The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 40 coronavirus related deaths for October 02, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 13,059.
According to the figures released by the Department of Govt. Information, the Covid-19 deaths reported today include 22 males and 18 females.
Just one of the victims are below the age of 30 years while eleven of them are between 30-59 years.
The remaining twenty-eight victims are in the age category of 60 years and above.
The daily total of new COVID-19 cases moved to 800 today (Oct. 03) as 258 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said.
This brings the tally of coronavirus infections confirmed in the country so far to 520,432.
More than 48,000 active cases are currently under medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and homes.
Total recoveries from the virus infection reached 459,298 earlier today as 652 more patients were discharged from medical care upon returning to health.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered 40 new COVID-related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Oct. 02. The new development pushed the official death toll to 13,059.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $110 million loan as additional financing for the ongoing Health System Enhancement Project that is improving the primary health care system (PHC) in Sri Lanka.
The Health System Enhancement Project, approved in October 2018, is upgrading primary medical care units and division hospitals in Central, North Central, Sabaragamuwa, and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka. It is strengthening health information systems and disease surveillance capacity, as well as supporting policy development, project management, and capacity building in the sector.
The project also provided crucial resources for the immediate emergency response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in March–April 2020.
Health care services and facilities are more important now than ever. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has revealed vulnerabilities in the country’s health care system and we need to address these issues,” said ADB Health Specialist for South Asia Dai-Ling Chen. This additional investment will further improve the efficiency and equity of health care in Sri Lanka and expand access to primary and secondary level of health services.”
The additional financing will replenish reallocated funds from the ongoing project used for COVID-19 response. This will be used to complete the development of 42 PHC facilities; renovate 127 field health centers; increase nutrition services to mothers and children, especially the most vulnerable groups; and encourage the use of PHC facilities. It will also develop selected secondary care cluster apex hospitals to ensure the continuity of service delivery from primary to secondary care.
The scope of the project has been expanded to provide additional support to include and strengthen the country’s COVID-19 response. It will scale up the capacity of at least 25% of secondary and tertiary level hospitals to treat and manage COVID-19. It will upgrade the 1990 Suwa Seriya ambulance system in all districts.
New initiatives will be introduced such as the scaling up of infrastructure, information technology systems, and e-learning facilities in the National Institute of Health Sciences and nine regional training centers. It will also develop gender-responsive PHC service, hospital design, and PHC training modules.
ADB will provide an additional $3 million from its Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction on a grant basis to improve the efficiency of Sri Lanka’s prehospital ambulance system.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
When British
rule ended and Sri Lanka became independent, the elephant regained its position
as an important animal in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) was
recognized as one of three subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to Sri
Lanka.
The elephant became a protected animal, once again. This time to
prevent the species from dying out. The Fauna and Flora Protection Act 1970
said that no one could kill an
elephant. If anybody killed an
elephant he was liable for fine, imprisonment or both. No wild elephant can be captured, except by the Department
of Wildlife Conservation, and that too only if the elephant was dangerous. The
captured elephants were released to a wildlife reserve.[1]
A survey
conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1994 found that there
were 52 percent adults, 22 percent sub-adults and 26 percent juveniles. This is
a healthy population structure and augurs well for the future of the elephant
in the wild provided there is sufficient habitat said Jayantha Jayawardena
(citing Hendawitharana et al.,
1994). [2] A large number of newly born babies were seen
in 2001. [3] A survey
conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in 2011 – 12, concluded
that there are approximately 6000 elephants in the wild.[4]
However, the elephant is
no longer living in its own habitat in the natural forest as in ancient times.
That forest has disappeared. The elephant was now living in state reserves.
They are at Wilpattu, Yala, Gal Oya, Maduru oya, Victoria- Randenigala, Somawathiya,
Wasgomuwa, Uda Walawa, Peak wilderness, Flood plains, Sinharaja, Minneriya and Bundala.[5]
In 2003 these reserves held a total of 1700 to 2100 elephants. [6]
The elephants do not always stay in the reserves. There is the
‘Minneriya Gathering”. Every year, July to September elephants
herds congregate around the Minneriya reservoir, where grasses are rich and
fertile. The elephants come from areas beyond the reservoir and herds with
numbers as large as 300 ~ 400 can be seen.
They come in small herds, usually family groups of elephants under a
matriarch. They come together in search of water, an infusion
of minerals and to ensure regeneration of the species. [7]
The elephants then migrate to Kaudulla National Park from October to November
and move to Hurulu Eco Park for the final leg of their migration from December
to January. [8]
Ashley de Vos also observed that elephants have now started to go
up the southern highland plateau. This is shown in the elephant sightings at
Poonagala, Millennium point, Koslanda, Randeligala. Kanneliya, Adam’s Peak,
places entered from the steep Koslanda hills. [9]
It may be possible to recreate the forest landscape, in highlands being
abandoned by the tea industry, and give back to the elephants their lost
habitat, he said. [10]
The trained
domesticated elephant also comes from the wild population. Wild herds are the
primary source. It has traditionally been much cheaper, easier and more
efficient to catch elephants in the forest and train them than to allow adult
elephants to breed and wait 22 months for a calf to born and wait an additional
10 years for the calf to grow to working size. [11]
An elephant
out of commission during the 22 month gestation period and two years of nursing
as not a very profitable elephant. [12] Also working elephants
rarely breed in captivity. [13] One reason
they don’t reproduce well is because they are too tired. [14]
The Asian elephant is very
trainable[15]it
is highly intelligent and Sri Lanka has
a long history of training elephants .Captive elephants readily adapt to commands
from humans because elephants in the wild live in hierarchal groups and are
used to taking orders from other elephants,
said specialists . [16]
But when an
elephant is on its own it needs further training and disciplining to make it
obey many more commands. [17]Training
takes six months to a year and the elephants learn about 30 commands. [18] At least
once a day the elephants were carefully taken to the river for a bath. The
mahouts talk to them constantly and sing them lullabies during their feeding
and bathing time.[19]
Elephants
that are kept in captivity are mainly fed on kitul, coconut, jak, Erythrina species, and bo (Ficus religiosa). Elephants also eat, depending on availability,
pota wel (Pothos scandens), gonna (Ficus callosa), palu
(Manilkara hexandra), nuga (Ficus benghalensis), na
(Mesua ferrea), attikka (Ficus racemosa), agal
adara (Adhatoda vasica),
budeliya (Tetracera sarmentosa) and erabudu (Erythrina lithosperma). Banana (Musa spp.) is also consumed when available (Godagama, 1996) [20]
Most of the districts in which there are tame elephants do not
have any wild elephant habitats. But because the
food of the tame elephant is entirely different from that of the wild ones, the
lack of jungles is not a problem for elephant owners when looking for food for
their elephants.[21]
Trained elephants
are used for haulage. A mature bull Asian elephant can carry 600 pounds with
its trunk and tusks and pull loads of 9,000 pounds with a harness. [22]
Elephants are
used in the timber industry to uproot trees. They drag logs and load them onto
lorries. [23] They can also guide log accurately into
streams. [24] At the
timber yard or saw mill the elephants unload the logs off the lorry and stack
them. They are hired sometimes by the estates to haul onto
the road the trees that have been felled for use as firewood and timber. [25]
Elephants
are ideal for forest operations. they don’t trample
the forest and damage young trees. They are the perfect vehicle for selective
cutting. [26] Mechanized
logging causes ten times more damage in local forests. [27] They can work in terrain inaccessible
to vehicles. [28] Since tractors and other
machinery can do this work faster. [29] it is only
in difficult and inaccessible terrain that elephants are needed today. [30]
In Sri Lanka,
logging elephants work 15-20 days per month. [31] Elephants
work for half a day, generally for five to six hours. During the other half of
the day they are rested and bathed. [32] Then they
are fed. [33] Females
are preferred for work because they are more compliant. [34]
Elephants are
also used to carry steel girders used
for roofs. They carry bags of sand from the rivers on to the road. Metal from
stone quarries is brought to the road by elephants. [35] ( continued)
[1] he History and Value of the Elephant in
Sri Lankan Society by Ranjith Bandara and Clem
Tisdell November 2005
[2] The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri
Lanka – Jayantha Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[3] The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri
Lanka – Jayantha Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[23]he care
and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri Lanka – Jayantha
Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
Giants on Our Hands: Proceedings of the International Workshop on the
Domesticated Asian Elephant bANGKOK,
2001
[25]he care
and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri Lanka – Jayantha
Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
Giants on Our Hands: Proceedings of the International Workshop on the
Domesticated Asian Elephant bANGKOK,
2001
[27]he care
and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri Lanka – Jayantha
Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm.( Jayasekere et al.,
1995)
[29] The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri
Lanka – Jayantha Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[30] The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri
Lanka – Jayantha Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[31]he care
and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri Lanka – Jayantha
Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[32] The care and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri
Lanka – Jayantha Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
[33] Ashoka
Dangolla and Indira Silva The Status and Veterinary Problems in Captive
Elephants Sri Lanka Sri Lanka2021 htps://www.aserc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=61
[34] Ashoka
Dangolla and Indira Silva The Status and Veterinary Problems in Captive
Elephants Sri Lanka Sri Lanka2021
htps://www.aserc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=61
[35]he care
and management of domesticated Asian elephants in Sri Lanka – Jayantha
Jayewardene http://www.fao.org/3/ad031e/ad031e09.htm
The
Sunday Guardian Live published a ‘story’ on 21st August which
claimed that the New Zealand cricket team’s tour of Pakistan was under “a
terror threat with an imminent possibility of the touring cricketers being
attacked by one of the many terror groups active in the volatile region.” According
to the reports, this Indian media outlet is owned by MJ Akbar who had served as
Minister of State for External Affairs between July 2016 and October 2018 under
Narendra Modi. He is still an active member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party. Unfortunately rather disappointingly the New Zealand cricket team called
off its tour of Pakistan, just a few minutes before the first match was supposed
to begin. The government of New Zealand said this cancellation of the tour was
simply because of the so-called ‘security-threat’. The honourable Prime
Minister of Pakistan personally made a call to Jacinda Ardern, the Prime
Minister of New Zealand and assured her that the reports regarding security
threats were baseless rather fake and that the security of the New Zealand team
was assigned to Pakistan Army and Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency but to
Jacinda the report of Sunday Guardian Live was more trust-worthy.
It
is no doubt a very important question how MJ Akbar had come to know of this
terror threat and what was his source of information but one thing is very much
clear that MJ Akbar has close linkage with the planners of that expected
‘Terrorists’ Attack’. Unbelievably, it
is also something astonishing that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency the
ISI also could not smell the expected ‘terror-attack’ on the New Zealand team,
pointed out by MJ Akbar though the ISI is ranked among the world’s top five
best intelligence agencies. It means that the Indian journalist was in
continuous contact with the planners and they had complete confidence in him.
Whatever be the reality, this incident has directly damaged the image of
Jacinda Ardern who had won a lot of true love from the Muslims all over the
world after the Christ Church incident. Certainly this non-professional
behavior of the New Zealand Cricket team organizers would damage the popularity
of Jacinda Ardern which had reached its climax in Muslim countries after the
Christ Church Massacre.
After
the Christ Church massacre, as far as Jacinda’s sympathetic and caring attitude
with the Muslims is concerned, that was simply a political gimmickry. As
country’s Prime Minister, it was her duty to pacify the situation and calm down
the people. Moreover she wanted to covey a soft image of her country to the
world around especially to the Muslim world. Some of the social media users are
of the opinion that the New Zealand players were lacking talent and fitness and
they were frightened of their expected defeat at the hands of the Pakistani
players; that is why this whole story was concocted. It is also very
unfortunate that following the foot-marks of Jacinda Ardern, the England
Cricket team has also cancelled its expected tour to Pakistan though on the
other hand England has removed the name of Pakistan from the Red-List of the
countries suffering badly from the Covid-19.
The
fact of the matter is that refusal of New Zealand and England regarding playing
in Pakistan is not a personal or individual act of any of these countries; this
all seems a part of a well organized and carefully managed move to defame and
malign Pakistan but facing such type of hostile moves is nothing new to
Pakistan. From the demand of ‘Do More’ to the allegation of ‘Doing Nothing’,
the tale of hurdles in Pakistan’s way to progress and economic stability is
very long. The world around has always tried all the best to minimize the
important role of Pakistan in world affairs particularly in affairs relevant to
the South Asia but Pakistan was always there and still there on the scene and
behind the scene.
After
the death of the great leader of the Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir Syed Ali
Shah Geelani, a few weeks back, Masarat Alam Bhat was appointed the new chairman
of All Parties Hurriyat Conference who had already been leading the Hurriyat Conference
during the illness-days of Late Syed Ali Shah Geelani. His permanent
appointment as the Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference was warmly welcomed
by Kashmiris and their friends all over the world. But at the same time his
appointment proved a thorn in the flesh for those who always dream of keeping
the Kashmiris chained down. Different Hindu extremist groups started a
well-organized media campaign against Masarat Alam Bhatt. It was propagated
that Masarat Alam Bhat was a candidate introduced and inducted by Pakistan’s
intelligence agencies. Though that defaming campaign could not last longer but
the Hindu extremists did try their best to create an air of distrust and
confusion and generate hatred against Pakistan. Same approach about Pakistan
was observed when the Taliban took charge of Afghanistan. The Indian and the US
media tried to spread this baseless conception that Pakistan was the
Master-Mind of bringing Taliban into the government though Pakistan had nothing
to do in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
Neither
in the Indian Occupied Kashmir nor in Afghanistan has Pakistan ever interfered;
Pakistan has always desired for peace leading to prosperity in both the areas. Pakistan’s
only concern has been the basic human rights of the people of Afghanistan and
of Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir and for this purpose Pakistan has always
raised its voice at every platform. Obviously this desire and concern has added
a lot to the number of forces hostile to Pakistan. Recently Pakistan’s visually
impaired diplomat Saima Saleem also pointed towards the same desire in her
speech at the United Nations General Assembly. She is the first lady diplomat
who presented her country’s point of view on Kashmir issue on such a sublime
platform by using Braille. She said, India remains in occupation of an
internationally recognized disputed territory whose final disposition needs to
be decided in accordance with the democratic principle of a free and impartial
plebiscite under UN auspices, as provided for under numerous resolutions of the
Security Council.” The fact of the
matter is that Pakistan has never been interested in doing any interference in
formation of government in Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir or in Afghanistan
or in selection or elections of political parties’ heads but at the same time
Pakistan would never compromise on peace and prosperity of Afghanistan and the
Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
“Western institutions fund missionary activity which actively kills (the Dhramic) way of life.” J. Sai Deepak Iyer ji explains his advocacy in protecting Bharat’s indigenity
The much controversial fertilizer tender, that was offered to China without analyzing samples to check its compliance with the standards published by the Sri Lanka Standard Institution, has been suspended due to the continuous failures in proving the samples are free of microorganism.
Director General Agriculture in a statement has said that any contaminated fertilizer cannot be imported to Sri Lanka; and this is said to be the reason behind the Agriculture Minister suspending the tender.
Director National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) Dr. W.A.R.T. Wickramarachchi confirmed with the Daily Mirror that the second batch of samples received on September 24, too were highly contaminated with gram positive and gram negative bacteria which is Bacillus SPP and Erwinia SPP which can be pathogenic to plants.
The samples that we received on August 31 and September 24 are the same. We are yet to release the full report, but I confirm with you that the second sample too is very harmful to the local condition,” Dr. Wickramarachchi. After the first sample report appeared in the media and when questioned regarding that, Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that he suspects sabotage as the packets of samples received were damaged and probably some interested party may have got it contaminated.
However, when this newspaper inquired from Director NPQS whether the first sample they received was not sent under a sealed cover, Dr. Wickramarachchi said both first and second samples were sent under sealed covers and were in good intact.
I only said that the samples have reached the NPQS in an unofficial way. The NFS has asked the supplier to send a sample as we have never imported organic fertilizer earlier.
-Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage
Details emerged how the Agriculture Ministry followed a dubious tender procedure; which method was the first to be followed in the annals of the country’s tender history.
The Ministry of Agriculture in early July invited seal bids from pre-qualified bidders to supply 99,000 MT of organic fertilizer and natural minerals. The tender was closed on July 28, 2021 and was awarded to the selected bidder- Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd, China, on August 11, 2021. The normal procedure before awarding a fertilizer tender involves sending samples from all qualified bidders to the National Fertilizer Secretariat (NFS) of the Ministry of Agriculture for analysis in order to ascertain its compliance to the standards published by the Sri Lanka Standard Institution (SLS). However, this tender has been awarded without obtaining samples from the bidders to determine the suitability for the local condition.
It is alleged that this new procedure has been followed to favour the local agent of the fertilizer manufacturer, Chelinaa Capital Corporation Pvt Ltd. This company is said to be owned by a close family member of a senior high ranking official at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company lab report that says there are Coliform bacteria in the sample
A member of the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC), on strict condition of anonymity, said that they did not obtain samples when tenders were called to check the suitability of local conditions, but considered other factors; whether they can supply the required bulk on time, the price and most importantly the European Union (EU) Certification. We paid attention to the EU Certification, then on the price and whether they can supply the required bulk stocks for the ‘maha’ season. We didn’t have time to check samples and offer the tender. We got down the samples after the agreement was signed,” sources said.
According to this source, all the bidders shortlisted were in the international organic business. We selected those who were having OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) Certification. OMRI is an independent body that gave us an independent review on the product. Seawin Biotech has the EU recognition and there is nothing suspicious in selecting them as we are sure about the quality of their fertilizer,” the source claimed.
Although the source claimed that the TEC was very confident of the selected bidder’s product, the lab report issued by the National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS) states that the two samples carry culturable microorganism; which is harmful. When asked as to how the TEC is confident of the selected product when the NPQS report says that it carries harmful bacteria, the sources claimed that proper procedure had not been followed when the samples were imported.
There are questions about the packing as the parcels were not sent under a sealed cover and it was torn. Although NPQS issued a negative report, the report given by the international accredited laboratory which was nominated by the SLS, says there were no living bacteria in the sample received,” he said. However NFS sources speaking on terms of anonymity said that the sample bags sent to NPQS were properly sealed, but it was learnt that the samples sent to the Colombo University and the international accredited laboratory have been tampered with.
We were told that the initial report issued by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) also states that the samples are highly contaminated. Why doesn’t the NFS take these two lab reports into consideration? Unless, the NPQS report was leaked to the media, no one would have known that these fertilizer samples were contaminated with culturable microorganism,” sources alleged.
When inquired from a TEC source whether there are concerns regarding how the said samples have been packed, the manner in which it was received and the time period taken to deliver them to the lab and how can the NFS trusts the international accredited lab report, the TEC member said that it is up to the Agriculture Ministry to decide on it.
This Chinese company exports organic fertilizer to 60 countries including USA and Japan and it hasn’t had any issue so far. The issue here is with the sample. This particular bacteria is common in Sri Lanka. Although some parties with a vested interest claim that if there are more than 4% Nitrogen in fertilizer it cannot be consider as organic this is a myth. Nitrogen enriched modern fertilizer should have a Nitrogen content of 10-15 %. They have increased the Nitrogen percentage from a special bacteria culture. This is a 100% soluble fertilizer and is good for our soil,” the TEC source added.
According to the source, the local agent has signed a bond agreeing to adhere to protocol. If the bulk consignment proves to be contaminated the Agriculture Ministry has the right to ask the local agent to re-ship despite we making payments. As I said earlier, we place trust on the EU certificate. There were bidders from India whose prices were much lower than the Chinese product. Since its Nitrogen content is low (4%) if we purchase the Indian fertilizer, then there is a need to purchase more fertilizer as we have to put double or even more fertilizer to the crop to give the plants the required Nitrogen percentage,” he added. This newspaper is in possession of the test report of the solid organic fertilizer issued by the NPQS. These samples have been submitted by the NFS on August 31, 2021 to analyse whether they comply with the SLS standards.
The report dated September 8, 2021 addressed to the Director NFS, by Additional Director National Plant Quarantine Services Dr. W.A.R.T. Wickramarachchi, states that the two samples submitted are highly contaminated with culturable microorganism.
The report states, ‘This refers to the solid organic fertilizer samples bearing number 388 and 389, submitted to National Plant Quarantine Services by the National Fertilizer Secretariat on August 31, 2021. ‘Samples were subjected to Standard Microbiological tests to find out whether the samples are contaminated with culturable microorganism.
‘Sample No: 388 was found to be highly contaminated with gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The preliminary studies revealed the bacteria to be Bacillus SPP and Erwinia SPP which can be pathogenic to plants. Similarly sample No: 389 was found to be contaminated with gram positive bacteria which also becomes a Bacillus SPP.
Therefore samples submitted for laboratory investigations are not sterile” Additional Director National Plant Quarantine Services Dr. W.A.R.T. Wickramarachchi’.
This newspaper is in possession of the analysis report issued by a German laboratory in China, which is an international accredited lab recommended by the SLS- Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company Limited. According to this report dated September 14, 2021 there are Coliform bacteria found in the sample.
The Analysis Certificate states, ‘ i) Place of Sampling: Production Line of Quingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Lt ii) Date of Sampling: September 11, 2021, iii) Date of Testing : September 11- 14, 2021’.
The report further states, ‘We here by confirm that representative samples of seaweed organic granular fertilizer were taken from production line (Dry Drum Machine where the production is heat sterilized with a temperature of about 600 degrees Celsius) of Quingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd and analyzed by Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company Limited 5th Floor, Building No: 33, Optics Valley International Ocean Information Harbour, No: 396, Emeishan Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Qingdao, China for living bacteria. This test is conducted under the instruction of SLSI with relevant testing standards. The results are as follows-
1.Coliform bacteria – test results : less than 10 2.Salmonella – test results: Absent 3.Mortality of ascarid egg -test results: 100 (No eggs were detected)’
‘Remark: This certificate issued by Schutter as an independent and international accredited inspection company at the port of loading. This lab is registered according to ISO 17025:2017 as CANS No: L9586’.
NFS sources said that although the Agriculture Ministry and the Fertilizer Secretariat are trying to maintain that according to the German lab report there is only a lesser amount (less than 10 cells) of Coliform bacteria in the sample, even if there is less than one (1) cell, that has to be considered seriously.
According to SLS 1704:2021, which standard is subjected to restrictions imposed under the plant protection Act No: 35 of 1999, sterilized solid organic fertilizer shall not contain any material hazardous to plant, animal or human health. It provides plant nutrients and enhances physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil.
Clause 3.12 of the SLS standard says, ‘Destroying the microbial populations and seeds and vegetative organs of weeds within the organic fertilizer
Clause 3.13 says, ‘Sterilized solid organic fertilizer – any product in solid form of plant (except from product from petroleum industries), or animal origin that has undergone substantial decomposition that can supply total nutrienats to plants comprising Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) should be at a minimum of 8%. This shall not obtain microorganism but shall contain naturally occurring minerals with no added chemicals or inorganic fertilizer material in the finished product to affect the nutrient content’. Meanwhile, Dr. Warshi Dandeniya, Soil Microbiologist and Senior Lecturer Department of Soil Science, University of Peradeniya raised concern about how the Agriculture Ministry ignored the expert advice and entered into an agreement with the selected bidder to proceed with importing fertilizer that has a 10% Nitrogen content which is contaminated with microorganism.
Now the tender has been suspended, but we cannot consider that the Government’s ploy is over. The Agriculture Ministry and the NFS deliberately ignored the SLS standard that clearly states ‘sterilized solid organic fertilizer shall be free from any living organism or their viable forms’. When there is ample evidence that two samples collected on two different days submitted to two different labs for analysis (on August 31 to NPQS and on September 11 to Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company Limited), the labs have issued adverse reports which state there are living microorganism in the fertilizer. On what basis they are trying to import this hazardous fertilizer to the country? It should be noted that both labs conducted analyses targeting only a small fraction of living microorganisms that could present in these samples. Even with these analytical limitations the presence of microorganisms in the fertilizer is confirmed. Despite this, what is the reason for the NFS to go ahead with the proposed plan?” queried Dr. Dandeniya.
It should be noted that both labs conducted analyses targeting only a small fraction of living microorganisms that could present in these samples. Even with these analytical limitations the presence of microorganisms in the fertilizer is confirmed. Despite this, what is the reason for the NFS to go ahead with the proposed plan?” -Dr. Warshi Dandeniya
Referring to what Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage once said that the fertilizer is a ‘tailor made’ product for Sri Lanka, Dr. Dandeniya said that Quingdao Seawin Biotech Group webpage that gives details on seaweed compound granular fertilizers clearly states two granular fertilizer products that has 10% Nitrogen content. One fertilizer consists of 10% sea-weed extract, 7% Urea Nitrogen and 3% Ammonium Nitrogen and therefore not qualified as an input for organic farming. The other fertilizer contain 20% sea-weed extract and 35% organic matter and has ‘Ecocert’ certificate.
True, from the information we have received this fertilizer can be tailor- made for Sri Lanka. The products this company imports to the USA has 4% or less Nitrogen contents and has ‘Ecocert’ certificate qualifying their use as inputs in organic crop production. These certified fertilizers imported to USA are more expensive and a metric ton is almost eight times higher than the price they have agreed to supply us. As featured in the company website, to increase the Nitrogen level in compound granular fertilizers they have added urea. Among their products there are already two granular fertilizers that has 10% Nitrogen. But only one has received Ecocert certifiaction while others contain urea. What is the composition of this so called tailor made product supplied to us? This fertilizer should not be allowed to enter to the country,” she added.
Failure to analyze samples for plant pathogens According to her, if a DNA test is carried out the exact type of pathogen present in the samples can be detected. The test carried out by the German lab (Schutter Global Inspection and Survey Company Limited) proves the absence of Salmonella which does not mean the tested sample is free of organisms. They have failed to analyse the samples for plant pathogens. Most importantly the Coliform bacteria count in their test report is not zero. Coliforms includes Escherichia coli (E.coil) which usually indicate contamination of samples with fecal matter,” Dr. Dandeniya further said.
Biodiversity Scientist and former Chairman Sri Lanka Tea Board, Rohan Pethiyagoda told the Daily Mirror that the tender that was forced to be cancelled was awarded to import composted sea weeds from China which is made from the millions of tons of seaweeds also called as sea lettuce which is a kind of algae of the genus Ulva, which infests Chinese beaches.
Organic agriculture is all about not using fertilizers, so the term ‘organic fertilizer’ is something of an oxymoron. But it is clear that unless some nutrients are added to the soil, the yields of all crops in Sri Lanka will fall, maybe by as much as 30%. The problem with organic fertilizer is that it is invariably made from waste, such as sewage, animal waste, plant waste or municipal garbage. The most important risk is that these fertilizers may carry pathogens such as E. coli or salmonella, which can contaminate our food. And remember, because all herbicides are now banned, we can no longer deal with an outbreak if that happens. Right now, my understanding is that the government intends to import composted sea weeds from China.
According to Pethiyagoda, the problem with sea lettuce is that it is very good at absorbing heavy metals from seawater, such as cadmium, copper, zinc and lead.
Unless the compost is cleaned before export, these metals can enter our food chain, for example our tea, leading to importing countries banning our tea. Heavy metals in food can be very toxic to humans. There are also other issues. For example, Buddhists and Muslims may have concerns about eating food that has been grown using compost made from abattoir waste involving cows, pigs and chickens. Finally, there is the issue of how effective these organic fertilizers are. You may end up importing tens of thousands of tons of it and find that they don’t really work,” said Pethiyagoda.
Pethiyagoda further states, It seems to me that the Government has embarked on a high-risk adventure that could have some dreadful consequences. And I’m concerned about this because the victims of these mistakes will be the poorest in our community: small scale farmers. About two million Sri Lankan people who farm rice, tea and vegetables stand to be driven into poverty as a result of this policy. The economic consequences are one thing. But aid from abroad can fix that. Social consequences are a much bigger problem. I worry that we may see a farmers’ insurrection before long, and such things never end well” he said.
Meanwhile, NFS sources accused Minister Aluthgamage for his recent statement made against the findings of Erwinia in the fertilizer samples claiming it has been imported to Sri Lanka in an unofficial manner. How can the Minister make such an irresponsible statement when there is a Cabinet decision to ban all imports of chemical fertilizers to the country? In such a background how can samples of fertilizers be imported to the country without an import licence? How can the Sri Lanka Customs release them if there wasn’t an import licence? Why the did the NPQS accept these samples that have been brought to Sri Lanka illegally? Was it the local agent that has imported this unofficially? If so why cannot the Minister lodge a complaint to the CID to investigate as to how this was brought to Sri Lanka,” sources queried.
We shortlisted five bidders and selected the most suitable bidder. When selections were made we looked for the best company that has the ISO Certification, the OMRI review report, the EU certification and all other recognized certifications.
-Secretary, State Ministry of Fertilizer M.N. Ranasinghe
By letter dated September 1, 2021, fertilizer importers have addressed Agriculture Minister requesting to pay the long overdue fertilizer subsidiary to them. According to the letter, the total overdue to the private sector importers to date is over Rs.18, 000 million. Although a paltry sum of Rs.400 million has been approved on August 30, it is yet to be released by the State Ministry to the fertilizer importers. They have also found out that the NFS has been extremely slow in submission of their subsidy claims to the General Treasury. Hence the Treasury is unaware of the overdue amount. The letter further states that these importers have borrowed in excess of Rs.16, 000 million to pay for what they have imported for the 2020/2021 ‘Maha’ season and their combined monthly interest is Rs.110 million which they claim as a wasteful expenditure,” sources said. Although the Minister said that the samples have been brought in an unofficial manner, by letter dated August 12, 2021, to Director NFS, Secretary to the State Ministry of Agriculture, M.N. Ranasinghe has informed about the procedure that has to be followed when importing organic fertilizer
‘This refers to the Cabinet decision No.21/0964/323/030 on the Memorandum dated 31/05/2021 submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by the Minister of Agriculture to implement Cabinet approvals granted in terms of decision No.21/0746/301/013 on Towards a Green Socio Economic Pattern with Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change”. ‘Clause 4 (ii) states: ‘The Director National Fertilizer Secretariat (NFS) shall inform the Director General of Agriculture/Director General, Animal production and Health to issue permits for the importation of fertilizer samples to the National Plant Quarantine Service if plant material is used for the production of those organic fertilizer and to the National Animal Quarantine Service if animal raw material is used as the case may be.’
‘Clause 5 states: ‘The Director National Fertilizer Secretariat should take action to issue Import Permit to enable getting samples of the respective products to be tested by the following institutions. Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI), SLSI approved laboratory selected by the Director NFS, Atomic Energy Board and Sri Lanka Plant Quarantine Unit’.
Seawin Biotech Group Co. Ltd web pages that show 10% Nitrogen consist of — 7% Urea Nitrogen and 3% Ammonium Nitrogen
The sources further alleged that the Eastern Port City of Qingdao in China from where the fertilizer is expected to be imported, is experiencing the worst ever algae infestation in the region, with more than 1,700 square km of coastal area blanketed by harmful green seaweed, also known as green tide”.
We have suspicious whether the ‘tailor-made’ fertilizer is manufactured from these harmful green seaweed. Qingdao has suffered from this algae for 15 the past years,” sources added.
Meanwhile, the sources further queried as to why the government agreed to make the full payment before the consignment arrives Sri Lanka? The general practice is to withhold 25% of the value of the cargo until it is confirmed that the product is acceptable to the country. But in this tender, the government has agreed to make an advance payment before loading and the balance on submission of shipping documents to the local banks. It takes 14 to 20 days for the cargo to reach Sri Lanka from the port of loading. Before the cargo arrives they are allowed to courier the shipping documents to the local banks. Before the consignment arrives the country has made the full payment to China without any recourse to the normal 25% retention and to the normal 10% of value Performance Guarantees; which is approximately US$ 6 million,” sources alleged.
The sources further revealed as to how attempts were made to increase the rate of discharge from 1600MT per day to 3200MT per day which was foiled by the trade unions of State owned fertilizer companies. Once the consignment arrives, if the workers clear the stock before the agreed period, the shipper is relieved from paying statutory charges to the Port. Hence incentives are paid to state company workers for faster discharge. By increasing the rate of discharge from 1600MT to 3200MT per day, these workers could have not been able to get the incentives. Fertilizer Corporation workers planned to instigate a trade union action and delay clearing the stocks from the port which will result the shipper bearing additional port charges for keeping the ship more than the agreed period. Understanding what the consequences would be, the rate of discharge was brought back to 1600MT per day by the NFS,” sources claimed. Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage however declined to accept that the imported fertilizer samples were brought to Sri Lanka in an ‘unofficial manner’.
I never stated so. I only said that the samples have reached the NPQS in an unofficial way. The NFS has asked the supplier to send a sample as we have never imported organic fertilizer earlier. We have a doubt about these samples and these packs have been idling at the courier service for seven days. The packings have been broken. The NFS says they suspect sabotage in this process in order to put the blame on us,” the Minister said. According to Aluthgamage the SLS has to recommend an international accredited lab which he failed to name which has released the report stating there were no living organism in the samples. We received new samples on September 23 and got it cleared from the Customs under tight security. Even the Colombo University issued a report saying that there are no bacteria in the sample. I personally think the scientists at the Colombo University are very efficient and genuine. It is very easy to infect these samples with bacteria and carry out a sabotage to derail the government genuine effort,” he added.
National Plant Quarantine Service lab report (dated September 8) that there are bacteria in the sample
When asked as to why a different procedure was followed without obtaining samples from the bidders and awarding this tender without checking how suitable the fertilizer is to the country, the Minister said that there is no way to do this as this bulk arrives in five shipments. Before loading they will send us a lab report recommended by the SLSI lab and once it arrives in Sri Lanka we take another sample- a joint sample and get it checked. If we get a positive report we would unload the stock and if not we would send it back of their own expense.
This company exports its products to 12 countries including USA, Japan and Australia. None of these countries have not made any complain against the fertilizer. Here, we have not violated a single tender condition and the process we followed is transparent,” Aluthgamage said.
When asked as to why the tender document laid a condition that the fertilizer should have 10% Nitrogen whereas the experts say it should not have had more than 4% maximum, the Minister said that the fertilizer that is sent to all other developed countries carries 10% and urea is not added to the organic fertilizer. Secretary, State Ministry of Fertilizer M.N. Ranasinghe told the Daily Mirror that according to the contract, the efficacy of the fertilizer is carried out after the contract is signed.
We shortlisted five bidders and selected the most suitable bidder. When selections were made we looked for the best company that has the ISO Certification, the OMRI review report, the EU certification and all other recognized certifications. We also paid the attention to which party that can supply the fertilizer uninterruptedly. Some bidders failed to supply a nutrient product and others bidding prices were much higher. Only the selected party could supply us to the international standard,” Ranasinghe said.
When asked as to how the tender board knew that the selected bidder will supply an international stander fertilizer, when the samples were not obtained when calling tenders, Ranasinghe said that the international certifications the selected bidder has submitted proved the quality of its products. The stock will be brought in five shipments. So how can we check the quality of these five shipment when the tender process were going on? We have all the rights to instruct the supplier to send back the consignment if the quality fails,” Ranasinghe added.
When asked whether import licence was issued for the samples that failed the NPQS test, Ranasinghe said that unless there is a licence, it is strictly prohibited to import banned items. We have a doubt about the samples that have been sent to NPQS. It is alleged that the parcels have been tampered with. Although the NPQS report said that there are living organism in the samples, none of the other reports revealed that there are bacteria in it,” he added.
Despite the earlier claims by Ranasinghe, after the tender was forced to be cancelled he could not be contacted by this newspaper to obtain a comment.
The total number of people, who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka, moved up as 55 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Friday (Oct. 01).
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in the country to 13,019.
According to data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 38 males and 17 females.
As many as 38 deaths were reported among elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 15 people aged between 30-59 years and two people below 30 years have also succumbed to the virus infection.
The daily total of new COVID-19 cases moved to 858 today (Oct. 02) as 259 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said.
According to the Government Information Department, 855 of the new cases were associated with the New Year Cluster. The remaining three were identified as arrivals from foreign countries.
This brings the tally of coronavirus infections confirmed in the country so far to 519,633.
More than 47,900 active cases are currently under medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and homes.
Total recoveries from the virus infection reached 458,646 earlier today as 561 more patients were discharged from medical care upon returning to health.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered 55 new COVID-related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Oct. 01. The new development pushed the official death toll to 13,019.
The Minister of Trade Dr. Bandula Gunawardena stated that he is not commenting on any government activities that do not belong to him at the moment and that a conspiracy is being hatched using his name in the garlic fraud.
The General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, MP Sagara Kariyawasam states that the decisions required by the country should be implemented regardless of who opposes them.
He was responding to a question raised by journalists regarding the supply agreement for the Yugadanavi power plant
Sri
Lanka is sliding into international fame, perhaps for the first time since the
Cricket World Cup win in 1996, but on a much larger scale, due to Yohani’s
gradual emergence over the past two or three years, first as a bilingual
(Sinhala and English), then as a multilingual, singer and rapper. Her
breathtaking shoot to global stardom a couple of months back seems to have
given a boost to the country’s difficult process of coming in from the cold,
into which it had been unduly consigned through geopolitics-driven false
propaganda. The young singer and rapper Yohani’s video of her cover song
‘Manike Mage Hithe’ (Lady in My Heart), featuring fellow artiste Satheeshan
Ratnayake, went viral overnight, and has got over 133M views by the time of
writing (October 1, 2021). This is an astronomically high number of views for a
You Tube video of a Sri Lankan artiste singing in Sinhala, the native tongue of
over 75% (actually over 80%) of Sri Lankans, though hardly known outside Sri
Lanka. The video triggered the unexpected Yohani phenomenon that is currently
sweeping the cross-border popular music scene, particularly in subcontinental
India, Europe and America. (May it not be a short lived Yohani craze!) It is
bound to have an immense vitalizing effect on the young Sri Lankan music
entrepreneurs’ foray into the regional and global music market. (The latter,
including, for example, the Bhatiya-Santush duo, Iraj, etc., have been active
abroad, quite successfully, for many years already; the three mentioned have
been extending their support to Yohan for years, as far as I know.) The whole
affair will provide an unprecedentedly powerful impetus for defining and
projecting the musical, linguistic and literary aspects of our cultural
identity and heritage to the outside world. Most Sri Lankans across the world,
gazing up for a new star of hope to delight their sight and refresh their
morale, warmly welcomed her sudden rise to starry heights. At the moment Yohani
– with her Manike Mage fame – is taking crowds by storm, being in the middle of
her tour of India. Over the past weeks she was interviewed by a number national
TV channels in India. She’s also been contracted by the mega Indian
entertainment company (started 1983) T-Series, whose You Tube channel currently
has 194M subscribers (and this number is bound to rise further due to the
co-option of Yohani).
Yohani
generously shares the credit for the success of ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ with the
members of her team: the gifted musician Chamath Sangeeth whom she implicitly
recognizes as the principal contributor to the magic of ‘Manike Mage Hithe’,
her competent co-artiste, singer and rapper Satheeshan Rathnayake, who,
in fact, sang the song first, creative rapper and lyricist Dulanja Alwis,
skilled guitarist Shane Vas, and versatile video director, editor and colourist
Pasindu Kaushalya. As one interested in the study of verbal arts, I have
followed these professionals being hosted in some social media videos.
(In the past, in my inexcusable ignorance, I used to scoff at such serious
music genres as rap, hiphop, etc., until properly enlightened on them by my
daughter.) Something that I have realised about these young geniuses (I
honestly think that they deserve that description.) is that all of them take
their chosen fields seriously and work hard to achieve excellence; they have a
highly cultured, non-mercenary, professional attitude towards their art. They
are keenly aware of the inspirational legacy that the greats of the past in
Sinhala music have left and acknowledge the debt they owe them. Equally
heartening is the fact that these young artistes display an unselfconscious
love of their motherland and take pride in a genuine sense of inclusive
national cultural identity as Sri Lankans. They do not come exclusively from
one social background; it is a mixture of urban, suburban, and rural.
Yohani
Diloka de Silva (b. 1993) lives in Colombo. She attended the leading girls’
school Vishaka Vidyalaya up to her OLs. During her schooling in Sri Lanka, she
took part in sports (swimming and water polo) and group events. Then she
proceeded to London in 2012, where she studied at the Hatch End High School and
completed her ALs. Having returned to Sri Lanka she got admission to the
Kotalawala Defence University, Kandawala, Ratmalana, and obtained her first
degree in Logistics. Then she went to Australia for her Master’s. Having
obtained a Master’s degree in Accounting with distinction, she returned home to
Sri Lanka. While studying abroad, she pursued her musical training. Later
she dabbled in photography, even covering weddings. Yohani drifted into music
somewhat accidentally, it appears. She did some club singing to earn some extra
income, as she wanted to be independent. She has engaged in her musical career
in a more professional way since 2019. Bhatiya Jayakody, a senior musical
artist and entrepreneur who has for years adopted a mentoring attitude towards
her, says that Yohani is a ‘very intelligent and smart’ artiste. He is one who
got her to perform in his shows before, and foresaw a great career in music for
her. Asked by Iraj, another very successful Sri Lankan musician with lucrative
international appeal engagements, on a Yfm Channel interview in January 2020,
about her main target, Yohani replied that she wanted to work with
international artistes. To reach her target she’s worked with a vengeance. It
is basically thanks to her own initiative and hard training that she is where
she is today.
Yohani
is the elder of the two daughters of Major General Prasanna de Silva who
commanded the 55th Division of the Sri Lanka army in the final antiterrorist
war that ended in victory in 2009. Prasanna de Silva played a very prominent
role in that war, making many personal sacrifices. ‘Road to Nandikadal: True
Story of Defeating Tamil Tigers’ (2016) written by his comrade in arms Major
General Kamal Gunaratne features a photograph of Major General Prasanna de
Silva under the general caption ‘Immortal leaders of the final war’ (p.
416-417). Her mother Dinithi de Silva worked as an air hostess at Sri Lankan
Airlines. Yohani’s sister who is younger is studying medicine in Russia to
become a doctor. During her childhood, she and her family suffered many
hardships due to the circumstance that her father was serving in the army in
the embattled North.
Yohani
seems to have inherited her father’s soldierly qualities of personal courage,
doggedness, and sangfroid in her personal and professional life. She is
multi-talented. Apart from being a singer and rapper, she is a song writer,
model, and photographer. She’s had to endure baseless attacks on her personal
reputation in the social media, provoked usually by the green-eyed monster.
Though she was thoroughly upset by this at the beginning, her parents advised
her to ignore such cowardly harassment and get on with her life. That’s what
she has done. She emerged unscathed from the abuse of her celebrity status by
social media purveyors of pornography, something that can be safely ignored.
With her new star status, he’s started receiving ambiguous attention from a
different direction.
The
Indian High Commission in Colombo, on September 21 or so, issued a statement
appointing Yohani a cultural ambassador between Sri Lanka and India, and
the photograph of what was purported to be a picture of a function held in the
HC premises to felicitate her appeared in the media, even before the Sri Lankan
government got any chance to acknowledge her star status as a Sri
Lankan citizen’s achievement, which it actually was. Seen in a bad light,
this would prompt one to ask: Why this indecent hurry on the part of India? What
underlies the premature gesture? A mutual relationship of genuine cooperation
or unequal competition between monstrously large India and ridiculously small
Sri Lanka? As far as we know, there’s no need for any special cultural
ambassador. The cultural bonds between India and Sri Lanka have remained strong
for thousands of years, though political relations have got strained due to
attempted big-brotherly snatches from time to time over the same long period of
history. Has India been inspired by America’s alleged Everything for us,
nothing for other people” policy? Has Big Brother India begun laying claim to
little brother Sri Lanka’s intellectual property, just as it is trying to grab
the latter’s physical assets?
Seen
in a favourable light, the Indian High Commission’s honouring of Yohani may be
interpreted as India’s prompt official recognition of the Indians’ embrace of
Yohani as a common cultural icon of the two nations. According to the IHC,
several Indian TV Channels had interviewed Yohani: It is a proud moment for
the latest Cultural Ambassador, Yohani de Silva, to appear on India’s national
television channels. With over 110 million YouTube views, her song ‘Menike Mage Hithe’
has won the hearts of millions of people in India, from celebrities to the
general public. It reflects the true sweetness and depth of the thousands of
years old Indo-Sri Lankan relationship,” (Source: Lanka Truth Channel/September
21, 2021).
Agreed.
But it is important not to violate that sweetness and depth” of the enduring
Indo-Lankan relationship through the hasty intervention of time-serving
politicians in such autonomous cultural interaction between the two countries
that is taking place now triggered by the Yohani phenomenon.
Yohani
is a trailblazer for the Sri Lankan youth who must take care of the country’s
future. This invaluable asset of Sri Lanka should not be expropriated by
any foreign friend or foe.
Colombo, October 1 (newsin.asia): The visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Sri Lanka from October 2 to 5, will be taking place when the bilateral relationship is at the crossroads in a changing geopolitical context.
Though Chinese influence in Sri Lanka is hardly a new worry, the point is that China’s footprint and Beijing’ influence have been growing steadily and in significant ways, outstripping India’s. (See Anita Inder Singh’s article in Jamestown.org (https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-port-investments-in-sri-lanka-reflect-competition-with-india-in-the-indian-ocean/). India’s projects or MoUs for its projects have been languishing. This, despite Colombo’s expressions of appreciation for India’s prompt assistance to meet marine disasters, the prompt supply of COVID vaccines in the first phase of the pandemic, and its efforts to foster Buddhist links between the two countries.
In 2017, India and Sri Lanka had signed MoUs for projects covering a wide range, but none of them has been implemented, raising serious concerns in New Delhi. The Eastern Container Terminal at Colombo port was to be built by India, but at the last moment, Sri Lanka called it off. An LNG project in Kerawelapitiya and a coal-fired power plant in Sampur also fell by the wayside. Even the US$ 15 million set apart for promoting Buddhist links lies unused.
On the other hand, China has massively invested in ports, roads, railways and other civil works, and is significantly involved in urban private high-rise construction also. According to Anita Inder Singh, in 2019, the value of cumulative Chinese infrastructure investment in Sri Lanka was equivalent to 14% of its GDP. In October 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked Beijing for a US$ 90 million aid grant for rural development, it was personally delivered by Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi, she notes. To date, China has supplied 26 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines to Sri Lanka, far outstripping the contribution of other countries.
While Sri Lanka has been finding it hard to sell tea to India, China’s Fujian Star China International Trade Company Ltd., has entered into a 15-year MoU to promote Pure Ceylon Tea in the Chinese market and purchase 4 million kg of tea annually.
China and Pak Eye Northern Province
China has also been trying to move into the Tamil-majority Northern Province, which in New Delhi’s view, falls within its sphere of influence geo-strategically. When the Lankan cabinet approved a proposal to let Sinosoar-Etechwin of China install ‘hybrid renewable energy systems’ in Nainativu, Delft or Neduntivu and Analaitivu islands off Jaffna, close to the Indian shore, India objected on security grounds. New Delhi offered Colombo US$ 12 million if the project was re-allocated to India. Colombo stopped the Chinese project alright, but India is still to secure it.
Earlier in April 2018, the China Railway Beijing Engineering Group Co Ltd had won a tender worth more than US$ 300 million to build 40,000 houses in Lanka’s north. However, the then Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, cancelled the project in October ahead of his New Delhi visit. Government then said that 28,000 houses worth US$ 210 million would be built in the Tamil areas of the North and East by an Indian firm ND Enterprises jointly with two Sri Lankan firms.
Pakistan too has been making tentative attempts to tap the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The outgoing Pakistan High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Maj.Gen.(Rtd) Muhammad Saad Khattak had alleged in his farewell statement that he visited these areas despite the opposition of a mutual neighbour.” The North and East have a sizeable Muslim population which Pakistan might want to woo.
In this context, it is significant that Foreign Secretary will be visiting Jaffna and Trincomalee besides Kandy.
China’s military ties with the Sri Lankan government have also grown. China has gifted a frigate to the Sri Lanka navy. It has also undertaken to supply counter-intelligence surveillance technologies in a U$ 14 million deal.
When India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar met his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L.Peiris in New York on the sidelines of the 76th.session of the UN General Assembly, he stressed the need for implementing pending Indian projects on the grounds that doing so would give more confidence to New Delhi to move forward in enhancing relations,” thus subtly making it a condition for better ties.
Given the concerns in New Delhi and pressure from the US (which is eager to involve Sri Lanka in its anti-China Indo-Pacific strategy) ) Colombo has begun making amends. Due to the ongoing economic crisis and also due to pressure from the Western human rights lobby, Sri Lanka is now eager to build bridges with the West. It is trying to live down the accusation that it has become a client state of China.
Western Container Terminal
The pending Western Container Terminal project in Colombo port, earmarked for the Adanis of India, has suddenly seen the light of day. On September 30, the Adanis and Sri Lankan parties signed a 35-year U$ 650 million deal to Build, Own and Transfer (BOT) the West International Terminal (CWIT).
Significantly, the deal was signed two days ahead of the Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit to Sri Lanka.
The CEIT will have a length of 1,400 meters and an alongside depth of 20 meters. It will have an annual handling capacity of 3.2 million TEUs. The current capacity of Colombo port is 7 million TEUs. The Adanis will have 51% stake, Sri Lankan company John Keells will have 34% and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) 15%.
Earlier, India was to build the Eastern Container Terminal in Colombo port. But it was cancelled when Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power. His government offered India the construction of the Western Container Terminal in lieu of the Eastern Terminal. An utterly disappointed India demurred, but finally accepted the offer, and the Adani group undertook to do the work.
US-Lanka Energy Deal
Apparently to please the US, the Lankan government has, without calling for a tender, entered into a major deal with the US company New Fortress Energy Inc., to build an LNG facility in Kerawelapitiya. The US company will have gas supply rights to the Kerawalapitya Power plant, where a 310 mw of power is operational today and an additional 350 mw is scheduled by 2023. New Fortress will initially provide the equivalent of an estimated 1.2 million gallons of LNG per day. New Fortress will also buy a 40% stake in the West Coast Power plant and build an offshore LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal.
The Lankan opposition has lashed out at the opaque manner in which the deal was struck. But government has justified the deal on economic grounds while keeping the geopolitical aspect of it under wraps.
Role of Market Forces
Market forces have been a major factor in changing Sri Lanka’s policy. While China buys little from Sri Lanka, the US and EU are Sri Lanka’s biggest markets. India is also a big market – bigger than China at any rate. If Sri Lanka is to come out of its present dollar shortage, it has to export, but its markets are in the West (and India) and not in China. The EU has to be placated because it can deny Sri Lanka its GSP Plus duty concession on human rights counts. An EU inspection team is currently in Sri Lanka to assess its performance as per EU’s conditions for the GSP Plus concession. There is anxiety in Sri Lanka about its report as garment exports, running into billions of dollars, will be crippled if the report is adverse and GSP Plus is withdrawn.
Non-Alignment Provides Cover
However, Sri Lanka is not directly saying that it is cozying up to the West or India. It is portraying the change as a re-assertion of its traditional non-aligned policy. Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris has been touting the relevance of non-alignment in his recent speeches.
October 1 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris welcomed constructive, cordial and regular engagement between Sri Lanka and the European Union (EU) in a meeting with a five-member delegation from the EU on Friday at the Foreign Ministry.
The EU mission to Sri Lanka was led by Senior Advisor, Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission Nikolaos Zaimis, and Head of Division for South Asia of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Ioannis Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos.
In the discussion, Foreign Minster Peiris apprised the EU delegation, inter alia, on progress in reconciliation, review of Prevention of Terrorism Act, engagement with civil society, SDG 16 initiative, and Sri Lanka’s cooperation in the Human Rights Council.
The Foreign Minister observed that Sri Lanka’s relations with the EU are wide ranging and mutually beneficial, including in the spheres of economic and development cooperation. The EU being Sri Lanka’s second largest export destination (in 2020), the Foreign Minister highlighted the positive contribution of EU GSP plus benefits in upgrading the livelihoods of communities in the country.
In discussions with the Minister, the EU delegation welcomed the multifaceted engagement between Sri Lanka and the EU, and reassured of continued cooperation.
During the visit, the EU delegation participated in meetings related to the EU – Sri Lanka Joint Commission process and the EU GSP plus Third Cycle of Review process (2020/2021). The meetings were attended by a broad range of stakeholders from Government comprising over 30 line agencies.
The delegation comprised senior officials from the European Commission and the EEAS, and the visit was part of Sri Lanka’s ongoing and regular engagement with the EU. The mission also met other senior interlocutors in Government during the visit. The Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Colombo Denis Chaibi, Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and senior officials of the Foreign Ministry participated in the meeting.
ලෝක ළමා දිනය සමරන්නේ ඇයි ද? යන්න එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංගමයත්, යුනිසෙෆ් ආයතනයත් මෙසේ ප්රකාශ කරයි. ‘‘World Children’s Day offers each of us an
inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights,
translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for
children.‘‘ ඉතිං, මම මේ සටහන මගේ ‘ඇඩ්වකසි පාට් එක‘ වෙනුවෙන් ලියා තබමි.
The 100 percent cash margin rule on non-essential imports will be removed with immediate effect, the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.
Presenting the ‘Six-month Road Map for ensuring macro-economic and financial system stability,’ Cabraal this morning, Cabraal said a decision towards this was taken considering the hardships faced by the importers and consumers as a result of significant increases in prices of such commodities.
The Central Bank under the previous Governor Prof.W.D. Lakshman, in early last month decided to impose a 100 percent cash margin deposit requirement against the importation of selected goods of non-essential/non-urgent nature made under letters of credit.
The decision to impose the cash margin deposit requirement is expected to support the ongoing efforts to preserve the stability of the exchange rate and foreign currency market liquidity, particularly by discouraging excessive imports of speculative nature,” the Central Bank said.
The President’s Media Division says that approximately 95% of the country’s population over the age of 30 years has been vaccinated with both doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Issuing a statement, it said that those in the age group of 20-30 years and children aged between 12-19 years are currently being vaccinated.
This observation was made at the online meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control chaired by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa this morning (October 01).
Approximately 95% of the total population over the age of 30 has been vaccinated with both doses. The vaccination of people in the age group of 20 to 30 years and the vaccination of children aged 12 to 19 years, who are with chronic diseases, is being carried out successfully.
The Special Committee on COVID-19 Control decided to conduct a comprehensive census of vaccinations as soon as possible.
The Colombo High Court has served charges on former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundera and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando.
The duo was served charged over the negligence of duties on the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
The case was taken up before the Trial-at-Bar at the Colombo High Court today (October 01).
Subsequently, the next hearing of the case was scheduled for November 22.
The total number of people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka moved up as 58 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Thursday (Sep. 30).
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 12,964.
As per the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 27 males and 31 females.
As many as 48 deaths were reported among elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 10 individuals aged between 30-59 years have also succumbed to the virus infection.
The Ministry of Health says that another 249 persons have tested positive for Covid-19, increasing the daily count of new cases reported within today to 893.
Accordingly, this brings the total number of Covid-19 cases registered in Sri Lanka to 518,775.
47,726 coronavirus infected patients are currently under medical care and home-based care across the island while total recoveries stands at 458,085.
The death toll due to the virus meanwhile has risen to 12,964.
In the
Udarata kingdom, the forests in the central highland were a protected reserve where
elephants lived undisturbed. British and European writers have given us
information on these habitats. The districts, in which the elephants most
abound, are all hilly and mountainous, they said. There was not a mountain or a
lofty piece of land which the elephant had not traversed.
The elephants generally keep along the
backbone of a chain of hills, avoiding steep gradients, they added. But there
is no range so elevated as to be inaccessible to them. In 1840, Skinner had found the spore of an
elephant on the summit of Sri Pada. In
1847 elephants were found on the
Ramboda pass on the road to Nuwara Eliya”.
The agility
of the elephants to negotiate the steepest hill was highlighted in the Ceylon
Observer (1865), regarding an attempt to capture elephants in Avissawella. The kraal was constructed close to a wall of
rock so precipitous and high that they did not think an additional barrier was
necessary. The elephants climbed up the rocks and escaped. ”
European writers
spoke of the Elephant paths” created by the elephants in the hill country.
When a herd of twenty or thirty of these colossal beasts have marched in single
file through the woods, an open road of some yards wide is left ready beaten,
as good as heart can desire in a wilderness, said Ernst Haeckel
(1883)speaking of an elephant path in the Nilu forest at Horton Plains.
These paths were
well known to the Sinhalese. The Portuguese, when approaching Balana fort, had tried
to enter from the rear, using the Ali mankada, two leagues from Balane. But they found it well
fortified. This showed that the elephant corridors were known to the public.
Elephants had
some sort of steering instinct. When crossing valleys from ridge to ridge,
through forests so dense as to prevent
a view of what is ahead, the elephants invariably
select the route which was the safest path between the two points. ‘The
elephant’s path is an excellent specimen of engineering. It winds judiciously’,
said Hooker, writing in the Himalayan Journal .
The British used these elephant paths, alimankada, when they created the
upcountry road network for the estates and estate towns.
The British
were not interested in the elephant trade. They
continued the capture of elephants for some time but it was low-priority. The
number of kraals were reduced. The British abolished the Elephant Hunt in
1832 and the export of elephants came to an end.
British
rule was not a happy time for the elephants. The elephant lost its royal status
and its protected position. Instead, the
British engaged in shooting elephants as a form of sport. Large numbers of
elephants were killed in this way, as sport.The present Ruhuna National Park was the Resident Sportsmen’s Shooting Reserve,
an area reserved for the sporting pleasure of British residents in the country.
the magnificent elephant was
declared a pest and hunted for sport. It is recorded that at the
beginning of the nineteenth century there were at least 19 500 elephants and at
the turn of the twentieth century there were only an estimated 2 000. This
drastic reduction was brought about by indiscriminate capture and wanton
killing (Jayewardene, 1994).
A reward of a few shillings was placed for the
head of an elephant, and from 1845 – 1856, 3500 rewards were claimed in the
Northern Province alone. Tennent
records the official killing from 1845 – 1856 as being 5500 elephants in the Northern and Southern Province. During the
period 1851 – 1856, a similar reward of a paltry number of shillings was paid
for 2000 elephants killed in the Southern Province between Galle and
Hambantota.
Major Thomas
Rogers had killed 1500 elephants. Captain Galloway and Major Skinner are each
reputed to have killed over 750 elephants. Many others had killed 250-300
elephants each. Such
willful decimation of elephants was never seen before, observed Ashley de Vos.
Elephants were
also shot by the planters. British planters, who were opening up coffee and tea
plantations shot trespassing elephants without hesitation. Not only did the
British government encourage and condone killings but it also paid a bounty for
each elephant killed, saying the elephant was an agricultural pest.
The British administration also provided
guns freely to villagers to keep away elephants from their cultivations.
Farmers, who had hitherto protected their crops from marauding elephants by
other means, now had a much easier method. They shot at them and either maimed
or killed them.
Elephant populations that had been able to
withstand the detrimental effects of capture all these years now started diminishing.
There was wanton and indiscriminate destruction of the elephant herds.
The British
administration did not kill all the elephants. They kept some to be used for
their purposes. Trained elephants were
used to start the tea plantations. The elephants were first used to destroy the
forests which had been their home. They were used to clear the virginal montane
forests to plant tea, cinchona and coffee.
Elephants uprooted the trees in these forests and cleared the area
They were next used for drawing logs for the
construction of buildings, and stones and rocks for constructing bridges,
culverts, and walls in the plantations.
Thirdly, they were used to transport machinery
and other heavy items needed for the tea factory on the plantation. Most plantations employed elephants on a rate determined
daily on the type of work they performed said Ranjith Bandara and Clem
Tisdell. Picture
of Elephants taking a boiler From Marshall, Sons & Co., Gainsboro England
to a tea factory, Ceylon can be seen at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/127156389450093372/.
Elephants were used for other types of haulage
too. Elephants were used to bring in the fifty four granite pillars used in
the Trinity College Chapel, in the building period, 1923 to 1935. Elephants were used to transport the granite
stone blocks quarried in Aruppola. They were 18 feet long and 3 feet square
each weighing about 3 metric tons. These
were loaded on trolleys specially made for transporting one pillar at a
time. One elephant pulled the trolley and another pushed from behind.
The blocks
were hauled by two elephants, one pulling and one pushing, for a distance of
three miles to the school premises; and then another three hundred feet up the
slope of the hill to the Chapel site”.They were brought to Kandy at the rate of 2
per month.
Elephants
were also used to bring stone pillars to the new building at Dalada Maligawa,
Kandy. Carved granite pillars seventy to hundred feet high had to be erected
for the new building at the back of the Dalada Maligawa. British engineers said
such haulage was not possible. Tikiri Banda Panabokke, Minister of
Health in State Council (1931) had said it could be done using elephants. And so it
proved , recalled Panabokke’s grandson, Derrick Nugawela.
Wealthy individuals
owned
elephant drawn carts during the British occupation. Sir Solomon Dias
Bandaranaike had owned a huge cart, about ten feet high, for
transporting coconut and paddy from his estates. Sirimavo Bandaranaike had
gifted this to the Martin Wickremasinghe Museum and it is on exhibit there.
The British
rulers do not seem to have interfered with elephants in temples, elephants in
peraheras, elephants bathing or private ownership of elephants. The Kandyan chiefs
were allowed to hold kraals, and from 1800 to 1900, fifty two kraals were held.
The last Kraal was held in 1952, said Jayantha Jayewardene. (Continued)
What is the reason for 99% of terrorists resorting to suicide
terrorism & other forms of terror? What differentiates these terrorists
from others is that they quote their holy verses before committing the crime.
How connected is this to the overall fear by non-Muslims regarding these
verses? If the duty of intel & security authorities is to ensure another
21/4 does not repeat & to ensure the country is safe & secure for all
citizens, not just one community, why is it that their efforts end up being
diverted by well-funded campaigns citing ‘islamophobia’! Their duty cannot be
diluted simply because some NGO figures or others in high positions claim
anything against their community is offensive. Most of these reactions are for
their own personal/political gains & have nothing to do with concern for
their community. When 99% of global attacks are related to terrorism based on
religious superiority and by 4 main groups of which ISIS wants to create a
Caliphate in Sri Lanka and when the Easter Sunday suicide bombers claim to be
part of the ISIS, why should Muslims feel offended when someone says that a
terrorist attack may happen in the future. Is it not because Tamil leaders and
Tamils pooh-poohed LTTE that LTTE was allowed to grow & become lethal? Therefore,
citizens cannot ignore that the Easter Sunday attack took Sri Lanka by
surprise, though local intel were aware of pocket groups aligned to the
ideology & had been monitoring them. Verbal statements is nowhere near as
deadly as an attack that took place on 21/4. It was no isolated attack
motivated by an isolated objective. Therefore, no one should take offence when
anyone publicly says that the threat of future attacks persists – isn’t this
why 32 countries of the world continue to ban LTTE even after its demise in May
2009? So long as the ideology is
the source of the terrorism – the State & its citizens have every right to
be alert.
When
all of the Islamic/Islamist terrorists commit mass murder in the name of their
religion, which included the Sri Lankan student-turned refugee who stabbed 5
persons in New Zealand – there is certainly cause for concern. Why are those
who got offended by the Admiral’s or the thero’s interviews/statements not
offended more by these suicide bombers committing mass murder in the name of
their religion.
Many
denounced the crime after it was committed but until it was committed, no one
knew he was going to. However, in the case of the 21/4 suicide bombers, there
was a nexus planning to execute the crime – this nexus was much larger than the
9 suicide bombers who think they went to heaven!
This
is the very reason that the Sri Lankan authorities cannot and should not let
their guard down simply because there appears to be a campaign to divert the
attention under a feigned projection of targeting ALL Muslims.
Let us remind all that quite a number of the said community was
aware of large numbers of swords being hidden in various places across the
island. How many reported this? There were foreign preachers in remote parts of
the island, how many reported these? The arrests made soon after 21/4 revealed
that the majority of them were in the intel monitoring list and if we recall
some of these special units were disbanded after 2015 crippling their
operations. The person who reported the Mawanella Buddha statue disfiguring,
was eventually shot by Zaharan’s group and today remains injured for life. https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Informant-of-Easter-Sunday-suspects-rewarded/108-218514
When Islamic scholar Usthaz Rasheed Hajjul Akbar (uncle of those
who defamed the Buddha statue on Mawanella) was detained by CID in August
2019, Latheef Farook was quick to write in his defence Demonised, battered and
ostracised Muslim community of Sri Lanka is deeply disturbed at the detention
of respected Islamic scholar”. The National Shoora Council, All Ceylon YMMA
conference, All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Front, Muslim Council of
Sri Lanka, Muslim Media forum and All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulema even petitioned
for his release. He was arrested in March 2021 under PTA – https://www.newsfirst.lk/2021/03/13/ex-leader-of-jamaat-e-islami-arrested-under-pta/
Therefore,
the onus is on the Muslim community to be alert to the preachers that preach to
them, the mosques that preach radicalism, the foreign preachers that arrive
etc. Have such reports been made since 21/4 to the security agencies as the
nexus that plotted to commit 21/4 is still at large – Muslims must help locate
the locals involved in this mass murder, whatever powerful positions they hold
and powerful people should not use their clout to prevent investigations or
arrest citing islamophobia” – we do not wish to see a bloodbath similar to
21/4.
Planning
to kill close to 300 innocent people is nothing that can be forgotten or
forgiven. What often happens is that political/economical & social
pressures are exerted to delay or divert the punishment of the perpetrators as
we have seen regarding the campaign around the arrested lawyer linked to 21/4
whose charity was accepting funds from an internationally banned entity. Given
the international clout of these entities & personages linked to them, can
we expect true justice? While the same parties will be quoting all the law
books when they claim to be ‘discriminated’.
Therefore,
instead of nit-picking on statements and carrying wrong placards – everyone is
duty-bound to ensure no innocent live is compromised in the name of religion or
controversial religious texts.
Alternatively,
it is good to tabulate the verses being quoted by terrorists and either issue a
global clarification or have them removed altogether if it can prevent
radicalization & extremisms.
With
ISIS claiming to make Sri Lanka a Caliphate & knowing the Western-brains
that manipulate ISIS, Muslims must understand the dangers lurking which
requires them to ensure that their youth do not get roped into radicalism. The
issue at hand is the fact that suicide in the name of religion is regarded as a
noble act & not something to abhor and this factor must be looked into by
the Muslim community. Our goal is to prevent another generation of brainwashed
youth who become mere pawns in a bigger game that seeks to only kill &
destroy & destabilize nations. We must now understand the bigger picture.
Politicians of this community must not commit the same mistake that the
politicians linked to LTTE did – a camouflage to gain votes & enjoy
parliamentary privileges and political panache!
Definitely one doesn’t need to be a
financial or an economic wizard or a John Keynes to un-mess this mess that has
emerged as a direct result of mismanagement of the nation’s economy by all
those who were in charge of Governance in this country, since 1977. What you
need is only common sense and the guts to take a decision do it. Therefore the
following set of proposals is listed here for the consideration and immediate
action by the Government.”Lindata wetunu
miniha linkatenma goda enta one’ is the most appropriate adage I can quote
here. This mess is nothing but a collective mess created by our own
politicians. Therefore the onerous of taking the full responsibility for this
national crime as well as finding a suitable remedy for the malady, they
themselves have jointly created, also falls definitely on all their heads,
including those who are dead and gone to hell.
The present government must take
these decisions immediately before the situation become worse that might lead
even to a civil war against it, going by the way how things are already getting
out of control around the country. A stitch in time saves nine. But in doing so
I must warn the government that it has to completely forget about the vote fever,
because it is your responsibility and unbounded duty by the nation at this
critical time.
35 very
important steps that have to be taken immediately to ease the present crisis.
1 Stop all extravagant and wasteful expenses
of the government
2 Ban the import of all luxury and
non-essential goods
3 Increase the prices of local
products to encourage local production
4 Remove extra perks to all
politicians and public Servants (It is said that 85% of national income is
spent on maintaining politicians and public servants supposed to be the highest
per-man ratio in the world)
5 Stop all state tamasas and useless
political functions for image building and meetings of public servants to the
bare minimum limiting them to the most essentials.
6 Close down all Governors Offices
and allow the Government Agents and Divisional AGAA and Grama Seva Niladharis
to run the Administration and Coordination of development in their Districts,
Divisions and Graama Niladhari Units
7 Close down the 9 Provincial
Councils epidemic permanently now that they have ceased to function almost for
the past 5 years without any disruption of day to day to governance of the
country. Attaché public servants displaced as a result to suitable Government
offices in the districts
Use the PG buildings to
house public offices presently housed on rented out buildings.
And transfer the functions done by the PCC to
the GAA’s and AGAA’s offices and the respective line Ministry sub-offices in
the Districts so that the smooth delivery of services to people will continue
uninterrupted.
8 Scrap all superfluous government
institutions such as mushroom Ministries, Departments and statutory bodies created
to provide jobs for supporters of politicians
9 Reduce the number of Ministers and
Ministries to 15 and appoint a Minister and a Deputy under him to run each
Ministry instead of having 70 different Ministries, 30 Cabinet and 40 State Ministers, (as if the Cabinet
Ministers are not Ministers of the Sri Lankan State at present) in this small
country just to provide employment for a set of unproductive Politicians at
high cost just to keep them satisfied with no substantive contribution to the
country but has only increased duplication, waste, corruption, confusion, inefficiency
and rivalry among them. This move will drastically reduce the number of wasteful
institutions, excess officials, waste and corruption and also reduce hundreds
of government institutions that waste billions of public funds with no
substantive contribution to the country but making us a nation of beggars.
10 Close down all the Embassies and
Consular Offices of smaller countries and ask the nearest Embassy to overlook
them.
11 Close down all Pradeiya Sabhas
(mere duplicates of Provincial Councils) and go back to the former VC system
and allocate PS buildings to line departments working in the areas, and assign
the present Members to their respective Village Council areas to work under the
District Commissioners of Local Government
12 Stop payments for all officials
for attending meetings, as they are only part of their official duties
13Limit the number of vehicles and
personal staff to Ministers and Deputies including security
14 Withdraw official vehicles from
all public officers and let all public servants to have their own vehicles to
do their official travelling and pay a commuted allowance and mileage for
travelling out of duty stations on official duties. Provide them with a loan to
buy a vehicle like in the past for which the Govt need not provide drivers or
fuel. It is interesting to note that even in America, whhic is supposed to be
the richest country in the world no politician or public servant is given
official vehicles, drivers or fuel and they have to pay even for parking in the
parking lots.
15 Never renew the duty free Vehicle
system to anybody including politicians and public servants. However the
Government may have a system of duty free system of vehicles, machinery and raw
material etc under strict and close supervision for agricultural and Industrial
sector to promote development in those sectors.
16 Let the Public Servants run the
Ministries under the general supervision of the respective Ministry
Secretaries. Do away with the present practice of providing a band of personal
staff that virtually run the Ministries today making it a mockery and a mere
political party office killing the spirit and the essence of an impartial
public service. Provide only a private Secretary.
17 Stop providing houses for
Politicians in Colombo. Instead provide them with a common place, like in the
past (Sravasti) for them to stay when they come to Colombo on duty for the 8
days they are expected to attend so that they will be compelled to live in
their electorates for the rest of the month.
Transactions
in Embassies
18 Get the Diplomats to attend to all
government to Government business and cut down all unnecessary foreign travel
for politicians except under very special situations
The need to
have the Supply and Cadre Division in the Treasury reactivated and strictly
complied with its rules and regulations
19 Get the Treasury to have fixed
cadre for all Ministries and Government Departments and statutory bodies and
corporations that should not be exceeded without the prior approval of the
Treasury to expenditure under treasury control and to stop packing public
institutions with unqualified political appointees
20 Remove all excess staff of all
public institutions as early as possible after a quick survey by the Supply and
Cadre Division.
21 Give all Government institutions
daily, monthly and annual targets to ensure that every person does a quantum of
work for the money he/she is paid and hold the heads of the Divisions responsible
for running those institutions efficiently and profitably
Payment of fabulous
salaries for certain public Sector employees
22 Stop all fabulous salary payments
made to some people Like the Chairman of Air Lanka for example which was
reported in the press few days ago as Rs 32 lahks a month.
Recovery
of CB scan money
23Take immediate action to recover
money robed from the CB and confiscate the properties of all found guilty in
addition to other punishments under law.
24 Entrust Administration to
professional public servants and stop politicians from meddling with day to day
Administration of Government institutions and thereby disrupting smooth
governance of the country.
25 Also close down Regional and
Divisional offices of Government Departments and corporations etc opened in the
recent past just to recruit more people to public Service as a fashion without
considering the ramifications involved in public spending with no parallel
improvement in the delivery of public services.
National Austerity
Year
26 Declare a national Austerity year
and Agricultural Production year and give top priority for self-sufficiency and
export development in the agricultural sector.
Remove all
duel citizens from Parliament
27 Remove all Ministers and MPP who
are dual citizens both in the Govt and the opposition in Parliament immediately
as they are persons with divided allegiance and keep those places vacant until
a general election
Inquire in to assets of MPP in Parliament form
1977
28 Initiate actions to Identify
Politicians who have been in Parliament from 1970 and investigate their assets
at the time of joining and the present and confiscate all wealth proved had
been illegally a)amazed and remove the civil right of those found guilty for
life
Defeated
Politicians holding public positions
29 Remove all defeated and ex-politicians
holding appointments as Diplomatas, and any other post at Home like Chairmen of
state institutions and replace them with professional men who can do those jobs
to increase efficiency and profit.
The need for a vigorous national food Production Drive
30 Commence a vigorous National food
Production Drive in the agricultural and livestock sectors with a full gear of
the Government like loans, implements, fertilizer, guaranteed prices and
extension services, storage and marketing facilities for domestic and export
market with incentives like tax concessions to be followed up with a staggered
import ban on all items on all Agricultural an dallied products.
Reduce the
number of politicians and public servants in the country
31 I have found that the number of
Politicians and public servants has undergone a tremendous increase since 1977
due to increasing the number of public institutions and multiplying
administrative divisions like GS and Local Government units. As a result it has
been reported that today there is one politician for every 3232 persons and one
public servant for every 16 people in this country and 85 % of annual public
revenue is spent on the upkeep of politicians and public servants. This I think
is the highest figure for any country in the world. In addition to this curse,
is the very high expenditure on social welfare, like health, education and
public relief that has to be met with the balance 15 %. No wonder the country’s
economy has fallen to this level.
Reduce the
extremely high number of Public holidays for any country in the world as it we
are living in the Aalakamandaava.
32 Reduce the extremely high number
of Public holidays to internationally accepted average of 12 per year to increase
the number of man days that could be gainfully used for development
For example you can use the following
model
National Holidays
1April 13th and 14th
Sinhala New Year day 2days
2 Vesak Poya 2
days
3 Republic Day May 22 1
day
4 Poson Poya Jatika dinaya 1 day
5 National heroes Day (has to be
decided) 1 Day (May 9) LTTE Defeat
Optional Public Holidays. Sundays 12/
or the balance 10 Depoya Common to all
to be decided after discussion. This will make the total no of Public
holidays either 17 or 19 This will boost production in all sectors due
to an increase in the number of working hours
All other holidays presently declared
as National Holidays like Christmass, Good Friday. Maha Sivaratri, Deepawali Thaipongal,
Mohomads Birth Day, Hajji Festival, Ramasan Should be declared holidays only
for the respective religious communities. This I think is the best arrangement
any Government should make to protect the country’s Sinhala Buddhist identity.
33 Withdraw political rights from all
public servants, other than the right to vote to bring back discipline and
sanity to public service so that we can have an efficient and productive and
disciplined loyal public service under strict supervision of the immediate supervisory officers.
34 Remove the 29 National list MPP
from Parliament who are not elected by the people by a motion with the
consensus of other parties pending Amendment to the Constitution.
35 Stop payment of bonuses and
overtime in all institutions that don’t show a profit in their annual balance
sheets and also make annual confidential reports compulsory in all Ministries,
departments and statutory institutions
Important: I
request some one knowledgeable and competent to calculate the net savings that
would accrue to the Government under the implementation of each of these items,
if they are implemented.
This is only
a few important ideas that came to one man’s head at random. I invite readers
to add any other important issue that comes to their mind to make the operation
a fuller success.
Dhanesh Wisumperuma
has researched into Religious Use of
Elephants in Ancient Sri Lanka (Gajah 37 (2012) 16-21). He provides
the following information.
Elephants
were first used in Buddhist ceremonial processions, to receive and transport Buddhist
relics from one place to another. King
Devanampiyatissa used the state
elephant to carry relics to be
enshrined in the Thuparama.
Parakramabahu I went
mounted on his favorite beautiful elephant”, to receive the Tooth and Bowl
relics when they were brought back from the south where they had been sent for
safety during the Chola wars. Other elephants as well as horses were also
part of this event.
In
addition to relics, the Pujavaliya (13 century) was also taken in
procession on the back of the royal elephant, to show veneration, since it was
a book on Buddhist religious offerings.
The Mahavamsa shows that the Anuradhapura kings
regularly had peraheras for the temples. I find it difficult to believe that elephants
were not a part of these, everybody else seems to have been included. But there
does not seem to be any documented reference to elephants in peraheras during
this period.
When the Mahathupa
was restored during the Polonnaruwa period, the procession included elephants illuminated with lamps. Parakramabahu II (1236-1270) held a seven day
festival for the Tooth Relic, for which he used many elephants and horses in
the procession. Vijayabahu IV (1270-1272) organized a procession to transfer
the Tooth and Bowl relics of the Buddha from Dambadeniya to Polonnaruwa. The
relics were taken on a chariot and the perahera included rows of highly caprisoned
elephants.
King
Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19 AD) was the first king to donate an elephant to a
temple. The tradition continued thereafter. Parakramabahu IV celebrated a festival for Tooth and Bowl
Relics by gifting elephants, as well as other items, to the temple.
The decision
to get a tusker to carry the Tooth relic in a procession seems to have
developed much later. Dalada Sirita (14 century) contained a manual for the
conduct of festivals for the Tooth Relic. Dalada Sirita says for a procession
during public displays of the Tooth Relic, the relic must be enshrined in a
casket and placed on a decorated chariot, pulled by a tusked elephant with
auspicious marks.
Ama H. Vanniarachchy has researched
into the tuskers who carried the Tooth relic at the Esala Perahera of the
Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. The Relic
Casket is carried and paraded only on a majestic tusker, accompanied by two other
tuskers besides him, said Ama. Out of all the tamed tuskers of the country,
only few are chosen as suitable enough to carry the Relic Casket. Not only
their physical looks but also their personality and intelligence is considered,
she added.
She provides a comprehensive list of the important
tuskers who graced the Kandy Esala Perahera with emphasis on those who carried the relic casket in Kumbal and
Randoli peraheras.
The first
mentioned is Maha Raja owned by Clifford Ratwatte, 13 feet in height with
perfectly proportioned body. He carried the casket from the 1920s until 1940s. After
Maha Raja, the Idampitie tusker owned by the Mawanalle
Idampitiya Walawwa carried the casket.
Then it was the turn of Maligawe Raja. Raja was
captured by Umeru Lebbe in 1925 under permit at Eravur. He was bought by
Mampitiye Disawe in 1925 and in 1931 was
gifted to the Dalada Maligawa. Raja’s first Dalada Perahera was in 1937.
He was the leading tusker in Dalada Peraheras till 1987.
He was declared
a National Treasure by President J.R. Jayewardene. Raja’s picture was printed
in the thousand rupee note and a 75 cent stamp was also released with the
picture of Raja. This was the first time in Asia that a stamp was released in honor
of an animal. Raja received a State funeral when he died in 1988.
Wewaladeniya Raja wasa majestic
tusker captured in 1974 at Agunakolapalassa area. He carried the casket from 1986. Heiyanthuduwe Raja was caught
at Hambantota Kattakakaduwa forest in 1945.
He had 11 feet long tusks. He
carried the Relic Casket form 1991 to 2000. His skeleton is displayed at the
Colombo National Museum.
Millangoda Raja was caught
in 1945 at, Anamaduwa area in Puttalam. Millangoda Raja owned the longest tusks
of South Asia. When he died, his body
was preserved and is now at Molagoda Millangoda Walawwa.
Kataragama
Vasana was captured in a forest near Anuradhapura and given to the Zoo. He was
gifted to the Kataragama Devale when he was 5 or 6 years old. He is the
lead tusker at Kataragama Perahera and lives in Kataragama. He comes up to
Kandy for the Esala perahera in a special truck. He has carried the Relic Casket
in several peraheras.
Sinha Raja,
when a baby was separated from his herd, during the civil war in the North. He
was found in the forests in Vavuniya by
the Sinha Regiment and brought to the Peradeniya Veterinary hospital for
treatment for his injuries. Once he was cured he was gifted to Dalada
Maligawa. Noted for his intelligence and grandeur Sinha Raja has carried
the Relic Casket at Dalada Peraheras. As at 2020, he is the sub leader of the
elephant troop at the Dalada Maligawa in 2020.
From the earliest
times the Sri Lanka elephant has been depicted and glorified on temple and
palace walls in sculptural or in painted form, said Ashley de Vos. Paintings of
elephants, datable to the Anuradhapura period have been found at Dimbulagala and Kotiyagala. There is a painting of a
happy, smiling elephant at Mara vidiya cave at Dimbulagala. https://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_of_an_elephant_from_Dimulagala_Mara_Vidiya.jpg.
Elephants figure prominently in cave paintings at Miella in Kotiyagala.
We noticed four .One elephant is engaged in water sports, another is carrying
a lotus in its trunk. A third gives the impression it is ready to run. Lastly
the frontal view of a moving elephant is shown. In the middle of an intricate
ceiling design, there is also an elephant within a circle with its tail bent, reported
the team at Amazing Lanka.com”. https://amazinglanka.com/wp/en/miella/
Paintings
perish, but, there are plenty of stone sculptures of elephants still remaining. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/sri-lanka-temple-elephant-carving.html. Elephants are
featured on moon stones, walls, ponds and entrances. The moonstones in
Anuradhapura are well known.
Moonstone from Magul Maha Vihara, Lahugala depicts a row of tamed elephants with a rope across their belly and two mahouts.
Continuous freezes of sculptured dancing elephants are a pleasure
to behold, observed Ashley de Vos. They
can be seen at Ruvanveliseya. There is a row of elephants in the palace wall in Polonnaruwa .There are several elephants
carved in stone at Gadaladeniya, two free standing at the entrance and a third in the wall.
We have all
seen Isurumuniya’s delightful bas relief carving of elephants frolicking by a
small pond at the entrance. One young tusker is shown already in the water
looking forward to the others joining him. Ranmasu Uyana which is adjoining
Isurumuniya also has similar frolicking elephants in one of the pools.
Isurumuniya has other elephant carvings. There
is an elephant carved on the outer wall of a Korawakgala. This is a standing
tusker with a prominent kumbasthala. It is at the entrance of a cave shrine. Also,
two tuskers can be seen seated on the side of the two guard stones at this
entrance.
HCP Bell reports a full relief rock carving of
an elephant, on the banks of the Mahaweli River. This has now disappeared.
“This
piece of animal sculpture is probably unique in Ceylon. Cut in full round from
a rock, life-size, are the head and shoulders of an elephant whose feet the
river washed when low. The elephant stands in the water, looking slightly
upstream, as though hesitating to cross. At present the river in semi-flood
reaches its eyes. There are signs of ‘sets’ for some building’s foundations on
a boulder adjoining, but no ruins or inscriptions are known likely to afford a
clue to the object of this solitary tour de force of a skilful sculptor
concluded Bell.” Unfortunately this rock sculpture no longer exists,
having been blasted probably by fishermen dynamiting fish, said Jayantha
Jayawardena. (Continued)
