KAMALIKA PIERIS

Instead of keeping the UN as a skeleton organization servicing the needs of member states and acting as a meeting place for them, the western powers have piled more and more tasks on the UN system and then funded these activities, creating a great dependency on them to keep the system going.

The UN now depends on ten to 15 western countries for funds and these countries have turned this dependency to a handle to make the UN further their foreign policies, said analysts.  They use their money to make the UN system do as they wish. There is at least one document that admits that this distorts the priorities of the UN system.

While all member states in the UN rank equally in the UN, the money contribution to the UN varies. Some countries pay large amounts. The dominant country in the UN is at present the USA. It is the largest donor to the United Nations, contributing USD10 billion in 2018, slightly less than one-fifth of the total budget.

USA does not want a strong independent Secretary-General. Boutros Boutros Ghali, Secretary-General from 1992 to December 1996 was denied a second term due to a US veto. He had 14 of 15 votes. Ghali wrote a book where he gave an insider’s view of how the UN and it s Secretary-General were manipulated by the USA. He said US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright demolished Ghali’s authority in the UN and tarnished his image with a smiling face and expressing admiration.

 Sashi Tharoor ran for the post of Secretary-General in 2006 against Ban Ki Moon of South Korea. In the final round, Ban emerged as the only candidate not to be vetoed by the Security Council, while Tharoor received one veto from the United States. U.S. Ambassador was instructed by Secretary of State “We don’t want a strong Secretary-General.” Tharoor was a protégé of the independent minded Kofi Annan and the US was determined to have “No more Kofis.”

In order to retain their jobs the UN officials, starting from the UN Secretary General, have to please these donors. The Secretary General plays a subservient role to the big powers, but asserts his authority to the rest of the member states, said Thalif Deen.

The post of Secretary General is not as   powerful as people seem to think it is, he said. The Secretary General of the UN is not equal in rank to a Head of State. He is subservient to the Heads of state and ambassadors accredited to the UN, said Thalif Deen.   He is simply the CEO of the UN.

When told that the Secretary General had banned smoking in the UN building, Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov lit a cigarette and replied that this building does not belong to the Secretary General it belongs to the member states.  The Nigerian ambassador said the Secretary General is not my boss, I am his boss, reported Thalif Deen. 

Critics point out that the Secretary General of the UN cannot intervene in the internal affairs of   member countries. The UN Charter says that the UN shall not intervene in matters that  were within the domestic jurisdiction except upon a  Security Council finding that       there is a threat to peace, breach o peace or act of aggression.

It is the Security Council, not Secretary General that is granted powers of intervention under Chapter VII of the Charter.   This Chapter too, supports the right of a country to protect itself. Article 51 speaks of the inherent right of self-defense of a member state.

Article 100 of the UN Charter says  in the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization. But today, it  is difficult for the Secretary General to follow this, observed analysts.

 Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General showed an interest in  Eelam . In 1995,   he had had publicly expressed his concern for a potential humanitarian crisis in Jaffna, and the need for a relief operation. This resulted in a sharp reply from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The government  was able to provide the humanitarian assistance needed, the Minister said, and made it clear that Sri Lanka  did not want a large UN presence, let alone direct UN intervention in the matter. The conflict was an internal affair, to be managed by the  Sri Lanka government .

However,  Bank Ki Moon visited Sri Lanka soon after the Eelam War IV ended and issue a joint statement with President Mahinda Rajapaksa .Rajiva Wijesinha and Dayan  Jayatilleka were concerned about the content of this statement. It seemed to allow for future criticism and interference.  Palitha Kohona has also been concerned, but Prasad Kariyawasam said it was ok, reported Rajiva Wijesinha.

thereafter, Ban Ki-moon  appointed a panel of experts to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.^[1] The report, issue in 2011, is  known as Darusman Report.

The Secretary General’s action in appointing this  inquiry  is highly illegitimate and in fact illegal under the UN Charter, specifically, Articles 2(7), 99 and 100, said Darshan Weerasekera. The Darusman Report was not authorized or requested by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the HRC, or any other such body and the report has not been filed officially before these bodies.

Critics observed that the Secretary General would  not have taken this  step unless he was instructed to do so  .he was violating UN regulations. The  aim of this ‘inquiry’ was to legitimize the  accusations against Sri Lanka made by interested parties. This report would serve as the groundwork for the next phase. That phase is unlikely to be through the Security Council, because some of the Security Council members will not support it. So they will probably go thought the Human Rights Council in Geneva, predicted analysts.

Ban KI Moon  visited Sri Lanka again in  September 2016. He spoke of a ‘new union’ for Sri Lanka. But he dodged questions at the press meeting. He uttered platitudes and fled when the awkward question started coming in, reported Chandraprema.

The Darusman Report  had also pointed out that that   there was a need for the UN to review its actions in the Eelam War IV. UN had failed in its task of manipulating the Eelam war. Sri Lanka had won the Eelam war.

The International Resource Panel of the UN found a systemic failure” in the UN response during the final months of Sri Lanka’s conflict, evoking comparisons to UN failures in Rwanda in 1996 and Srebrenica in 1995.

UN Secretary-General then established an Internal Review Panel under Charles Petrie, to review UN actions in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka and after. The Petrie report was asked to find out why the UN failed to stop the Eelam victory, why it failed to create the state of Eelam.

Petrie report said that the UN office in Colombo had insufficient political expertise and experience in armed conflicts, human rights and humanitarian law issues to deal with the extraordinary challenge” that Sri Lanka presented.

 UN action in Sri Lanka was not supported by Member states, said Petrie Report. In the absence of clear Security Council backing, the UN’s actions lacked adequate purpose and direction. Member States failed to provide the Secretariat and UN Country Team in Colombo with the necessary support.

Government of Sri Lanka did not trust the UN and there was friction between the government and the UN.  16 ICRC ships came to the conflict zone to take   people away from the conflict zone at the end of  Eelam War IV in 2009. The Government did not allow United Nations staff on the ships.

The UN’s relationship with the Government was difficult, said Petrie Report, due to the Government stratagem of UN intimidation.” Government of Sri Lanka had used visas to control UN staff critical of the government. The Government declared several Resident Coordinators persona non grata, or made them understand that their visas were at risk of being withdrawn, while also rejecting proposed replacements with previous experience in crisis situations.  The Government refused to give visas when UN tried to send in more staff to deal with the humanitarian aspect of the War, continued Petrie Report.

UN Office for the coordination of humanitarian operations (OCHA) asked for visa for a Britisher, Holdsworth, who was  to  report on matters which  came under the Competent Authority.  This visa was not recommended by the Ministry of Defence.  This Holdsworth was  an employee of the British government who had been released to OCHA.  The next Britisher recommended, was not in humanitarian assistance at all, but was experienced in conflict analysis, security and crisis management, said Rajiva Wijesinha.

In 1995 UNDP had to send back two medical doctors, from UN Volunteers, when the government refused permission for their radios which the UN Volunteers said were essential for their work in the north. The government had also formally complained when the director of UNESCO in Paris, on the basis of an MSF-France press release, condemned the death of schoolchildren in an air raid on the Jaffna peninsula.

Relations between the UN agencies and the government were never rosy. Government of Sri Lanka placed restrictions on UNHCR’s operations in LTTE-controlled areas, including on the passage of fuel and communications equipment.

The events in Sri Lanka highlight the urgent need for the UN to update its strategy for engagement with Member States in situations where civilian populations caught up in the midst of armed conflicts are not protected in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law, said Petrie Report.

The Petrie report was presented to the Secretary General in November 2012, and led to a new policy within the UN called Rights-up-Front. In 2013, in direct response to the Petrie Report, the Secretary-General launched the Human Rights Up Front initiative. He issued a Human Rights Up Front Detailed Action Plan (updated March 2014). This called on the UN system to play a strong role to prevent human rights crises [1] and elevated the role of the Resident Coordinator from mere Head of UNDP to Head of UN operations in Sri Lanka. ( Continued)

[1] Guidance Note on HUMAN RIGHTSfor Resident Coordinators &UN Country Teams  https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/UNDG-Guidance-Note-on-Human-Rights-for-RCs-and-UNCTs-final.pdf

Jubeda Chowdhury from Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a developing country. Its economy is booming day by day. The pattern of crime is changing. Technological advancement has also changed the tendency of crime. One of the major obstacles to Bangladesh’s progress is the volatile law and order situation. In such a situation when every member of the society was suffering from uncertainty, the government planned to form an elite force to make the activities of the police force more dynamic and effective. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has started its journey on March 26, 2004, by participating in the National Independence Day Parade. On 21st June 2004, RAB forces started full operational activities. Soon after birth, it has started to maintain peace, harmony in society. Since its inception, RAB has been working at the risk of its life. The RAB has been fighting terrorism and terrorists and has brought those involved in drug trafficking under the law. Which is one of the goals of the US administration. The United States also aims to curb illegal human trafficking and criminal activity. In fact, RAB is implementing the US policy in Bangladesh.

After the verdict in the seven murder cases in Narayanganj on January 19, 2017, the United States commented that the government of Bangladesh should abolish ‘RAB’. They called the RAB an “in-house death squad” and criticized the government’s role in its involvement in extrajudicial killings, torture, and disappearances. However, 25 members of this force have been convicted for seven murders in Narayanganj. Of them, 16 have been sentenced to death and nine members have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. As a result, there was a tendency to underestimate the various achievements of the RAB achieved in the last 12 years. But the success of this organization is more than just a measure of failure. That is why RAB is an important organization.

RAB’s role in suppressing traditional crimes

Apart from suppressing militants and terrorists, Elite Force RAB is also playing a special role in suppressing traditional crimes. The organization has cracked down on members of the terrorist forces in different parts of the capital. They still maintain that continuity.

According to various media reports, RAB has so far arrested more than 1,200 criminals and rescued more than 1,000 victims in a crackdown on human trafficking. More than 16,000 firearms and more than 2.5 million rounds of ammunition were seized from the area-based terrorists and arms dealers. About 13,000 armed terrorists have been arrested.

More than 500 Sundarbans-centric pirates and bandits have been arrested in the southern part of the country and about 2,000 firearms have been recovered.

A top RAB official said that besides special operations, RAB has been conducting regular operations to unravel the mystery of clue-less murder and catch the fugitive accused. Apart from this, the mobile court of RAB has collected more than two and a half billion rupees in fines of Tk.

Role in Anti-Narcotics drive

According to the information of various law enforcement agencies, drugs are behind many crimes including theft, robbery, smuggling, and use of illegal weapons all over the country including the capital Dhaka. For this reason, RAB has been working in the light of a zero-tolerance policy against drugs since its inception.

On May 3, 2016, on the occasion of the 14th founding anniversary of RAB, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed to intensify zero tolerance for drug eradication. Following this, RAB launched a massive campaign across the country with the slogan ‘Let’s go to war, against drugs’.

According to RAB statistics, they have arrested about 55,000 drug dealers since May 3, 2016. About 1.5 lakh drug dealers have been arrested since its inception. Seized drugs worth three thousand crore rupees.

The company has recovered more than six and a half crore yaba tablets since its inception. In addition, about 800 kg of heroin and more than 3.8 million phencidyl were seized.

RAB officials say that Yaba is now the most used drug in Bangladesh. They are coming to the country by sea from Myanmar. In addition, yaba is constantly entering through the deep areas of the hilly region. RAB is working closely with various law enforcement agencies to close the routes of Yaba entry. At the same time, regular operations are being carried out by listing Yaba traders in and around Cox’s Bazar. The militant attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery (Spanish restaurant) in Gulshan, an elite area of ​​the capital, has brought Bangladesh to the forefront of global discussions. Twenty people, including 17 foreigners, were hacked and shot dead in the attack. Among the dead were nine Italians, six Japanese, and one Indian.

After that hellish attack, the government sat motionlessly. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sat in meetings with the chiefs of all the forces of the country from time to time. Discussions are going on about how to free the country from the curse of militancy.

After lengthy discussions and consultations, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ against militancy and extremism. After the Prime Minister’s announcement, the law enforcement forces took to the field to fight militancy and extremism.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has been seen playing the most effective role in the campaign against militancy since the Holy Artisan attack.

According to RAB sources, the organization has conducted 241 anti-militant operations since the Holy Artisan attack. In these operations, RAB has arrested a total of 809 militants. Twenty-five militants were killed in the gun battle. In addition, 7 militants have so far surrendered to the RAB, which is rare in the history of the world.

It is also learned that since the Holey Artisan attack, there has been one anti-militancy cell in each battalion of RAB. All the activities of the militants are monitored through that cell. RAB also has an anti-militancy app to raise awareness about militancy and extremism.

RAB’s anti-militant campaign:

According to various media reports, On July 17, 2016, RAB raided a militant hideout in Ashulia, Savar. The RAB forced four militants to surrender during the operation.

On September 6, 2016, RAB conducted an operation in the Darussalam area of ​​the capital Mirpur on suspicion of being a militant hideout. At one stage of the operation, the militants in the dormitory exploded. The blast killed six people, including militant Abdullah and his associates.

On April 29 in 2019, RAB raided a house suspected to be a militant hideout in Mohammadpur Basila of the capital. Two militants were killed on the spot in the operation.

RAB raided a suspected militant hideout in the Sonapahar area of ​​Jorarganj in Mirsarai Upazila of Chittagong. Two militants were killed in the blast.

Regarding the RAB’s campaign against militancy, RAB Director General (DG) Benazir Ahmed said, “Not only the campaign, but we are also constantly carrying out various activities with the militants. So far, eight militants have surrendered. But we have shown the way that the militants can also surrender.

“We are trying to prevent the militants from trying to incite people to extremism by misinterpreting the Holy Qur’an and its verses, but we are trying to convey the correct interpretation of various verses of the Holy Qur’an to the people,” he said.

Referring to the people of Bangladesh as peace-loving, Benazir Ahmed said, “People of our country do not like bloody bloodshed. Militancy will never be able to rise fully in our country. Because the people of our country do not like them.

According to the media reports, A 9,000-member RAB force is working to protect human rights. Former RAB intelligence chief Lt. to protect human rights. 27 RAB members including Colonel Azad were martyred. More than a thousand members have been maimed in maintaining law and order and protecting human rights. At different times, more than two thousand members were injured while trying to maintain law and order.

The RAB has been established in the light of some mandates as a lit force. RAB has been established to suppress militancy, drugs, and terrorism. Today, due to the success of RAB’s campaign, militancy and terrorism have come down to zero in the whole country including the North or the South. The Sundarbans has been freed from piracy due to the RAB’s campaign. We have celebrated the third anniversary of the Sundarbans free of pirates this time. No other country in the world has been free of such pirates?

327 members of the 32 bandits had surrendered in the Sundarbans. RAB has also played a humanitarian role in their rehabilitation. In addition to government grants, RAB has provided houses and cows, and goats to bring them back to normal life. The pirates of Banshkhali have also been brought back to normal life. RAB was working to bring the surrendered militants back to normalcy. In very few countries in the world, law enforcement agencies like RAB have shown humanity.

Today, the contribution of ‘RAB’ in the socio-economic development of the country and in maintaining law and order in times of crisis is undeniable. Because the unstable law and order situation is one of the obstacles to our progress. This includes maintaining law and order, recovering illegal weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other such harmful substances, arresting armed terrorists, assisting other law enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order, providing intelligence on any crime and criminals, according to government orders. RAB is always engaged in performing other government duties.

In fact, RAB has received many accolades, including the Freedom Award for its bravery, heroic role, and public service in maintaining law and order. RAB officials have received various medals. Bangladesh today is on the highway of development. Therefore, the biggest need is to maintain the overall law and order situation in the country. Thus, we can say that RAB has been playing a significant role in maintaining peace law, harmony in our society in Bangladesh.

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.

 Q   If we study the democratic political history of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna we don’t see a major change in the voter turnout for your party. The only time your party was successful was in 2004 with the Chandrika Bandaranaike government. There you proved that your party could work without corruption. Don’t you think that it is better for you to form an alliance with other parties. 

A:We don’t believe we could find solution to the existing issues by forming a government with any of these major parties. If you consider constitutionally and traditionally you think that the power is vested with the President, Cabinet, Parliament and the judiciary. But they don’t have the power. What this Executive Presidential system created is that the power is outside the real power. Under Chandrika Bandaranaike it was she, Mano Tittawella, Tara de Mel and Balapatabendi and under Mahinda’s regime it was Mahinda, Lalith Weeratunga, Basil Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Then came Ranil Wickremesinghe’s regime and even President Maithripala was not there. Ranil, Malik, Paskaralingam and Charitha Ratwatte. And during the present regime it is Gotabaya, Basil and the others. So, there is no power in the traditional system. These ministers even don’t know what is happening within the cabinet. The ministers themselves say that cabinet papers have been passed without signing them. We hear the cry of ministers. So, we don’t want to be a part of this government. We need to start a new political culture for this country and we need to start a new journey. 

(These hooligans were subordinates of all the above referenced governments except the present government.  He is ridiculing the Ministers of these government but he had been such a silly Minister in the Chandrika government blindly consenting to all her illogical and illegal activities) 

Q   We saw some MPs have openely praised your political party and your political journey. Do you think there will be other politicians in these two main camps joining you?

A:We are open about our political journey and our activities. Our journey is open to anyone who is ready to join. At the moment our main target is to strengthen the Jathika Janabalawegaya. 

(That means he has shrugged off even his party of birth JVP and now wants to strengthen the outfit called Jathika Jana Balawegaya, the policies of which no one knows)

 Q   We saw that one of the main reasons for you to leave the Chandrika Bandarnaike’s government was your stance on the ethnic problem. Thereafter you openly supported the war against the LTTE and defeating it militarily. But the ethnic problem has not been solved. What is your solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka.?

A: We believe that all citizens with the religion they believe in, language they speak and the culture they represent should be treated equally. There are no second citizens. And if they believe that they want to be a part of this government they should be equal stakeholders of the governance. We believe that both Tamils and Muslims have been deceived promising them many things. We really believe that they are equal and we believe that there should be freedom for every religion and respect every culture and guaranteeing the ability to communicate with your own language in administration and accept them equally and they should be able to go forward in the development of their respective areas and  be stakeholders of power. We believe that they should not be deceived. 

(Sheer humbug.  It was Somawansa/Weerawansa JVP that supported the efforts to rid the country from LTTE atrocities.  This braggart and his clan following the revisionist path of Bopage has become intensively Tamil servile, which was clearly evident through the banners, and speeches of their 2018 joint May Day rally held in Jaffna.  Don’t con about your support for Muslims and Christians.  When you were shamelessly whitewashing Sirisena/Ranil destructive government (SRDG), and when riots against Muslims were unleashed evidently by a powerful Minister of that government, the ultra-racist, pseudo-Buddhist, chauvinist Champika Ranawaka in places like Gintota, Amparas, Digana, Katugastota, Akurana etc, you and your coterie remained in stoic silence for reasons you only knows,  It was alleged that the outfit called Mahason Balawegaya which was active in Digana was created and sustained by racist Ranawaka. 

As regards  the Easter Sunday Carnage you never condemned that horrendous incident though more than 250 innocent Christians were killed, and several hundred were injured.  It may because two of the suicide bombers were sons of your National List nominee, the business tycoon and your financier Ibrahim Mohamed)

 Q   When you say sharing power are you talking about a power sharing through a federal system?

A: We don’t believe in a federal system, but we should guarantee their equal political rights and rights to hold power. Without that we cannot solve this problem through a federal system.

(If that is so, why you did not oppose moves of Ranil/Sumanthiran/Jayampathy trio to adopt a new federal and secular constitution?  Was it because that you considered anything and everything done by Ranil as perfect and flawless?) 

“We proposed a common mechanism. But the rulers didn’t do that because within a common mechanism they would not have been able to rob from the antigen tests, bringing down Sri Lankans from abroad, or even buying necessary medicine and medical equipment. So there is no use in talking about a common mechanism with these leaders”

 (This was an indirect criticism of the Corona Control Programme.  It seems that you and all your coterie has taken proper precaution and protection against the pandemic and that was why you none of your coterie got affected by the pandemic when members of all other political parties got infected and some even died. )

 Q   What about the Provincial Council system?

A Provincial Council system is now in the Constitutional system. PC system is a failed system of administration and it is a failure in the national crisis also. But if those people believe that it is their right, hence the PC system has to exist. 

(Shame! Now shamelessly state that the PC system has to exist.  It was your original party JVP that was highly critical about PC system, boycotted the first PC elections, killed candidates of other parties who submitted nominations for the first PC election, organized anti-PC demonstrations throughout the country, and even mustered students to boycott their class and participate in demonstrations to shout the slogan Palaath Saba Apita Epa” which many students unknowing the meaning of the slogan shouted as Palaa Baba Apita Epa”.  More than all these things your party killed the popular politician Vijaya Kumaratunga because he was an ardent supporter of PCs)

 Q   Regarding the war there are allegations that a large number of human lives were lost. As a result every year the country is facing a challenge from UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Do you think the decision the JVP took to support the war was right? 

A:During the war we should have thought more seriously about the difficulties faced by the ordinary Tamil civilians. As a Left-wing political movement, we failed in our responsibilities. We have a self-analysis on that. 

(Here, he clearly exposes his Tamil servile policies.  Why he is only concerned about Tamil victims alleged to have been killed by the security forces when his much adored LTTE too killed Tamils.  It is said that the Tamils killed by the LTTE was more than the Tamils happened to get killed by the security forces.  Why he and his hooligans are least concerned about the destitute family members Sinhalese and Muslims inhumanly killed by the LTTE barbarians at Habarana, Kattankudy, Polonnaruwa, Aranthalawa,Anuradhapura and other numerous places and family members of 600 Police officers who surrendered to them on the instructions stupid President R.Premadasa?)

 Q   Do you think that you should make a public aplogy for what happened?

A:We are an active political movement. During a war the military and the government are working as one unit. In a war ordinary civilians get caught in the crossfires and there are loss of lives. As a left-wing orgnisation we should have thought about this more seriously and we should have been more cautious. We admit that our failure to concentrate on these issues were shortcomings on our part.

(Again, yanne koheda, Malle pol response.  Even thousand apologies will not erase the atrocities caused by them to the educated youth, other people and the state properties of this country)

 Q   Will set aside the two major parties. But if the political parties representing the minorities want to join with you then what is your view?

A:We are open. We believe that we should be united not only with the Sinhala leaders, but Tamils and Muslims too. We need a power comprising all leaders. We want to build a power that we share equally with the Tamils and the Muslims. It is not only the traditional leaders, but there could be new leaders from these communities. It is not a power that forces them from above. So, we are openly inviting the Tamils and the Muslims.

We don’t believe in a Sinhala only power and administration. Our admiration will be a one that represents all communities.

(It seems that you envisage that through an anti-Sinhala rhetoric you can attract other communities to your fold.  That will never happen.  Everyone knows who you are and what you are for.)

 Q   Anyway there is a belief among the people that the JVP is a Sinhala Buddhist organization? Or is this the impression that some of your former leaders who left you portrayed?

A:We cannot take responsibility of those who left us. But there could be a justifiable suspicion about our orgnaization, but we stood on the side of the truth when attacks on Muslim minorities took place in Aluthgama, Digana and other places and even during the Easter Sunday attacks.

(Don’t keep on thinking that y ou can change your colours from time to time like a chameleon and with your double-tomhued talks you can fool the people.  No need to elaborate further as a detailed response has been given in response to an earlier Q&A in this same article)

We stood by justice. We know many leaders stood based on their votes, but we were not worried about votes. We would stand by any ethnic community which is being suppressed. 
We don’t get involved in racist politics, but we hold the flag of ethnic harmony. We are a party against racial disharmony. 

(Even after cause massive destructions to the country you and your hooligans claimed that you stood by justice.  Even after carrying out foreign and NGO servile activities to oust Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa due to your Mahinda phobiua you said you stood by justice, and then after carrying all shameless dhobi work for SRDG you said you stood by justice and you still proudly commemorate April 5^th November 112^th as Great Heroes Days without denouncing the colossal harm caused to this country by those events.  This is how you claim to stand by justice)

 Q   If you take the numbers it is the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that has the third most seats in the parliament. Are you ready to work with a political alliance like that? 

 A:Our doors are open. We are ready to work with the political parties that represent the North and East of Sri Lanka.

Don’t have unrealistic day dreams.  No party in this country will come forward to affiliate with you or enter into an alliance with you, including the parties in the North with separatist and self-rule agendas.  Everyone knows that this is the last time you will be in the parliament and by next election there will be no JVP/JJB OR NPP.  You have also realized this fact and that was why you are in a haste and you advocated at the beginning of this article the need to change the government through street demonstrations without waiting for the next election)

Meanwhile, after shamelessly making anti-Sinhala rhetoric this braggart has told the Meera Srinivasan, the Colombo correspondent of the Indian daily the Hindu that

JVP and must fight together and UPDATED: NOVEMBER 22, 2018 09:44 IST

apart from working with the TNA on key manoeuvres in the parliament they have potential for long-term collaboration. He has said that both parties have a duty to fight together and protect their rights.  Dissanayake has said that the he is proposing a novel partnership between the two parties representing the country’s two main ethnic groups.

He has further stated that the JVP and the TNA represent sections in the country’s south and north that have suffered most due to the actions of the repressive State. Commenting further, her has disclosed that as a political party, the JVP has undergone major ideological shifts in the five decades since its founding and two groups had broken away and formed away new parties. Since 2014, under his leadership the JVP is giving renewed vigour, visibility and expression.

Commenting on the 2015 presidential elections, he has said that the JVP was at the forefront of opposition to Mr. Rajapaksa and has described Mr. Mashinda Rajapaksa as a racist, and has explained that the JVP, with its six MPs and along with the TNA that has 14 MPs now, proved a formidable force in the 225-member Parliament. He has further stated that people in the north and east have been suffering the most since the end of the war, and both parties need a united struggle by the people of the south and north on the basis of democracy and equality and has added that they are working for social transformation in this country and the Northern Province must also be part of that transformation as they have a common cause and they are committed to working together.

Speaking about economic matters, Dissanayake has said the neither Mr. Rajapaksa nor Mr. Wickremesinghe worked with the TNA with integrity” but exploited the TNA and its engagement for their own interests”

Based on the above statements time is now ripe to Sinhala people together with other communities to rise against this formidable enemy of theirs and Sri Lanka)

ආචාර්ය සුදත් ගුණසේකර, මහනුවර

ආණ්ඩුකරම විවස්ථාවේ කුමක් සඳහන් උනත් අද රටේ පවතින ආර්තික අමාරුකම් නිසා ජනාධිපති වරයා වශයෙන් ඔබම වරෙක ජාතියට පොරුන්දුවූ පරිදි අමාත්යවරුන් 15 දෙනකුගේ ඇමති මන්ඩලයක් පත්කිරීමේ පොරුන්දුව ඉටුකිරීමට දැන් හොදම අවස්තාව උදාවී අත.හැබෙයි එම ඇමති මන්ඩලයට සින්හලයාගේ ප්‍රධාන ආහාරය බත බවවත් නොදන්නා අලුත්ගමගේ කෘශිකර්ම ඇමති වශයෙන් පත් නොකෙරීමටද එසේම සීන්හල බෞධ්දයෙකුපමණක්  අධිකරණ ඇමති වශයෙන් පත් කිරීමටද වගබලාගනු ඇතැයි මම සිතමි.
 එසේ කළ විට ජනාධිපති වරයාට සහ අගමැතිවරයාට නියෝජ්ය ඇමතිවරුන් නැති නිසා නියෝජ්ය ඇමතිවරුන් පත්කල යුත්තේ 13 ක් පමණි. එසේ කලහොත් මුලු ඇමතිසන්ක්යාව 28 කට සීමා කලහැක
එසේ වූ විට දැනට විවිධ නම්වලින් සිටින ඇමතිවරුන් සන්ක්යාවෙන් 42 ක්ම අඩුවෙයි. එසේ වූවිට ඇමතිවරුන් 42 ක් වෙනුවෙන් සහ එම අමාත්යාන්ශ වෙනුවෙන් නාස්තිකරන  කෝටි ගානක් මහජන මුදල්ද ඉතිරිවෙනවා නේද.
අනෙක් අතින් ඇමතිවරුන් 70 ක් සිටියා කියල,  ඒ ඒ අය සැපසම්පත් විදිම, ඔවුන්ගේ පසුම්බි පිරීම හැර ඔවුන්ගෙන් මේ රටට හා ජනතාවට සිදුවෙලා තියෙන සේවය මොකක්ද?

 ජනාධිපති තුමනි 73 වසරක් පුරා බලලෝබී ආත්මාර්තකාමී දේශපාලුවන් විසින් විනාශ කොට හපයක් බවට පත් කොට ඇති  මේ රටේ යලිත් ගොඩගෙන අලුත් දේශපාලන සන්ස්කෘතියක් ආරම්ඹ්හ කිරීමට තියෙන හොන්දම අවස්ථාව දැන් උදාවී ඇත. ඔබතුමාගේ තනතුර පාර්ලිමේන්තුව හරහා ලැබුණු එකක් නොවේ. 2019 වසරේදී ජනාධිපතිවරනයෙන් 69 ලක්ශයක් මේ රටේ සින්හල බෞධ්දයින්ගේ චන්දයෙන් මේ රටේ ජනාධිපති වශයෙන් පත්වුණු  දුටුගැමුනු රජුන්ගේ සෙන්පතියෙකු වශයෙන් සිටි   මේ රට හා සින්හල ජාතියත්  බුදු සසුනත් ආරක්ශා කිරීම සන්දහා  පැමිනි ගෝටඉම්බර මිස, 1948 න් පසු සුද්දන් විසින් ඔවුන්ගේ ඊනියා පාර්ලිමේන්තු ක්‍රමය නමති  මලපුඩුවෙන් උපන් දේශපාලකයකු නොවේ කියා මේ සින්හල ජාතියට පෙන්වා දීමට ඇති ස්වර්ණමය අවස්ථාවයි මේ.2025 වසරේදී පැවැත්වෙන ජනාධිපති වරනයේදිද ඔබතුමාගේ ජයග්‍රහානය සහතික කිරීම සදහා මේ තිරණයම  සෑහෙනු ඇත

Dilrook Kannangara

Complete bunkum! W R is a pro-Indian. He is distracting people from the Indian takeover of SL’s petroleum sector (IOC), Trinco oil tank farm and the land, Colombo Port East terminal, etc. None of these bring dollars but takes out SL’s dollars.

There is no foreign loan on Hambantota port. Colombo south port terminal and coal power plant make profit and earn foreign currency/save foreign currency. The total of other loans is very small.

The debt trap is not due to any Chinese debt. It is due to International Sovereign Bonds and SL Development Bonds. For instance, total amount of bilateral loans (China, India, Japan, USA, etc.) to be repaid in 2022 is about $0.8 billion whereas total bonds and their interest to be repaid is $5.5 billion.

Indian RAW agent WR is doing what his master wants.

The context of John Kotelawala’s speech (he was called the ass of Bandung – Bandung Booruwa) thereafter is he was seen pro-China after the 1952 rubber-rice deal. This was his foolish attempt to be seen otherwise. He was knighted for a reason – to serve the British monarch! That’s what the fool did.

පාත්ෆයින්ඩර්

රුපියල සහ ඩොලර් හි`ගය ගැන ආණ්ඩුව කතා කරන නමුත් මෙම ගැටළු වල බරපතලකම තේරුම් ගත යුතු අතර මෙරට ජාතික ආදායම අනුව සලකනවිට එයින් සියයට එකසිය හැට ගුණයකප්‍රමාණයක් ණය පොලිය හා රාජ්‍ය සේවක වැටුප් ස`දහා පමණක් ගෙවන්නට සිදුවී අති බව දැනට ප්‍රකාශ වී තිඛෙන විස්මිත දත්ත වලින් පිලිබිඹු කරන බව දේශීය බුද්ධි පර්යේෂණ ආයතයක් වන පාත්ෆයින්ඩර් පදනම නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටී.

රජයේ ණය සේවා පොලී ගෙවීම් රජයේ වාර්ෂික ආදායමෙන් සියයට 70 කි. මෙය ලෝකයේ ඉහළම අගය විය හැකිය. රජයේ සේවක වැටුප් සහ විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් ස`දහා පිරිවැය රජයේ සමස්ථ ආදායමෙන් සියයට 90 ඉක්මවා තිබේ. රජය ගෙවිය යුතු ණය පොලිය සහ වැටුප්/විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් යන අංශවල වියදම  මෙරට ජාතික ආදායමෙන් සියයට 160 කට වඩා වැඩි මට්ටමකට පැමිණ ඇති අතරඑය ඉතාම තීරණාත්මක බව පාත්ෆයින්ඩර් පදනම පෙන්වා දෙයි. මෙම තත්ත්වයට මුහුණදීම ස`දහා රජයට ලබා ගෙන ඇති දේශීය ශ=ද්ධ ණය ප්‍රමාණය 2021 නොවැම්බර් වන විට රැපියල් ටිලියන 1.1 කි. මෙම විශාල ණය ආපසු පියවන විට කරන මුදල් මුද්‍රණය අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම උද්ධමනය ඉහළ නංවන බරපතල හේතුවක් වන බව ද පාත්ෆයින්ඩර් පදනම නිකුත් කළ නිවේදනයෙහි දැක්වේ.

දැනට පවතින විදේශ විනිමය හි`ගය අනුව ආනයන ඉහළ නැංවීමක් කළහොත්  ගෙවුම් ශේෂයට බලපෑම් කරන අතර විනිමය අනුපාතයෙහි ස්ථායීතාවය අඩාල කරනු ඇත. ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගත් කල, 2021 නොවැම්බර් මාසය අවසන් වන විට මහ බැංකුවේ ශුද්ධ විදේශ වත්කම් ඩොලර් බිලියන 1.6 ක හි`ගයක් වාර්තා කර තිබුණි. සමස්ත බැංකු පද්ධතියේ ශුද්ධ විදේශ වත්කම් ඩොලර් බිලියන 4.1 ක රින අගයක පවතින බව ද ස`දහන් කරයි. මෙම තත්ත්වය ම`ගහැරවීම සඳහා ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමක් සහ විදේශ මුදල් ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීම සඳහා තීරණාත්මක, විප්ලවීය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වලට අවතීර්ණවීම වැදගත් වනු ඇති බව ද පාත්ෆයින්ඩර් පදනම කියා සිටී. අභ්‍යන්තර ණය හා විදේශ විනිමය හි`ගය යන මෙම ද්විත්ව ගැටළු වල ප්‍රතිවිපාක දැනටමත් දරුණු වී ඇත. උද්ධමනය ඉහළ නැග තිබේ. අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය මිල වැඩිවීම තියුණුය. කිරි ආහාර ඇතුළු එදිනෙදා ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍යවල හි`ගයක් ඇති වී තිබේ. ඉන්ධන, ගෑස්, සහ ඖෂධ ඇතුළු දේ ආනයනයට ද බාධා ඇත. විදේශ මුදල් සම්බන්ධ නීති විරෝධී  වෙළඳපොලක් ද පවතී. ව්‍යාපාර කඩා වැටී ජීවනෝපාය අහිමි වී ඇත.

බාහිර ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීම, තාවකාලික සංචිත ස`දහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමග සාකච්ඡා කිරීම සහ විදේශ විනිමය පරතරය සපුරාලීම සඳහා වහාම හවුල්කාර මූල්‍ය පහසුකම් බලමුලු ගැන්වීම අවශ්‍ය බව මෙහි දී පෙන්වා දී ඇත. එය ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමක් සහ ආර්ථිකය ස්ථාවර කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය හුස්ම ගැනීමේ අවකාශයක් ලබා දෙනු ඇත. බහුපාර්ශ්වික ආයතනවලින් සහ සමහර ද්විපාර්ශ්වික පරිත්‍යාගශීලීන්ගෙන් සෘජුවම විනිමය සංචිත උපයා ගැනීම මගින් තාවකාලිකඋත්ප්‍රේරණ වැඩපිළිවෙළකට හැකි වනු ඇති අතර සහ ආයෝජකයින් සහ ණය හිමියන් අතර විශ්වාසය වැඩි කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවයක් ද ඇති බව නිවේදනය අවධාරණය කරයි.

 
ඉන්දියාවෙන් ලැඛෙන සහන පැකේජය දිරිගන්වන සුළු ආරම්භයකි. කෙසේ වෙතත්, එය මාස දෙකක කාලයක ආනයන ස`දහා ප්‍රමාණවත්ය. ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමක් සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍යඅරමුදලේ වැඩසටහනක්  සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට ගතවන කාලය තුළ අවශ්‍ය වන සහාය මූල්‍ය ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා ජපානය ඇතුළු අනෙකුත් මිත්‍ර රටවල සහාය රට තුළ පවතින අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වය පාලනය කරන්නට ඉවහල් වනු ඇති බව ද පාත්ෆයින්ඩර් පදනම දක්වයි.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 9: The Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on Sunday sought from the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, a restructuring of the repayment of Sri Lanka’s debts to China and also a concessional trade-credit scheme to enable the island nation to import goods from China to make industries here operate smoothly.

The rescheduling of the repayment of loans would provide great relief” to Sri Lanka, which had been badly hit by the  COVID-19 pandemic, the President said.  

China accounts for a little over 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s foreign debts.

Since Sri Lanka had reopened to foreign tourists, the Lankan President requested Wang to assist in attracting Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka under the bio-bubble concept.

Wang, on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka which ended on Sunday, had called on the Sri Lankan President at the Presidential Secretariat.

The Presidential press release did not indicate what Wang said about the President’s specific requests. But Wang did say that he was pleased to be back in Sri Lanka and that China would always support Sri Lanka as a close friend.”

It is significant that Wan’s delegation had the Vice Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency, Zhang Maoyu.

Minister Wang Yi extended an invitation to the President to visit China and expressed confidence that the visit would take place in the near future.   

The press release further said that while warmly welcoming the Chinese Foreign Minister, President Rajapaksa recalled the historic close ties between the two countries. He extended his sincere gratitude on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and its people to the Chinese Foreign Minister for the material and financial assistance received from China in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lankan President also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Government for its continued support in providing Sinopharm vaccines to Sri Lanka in order to successfully implement the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong, Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming, Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao, Vice Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency Zhang Maoyu, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage were also present.

The Chinese Foreign Minister called on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and visited the Colombo Port City Marina with the Lankan President. The Colombo Port City has been constructed by a Chinese company.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 8 (newsin.asia): A long and determined effort by the political parties of the Tamil-speaking communities in Sri Lanka to jointly write  to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his good offices to persuade Colombo to address the political grievances of the Tamils and the Muslims, has failed.

The Indian Origin Tamil (IOT) parties led by Mano Ganeshan and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) led by Rauff Hakeem, had objected to certain demands and references in the draft saying that these were inimical to their political interests.

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The IOT parties said that the demand for federalism could not be put forward by them because such a demand would alienate the majority Sinhalese, among whom they have to live and seek their political fortune. The IOT parties also have a tradition of becoming part of the government of the day and, therefore, they cannot take very antagonistic positions.  

IOT leader Mano Ganeshan said that the majority Sinhalese community would dub the demand for federalism as anti-national and use it to oppose all the demands of the Tamils. The IOT parties wanted the letter to the Indian PM to focus on the retention and full implementation of the 13^th. Amendment (13A) of the Sri Lankan constitution. The 13A appears to be headed for repeal or a severe pruning if the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government goes ahead with its plan to draft a new constitution for Sri Lanka. The 13A gives the Sri Lankan Provinces a modicum of powers under a Unitary constitution. Even these limited powers might be taken away. 

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The IOT believe that India’s help could be legitimately sought only for the retention and full implementation of the 13 A because it flowed from the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 signed by the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then Sri Lankan President J.R.Jayewardene in July 1987.

However, the reference to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in the letter irked the SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem who said that the Accord had manifestly neglected the Muslims. Also, the Muslims of the Eastern Province would not support the merger of the Northern and Eastern Province (as the Tamils have been demanding) because merger would make the Muslims a minority in a united province and further exacerbate their minority status in Sri Lanka as a whole.

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Not wanting to dilute the draft letter to the Indian PM as per the  wishes of the IOT and the SLMC, the parties of the Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka, the home of the Sri Lankan Tamils, decided to sign the letter dated December 29, 2021. These parties plan to hand it over to the Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay next Tuesday or Wednesday.

The North-East parties that signed the letter are: the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), which is the largest and the oldest Tamil party, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) led by Selvam Adaikalanathan, the Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA) led by N.Srikantha; the Peoples’ Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) led by D.Siddharthan;  the Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) led by Suresh Premachandran; and the Tamil Peoples’ National Alliance (TPNA) led by C.V.Wigneswaran.

The Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam kept out of the entire exercise because it felt that the 13A has no place even as a temporary arrangement or as the first step towards a federal structure. The only solution the Tamils should fight seek is full federalism, according to the TNPF.

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ITAK leader M.A.Sumanthiran said that the IOT parties could pursue their case separately with the Indian Prime Minister. Mano Ganeshan said that the IOT will lend outside support” for the North Eastern Tamils’ cause but will not sign the letter.

Explaining his position, IOT leader Mao Ganeshan said that the original idea was to present a common front with a common set of demands, in other words a Common Minimum Program” (CMP) to the Indian PM. The CMP could not include divisive issues, he said. He also felt that the letter to the PM should be short and not 13 pages. There is no need to recall the past in detail as these are known to the Indian Establishment very well, Ganeshan added.  

He was at pains to stress that at the moment, there is a crisis situation as regards the 13A and this has to be met urgently with the good offices of the Indian Prime Minister. Therefore, the one and only focus of the letter should have been the 13A.

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On the contrary, the ITAK strongly felt that the demands of the Tamils could not be confined to the 13A, which, in any case, could only be a starting point. The case of federalism could not be lost sight of at any point of time.

Therefore, the letter said that the Tamil-speaking people remain committed to a political solution based on a federal structure that recognizes their legitimate aspirations.”

Calling for the unification of the Tamil Homeland, the letter pointed out that the Tamil speaking peoples have always been the majority in the North and East of Sri Lanka, thereby calling for a merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces.

On the 13A, the letter said that it was introduced into a Unitary constitution making the exercise one of decentralization instead of devolution.” It pointed out that since 1987, the North-Eastern Tamil parties have been moving towards a federal structure in their campaigns.

Giving the landmarks, the letter said that at the Oslo peace conference between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, the Sri Lankan delegate, G.L.Peiris, had said that the two parties had agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination in areas of historical habitation of the Tamil-speaking people, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka.” When Mahinda Rajapaksa was President, he told the visiting Indian Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna, that Sri Lanka would go beyond the 13A”. And in an address to the Sri Lankan parliament, Indian Prime Minister Modi had said that he was a firm believer in cooperative federalism.”

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It was against this background the letter to the Indian PM, finalized by the North Eastern Tamil parties, sought Indian help to make the Sri Lankan government fully implement the provisions of the 13A and implement the clear commitments made by all sections of government from 1987 onwards.”

A leader of one of the North Eastern Tamil parties said that the IOT parties had agreed” to the draft letter initially and that it was the North-East-based Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) that was putting spokes in the wheel. The ITAK did not want the credit for getting the various parties together to go to the Tamil Elam Liberation Organization (TELO) leader Selvam Adaikalanathan.

The source also said that Mano Ganeshan finally opted out because of the insults hurled at the IOT community by an ITAK leader, S.Sritharan.  The source also alleged that ITAK leader M.A.Sumanthiran had continuously worked to scuttle the bid to write to the Indian PM because he felt that the Indians would not help the Sri Lankan Tamils to achieve their goals and that it would be better to seek American help.

But IOT leaders said that their information was that the US would concentrate on wartime accountability and human rights issues, and leave the other political issues to India, the regional power.           

END

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

වත්මන් රජය ගෙන යන දුර්වල ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිපත්තීන් හේතුවෙන් යම් හෙයකින් රට බංකොලොත් භාවයට පත් වුවහොත්රටේ ආයෝජනය කොට ඇති විදේශිකයන් ඔවුන්ගේ එම ආයෝජන රැගෙන වෙනත් රටවලට යාමේ අවදානමක් මතුව තිබෙන බවත් එසේ වුවහොත් රටේ ආර්ථිකයට එයත් මරු පහරක් වනු ඇති බව පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යා අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ මහාචාර්ය ආනන්ද මහතා පවසයි.

ජනතාවාදී බුද්ධි මණ්ඩපය මැයින් මහනුවර ඩෙවෝන් හෝටලයේ දී පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවක දී ඒ බව අවධාරණය කළ මහාචාර්යවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේ පැවසීය .

මේ වර්ෂයේ දී සමස්ත ණය ඩොලර් මිලියන 7000ක් ගෙවන්න තිබෙනවා . ජනවාරි මාසයේ පමණක් ඩොලර් මිලියන 699 ක්ගෙවන්න තිබෙනවා. මේ ණය ගෙවීම කල් දාන්න බැහැ . ඒකයි බොහෝ අය යෝජනා කර ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලට යන්න කියලා. නමුත් රජය අදටත් චීනයෙන් ණය ගන්නවා.

එසේ ණය දුන් විට ඔවුන්ගෙන් භාණ්ඩ මිලදී ගන්නත් වෙනවා .එසේ නොමැතිනම් දේපොලක් ලියලා දෙන්නත් වෙනවා.

ඉන්දියාවෙන් ගන්න යනවා තවත් ඩොලර් මිලියන 500 ක ණයක්. ඒ මුදලින් ගෙන්වන්න යනවා කුඩා බස් රථ 500 ක්.තවත් ගන්න යනවා පොලීසියට ජීප්රථ 750ක් . මේවා ද දැන් රටට අවශ්‍ය ?මේ වෙලාව රටේ ජනතාව ජීවත් කරවන්න ඕන වෙලාවක් .දැන් මේ රට වෙන්දේසි පොළක් වගෙයි. මේ වෙලාවේ අපට විකල්ප කිහිපයක් තිබෙනවා. මේ බැඳුම්කර ණය තියෙන ආයතන සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කොට එම ණය ගෙවීම කෙටිකලකට කල් දමා ගැනීමඒ සඳහා ප්‍රවේශයක් තිබිය යුතුයි.

අපගේ හිතවත් රටවල් එසේත් නොමැති නම් ලෝක බැංකුව, ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුවහෝ වෙනත් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය ආයතන සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කොට සහනදායි ක්‍රමයකට ණය ලබා ගත යුතුයි. නමුත් එම ආයතන සියල්ලක්ම කියන්නේ ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලට යන්න කියලයි .

මේ රජය ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලට මෙතරම් බය ඇයි කියලා අපි දන්නැහ . එම ආයතනය ණය දෙනු ලබන්නේ රටක ආර්ථික ස්ථායි භාවය ඇති කර ගැනීමටයි. හංගගෙන ඉන්න ඩොලර් ඔක්කොම නැවත එළියට දානවා . අද වන විට ලංකාවෙන් එළියට ගොස් සිටින ශ්‍රමිකයන් ඔවුන්ගේඩොලර් එළියට දාන්නේ නැහැ .ඒ තුළින් මසකට රටට එන ඩොලර් මිලියන 500 කින් පමණ අඩු වී තිබෙනවා . රටේ මුදල් වල තිබෙන අවිනිශ්චිත බව ඊට හේතුවයි .

ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලෙන් ණය දෙන විට ඔවුන්ගේ නිර්දේශවලට ණය ගන්නා රට එකඟ විය යුතුයි. චීනයෙන් ඉන්දියාවෙන් ගන්නා ණය මෙන් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලෙන් ගන්නා ණය භාවිතා කළ නොහැකියි. මුදල් විනිවිදභාවයෙන් යුතුව භාවිතා කළ යුතුයි . එම මුදල් කොමිස් ගහන්න අවභාවිතා කරන්න නොහැකියි . ණය ලබා දුන් පසු ඒ පිළිබඳව ඔවුන්ගේ පූර්ණ අධීක්ෂණයක් කරනවා .

තමන්ගෙ කෙටිකාලීන ලාභය උදෙසා සම්පූර්ණ විකෘති ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් අනුගමනය කිරීමයි අද වන විට මේ රජයෙන් අපිට දකින්න තිබෙන්නේ . මුදල් ඇමතිවරයා යෝජනා කරනවාඅස්වැන්න අහිමිවීම නිසා වන්දියක් විදිහට රුපියල් 75 කට මිලදී ගන්නවා කියලා . නමුත්මෙවර මහ කන්නයේ අස්වනු එන විට 50% කට වඩා අස්වැන්න අඩුවෙනවා. එසේ වුවහොත් වී කිලෝව රුපියල් 150 කට වඩා ඉහළ යනවා. රුපියල් 120 ට තිබුහාල් කිලෝ එක අද වන විට රුපියල් 160- 170යි . මේකෙ අවසානය රට ආර්ථික භංගත්වයට පත් වීමයි’.

ෂේන් සෙනෙවිරත්න
– ADA

By Buddhika Samaraweera Courtesy The Morning

Pointing out that it is the voice of the people that emerges from all quarters, including those who represent the Government and criticise certain government policies, State Minister of Rural Roads and Other Infrastructure Nimal Lanza said that such criticisms should not be underestimated.

Speaking to the media yesterday (9), he said that it is the responsibility of the people’s representatives to speak about the hardships of the people, even if they represent the Government. He said that as people’s representatives, they are saddened to see people queuing up to buy goods these days and that people should not have to wait in queues like that.

Everyone has the right to express their ideas. However, all these are the voices of the people that emerge through them. So we should not underestimate it. Instead, such issues should be discussed at length with the Government. As people’s representatives we cannot be like blind and deaf people, especially when people are waiting in queues. I am ready to talk about those issues and even resign from the posts,” he said.

Lanza also said that in the current economic climate, his personal opinion is that the Government should go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or some other organisation and seek some relief. What I say is we have to go to the IMF and we need to bring more investments into the country. If we do not do these things this year, we will not be able to get into the streets in the future.”

Emphasising that the country is facing a major crisis at the moment, he said that the Government should address those issues. Therefore, he said that they would work with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resolve these issues within this year.

Especially, people are queuing up to buy things like milk powder and gas. Recently when I was returning from a trip, my sister texted me to bring a can of milk powder. So we see and hear the hardships of the people. We as a Government need to address these issues,” Lanza stated.

Claiming that most of the issues in the country at present are due to the deficit of US dollars in the country, Lanza said that a temporary solution should therefore be sought with the help of the IMF or another organisation.

Meanwhile, he said that the gazette notification issued to take over the lands in the Muthurajawela area by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) should be withdrawn immediately and if some” parties do not listen to that request, he is ready to take to the streets against it with the people in the future.

The gazette notification for the Muthurajawela land acquisition should be revoked immediately, but it has not happened yet. We are not the ones working to protect these posts. We are ready to leave the posts. We are making this request on behalf of the people, religious leaders, and the country. If some parties are not ready to listen to it, we are ready to rally with the people against them and even leave our posts to drive them out,” warned Lanza.

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema Courtesy The Morning

• Says SL would benefit immensely from FTA with China
• Says willing to discuss any concerns of SL
• Negotiations stalled since 2017 due to sticking points

During Foreign Minister Yi’s visit, Sri Lanka and China signed four agreements; namely an agreement on Economic and Technical Co-operation, the Letter of Exchange on the project of 2,000 subsidised housing units for the low-income category in Colombo, the Handover Certificate of the Technical Co-operation Project for the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), and the Handover Certificate of the Technical Co-operation Project for the Kidney Disease Mobile Screening Ambulance Vehicles. The financing for the agreement on Economic and Technical Co-operation is ¥ 800, which is equivalent to Rs. 25 billion.

People’s Republic of China Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of the State Council Wang Yi has urged the leadership of Sri Lanka to restart the stalled negotiations on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Sri Lanka, stating that smaller nations have benefitted immensely from similar FTAs with China.

This had been communicated by Yi during his meetings with government leaders yesterday (9), Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong revealed during a meeting with a select group of newspaper editors last evening.

Yi had proposed to the government leaders that the experts and professionals study the FTA and resume discussions, and that China was open to discuss any concerns of Sri Lanka in order to facilitate a resumption of negotiations.

Yi left Sri Lanka yesterday after an official two-day visit where he launched the celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of Sri Lanka-China bilateral relations and held meetings with both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Zhenhong explained that Yi had discussed a comprehensive economic and technical co-operation framework with Sri Lanka leaders, in addition to the discussion on the FTA.

Free trade now is a global trend and Sri Lanka has a very unique, strategic advantage in geopolitics. I think if we reach a FTA, Sri Lanka can gain access to a market of 1.4 billion for its exports. Sri Lanka will also take advantage of China’s development,” the Chinese envoy noted.

The Ambassador further stated that Sri Lanka could become the distribution hub for products in the region.

Focusing on the concerns of Sri Lanka about entering a FTA with an economic giant such as China, he explained that it was understood that Sri Lanka had been taken advantage of by other nations through FTAs in the past, but assured that it would not be the case with the China FTA.

I can say that other medium and small economies that have entered into FTAs with China have benefitted,” he said.

When asked why negotiations on the FTA with China had come to a standstill after six rounds of negotiations, the envoy said even he could not understand why they had been halted.

The Government of Sri Lanka needs to say what happened,” he commented.

Echoing the Foreign Minister’s message, Zhenhong added that China was open to discuss concerns over the FTA and address them during negotiations.

A FTA between Sri Lanka and China was first proposed in 2014 under the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government, with three rounds of negotiations being held between September and December of the same year. However, the negotiations stalled for nearly two years following the government change in Sri Lanka, and resumed only in 2016 under the Yahapalana Government, but after three more rounds of negotiations between August 2016 and January 2017, the talks came to a virtual standstill. The main reasons are believed to be Sri Lanka’s insistence on reviewing the agreement every 10 years, to which China was strongly opposed due to its willingness to have a longer term agreement, and a number of disagreements on trade liberalisation, especially when China requested a 90% of the goods to be tariff free.

In August 2021, then State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya was appointed as the Chief Negotiator for the China FTA. A year prior, in October 2020, Balasuriya said that Sri Lankan authorities are reviewing the provisions of the proposed FTA with China to ensure it would not turn out to be another Singapore FTA”.

Disregarding the opposition from professional associations and other entities, Sri Lanka entered into a FTA with Singapore in 2018 after holding negotiations over 18 months. Professionals and experts opposed this FTA, claiming that the agreement would endanger local jobs, as it would allow skilled labour and professionals from Singapore to enter while also opening the floodgates for the imports of nuclear waste and clinical waste, thereby converting Sri Lanka into a dumping ground for Singapore.

Meanwhile, when inquired as to any possibilities of China restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt, the Ambassador was evasive, stating only that China would continuously support Sri Lanka’s economy as it has in the past.

Amidst warnings of Sri Lanka being in danger of defaulting on its external debt obligations due to a severe foreign currency reserves shortage, Zhenhong offered a vote of confidence in the country’s ability to service its debt on schedule as it has never suffered a debt default in its history. He also expressed optimism that Sri Lanka would be able to overcome the current economic problems it is facing.

The Sunday Morning reported yesterday that Cabinet paper number 49 that was presented by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on 3 January has noted that the Government of Sri Lanka should look at seeking a financial package from China and Japan similar to that negotiated with India, since 20% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt is to these two countries. The cabinet paper has noted that debt repayment for 2022 stands at $ 6.9 billion while $ 1,300 million is required for debt servicing in January 2022 and $ 3,100 million for the first quarter for this year.

අම්රා ලියාකත් මව්බිම දැන්

2022 වසරේදී සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම අයිති වීමට තිබූ ත්‍රිකුණාමල තෙල් ටැංකි 101කින් තෙල් ටැංකි 14ක් බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා ඉන්දියානු IOC සමාගමට අවුරුදු 50කට බදු දුන් බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී තිස්ස අත්තනායක මහතා පවසයි.

මෙහිදී මන්ත්‍රීවරයා සඳහන් කළේ, උදය ගම්මන්පිල්ල මහතාගේ ”මොළය පරීක්ෂා කළ යුතු” බව ය.

එමෙන් ම මෙමගින් ත්‍රිකුණාමල තෙල් ටැංකි තිබෙන ත්‍රිකුණාමල වරාය ආසන්නයේ ඇති ඉඩම් කොටස ද ඉන්දීය තෙල් සංස්ථාවට පැවරෙන බව තිස්ස අත්තනායක මහතා පැවසීය.

“වක්‍රාකාරව ත්‍රිකුණාමලය වරාය ත් ඉන්දියාවට දුන්නා හා සමාන එකඟතාවකට ඇති කර ගෙන තිබෙනවා,” යනුවෙන් ඔහු වැඩිදුරට ත් සඳහන් කළේ ය.

 අම්රා ලියාකත්

by PROF.TISSA VITARANA Courtesy The Island

With the dawn of the Year 2022 I wish you all happiness, good health, and fulfillment of your needs and targets. But I cannot wish you prosperity, because only the rich are enjoying that privilege. The maximum tax on the rich including multi billionaires still remains at 14%. The average maximum in Europe is 40% while that in Scandinavian country is over 50%. Thus it is clear that the burden of the present economic crisis is being placed on all the people including the poor, but not on the rich.

The economic crisis according to MRI reports has forced over 50% of family incomes to drop below the poverty line. The malnutrition rate has gone up to 18.3% (which means that one in five children under five years of age will be thin, stunted and mentally deficient, while the others too will be adversely affected to various degrees). While hunger and starvation is the immediate impact, the future generations too will suffer badly. Therefore my wish for the New Year is that the Government will identify all those who are hungry and ensure that these families get free dry rations to prevent the spectre of starvation. This must be the priority. Highways and some development projects can wait.

This was the change that the people expected after this new Government was put into power with a huge majority, in Parliament. Daily the people are getting more and more angry in the face of their plight due to the steeply rising price of goods and gross mismanagement of the economy. While we welcome the package of relief measures provided by the Finance Minister to usher in the New Year, we regret that it has been given only to a small section of the population (for instance the government servants, but here too it is not clear even whether this will be confined to permanent employees alone or whether it will be inclusive of all temporary employees as well).

This type of uncertainty also applies to other recipients of the package. The large majority of the people employed in the private sector are not benefited. Even the Samurdhi recipients who are really the needy group are only getting an increase of Rs.1,000/-. Sixty percent of the employees are in the informal sector and they too are left out. Majority of those working in the plantation sector are yet to receive the Rs.1,000/- pay rise, thus flouting agreements arrived between the Government and the companies, together with the unions. But the basic cause of the economic difficulties faced by the people, the steep rise in the prices of all goods including essentials, has not been addressed.

The international plot that I referred to in an earlier article seems to be getting implemented with the rapid explosion of the forex (dollar) crisis. The Foreign Reserve has fallen to USD 1.6 billion from its normal value of around USD eight billion. The import through Letters of Credit (LCs) has now become impossible, specially after Fitch Rating dowgraded us to CC. This low rating has convinced the world that we are a poor risk country for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). There is even a danger that there may be a shortage of essentials, like medicines and food items.

The poor state of the country and the people which is due to the economic crisis and the pandemic, is exerting a huge pressure on the economy and its hope of revival. The pressure to return to the post 1977 neoliberal policies which led to our economy facing the danger of an American takeover with its conversion into a military base during the period of the Yahapalanaya Government rule has now emerged with greater force. The dollar crisis and the collapse of the economy is forcing Sri Lanka to go on bended knee to the IMF and accept their neoliberal terms. In this context the present Government which resisted going to the IMF as well as the pressure to sign the disastrous MCC and SOFA agreements may be forced to give in. This must not be allowed to happen.

During the most severe economic crisis that occurred in 1972-73 the above problems which are mainly due to the uncontrolled profiteering by unscrupulous traders and others such as big mill owners was tackled by the SLFP/LSSP/CP coalition by expanding and strengthening the cooperative movement. Direct dealings between the producer via multi-purpose cooperatives, inclusive of the small farmers, and the consumers, through the consumer cooperatives minimized profiteering by the middleman. This not only ensured low prices to the consumer, specially of essentials, but also a fair farm gate price to the cultivator.

The LSSP again appeals to the Government to revive the cooperative movement and other Government agencies like the Marketing Department and Paddy Marketing Board. The other major factor responsible for the price rise is the problem of inflation. Inflation which had increased to 9.9% in November 2021 rose steeply in one month to 12.1% in December. This is largely due to the printing of currency notes which has reached massive proportions. For instance in October 2021 the Central Bank printed Rs.130 Billion (equal to USD 65,000,000 ) but this is only the tip of the iceberg. From December 2019 to August 2021 Sri Lanka’s debt increased by Rs.2.8 Trillion – a massive 42%. The claim that this was to maintain a low interest rate is advanced but whether it is correct is questionable. If correct it may help the entrepreneur but it is a severe blow to those who depend on interest from their saving deposits to survive, like government pensioners and other retired persons in the private sector.

Another factor is the drop in the availability of vegetables, fruits and rice mainly due to the lack of chemical inputs. The latter will really be an important factor after the February/March harvest. Which is likely to be, according to some estimate, 30% below the normal average. But the price of vegetables and fruits which are generally harvested at two monthly intervals has been badly affected by the lack of chemical fertilizers and other inputs. This in turn has led to the middleman seeking to retain his profits in the context of the drop in the supply of vegetables and fruits. There is a chain of exploitation by traders which spreads from the farmer to the Dambulla market, then the Manning market and from there to the economic zones and finally to the boutiques.

During the 1970’s crisis this chain of exploitation was eliminated through the Marketing Department, which should be restored and strengthened.

The gradual shift to organic agriculture is both the short term and the long term answer. This process requires time and a planned scientific approach. The seed varieties which were suitable for chemical agriculture must be replaced by indigenous natural varieties improved through further research. It is necessary to ensure that all the inputs like Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium etc. are freely available for organic farming. Nano particles with 43% Nitrogen have been developed by the SLINTEC Nano Technology Centre. Pilot studies have been successful with both rice and tea.

The large scale production requires considerable investment and a private-public partnership should be achieved. The phosphorous should be converted into triple phosphate by establishing a long felt need – a sulphuric acid plant which must be set up soon. This would also lead to the chemical industrialization of the country. Potassium can be a local product at village level as well as provided by a larger scale industry utilizing plantain trees and leaves once the fruits are plucked. The promotion of the poultry industry will increase production of egg shells which could be the source of Calcium. Few items like Magnesium may need to be imported. Once these inputs are available organic farming can take off with practically no dependence on imports.

While the above measures should help Sri Lanka attain self-sufficiency in food a major weakness is the lack of industrial development. Well before States like Andra Pradesh in India captured the digital software market, Sri Lanka had the opportunity to go ahead of India, but this opportunity was unfortunately missed (a loss of USD 7-8 Billion) due to bureaucratic bungling. Nevertheless local players like Virtusa and HCL Technologies have grown and could be followed by others. The Vidatha movement which I happened to initiate can be developed to a greater extent to provide the science and technology required by the SME sector.

I am happy to learn, that beside finding a wide local market, over a thousand products are now being exported. The hi-tech institutes like SLINTEC and SLIBTEC which I initiated as centers of research and development have unfortunately veered towards playing an educational role. It is important that they should be the source of research for hi-tech industries that can effectively compete in foreign markets. In this way Sri Lanka can become not only self-sufficient in agriculture for food, as well as a centre for commercial agriculture, but it can also become a developed economy with greatly expanded export capability. This is the way out of the present sinister” crisis which threatens our future. We can remain a truly independent sovereign nation which is no longer a poor country, but become a developed industrialized nation.

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ

රටේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්නවලට පිළිතුර වන්නේ දේශපාලන කණ්ඩායම් එකතු වී නව සංවිධාන බිහිකිරීම නොව, පාලකයින් කැපකිරීම්වලට යොමුවීම බව විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා පවසයි.

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ සිය උතුරු පළාත් සංචාරය අතරතුර යාපනයේදී අද (09) ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

“තෙල්, බෙහෙත්, ආහාර ගෙන්වන්න ඩොලර් නැහැ. කර්මාන්තවලට අමුද්‍රව්‍ය නැහැ. නිෂ්පාදනය කඩා වැටෙනවා. ඉතා භයානක තැනකට ඇවිත් තියෙන්නේ. ගත්තු වැරදි තීන්දුවලට රටම විඳවනවා. රටේ තියෙන්නේ නාමික ආණ්ඩුවක්. ආණ්ඩුවක් නෙමේ පාණ්ඩුවක්. සොරකම ඉහවහා ගිහින්. දූෂණත් වෙද්දි කොහොමද රට ගොඩගන්නේ. ගොඩදාන්න පුළුවන්. හැබැයි නිවැරදි ගමනක් යන්න ඕනේ. පාලකයන් කැපකිරීම් කරන්න ඕනේ.”

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ

ජනතා ඡන්දය ලබාගැනීම ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් පාස්කු ඉරුදින ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරය සිදුවීමට ඉඩහැරියේ දැයි සැක සහිත බව අගරදගුරු අතිඋතුම් මැල්කම් කාදිනල් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන් පවසයි.

උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ පාස්කු ඉරුදින ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයේ විමර්ශන පිළිබඳව සූම් තාක්ෂණය ඔස්සේ ඊයේ පැවති සම්මන්ත්‍රණයකට එක්වෙමිනි.

පාස්කු ඉරුදින ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයේ විමර්ශනවල වත්මන් ප්‍රගතිය පිළිබඳ යුරෝපයේ වෙසෙන ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් දැනුවත් කිරීමේ සූම් තාක්ෂණික සම්මන්ත්‍රණයක් ඊයේ පැවැත්වුණේ අගරදගුරු අතිඋතුම් මැල්කම් කාදිනල් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන්ගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙනි.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ අගරදගුරු, අතිඋතුම් මැල්කම් කාදිනල් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන්,

“DIG නාලක ද සිල්වා ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තේ සහරාන්ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න වරෙන්තුවක් අරන් තියෙද්දි. පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරීම් කාරක සභා වාර්තාව. ඒකෙ තියෙනවා, ජනාධිපතිවරණය ඉලක්ක කරගෙන රට තුළ බියක් හා අවිනිශ්චිතතාවයක් ඇති කරන්න අරමුණු කරගෙන ලැබුණු බුද්ධි තොරතුරු මත කටයුතු නොකළා දැයි සොයා බලන්න වැඩිදුර පරීක්ෂණ සිදුකළ යුතුයැයිද නිරීක්ෂණය කරයි කියලා. මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදින් මේක සුදානම් කළ බව ඇත්ත. නමුත් ඒකෙ තොරතුරු දැන දැන වසන් කරමින් ජනතා ඡන්දය ලබාගන්න ප්‍රහාරය වෙන්න ඉඩ දුන්නා කියා පේන්න තියෙනවා. ප්‍රහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් 60%ක වගකීම තියෙන්නේ ඔන්න ඔය නිලධාරීන් සහ දේශපාලකයින් අතේ. මෙහෙ පාලනතන්ත්‍රයේ ඉන්න අය මේක යට ගහන්නමයි හදන්නේ. මේවා  විමර්ශනයකින් තොරතුරු එළියට ගන්න මේ අය කැමති නැහැ.”

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ

ජනමත විචාරණයක් මගින් වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවේ කාලය දිර්ඝ කරගැනීමට සුදානම් නොවන්නැයි හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා පවසයි.

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මාතර දිස්ත්‍රික් සමුළුවට අද (09) එක්වෙමිනි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මාතර දිස්ත්‍රික් සමුළුව පක්ෂ සභාපති හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද මෙලෙස පැවැත්වුණි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ සභාපති, හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා,

“රටම අවුල්. මේ ලෝකෙ දෙයක් දන්නේ නැති අය කියනවා.. මැතිනියගේ කාලේ වගේලු දැනුත් කන්න නෑ. පෝලිම් කියලා. මම මැතිනියගේ කාලේ සතොසෙන් බඩු බෙදාහැරිය සැපයීම් නිලධාරියෙක්. මෙහෙම අහේනියක් තිබුණේ නෑ. මෙහෙම පෝලිම්වල කවුරුත් කුණුහරුප කිව්වේ නෑ. තනියෙන් රටක් කරන්න පුළුවන් කියලා හිතන්න එපා. හොඳ කණ්ඩායමක් ඉන්න ඕනේ. අවුරුදු 5ක් මම තනියම ආණ්ඩු කරපු කෙනෙක්. මං වෙනුවෙන් කතා කරන්න පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මන්ත්‍රිවරයෙක් හිටියේ නෑ. ආණ්ඩුවෙත් නෑ. විපක්ෂයෙත් නෑ. එහෙම අගමැති, ඇමති මණ්ඩලයක් නැතුවත් මම අද තියෙන අර්බුදයට රට දැම්මේ නෑ. 2015ටත් වඩා අඩුවෙන් බඩු මිල තිබුණේ අපේ කාලේ. අමාරුවෙන් රුපියල් 2කින් තෙල් මිල වැඩි කළාම, පොහොට්ටුවේ නායකයෝ බයිසිකල් පැද්දා. ඒ අතර දන්නවානේ…පොල් බෑය, ලූනු ගෙඩිය පෙන්නලා අහපුවා. දැන් සනීපද.. සැපද.. ඇහුවා. දැන් රටම අසනීපයි. ජනාධිපති ඡන්දයට කලින් ශ්‍රීලනිපය ගැන පුදුම වටිනාකමක් තිබ්බේ. පොදු ජන පෙරමුණේ ඉහළම නායකයෝ මාව කීසැරයක් හමුවුණා ද?. වන් ටූ ත්‍රී තුන්දෙනා වෙනවෙනම මාව හමුවුණා. ශ්‍රීලනිපය නැතිව දිනන්න බෑ කියපු අය ඡන්දෙන් පසු පළමු සතියේම සන්ධාන ගිවිසුම කඩකළා. ගිවිසුමේ කිසිම කාරණයක් අද වෙනකල් ඉටු කරලා නෑ. කරපිංචා වගේ අරගෙන විසි කෙරුවා. ජනාධිපති ඡන්දයක් ළඟදි එන්නේ නෑ. ජාතික මැතිවරණයකට එන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය. සමහරු කියනවා ජනමත විචාරණයක් ගැන. ජනමත විචාරණ තියලා කල් දිග් කරගන්න ලෑස්ති වෙන්න එපා. ඒක කවදාවත් කෙරෙන්නේ නැති වැඩක්.”

Courtesy Adaderana

A meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and Member of the State Council Wang Yi, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was held at the Presidential Secretariat, today (09) further strengthening the 65 years of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka, the PMD said.

Warmly welcoming the Chinese Foreign Minister, President Rajapaksa recalled the historic close ties between the two countries. The President extended his sincere gratitude on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and its people to the Chinese Foreign Minister for the material and financial assistance received from China in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said.

Recalling the profound friendship between the two countries, Mr. Wang Yi said that he was pleased to be back in Sri Lanka and said that China would always support Sri Lanka as a close friend.

The President also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Government for its continued support in providing Sinopharm vaccines to Sri Lanka in order to successfully implement the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Sri Lanka opened up again to foreign tourists under new normalization. The President requested Mr. Wang Yi to assist in attracting Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka under the bio-bubble concept.

The President pointed out that it would be a great relief to the country if the attention could be paid on restructuring the debt repayments as a solution to the economic crisis that has arisen in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President also said that if a concessional trade credit scheme could be initiated for imports from China, it would enable the industries to operate smoothly.

Minister Wang Yi extended an invitation to the President to visit China and expressed confidence that the visit would take place in the near future.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong, Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming, Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao, Vice Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency Zhang Maoyu, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage were also present.

-PMD

Courtesy Adaderana

Following a special request by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on behalf of Sri Lankan medical students awaiting to return to China to complete their studies, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi immediately instructed the Ambassador of China in Sri Lanka to work closely with the Foreign Ministry to facilitate the return of Sri Lankan medical students.

The matter was discussed during the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Rajapaksa and the visiting Foreign Minister at Temple Trees this morning (09), the PM’s Office said. 

Currently, approximately 1,200 medical students, including 400 final-year students, who were studying at Chinese medical institutions, are waiting to return to China to complete their studies. 

They have been unable to return due to restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic. In response to the Prime Minister’s special request, Foreign Minister Yi assured that Sri Lankan students will be given highest priority.

During the bilateral discussions between the two delegations, a host of other matters were also discussed, including further support for the vaccine program, attracting investments to the Port City and the Hambantota Industrial Zone, increasing tourism from China to Sri Lanka, increasing Sri Lankan exports to China and enhancing cultural cooperation, especially in the area of Buddhist ties. 

Following the discussions, the delegations signed the following agreements:

• Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation
• Letter of Exchange on the Project of Subsidized Housing for Low Income Category in Colombo
• Handover Certificate of the Technical Cooperation Project for BMICH
• Handover Certificate of the Technical Cooperation Project for the Kidney Disease Mobile Screening Ambulance Vehicles

Foreign Minister Yi is on a one-day visit to Sri Lanka to launch the celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of Sri Lanka—China bilateral relations.

Last year the Central Bank of Sri Lanka issued a commemorative coin to mark the 65th anniversary as well as the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. A set of the coins were gifted to the visiting Foreign Minister by the Prime Minister.

Conveying best wishes from the President and Premier of China to Prime Minister Rajapaksa, Foreign Minister Yi said, China will continue to do its best to provide all the necessary help and support [to Sri Lanka].”

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Opening Remarks:

Good morning, Your Excellency and welcome once again to Sri Lanka. Your last visit to Sri Lanka was exactly two years ago, and I’m happy to see you return. I believe these regular high-level visits help reaffirm our strong and friendly relations.

This year is an important year for our two countries. It marks the 65th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and 70 years of signing the Rubber-Rice Pact. Allow me to also congratulate the Communist Party of China on its 100th anniversary. As you know, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka issued a commemorative coin to mark these important milestones. 

Excellency, I want to thank the Government and the friendly people of China for the generous support towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The consistent supply of the Sinopharm vaccines made a significant contribution to our successful vaccine program. 

As you know, similar to many other countries, Sri Lanka’s economy was also greatly impacted by the pandemic. We appreciate China’s assistance towards our economic revival and financial stability. There is still a long way to go in establishing normalcy, but we’re confident that with support from friendly countries like China, we will be able to overcome these challenges soon. I look forward to continue working closely with you and the Government of China in addressing common challenges.” 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Port City Marina Promenade, a 500m public walking path, has been declared open at an event marking the 65th diplomatic anniversary between China and Sri Lanka today (January 09).

The opening of the Marina Promenade was announced during a ceremony graced by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is on two-day official visit to the country.

The public can access the Port City Marina Promenade from tomorrow (January 10) onwards between 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. by foot. The entrance is located in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. 

Accompanied by a delegation of 18 officials, Mr. Wang Yi arrived on the island last night, via a special flight chartered by a Chinese carrier.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry reported that 436 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the country within today (09).

This figure includes 06 persons who have arrived in the country from overseas while the rest are community infections. 

This brings Sri Lanka’s coronavirus caseload thus far to 591,667 while the number of infected patients currently undergoing treatment across the island is 9,478.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 07 coronavirus related deaths for January 08, pushing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 15,119. 

The deaths confirmed today include 04 males and 03 females while one of the victims is between the ages 30-59 years. The other 06 are aged 60 years and above. 

Sugath Kulatunga

Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) play a major role in the development of the economy due to their potential to promote inclusive growth by reducing inequalities of economic performance, and their capacity to develop into large organizations later on, thereby providing employment to a substantial proportion of the population and contributing to the economic growth of the country over their lifespan.

It is estimated that about 99 per cent of non-agricultural establishments in Sri Lanka are MSMEs, and that about 45 per cent of employment in the country is in the MSME sector. This is a sector which was severely affected by the Corvid pandemic. The Government, in collaboration with the central Bank, introduced a number of relief packages to support the affected enterprises. The Central Bank reports that the total government subsidy payments for the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ loan programme amounted to Rs. 6.0 billion in 2020 and the Saubagya (Prosperity) Loan Scheme has allocated Rs.150 Billion

In addition, with the objective of supporting a production economy, several other government authorities
have conducted programs to enhance market access and to modernise their enterprises. There has also been a focus on training.

It is regretted that there has been less attention in the creation of new enterprises. Even when new enterprises are received for funding they are rejected as they have not been properly formulated. Due to this many projects also fail in a short time.

It is not the first time that massive incentives were offered to the SMEs to promote high value agricultural and processing activities. In the Budget 2007, the KRUSHI NAVODAYA” was introduced to promote high value agricultural and processing activities, and proposed a comprehensive package of incentives such as credit and tax rebate for machinery, equipment and extension services. It was to be extended at Rs. 2 billion for each year over the next 3 years.

Similarly the Budget 2007 proposed an attractive package of incentives such as assistance for research, extensions and quality assurances for value added products and also support the acquisition of advanced machinery and equipment: exclusively used for the manufacturing and processing of high value products from tea, rubber and coconut, and for animal husbandry, pharmaceutical and giftware production by the removal of import duty on such machinery and providing additional credit facilities.

It was expected that 1 million jobs would be created. through new industries and the expansion of existing industries in the SME sector. A new bank i.e. Lankaputhra Bank, was established to finance and supervise these new programs

 Despite the availability of substantial funds and the offer of a number of attractive incentives on new investments, it has been noted that there is a serious dearth of bankable projects coming up for loans in the SME sector. While there is a scarcity of viable projects there is also the problem of the widespread failure of projects financed by the banks. This is seen in the high percentage of non- performing loans in the SME sector.

In this background it is proposed that the government should adopt a more proactive approach with regard to new projects. It is proposed that rather than wait for bankable projects to be presented by investors the government must involves itself actively in the identification of projects and developing project profiles and feasibility studies to be made available to prospective investors.

This is the policy followed by established development banks in India, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. (NABARD). The participation of a State agency in project identification and formulation would also result in channeling scarce resources into priority sectors of development and would contribute to the reduction of project failure. While this strategy would generate projects for bank financing, at least part of the cost of such a scheme could be recovered from projects accepted for funding by the Bank. A list of NABARD projects in 20-21 is given here; https://www.agriexam.com/nabard-bankable-project

(Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority – SMEDA, of Pakistan performs a similar function like NABARD of India.The main objective of the pre-feasibility studies prepared by SMEDA is to provide information about investment opportunities to the small & medium enterprises. Their website on projects is  https://smeda.org/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=122&Itemid=308

What is necessary is for some State institution to launch a facility to build up a data bank of feasibility studies and make the information widely available to the public. The proposed institute should develop inhouse expertise on project sectors and have a strong external team of experts. It should also work closely with the IDB for technological assistance and the EDB for marketing knowledge. In due course they should also develop the capacity to advise the clients on machinery and equipment and technology. It may be useful to invite an expert from NABARDA to assist in the preliminary work.I believe the Samurdhi Bank would be a good choice for this function. It can train its staff on identification of project ideas and also follow up on the implementation. The Bank should also act as a Venture (Risk) Capital provider. The risk aversion of the local banks makes it difficult for SMEs to secure funds from them. A contribution of risk capital by another agency makes banks more liberal in granting loans. This was the experience of the EDB in the 1980s when the EDB provided Risk capital to several pioneering projects which would not have invested without the EDB participation in preference shares as a minority shareholder. It is unfortunate that this function which is provided for in the EDB Act was not only ignored the very Division with trained staff was disbanded. I also tried to support a Bank and a government Department to establish a facility for project feasibility studies without much success.

A sound justification for a Venture capital facility for SMEs in Sri Lanka is proposed in a recent ADB study at  website:  -sme-venture-capital-sri-lanka.pdf.  

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.

We don’t believe in Sinhala only power – Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Excerpts of an interview given by Tamil servile  Anura Kumara on 5^th  January 2022 to Daily Mirror staff Susitha Fernando are given below with appropriate comments.

Preamble:

• We can appoint a Cabinet with people who are extremely qualified in the respective subject areas.  (A stupid suggestion.  People of this country have even rejected many prominent professionals coming to politics.  For example, the Father of Hydro Power was rejected by the people when he contested elections.  This may be a suggestion to indirectly support the policies of Ranil Wickremasinghe.  It was reported that whenever Ranil comes to power gets many foreigners to serve advisors to him on various fields.  If this stupid suggestion open its gateway Ranil will directly appoint them as Ministers instead of keeping them as advisors)

• we have seen how these corrupt and disastrous regimes have been toppled by people getting on to the streets (No government has so far been toppled by people going to the streets.  However. in 1953 the successful Hartal launched by the Left parties and Trade Unions forced Dudley Senanayake tp flee and hide in a ship at the Colombo harbour and subsequently call for elections.  The other incident of forcing elections was the backstabbers’ coup in which backstabbers C.P.De Silva/Maha.Nama Samaraweera made 14 MPs to cross over from the government in 1964 that paved for elections in 1965) 

• During the war we should have thought more seriously about the difficulties faced by the ordinary Tamil civilians. (This braggart has no concern about the atrocities faced by the Sinhalese/Muslim people – Why you ignore, the massacre of unarmed people including women and children in Sinhala villages, massacre of Buddhist Bikkhus st Aranthalawa, Massacre of Muslims at Kattankudi/Polonnaruwa, and massacre of school children by bus bomb killings in Anuradhapura, Mannar , Maradana etc.)

• As short-term plans we need to focus on investments that could ensure dollar earning(No specifics – only conjectures and hallucinations)

• I don’t think we should even talk about a common agenda(Yesd, we have had enough sufferings from common agenda of 2015.  On the other hand, I do not think that no party in Sri Lanka will come forward to enter into a common agenda with these bluff masters)

• With regard to change of government our first option is elections (Why elections.  You can never win elections, so, try for your 3^rd rebellion and get lost and wiped out)

• We are a political orgnisation that understands the sensitivity and movements of the people (Then why you miserably failed twice?)

With the social, political and economic changes in the country over the last two years, specially, since the spread of the Covid 19 pandemic, Jathika Jana Balawegaya or National People’s Power (NPP), the broader alliance of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, has shown impressive progress in its popularity among all section of the society. Having no faith in the two traditional political camps, specially given the repeated allegations of corruptions during both regimes, NPP claims that real progressive change is possible in the country only under its rule. In this backdrop the Daily Mirror interviewed NPP Leader and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake. 

Excerpts of the interview.   

Q   At the recently held Representative Summit you said that you are ready to take over the power from the Rajapaksas. But at a time. the country is going through one of its worst social, political and economic downturns do you have a plan to put the country back on track?

This braggart like the fable relating to the jackal going after the lamb expecting its hanging testicles to fall down soon, was day dreaming to assume leadership in this country from the very day he assumed leadership in the JVP.  Thinking that the people of this country are dan imbeciles this braggart now appears in three faces to deceive the people as leader of JVP. JJB and NPP and has the acronym of Moonru Mugam, Muhunu thune pambaya the three faced”)

These two traditional parties have led this country to the most disastrous end. To transform this country there is an urgent need to take over the political power. We are ready to give leadership to this new transformation. And we can appoint a Cabinet with people who are extremely qualified in the respective subject areas and have as its members much more qualified individuals compared to both the previous and the present regimes. We have the resource persons for that. And also instead of a Parliament comprising politicians engaging in illegal liquor business, illegal sand and gem mining and criminal activities we can appoint a team comprising members who would serve the people.

(This matter has been duly responded under Preambles and believe a repetition is not needed)

Making the plan to build the country is not the sole responsibility of the government. The government has to prepare plans for that, give leadership to achieve targets and for that all the sections of the society have to be involved. So, it is not going to be the concept of this person or that person, but a collective endevour is needed and we are in the process of initiating an operation to prepare for this collective effort. 

 (This braggart taking about the future, is st4ill crawling in the pre-2015 two party – unuth ekai, munuth ekai period.  Politics in Sri Lanka has changed vastly since this period and now there are four major political forces in the country – the SLPP, SLFP, UNP and SJB.  He said that they are in the process of initiating a collecting effort on the The response given by the people at 2019 presidential election is suffice for him if he is an honest person)

 Q   Right now the burning issue at hand is the economy. How are you planning to pull the nation out of this debt-trapped economic situation?

A:At the outset we need to inform the people that we have been issuing warnings about this situation several decades ago. This economical journey, which does not tally with realities of the people, happened because loans were taken to create huge concrete jungles and there was waste and corruption that took place with that money. We are in a massive debt trap despite the repeated warnings we gave. To get out of this situation we need a short-term, mid-term and a long-term plan and we also need a vision to solve the issues created by this economic situation. We need a long-term plan to sustain the economic situation.   

(About which administration he is talking about.  Was it about Mahinda Rajapaksa development era or Sirisena/Raniil destructive era in which they played a major-role to protect, safeguard and promote that era.  His reference to building implies construction of Expressways – a new concept introduced to replace pot-hold fishing pooled roads in the country, building new harbours, airports, communication towers and so on, all of which were new income earning avenues for the country,  On the other hand, Ranil/Srisena era was asset selling, luxury vehicles importing, suspension of development project era. If the Sirisena/Ranil era they supported by then had continued for another

Few years with their non-development policies, Sri Lankawould have become the poorest country in the world)

At the short-term level we need to do an extensive audit investigation on the project we have initiated from these loans and must talk with the institutions which lent these loans. We must immediately go for a loan restructuring plan for at least three years. Secondly even today the unit that generates the highest foreign income to the country is Sri Lankan workers abroad. That is about US$ 7.5 billion. But since last June there is a drop of about USD 1.6 billion. That is to say that these leaders have failed even to get the foreign income that could have been generated for this country. So we need to have a plan to maintain the existing foreign income avenues and make new plans to increase that. There are a large number of rich Sri Lankans around the world and we are inviting them to invest in this country and join in the efforts to build this country. I don’t say that overnight we could get out of the present crisis we are in right now. But we could generate income at least to get the essential commodities.

(This braggart seems to be a frog in the well and is oblivious to the pandemic situation that the economies of the whole world with many foreign employees losing their jobs and forced to return to their countries.  This situation resulted in a decline in receiving foreign remittances.  However, the world economy seems to be gradually reviving and accordingly

the Foreign Employment Bureau of our country have formulated plans to extensively increase foreign job opportunities to Sri Lankans.  This cannot be done overnight but have to be done with much patience and persuasions.)

Thirdly if we are going to a third party, which is the most popular answer right now, it has to be done depending on how conducive the conditions that would be imposed by these third parties on the country. As a popular option we are not planning to go to a third party to get out of this crisis.   

(Here, he indirectly parrots the views of Ranil Wickremasinghe and the reactionary cabal. When Ranil Wickremasinghe entered the new parliament, he made a long speech and urged the government to go to IMF and seek IMF help to address Sri Lanka’s economic problems.  They still keep on repeating this demand.

A report published in the Aruna newspaper on 5^th January 2022 the Minister of Finance Mr. Basil Rajapaksa has apprised the  Cabinet that as per discussions held with IMF and other global financial institutions if their assistance is to be obtained , Sri Lanka will be forced to float the currency resulting in huge increases of prices of essential items, pruning public sector employments and lift import restrictions.  He has explained that if these measures were implemented, the rupee will have to be devalued by 15%, the price of a kilo of Dhal will shoot up to Rs. 400 against the dollar, diesel prices have to be increased by Rs. 25/-, the present 8% VAT has to be increased, the current electricity charge of Rs. 16/- has to be increased to Rs. 25-/- and the present charge for water will have to be increased by about Rs. 10/- per unit.

    
As a midterm plan, we need to restructure the investment procedure that took place over the last so many years. If you take, about 35 percent of the recent investments were on development of roads and highways. As short-term plans we need to focus on investments that could ensure dollar earning.

(While the people o the country are very much appreciative about road developments in the country, for instance which has reduced the travel time between Matara and Colombo from 5 hours to 1 ½ hours, this bloke find fault with spending about 35% of investments for road development and he is blind to the massive income being derived from the toll charges of these Expressways)

We still believe that our traditional crops could generate income in the world market. Secondly we have a plan to acquire a part in the world’s software market. We are sure that we could acquire at least USD 15 billion in the market. We need to prepare a long-term economic plan considering geographical setting of our country, her resources including human resources, civilization and world politics. I don’t say that we can do this overnight, but if we can work on a plan at least for five to six years we can save our country from this deepest crisis.

(This imbecile braggart living in a world of hallucinations says we can do this, we can do that but fails to present concrete and credible short term, medium term or long term plans for the development of the country)

 Q   Even though you talk about taking over power it cannot happen democratically given the ground realities. This government has just completed only two years and there are three more years to go. Isn’t it advisable for you to support the existing government which is in a severe financial crisis; at least to see till its term is over?

A:Do you belive that these leaders have a genuine aim to develop this country? Covid-19 was a disaster that brought fear of death to everyone’s doorstep. These leaders even robbed from that pandemic catastrophe. The fertilizer crisis was a direct hit on the farmers. They even robbed off the import of fertilizer. Do you think they want to solve these problems? Today a minister sits on his chair with the plans to earn for himself. He doesn’t have any idea or vision for this country or the future. So, I don’t think we should even talk about a common agenda. When the Covid 19 pandemic was spreading we spoke to the government. It was not a pandemic of the government.

It was a natural disaster and to save the country from that we were ready to give the fullest participation. We proposed a common mechanism. But the rulers didn’t do that because within a common mechanism they would not have been able to rob from the antigen tests, bringing down Sri Lankans from abroad, or even buying necessary medicine and medical equipment. So there is no use in talking about a common mechanism with these leaders. 

(Do you think that these hooligans who twice attempted to form a dictatorship in the country have a genuine desire to develop this country?  They have taken all personal precautions against Covid-19 and staging protests against various issues facing the country.  How strange it is that no one from these hooligans got affected by Covid-19?  Are they super humans when people belonging to all other parties have got affected and some have even died?  They continue to utter blatant lies to the people on one side and stage lunch, drinks, stipend and transport provided demonstrations with the sole intention of creating chaos in the country)

 Q   But aren’t there three more years during which Gotabaya Rajapaksa can lead this country?

A; With regard to change of government our first option is elections. But in the world we have seen how these corrupt and disastrous regimes have been toppled by people getting on to the streets. That is also democracy. Even though that is not our plan we are ready for that. The corrupt and dictatorial regimes have been toppled not only by elections but by people who had come to the streets. There are so many examples in the recent history in the world. So, there is no necessity to go for another three years.   

(You are in a desperate hurry to launch your envisaged revolt as you know if you wait for another three years for the elections there will be no one to vote for your diminishing part, under whatever name you appears, except the LGBTs and same-sex practitioners)

 Q   Do you think that Sri Lankan or Sri Lankans will go to that extent of toppling the government via a street fight?

A:We are a political orgnisation that understands the sensitivity and movements of the people. People are not static like statues. The reality is that speaking against the injustice and queuing up against the inequality. It is a natural phenomenon. If you study the movement of the human nature this is a natural phenomenon. 

(This enemy of the people give a new interpretation that holding demonstrations against an elected government and toppling it as democracy.  In the above referenced response, he clearly indicates that they have a plan to revolt against the government and topple it without waiting for another three years for elections. This is tantamount to treason.  Therefore, the government should take immediate steps to take him and his hooligans into custody and charge them for planning to revolt against the government and against the mandate of the people.  Prior to the elections the Maha Sanga and many intellectuals wanted the President to act as a Hitler and clear this country from all scrums.  The President should not wait for anymore and should initiate immediate action to take this rebellious group into custody)

Q   Are you ready to give leadership if a situation like that arises?

A:Yes. If there is a danger that the country would become a failed state and if there is a breakdown of social institutions then as a political movement, we have a responsibility to do that.

(In the above response too he confirms their plan to revolt against the government and addfs that it is there responsibility to do so as a political movement.  So, the time is ripe for the President to prevent another rebellion against the country, and act like Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike and R.Premadasa)

 Q   But if you study the history and how different regimes have suppressed a similar rise of people and how it would lead to an extremely dangerous situation, this country could be led on to a worst situation.

A:Those are only legends in the history. Not only the Rajapaksas, but no one else could lead this country to such suppressive rule. We know that military and retired military officers have been used in many areas of administration. There is no room for a military regime in Sri Lanka. At the same time even though there are a few high ranking and privileged section of the military with the government, the majority in the middle and lower ranks are not with this disastrous regime. They do not want to be a part of this ruinous and devastating governance. They also have a burning pain against it. So, I don’t think even though the Rajapaksas have an intention and need to do that, there is no possibility of that. 

(This braggart continues to emphasize the need to topple the government by an anti-democratic uprising and for which the President, the government and the people should rally together before these hooligans once again unleash chaos in the country)

(To be continued……)

සංවාදය  Asian Mirror

පොදු ජන පෙරමුණ ආණ්ඩුවේ මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු වුවද පොදු ජන ප්‍රශ්න වලදී සිය ස්වාධීන මතයට මුල් තැන දෙමින් කටයුතු කරන මතභේදාත්මක චරිතයක් වන ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ , ආචාර්ය විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඒෂියන් මිරර් ‌වෙත සිදුකළ ආන්දෝළනාත්මක හෙළිදරව්ව

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති පදවියෙන් පිදුම් ලැබු නාරාහේන්පිට ශ්‍රී අභයාරාම පුරාණ විහාරාධිපති බස්නාහිර පළාත් ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේට උපහාර පිදීමේ අනද නාහිමි කුලපති උපහාර” උළෙල අද (08) දින පෙරවරුවේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් බණ්ඩාරනායක අනුස්මරණ ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති ධූරයට පත් වූ නාරාහේන්පිට ශ්‍රී අභයාරාම පුරාණ විහාරාධිපති, බස්නාහිර පළාත් ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේට උපහාර පිදීමේ උළෙලක් අද (ජන. 8) පෙරවරුවේ පැවත්විණි.

මෙම උපහාර උළෙල “අනද නාහිමි කුලපති උපහාර” නමින් බණ්ඩාරනායක අනුස්මරණ ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ දී පැවැත්වූයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙනි. 

රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමය මෙම උපහාර උළෙල සංවිධානය කර තිබිණි. 

මෙම අවස්ථාවේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් මෙහි දී “අනද නාහිමි කුලපති උපහාරය” මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේට පිරිනමා ඇත. 

මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වෙමින් සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා උළෙල අමතමින් මෙසේ සඳහන් කර ඇත.

 “ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ බොහෝ අවස්ථාවන්හි ජාතික ප්‍රශ්න සහ ව්‍යසන හමුවේ මහා සංඝරත්නය පෙරමුණ ගත් බව ඉතිහාසය සාක්‍ෂි දරනවා. ඒ නිසා ම අපේ නායක හාමුදුරුවන්ට පුදන මේ උපහාරය ඒ ඉතිහාසයේ තවත් එක් දිගුවක් හැටියට සළකන්න පුළුවන්. මෙරට ජාතික ගැටලුවල දී පෙරමුණ ගනිමින් පරිත්‍යාගශීලීව කටයුතු කළ තෙර නමක් හැටියට අපේ ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ ඉතිහාසයට එක්වෙනවා. එම ජාතික ප්‍රශ්න ගැටලු හමුවේ උන්වහන්සේ නොසැලී ක්‍රියා කළා. ඒ වගේ ම වෘත්තිය අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් පෙරට ආ අවස්ථා එමටයි කියලා කිව්වොත් එය නිවැරදියි.”

සංඝරත්නය ඇතුළු ආගමික පූජකවරුන්, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල, නියෝජ්‍ය සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් හේමන්ත හේරත්, නියෝජ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ලාල් පනාපිටිය, රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ උප සභාපති ආර්.කේ බටුවිට, ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් ඒ.ඩී කල්‍යාණි මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ඇතුළු රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ හෙද හෙදියෝ මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්වී තිබේ.

රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමය මෙම උපහාර උළෙල සංවිධානය කර තිබිණි.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් මෙහි දී අනද නාහිමි කුලපති උපහාර”ය නාරාහේන්පිට ශ්‍රී අභයාරාම පුරාණ විහාරාධිපති බස්නාහිර පළාත් ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේට පිරිනමන ලදි. එම අවස්ථාවට සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා ද එක්ව සිටියේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ බොහෝ අවස්ථාවන්හි ජාතික ප්‍රශ්න සහ ව්‍යසන හමුවේ මහා සංඝරත්නය පෙරමුණ ගත් බව ඉතිහාසය සාක්‍ෂි දරනවා. ඒ නිසාම අපේ නායක හාමුදුරුවන්ට පුදන මේ උපහාරය ඒ ඉතිහාසයේ තවත් එක් දිගුවක් හැටියට සළකන්න පුළුවන්. මෙරට ජාතික ගැටලුවල දී පෙරමුණ ගනිමින් පරිත්‍යාගශීලීව කටයුතු කළ තෙර නමක් හැටියට අපේ ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ ඉතිහාසයට එක්වෙනවා. එම ජාතික ප්‍රශ්න ගැටලු හමුවේ උන්වහන්සේ නොසැලී ක්‍රියා කළා. ඒ වගේම වෘත්තිය අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් පෙරට ආ අවස්ථා එමටයි කියලා කිව්වොත් එය නිවැරදියි. එය අවසානයේ දැවැන්ත ප්‍රතිඵල ලබන වෘත්තිය සමිති ක්‍රියාමාර්ග බවට පරිවර්තනය කරන්නත් සෘජු අදහස් ඔස්සේ සටන්කර ජයග්‍රහණයෙන් අවසන් කිරීම ගැන අප කාටත් තිබෙන්නේ ගැඹුරු ආඩම්බරයක්. විශේෂයෙන් හෙද සේවයේ උන්නතිය ඇතුළු මෙරට සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයට උන්වහන්සේගෙන් ලැබෙන අවවාද අනුශාසනා වඩා වැදගත්වන අතර එය සාධනීය සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවක් උදෙසා ද වැදගත් වී ඇතැයි” අමාත්‍ය කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා මෙහි දී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

සිළුමිණ පුවත්පතේ ප්‍රධාන කර්තෘ ධර්මන් වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා මෙහි දී පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේගේ ජීවන දර්ශනයට අදාළව ආරාධිත දේශනය පැවැත්වීය.

කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති, නාරාහේන්පිට ශ්‍රී අභයාරාම පුරාණ විහාරාධිපති බස්නාහිර පළාත් ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක සහ රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ ගරු සභාපති පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ මෙහි දී පුණ්‍යානුමෝදනාවක් ද පැවැත්වූහ.

මෙම උත්සව සභාව ආලෝකමත් කරන්න අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙහි පැමිණියේ තවත් උත්සව ගණනාවක් අවලංගු කරලා. එදා අභයාරාමයට බෝම්බ ගහපු වෙලාවේ දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා විහාරස්ථානයට ඇවිල්ලා අපි ගැන සොයා බලපු එක කවදාවත් අමතක කරන්න බැහැ. ඔබතුමා අද දිනයේත් මේ කළ උපහාරයට ගෞරවයට අප සංගමය විශේෂ ස්තුතියක් පිරිනමන්න කැමති”යැයි පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නායක ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ පැවසූහ.

පූජ්‍ය මැදගොඩ අභයතිස්ස හිමි, ගැටමාන්නේ ගුණානන්ද හිමි, ඇතුළු මහා සංඝරත්නය සහ අන්‍යාගමික පූජකවරු මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්වූහ.

සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල, නියෝජ්‍ය සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් හේමන්ත හේරත්, නියෝජ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ලාල් පනාපිටිය, රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ උප සභාපති ආර්.කේ බටුවිට, ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් ඒ.ඩී කල්‍යාණි මහත්ම මහත්මීහු ඇතුළු රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ හෙද හෙදියෝ මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 8 (newsin.asia): The visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Sri Lanka from January 8 to 9, and the Indian Foreign Minister S.Jaishankar’s recent phone call to his Lankan counterpart G.L.Peiris, have given the impression that both Asian giants are keen on helping Sri Lanka come out of the economic woods it has been in in the past year.

Due to a variety of factors, including COVID-19 and gross mismanagement, Sri Lanka is now frightfully short of dollars even to import essentials. The disastrous decision to shift wholesale to organic farming immediately, has led to predictions of a food shortage in April 2022. Government’s callousness has led to an unprecedented rise in prices of essentials.

The EconomyNext website quoted the Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, to say that the bank had sold about 3.6 tonnes of gold out of a 6.69 tonne stockpile it had at the beginning of 2021, leaving it with around 3.0 to 3.1 tonnes of gold. The gold sale was to boost liquid reserves, Governor Cabraal said.

Sri Lanka’s gross foreign reserves had dropped to US$ 1.5 billion in November 2021 but recovered in December to touch US$ 3.1 billion. And yet the demand on the dollar remains high in an import dependent economy.

Wang’s Visit

While it is still not known precisely what the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister will bring to the table, Colombo is expecting big ticket investments. Both China and Sri Lanka had brushed the nasty organic fertilizer import row under the carpet. The row over the  allegedly contaminated fertilizer consignment had led to the Chinese company’s threating to go for international arbitration and Sri Lanka’s going to court. Eventually, Sri Lanka coughed up US$ 6.9 billion to settle the matter out of court.   

According to the Sri Lankan Ambassador to China, Dr. Palitha Kohona, two big Chinese companies have sent their representatives to Sri Lanka. He told Daily Mirror: Power China is one. KY Electric is another. Power China is interested in building residential units in Colombo and outside.  KY Electric is interested in renewable energy.  We held talks with China Harbor, China Great Wall, Power Steel, etc. These are only a few of them. All of them have shown keen interest in investing in Sri Lanka catering not only to the domestic market but also to the wider regional markets.   We have been encouraging them.”

Kohona further said: One of the reasons for nothing tangible to be eventuated so far is the inability to send their specialists to Sri Lanka to assess the situation at ground levels. Once travel is restored to some extent, we can expect many of these companies to show greater interest in Sri Lanka.  We have also encouraged travel companies to invest in Sri Lanka. One company with a client base of over 40 million is interested in developing resorts in Sri Lanka, like the resorts in southern Europe or Hainan Island.  We can expect it once things return to some sort of normalcy.  Many other companies will make a beeline to Sri Lanka.”

These investments may work as catalysts for investors from elsewhere, whether they are from the United States, Europe, Russia, Australia, Japan and Korea, Kohona added.  As regards investment in the China-built Colombo Port City, the envoy said: A very serious offer has been made by Power China and China Harbor. It is quite likely that over the next few months, they will invest substantial amounts in the Port City. Again, this will be a flagship investment which will hopefully be an attraction to others to follow-suit. We are hopeful that companies from India, Europe and the United States will follow these big investments in the financial center, the Marina and in the Convention Center.”

Indian Interest  

India’s interest in giving a helping hand to Sri Lanka was evident when its Foreign Minister, S.Jaishankar, called his  Lankan counterpart, G.L.Peiris, on the phone to say that India will support Sri Lanka in these difficult times.” This has heightened hopes that India will, at the earliest, deliver a US$ 1.9 billion financial aid package to Sri Lanka.

In the first week of December 2021, the Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had had two sessions spread over two days with the Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Foreign Minister Jaishankar in New Delhi. Though the expected meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not come through, the Lankan Finance Minister came back to Colombo with a four-point economic cooperation plan.

India indicated that, apart from the existing US$ 400 million swap, there will be a US$ 500 million line of credit for the purchase of oil, and a US$ 1 billion credit line for purchases of medicines and food. It was agreed that the issue of the refurbishing and running of the 99 giant oil tanks in Trincomalee would be settled to mutual satisfaction. The two sides further agreed that modalities to realize the four-point package would be finalized early, within a mutually agreed timeline.”

Trinco Tanks Deal

As planned, India and Sri Lanka reached an agreement on the oil tanks and signed an agreement after securing cabinet approval. Giving the basic contours of the agreement, the Lankan Minister of Energy, Udaya Gmmanpila said that out of the 99 tanks, each with a capacity of 12,000 mt, the State-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will get 24 tanks to develop and use independently of the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC); 14 of the tanks, currently used by the LIOC, will be leased to the LIOC for 50 years; and the balance of 61 tanks will be managed by the Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd.,(TPTL), a joint venture of the CPC and LIOC to be launched soon. In the TPTL, the CPC will own 51% of the shares and the LIOC will hold 49%. The TPTL will be a subsidiary of the CPC.

In effect, 85 out of the 99 tanks will be under the control of the CPC directly or indirectly. And the LIOC will manage only 14 tanks, Gammanpila said.

A leading Buddhist monk has challenged the agreement in the Supreme Court, and the opposition has called it a sell because it wants the government to nationalize the tanks given to India in 2003. But the government is confident of seeing the deal through parliament later this month.

The Lankan Energy minister considers it a historic” agreement since no government before had been able to get the tanks that were given wholesale to India in 2003. The Indian government has described the deal as a milestone”. India did not consider the new agreement as a loss because it was committed to run the tanks as a joint venture way back in July 1987 as part of the Indo-Lanka Accord. This commitment found fruition 35 years later.

A regards the other elements in the four-point package agreed to during Basil Rajapaksa’s New Delhi visit, including the credit lines, both countries are working on the technicalities and modalities. Officials are not certain when each of them will see fruition, but work is in progress.

Therefore, while China has ambitious plans to boost the Lankan economy through investments and credit lines, so is India. The international competition to woo Sri Lanka, given its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, should help it come out economic distress in 2022.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

මුදල් අච්චු ගසා සහන දෙන්න යාමෙන් ඇතිවන උද්ධමනය ගැන ආණ්ඩුව සිතා බැලිය යුතු බව අමාත්‍ය උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

රජයේ ආදායම් වැඩි වෙන්නෙ නැතිනම් වෙනත් වියදමක් කපා හැරෙන්නේද නැතිනම් සහන දෙන්න සිදු වන්නේ මුදල් අච්චු ගැසීමෙන් බවද ඔහු පැවසීය.

අද වන විට මේ රටේ ජනතාව දැවැන්ත උද්ධමනය මුහුණ දෙමින් සිටින බවත් එයින්ද වඩාත්ම පීඩාවට පත්ව සිටින්නේ අඩු ආදායම්ලාභීන් බවත් අමාත්‍යවරයා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

බොරු සුරංගනා කතා නොකියා ආණ්ඩුව ඇත්ත ඇති සැටියෙන් ජනතාවට යුතු බවත් ඒ ආකාරයට ජන මනස හදන විට ජනතාව තත්වය අවබෝධ කොටගෙන ඕනෑම අභියෝගයකට මුහුණදීමට සූදානම් වනු ඇති බවත් ඔහු කියා සිටියි.

නමුත් ඒ ආකාරයෙන් ජනමනස හදන්නට ආණ්ඩුව අසමත් වී ඇති බවත් ඔහු පැවසීය.

සති අන්ත පුවත්පතක් වෙත ඒ මහතා මෙම අදහස් පළ කර තිබේ.

Courtesy The Morning

• Finance Min. proposes seeking financial package similar to that with India 
• Notes 20% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt payments are to China and Japan 
• Proposes seeking trade concessions by doing away with trade restrictions 
• Discussion with China likely to commence during Yi visit

The Government of Sri Lanka is to look at initiating a dialogue with China and Japan to secure financial assistance packages from the two countries, similar to the one negotiated with the Indian Government, The Sunday Morning learns. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa last week proposed the initiation of a dialogue on financial assistance with China and Japan to the Cabinet of Ministers in a 10-page Cabinet paper presented by him at last Monday’s (3) meeting on the current economic outlook of the country and the way forward. 

Cabinet paper number 49 that was presented by the Finance Minister, seen by The Sunday Morning, has noted that the Government of Sri Lanka should look at seeking a financial package from China and Japan similar to that negotiated with India since 20% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt is to these two countries. 

Rajapaksa has further noted that Sri Lanka’s imports from China and Japan are higher than exports and should therefore look at negotiating trade concessions with the two countries to help improve the country’s liquidity issues. 

According to the Finance Minister, ongoing trade restrictions are not beneficial for Sri Lanka’s trade relations with countries like China and Japan. 

The Cabinet paper has noted that debt repayment for 2022 stands at $ 6.9 billion while $ 1,300 million is required for debt servicing in January 2022 and $ 3,100 million for the first quarter for this year. The paper has further noted that a revenue of $ 32 billion is expected for this year from goods and services exports. 

Tourism and foreign remittances have also been listed as high revenue generation methods. In fact, foreign remittances are expected to bring in $ 7.5 billion to the country, according to the Finance Ministry. 

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi commenced a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka yesterday (8). The Sri Lankan Government is likely to commence discussions on financial package with Yi. 

The Finance Minister also presented a Rs. 229 billion relief package in the Cabinet paper, which offered allowances to State sector employees and pension and Samurdhi recipients while also addressing the salary anomalies of teachers, among others. 

The Minister in the Cabinet paper also referred to the calls from many quarters for the Government to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance to resolve the current economic crises. He has explained that the Government can manage without going before the IMF. 

It has been stated in the Cabinet paper that going before the IMF would result in the Government having to float the rupee, increase taxes and introduce price formulas for fuel, power, and water, among other conditions. All these will result in further price increases, adding further burdens on the people who are already facing many hardships,” Rajapaksa has explained to his Cabinet colleagues.

By Maneesha Dullewe Courtesy The morning

• Concerns over compensation mapping process

Farmer trade unions have protested a decision by the Government to only provide compensation to farmers who suffered crop damage due to the use of organic fertiliser issued by the State, stressing that the conditions had been imposed retroactively. 

Farmers are also questioning how the Government plans to map those affected to provide compensation. 

The protests came following Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s statement that no compensation for crop damages will be paid to farmers who have not used the organic fertiliser provided by the Government. 

Farmer trade unions blame the Government for reneging on its pledge to provide unconditional compensation. 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) Convener Namal Karunaratne emphasised that the Government had not imposed any conditions when announcing the decision to shift to organic cultivation and that these conditions were being announced retroactively.

The President himself said that they were fully prepared for this shift and that if there should be any losses, they would definitely pay compensation to the farmers,” he said, pointing out that it was said that Rs. 5,000 would be given to a farmer per acre of land cultivated using organic fertiliser. 

Karunaratne said that there was no ethical justification for imposing such conditions, as farmers were suffering damages because of a Government miscalculation. The Government has proven that it has made a poor decision by withdrawing the relevant gazette and reversing its decision. Therefore, it is obliged to pay compensation.”

 He also shared that there had been no attempts to clarify the mechanism for providing compensation. The Government said that for each kilogramme of paddy that is damaged, they will pay Rs. 25. How did the Government arrive at this decision? What criteria or formula is this based on?” he queried, adding: The Government has not prepared any plan to provide this compensation. They haven’t allocated a cent in the Budget.” 

Karunaratne noted that compensation for previous incidents was still pending, with farmers remaining unpaid for harvests purchased by the State. 

Attempts to contact Agriculture Ministry Secretary D.M.L.D. Bandaranayake regarding Ministry compensation schemes for farmers over fertiliser-related issues proved futile.

BY Marianne David Courtesy The Morning

China is not welcome in the North and East while India has a legitimate role to play, asserted TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran in an interview with The Sunday Morning. 

Commenting on potential Chinese projects and investment in the North and East, in the backdrop of the high-profile visit to the Northern Province in mid-December 2021 by Chinese Ambassador to Colombo Qi Zhenhong, Sumanthiran firmly stated, The Chinese are not welcome in the North or the East.” 

Outlining his reasons, the TNA MP said that firstly, the TNA’s own political quest was based on human rights and democracy, concepts he charged were alien to the Chinese, and secondly, Sri Lanka’s location in the Indian Ocean as opposed to the South China Sea. 

The TNA’s own political quest is based on human rights and democracy, both concepts that are very alien to the Chinese. In order to win our political rights on the basis of human rights and democratic principles, the influence of the Chinese will hinder progress,” he noted. Furthermore, he stated: We are not located in the South China Sea. If we were, we would have recognised the legitimate defence concerns of China. But we are in the Indian Ocean, just a few kilometres away from the Indian coast, and no one can blame us for recognising the legitimate defence concerns of India.” 

Stating that China was not a friendly country towards India, Sumanthiran noted that allowing Chinese space in the North and East, which was very close to the Indian coast, would tantamount to even a hostile act towards India, which we think we should not do”. 

Commenting on India’s current role in Sri Lankan affairs, he emphasised that India had a rightful and legitimate role to play with regard to the settlement of the Tamil national question in Sri Lanka.

 In 1983, in the aftermath of the July ’83 violence, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent her Minister Narasimha Rao and offered India’s good offices to resolve the national question here. That offer was accepted by the Sri Lankan Government and that remains to date. The Indo-Lanka Accord is an international bilateral agreement between two sovereign nations that must be honoured,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Sri Lanka this weekend on a two-day visit during which he is meeting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and other high-profile leaders. 

See page 15 for the full interview with Sumanthiran – https://www.themorning.lk/sumanthiran-charts-way-forward/ 

Rabi Sankar Bosu Courtesy CGTN

Sri Lankan Sanjeewa Alwis (1st R), a project engineer working at China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC)’s Port City Colombo project, checks the work at a construction site in Colombo’s Port City, Sri Lanka, November 30, 2021. /Xinhua

Editor’s note: Rabi Sankar Bosu is an Indian contributor to Chinese media outlets. He writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with a special interest in the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The close bond of friendship between China and Sri Lanka, as Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed “the warm ocean of China-Sri Lanka friendship” during his historic visit to the “splendid pearl” in September 2014, surely attests to the fact that although Sri Lanka is a small country, China treats all countries equally regardless of their size and economic power. Indeed, when it comes to uphold the supremacy of peace on international affairs, China takes a visible lead justifying its role as a responsible world power with its peace-oriented foreign policy to its small neighboring countries.

As part of his first foreign visit to five littoral countries in the Indian Ocean in the New Year, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be paying a two day official visit to Sri Lanka from January 8 to 9. Wang’s two-day visit comes at a unique time as this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka, and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber and Rice Pact between the two nations.

It has been observed that since the end of Sri Lanka’s 30-year-long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, the Chinese government and people have continued to lend a helping hand to provide a large number of concessional low interest rate loans and investments for Sri Lanka’s infrastructure. Both countries have been maintaining relationships at their strongest level at present.

Surely, Wang’s visit to Colombo as part of celebrations of the above-noted two landmark events in bilateral relations will further advance bilateral ties, strengthen bilateral win-win cooperation in various fields at this time of COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese foreign minister’s visit to the island nation holds a lot of importance, owing to Sri Lanka’s persisting economic crisis with its foreign exchange reserves dwindling as well as continuing efforts by both India and the U.S. to counter China’s influence in the island nation.

As such, it is expected that on the bilateral front, during his meetings with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Wang will discuss economic cooperation with Sri Lanka. According to media reports, it is learnt that the Chinese foreign minister will offer special aid for the Sri Lankan government’s post-COVID-19 recovery efforts including the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City project. It is also expected that during his time in Colombo, he will resolve the unresolved fertilizer deal which put some strain on the cordial relations between the two countries in recent months.

But the the Chinese foreign minister’s visit takes place at a time when the U.S. is trying hard to woo Sri Lanka for its so-called free Indo-Pacific under the Quad grouping due to Sri Lanka’s strategic location across the world’s busiest sea lanes. It is seen that the U.S. has been interfering in the relations between China and Sri Lanka by charging China’s various infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Sri Lanka as “debt-trap diplomacy.” It should be noted here that during his visit to Sri Lanka in October 2020, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo openly charged China as “predator” and said that the U.S. comes in a different way.

But the accusation of debt-trap by China toward Sri Lanka does not hold water since less than $9 billion of Sri Lanka’s $57 billion debt was taken from China as of 2019.

In recent years, as Sri Lanka’s strategic partner, China has extended its support for the development of major projects such as the Hambantota Port and the Colombo Port City under the BRI framework, and thus, helped develop Sri Lanka’s economy and improve people’s livelihood. Over the years, China has become Sri Lanka’s biggest aid donor, source of foreign investment, trade partner, and source of foreign tourists. It should be noted here that after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, in addition to donating 18 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Sri Lanka as of August 29, 2021, China also assisted the country by offering loans, and a currency swap deal worth 10 billion yuan (about $1.5 billion) which proves that China is a friend of Sri Lanka in need indeed. China has never linked investment and aid to Sri Lanka’s politics, nor interferes in the country’s political affairs.

A cargo ship is seen at Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka, June 20, 2021. /Xinhua

However, following the footsteps of his predecessor Donald Trump, U.S. President Joe Biden’s focus in his policy on Asia mainly rests on the containment of China theory. As such, taking a harsh stance against the Gotabaya Rajapaksha government, the Biden administration excluded Sri Lanka from its so-called Summit for Democracy on December 9-10 as a punishment since Sri Lanka courted China as its reliable friend for China’s consistent economic policies, good trade practices with a “win-win spirit,” as in the words of Rajapaksa on April 28, 2021, “Sri Lanka has attached utmost importance to developing ties with China as it is a trustworthy and long-term cooperative partner of Sri Lanka for its support for Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development.”

On the other hand, India has been too concerned about Sri Lanka’s embrace of China in recent years. India has long considered  Sri Lanka as its strategic backyard due to its geographical proximity as well as cultural and linguistic affinity to India. Therefore, India is always wary of Chinese domination in Sri Lanka as well as the Indian Ocean. Plainly speaking, due to India’s geopolitical scuffle with China, India has been trying to resist Chinese investment footprint in Sri Lanka as India has long aspired to acquire a dominant position in Sri Lanka by not ceding space to China. Sri Lanka had not approved the construction of a Chinese hybrid energy system project in its north-eastern part due to the interference by India as expressed in the tweet of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka a “third country,” a veiled reference to India.

As such, the signing of the $1.5 billion deal on lease of Sri Lanka’s deep-sea port of Hambantota to China Merchants Port Holdings on July 29, 2017, the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) and the Colombo Port City financed by China as part of the BRI had upset India. India has raised repeated concerns over major Chinese infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, fearing the Chinese-built Hambantota and Colombo Port would provide a naval advantage to China on its doorstep in the Indian Ocean. Many foreign policy experts as well as India’s media even criticized Sri Lanka as a Chinese colony given the debt-ridden nature of the Sri Lankan economy. Although India’s new oil deal with Sri Lanka signed on January 6 is seen as a diplomatic victory for India against China, it will cast no long shadow over China- Sri Lanka ties.

The recent visit to the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Jaffna, Mannar and Point Pedro on December 15 and 16 by the Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong and his donation of 100 motorcycles to the Sri Lankan Police, donating five sets of water purification mobile plants to Jaffna province and providing Tamil fishermen with fishing nets was watched keenly by Indian foreign policy establishment. In the light of Chinese envoy’s visit, many Indian political analysts believe that Wang Yi’s visit to Sri Lanka will enhance China’s position in Sri Lanka giving India a major blow in its own backyard at a time when India’s relations with its immediate neighbors have run into rough weather drawing a wave of criticism of India’s BJP-led government’s “Neighborhood First Policy” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In summation, it can be said that Sri Lanka needs big investment and help for its port-related infrastructure development, so China’s experience and investment in infrastructure projects is very helpful to Sri Lanka which is undergoing a difficult time of economic distress with COVID-19. Needless to say, the Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Sri Lanka will bring more fruits to the 21 million Sri Lankans towards an even brighter future, boosting confidence in China-Sri Lanka ties amid India’s geopolitical jostling with China.