel shortage it will become worse. Sri Lanka is blessed with numerous inland water bodies where inland fisheries can be developed. Inland fisheries do not require expensive boats and fuel and are located spread throughout the Island. It is reported that the extent of inland waters in major rivers is 375 thousand hectares and the area covered by man-made water bodies exceeds 170,000 ha. in about 10,000 tanks. All these water bodies can be used for inland fisheries. Some of these in isolated locations can be leased out to the private sector.

In fact, the good work done by the Fisheries Dept to establish fingerling nurseries was cut short by a typical fiat of PM Premadasa. But now the scheme has been revived and freshwater fish like Tilapia has become popular. One wonders why catfish which is so abundant in countries like Vietnam and Thailand and is the most consumed freshwater fish in USA is not cultivated in Sri Lanka. Catfish is a hardy fast breeding fish which can survive when water bodies dry up could be bred in mud ponds and tanks to supplement protein needs. It is a hardy fish which can survive drought conditions and is a fast breeder. ” Catfish is the king” of U.S. aquaculture in terms of pounds produced and total value. The fish is raised in earthen ponds filled with well water and fed a floating, grain-based diet. Farmers receive an average price of $0.861 per pound (386.72 Sri Lankan Rupees). If properly managed, catfish should be ready for table after six months.. If they are well fed, they should reach an average of 1kg within the 6months.” In US, Annual harvests in ponds ranged from 4,000 to 7,000 lb per acre.

https://thefishsite.com/articles/us-catfish-industry-enters-a-new-era

Vietnam exports around 2 billion dollars’ worth catfish mainly to USA.

A high protein vegetable that should be promoted is Murunga. Here again it is not known whether there is extensive cultivation of the very productive, short duration hybrid varieties in Sri Lanka. Murunga pods have a high protein content, and the leaves have the highest protein content out of herbs. Hybrid murunga can be harvested after 160 to 170 days after planting and on average, each tree bears 200-225 fruits/year. Pods are 65 to 70 cm long with 6.3 cm girth and 150 g weight. A hybrid varieties can be grown even in pots. Hybrid seeds can be imported from South India.

Food scarcities are already there and will become acute within the next few months. Planting long duration crops will not help to relieve the short-term problem. For instance, Manioc is a12 months crop. If the Dept of Agriculture has not developed short term varieties, it would be useful to be in touch with the International Cassava Center in Nigeria and obtain seeds of recently improved short term varieties.

The Department should also encourage people to cultivate yams. Sri Lanka has so many varieties of yam, but we should also consider introducing the varieties of yams popular in sub–Saharan Africa which also have an export market.

Another product which can be propagated overnight is straw mushroom which can be grown in the field by farmers.

Another food item not made popular in Sri Lanka is the hardy cereal sorghum which is a substitute for maize and is the staple food of 500 million people in 30 countries. It is drought resistant and grow on all types of soil conditions. Sorghum has better nutritional value than rice or maize and is richer in protein, minerals, and vitamins. Sorghum would improve the mix of cereals and enhance food security.

There are 24 agro-ecological regions in the country which represent combination of particular characteristics of climate, relief and soil and farming systems (C.R.Panabokke). This advantage should be made use of to get optimal results. There has to be ground level planning to prevent gluts in the market. Media should give more space for dissemination of information on agriculture. It will be useful to make home gardening a compulsory subject in Schools and promote school gardens. It is also useful to introduce new crops which are popular in other tropical countries.  To add value and to absorb surplus production during periods of gluts processing facilities must be installed.

There is copious lip service given to food security and self-sufficiency in rice. Our self-sufficiency in food is dependent on the increasing import of wheat flour. The free supply of wheat flour/grain under PL 480 changed our food habits and made us addicted to wheat flour products. The problem has got aggravated with the entry of the Prima project where we provide them with the grain which is milled by them and sold to us minus the nutritious wheat germ. Prima investment was perhaps the best investment in Sri Lanka by Singapore on a BOT basis for twenty years. It was to be transferred back to Sri Lanka during the time of CBK. But CBK sold it back to Singapore for a paltry sum making Prima a dominant duopoly in the supply of wheat flour in Sri Lanka. Food security in Sri Lanka of staple cereals is based not only on rice but also on wheat flour which contributes over 40 percent of the food requirement. That is now in the hands of Prima.

In other countries, there are financial awards at the District level to reward the best gardens and farmers. In Thailand, there is a special farmers’ radio service. We can learn from the integrated farming system popular in Thailand where mutually supporting farming of cereals, livestock, poultry and fish and fruit trees is practiced in a limited area. We also had the same mix in the old villages other than in cereals and fishponds.

Scarcities during off season and gluts during good season is a common feature particularly in vegetable like tomatoes and fruits like papaya. It is necessary to increase canning capacities to meet excess production. This will also stabilize prices.

There are at least 15 field officers attached to each Divisional Secretariat. This personnel and Samurdi officers should now be mobilized along with Agricultural staff to launch a comprehensive Food Production Drive involving every household and giving them advise on what could be grown and providing seeds etc.

The journey from the farmgate to the consumer is convoluted and inefficient.

In the past there were two important links between the producer and consumer in the Department of Marketing and the Paddy Marketing Board. In the scurry of the post 77 to cut back state activities the Marketing Department was privatized, and the PMB was scaled down and the chain of paddy stores were handed over to private parties. Well-equipped rice mills of the PMB were abandoned. The result is vegetable and fruit farmers are at the mercy of private sector buyers and in the case of paddy they are exploited by private sector millers. The mafia of large millers today dictate the buying and selling price of rice.  

It has been estimated that the post-harvest loss in fruits and vegetables is over 40 percent which is due mainly to faulty packaging and transport. It is not an uncommon sight to see workmen seated on jute sacks of vegetable transported in lorries. As the transport cost is based on the number of bags they are packed tightly. Some time back, the government made an attempt to encourage farmers and middlemen to use nestable crates but it was abandoned due to lack of interest. One problem in this system is the cost of transporting the empties back to the production areas. This can be eased if the Railway system is used as a collection, packing, and warehousing facility. They have the land and cheap transport. The empties can be transported back in open wagons to the collection centers.

Sri Lanka Railway is vastly underutilized. The track and the stations are hardly used during the night. Railway has plenty of land located centrally but unused.  

Railway land, in the centers of  production of fruits and vegetables could be used with as collection and packing centers of fruits and vegetables. Thereafter the products could be transported in nestable crates to wholesale distribution centers in  consumption areas in wagons with cooling facility. Railway also has the advantage of transporting back the empty crates. It is suggested that the Railway learn from the Assam Rail which uses Reefer wagons to transport perishable products all the way to Calcutta from Assam. GMR is perhaps the biggest landowner of developed land in the country. All that idle land from Dematagoda to Fort could be used for a central wholesale center. It will be a profitable venture for the Railway.

A strategy that has tremendous potential to increase the production of vegetables and fruits is home gardening. It has been promoted in fits and starts but not on a continuous and comprehensive scale. One does need a vast space of land to grow a few papaya trees or a few chili and brinjal plants which can be grown in pots. A papaya tree does not need more than 4 sq meters of space. Of course, it is not dramatic as exhibiting the exorbitant price of a single chili in Parliament. There is no efficient system for the supply of seeds and provide instructions. The present government had a program for the distribution of quality seeds, but it has fizzled out. The well-run seed farms of the Dept. of Agriculture were privatized. Maha Illuppalama Research Station produced many new varieties of seed and crops including a substitute for masoor dhal. We should not only be self-sufficient in seed production but export them. India has a comprehensive network on seed production which we should tap for material and information. It is not understood how we import potatoes from India but do not import Seed potatoes from them, which would be cheaper. There is a seed import mafia which control seed imports which should be dismantled. It is also essential to propagate home preservation techniques of food items among housewives. In the olden days villagers preserved food by sun drying and smoking and pickling. We could introduce large scale pickling of vegetables like the cabbage pickle kimchi of Korea .

The Department of Agriculture has not shown much initiative on research on crops other than on rice where they have done well. Their performance in horticulture has been dismal. Most improved fruit varieties now in Sri Lanka like Rambutan and Guava have been smuggled from Thailand by private enthusiasts.  A new variety of Mango and cavendish type of bananas have been introduced by the private sector. While our authorities have been inactive, I have seen karatha colomban mango in Thailand. The Department of Agriculture could not propagate mushrooms cultivation for the last 60 years while EDB was able to commercialize mushroom in bags within 3 years and is fast spreading now.

There is a strong potential to expand greenhouses systems in urban areas for production of fresh vegetables. Unused low-lying land around urban areas could be leased out to supermarket chains to produce their own supplies.

(It is encouraging to see the recent launch of the World Bank funded Agriculture Modernization Project for Value Chain Development and Productivity Enhancement and Diversification) It should have been the bread-and-butter operation of the

Department since Independence.

Growing more food has multiple benefits. It increases the food supply, reduces malnutrition, and provides productive employment. In addition, it also reduces imports and saves foreign exchange. Home gardening is also an excellent hobby.

If we are to avoid the predicted apocalypse, what we should focus on is innovation, systems improvement, incentives, and application. A legalistic approach is not an adequate solution.

It will be useful for authorities to look at the Agriculture Plan 1958 of Minister Philip Gunawardhana.

Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel (Former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, Former Chair of the Consumer Affairs Authority) and Miss. B.M. Prineetha Bandaranayake AAL

The Egg Producers Association informed the Court of Appeal on December 15^th that they disagree with the Consumer Affairs Authority’s new prices of Rs.42 rupees for a white egg and Rs.44 rupees for a red egg. This was informed during the hearing of a petition filed against a Gazette Notification issued last August setting a control price for eggs. The Court of Appeal granted the petition and scheduled the next hearing for February 6. In addition, the bench decided to issue an interim order suspending the Consumer Services Authority’s Gazette Notice, issued on August 19, setting a control price for eggs, until the hearing on this petition is completed.

Accordingly, now the price of the egg has taken the centre stage in the pricing index where the egg has become the topic of ordinary consumers who are struggling with the high cost of living. It is known that the prices of all consumer items and services have gone up at an unprecedented scale, unbearable to the ordinary citizen. The egg is no exception to this, being the affordable consumer item in place of meat and fish which are expensive and not accessible to ordinary citizens.

The egg is easy to produce by everybody on large and small scales. Nevertheless, like any other consumer item egg remains monopolized by the errand trader who decides the price of the egg despite rules and regulations about consumerism in Sri Lanka based on the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 09 of 2003, enacted on 17^th March 2003 replacing the traditional consumer laws namely Consumer Protection Act No. 37 of 1980, Fair Trading Commission Act No. 57 of 1993 and the Control of Prices Act No. 33 of 1979 which decided and regulated the consumer items, maintenance and the prices based on the pricing of items found in the English Law, which has been the system of governance in Sri Lanka until the introduction of the Consumer Affairs Authority which is a regulatory body with the Chairman and the other regulatory systems.

Now as the system of price control is done away with, it is uncertain who decides the price of the consumer items and the services. It seems that it is regulated by regulatory procedure and in some cases only the Consumer Affairs Authority gives the maximum or minimum prices as shown in Section 18 (1) of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act which stipulates that where the Minister is of opinion that any goods or any service is essential to the life of the community or part thereof, the Minister in consultation with the Authority may by Order published in the Gazette prescribe such goods or such service as specified goods or specified service as the case may be.

In the case of eggs, the Minister has taken steps to introduce indirect price control considering it essential to the citizen’s life. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Trade of Sri Lanka recently, the Minister has advised the officials to grant loans for the egg producers under a minimum interest rate to reduce production costs and has asked the officials to look into the possibility of granting a loan for the egg producers to increase the supply of eggs to the market.  Thus, it appears how complex the situation now is in consumerism and pricing and that the citizen or the consumer is uncertain in all areas and all respects. Unfortunately, the Consumer Affairs Authority Act enacted with a lot of hopes has not been successful in meeting the aspirations of the citizen who is pressed with uncertainty, price increase, and economic downturn.

We had a good system under English Law which was unfortunately replaced by the current law which is smoothly functioning in the UK based on Competition Law and also due to activism of consumer organizations headed by the organization WHICH and other consumer organizations linked worldwide acting as a pleasure group safeguarding the consumer and monitoring the trader. This shows that we require a change of law and the system in parallel with the improvement of the economy which is also a part of the coin. The intention of the legislature was the establishment of the Consumer Affairs Authority for the promotion of effective competition and the protection of consumers for the regulation of internal trade establishment of the Consumer Affairs Council and all matters connected herewith which is the policy of the government to provide for better protection of consumers through the regulation of trade and prices of goods and services and to protect the traders and manufacturers against unfair trade practices, and restrictive trade practices.

Unfortunately, the consumer and the citizen are completely disappointed as the system has not met the requirement of the objectives of the authority to protect consumers against the marketing of goods hazardous to life, protect from unfair trade practices adequate taxes and seek redress against unfair trade practices. The functions of the Consumer Affairs Authority are exhaustive and ambitious, which has not been met, unfortunately by the authority. The main function of the authority is regulation of trade in the interest of the citizen, struggling today from all sectors and all sites. Because the price control system is done away with the trader having the freeway. The egg is only the tip of the iceberg, where the governance, regulation, or those who are responsible are ineffective or unknown of a solution to the issue when the inflation is increasing at an unprecedented rate with the high prices of consumer items, which is almost to be blown off.

Now ordinary citizens have no other way, but to watch with utter disappointment. The organizations, trade unions, consumer associations, and Non-Governmental Organizations are silent with no solutions, no criticism, and no suggestions to the government, also live in the citizens, stray and helpless. Now it is the time to find a solution to this issue of rising prices of consumer items and the economic downturn are two different issues. The government in governance now and before is responsible for economic downturns, which is a collective decision taken by the citizens during successive government changes.

It is known that corruption and bribery are spread like air with no control, and the government in power is indecisive, helpless, and has no control. The decision is with the citizens to change the system. At the same time before changing off any government, at least the current legal structure must be effective and improved to meet the present challenges for which a complete and overall change of legal structure is necessary. We have previously conducted seminars and suggested changes to the Consumer Affairs Authority, which has not been taken into consideration by the government. If no proper steps are taken, an explosion is inevitable At the rate the prices are going up with the inflation.

We as concerned citizens are of the view that this is an area where all the sectors and parties must get together and discuss at lengths aiming at constructive propositions, to be effective and implemented by any government in power all the looking into other areas, such as economy, education, development, and connected areas without looking into any differences, political or otherwise. This current issue of eggs will not last long because of the problems all growing around mobilizing helpless citizens to appoint their leaders. They will not go through this any longer. Therefore, it is time for the governance to take immediate steps to take this egg issue as a warning and remedy it as soon as possible.

manusha media

මේ වසරේදී ශ්‍රි ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුන්කති කාර්යාංශයේ ලියාපදිංචිය ලබා විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත්ව ගිය සංඛ්‍යාව ලක්ෂ 3 ඉක්මවා ගොස් ඇති බවත් ඉතිහාසයේ විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා වැඩිම පිරිසක් විදේශ ගතවූ වසර ලෙස මෙම වසර වාර්තා ගත වන බවත් කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙම අදහස් පළකළේ, ජාත්‍යන්තර සංක්‍රමනික දිනය සැමරීම නිමිත්තෙන් අද දින (12/18) ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ පැවති සැමරුම් උත්සවයකට එක්වෙමිනි.

තමන් කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යවරයා වශයෙන් රාජකාරි ආරම්භ කරන විට එක් මසකට දකුණු කොරියාවේ රැකියා සඳහා පිටව ගිය ප්‍රමාණය 300- 400 අතර ප්‍රමාණයක් වුවත්, තමන් මෙම අමාත්‍යාංශය භාරගත් පසුව එක් මසකට ශ්‍රි ලාංකිකයින් දහසකට ආසන්න පිරිසක් දකුණු කොරියාවේ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගත් බව අමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කලේය. ඒ අනුව අද දිනය වන විට 6120 ක පිරිසක් කොරියාවේ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබේ. එය 2004 වර්ෂයෙන් පසු දකුණු කොරියාව බලා පිටව ගිය ශ්‍රි ලාංකිකයින් පිරිසයි. මේ වසරේ විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා පිටත්ව ගිය පිරිස අතරින් වැඩිම පිරිසක් පිටත්ව ගොස් ඇත්තේ කුවේට් රාජ්‍යයටයි. එය 76,579කි. කටාර් රාජ්‍යයට 69,992 දෙනෙක්ද, සෞදි අරාබිය සඳහා 51,421 දෙනෙකුද පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබේ. ජපානය සඳහා ශ්‍රමිකයින් 4,410 දෙනෙකු පිටත්ව ගොස් ඇත.

විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා ශ්‍රමිකයින් පිටත්කර යැවීම මෙන්ම ඔවුන් උපයන මුදල් නීත්‍යානුකූලව මෙරටට ගෙන්වා ගැනීම සඳහාද පියවර ගෙන ඇති බව අමාත්‍යවරයා කීවේය. විදේශගත ශ්‍රමිකයින් සඳහා වාහන ආනයන බලපත්‍රයක් හඳුන්වාදීම, මනුසවි විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් ක්‍රමය හඳුන්වාදීමට පියවර ගෙන ඇති බවද අමාත්‍යවරයා කීය. විදේශ ගතවන ශ්‍රමිකයාට ගුවන් තොටුපොලේදී පිළිගැනීමක් ලබාදීම සඳහා Hope Gate” නමින් විශේෂ දොරටුවක් විවෘත කළ බවද අමාත්‍යවරයා පැවසීය.

තවද ලබන වසරේ මාර්තු මාසයේ සිට ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් විදේශ ගතකිරීම නතර කරන බවත්, ඒ වෙනුවට ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රමිතියෙන් යුත් උසස් ගෘහපාලන සහකාරවරියන් (Advance House Keepers) රැකියා සඳහා පිටත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා බවත් ප්‍රකාශ කලේය.

විදේශ රැකියාවක නිරතව සිට අපහසුවෙන් උපයාගත් මුදලින් තමන්ගේම ව්‍යාපාර ආරම්භ කර ව්‍යවසායකයින් වශයෙන් ජීවිතය ජයගත් ශ්‍රි ලාංකිකයින් පස් දෙනෙකු ඇගයීමද මෙම අවස්ථාවේදී අමාත්‍යතුමා විසින් සිදුකරන ලදී.

Voice of Migrants (VOM) හා Solidarity Foundation සංවිධාන එක්ව සංවිධානය කළ මෙම අවස්ථාවට කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අතිරේක ලේකම් ප්‍රදීප් හපුතන්ත්‍රි, ශ්‍රි ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ සභාපති මහේන්ද්‍ර කුමාරසිංහ මහතා ඇතුළු සම්භාවනීය අමුත්තන් රැසක් සහභාගි විය.

Factually Explained

Courtesy Business Insider

Representational imageUnsplashSri Lanka and India  will start a passenger ferry service next month between Kankesanthurai port in Jaffna district and Pondicherry, according to media reports. Ports, Shipping, and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva  said arrangements were made to start the ferry service in mid-January next year, Colombo Page reported.

The minister said the Indian government had extended consent for the service, Daily Mirror reported.

“A large number of Indian citizens are engaged in business activities in the Jaffna Peninsula. With such engagement, the new service is expected to generate a large portion of foreign revenue. It will also be of immense convenience for Buddhist pilgrims to India,” the minister said.

The minister said that passenger transport services will also be started from south India to Trincomalee and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

He pointed out that till now no firm conclusion has been reached about starting the ferry service between Thalaimannar and India.

According to the minister, during the discussion with ferry owners, they emphasised that the existing facilities at the ports should be upgraded further to continue providing passenger service.

The minister instructed the Ports, Shipping, and Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary to take immediate steps to develop infrastructure related to customs, immigration and emigration, and other facilities at the Sri Lankan ports according to government procurement procedures.

The vessels under the new service will carry 300 to 400 passengers on a trip that will take about three and half hours between destinations, according to ferry owners.

Ferry owners suggested that they would have to charge USD 60 (About LKR 21,000) per passenger for a single journey and that each passenger could carry up to 100 kg of luggage.