The Government has issued a new set of Covid-19 guidelines on public activities based on Alert Level System.
The Health Ministry said the new set of guidelines is supported by the previous guidelines issued by the Ministry on the relaxation of public activities in response to COVID 19.
The COVID 19 situation in the country is subject to change from time to time and level of activity permitted and the number of people engaged in these functions is required to change.
The alert level system introduced based on an understanding of public and work settings in Sri Lanka, is as follows,
Alert level 1– Cases reported are only those coming from outside the country (detected in quarantine); no clusters
Alert level 2– One cluster of cases
Alert level 3– Several clusters in different districts
Alert level 4– Cases are appearing with no connection to any cluster – Community transmission
Earlier, the Department of Government Information issued guidelines in relation to the restriction of activities in non-curfew imposed areas.
However, the latest set of guidelines is applicable to the entire country.
According to the new guidelines, the schools, higher education centres including universities and tuition classes in areas under the alert level 3 and 4 remain closed while pre-schools and day-cares in areas under the alert level 3 can be operated with only 50% of capacity.
When it comes to holding of weddings, weddings in areas under alert level 1 can be held with adherence to health guidelines, weddings in areas under alert level 2 can also be held
with the number of guests not exceeding 50% of the seating capacity of the hall up to a maximum of 200 guests adhering to the instructions given.
Weddings in areas under alert level 3 are allowed with a maximum of 50 guests adhering to the instructions given while under alert 4, weddings can be held with a maximum of 20 guests adhering to the instructions given.
Meanwhile, cinemas, theatres, children’s parks, carnivals, musical shows and beach parties in areas under the alert level 2 can be held with 50% capacity while they are not allowed in areas under alert level 3 and 4. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera has directed the Acting IGP to inform him immediately of the Investigating Team appointed to investigate the Brandix cluster as no probe has been launched yet, AG’s Coordinating Officer said.
Crisis. This is interestingly a word that at some level warms the cockles of a politician’s heart. Governments can point to calamities and pooh-pooh demands to address issues that have plagued society for a long time. They provide ammunition to the opposition, even one which is weak, clueless and indeed precipitated the issues that are marked ‘Of overriding importance.’
We saw this during the long decades of the country’s struggle to defeat terrorism. We see milder versions of the phenomenon during natural disasters such as the tsunami, landslides, floods and droughts. Respective governments can and have brushed aside persisting problems such as lawlessness, poverty, inter-communal harmony, climate change, drugs etc. citing ‘the grave situation at hand,’ whatever it may be.
Crises are useful for the sustainable development of a system skewed in favor of the rich and powerful. The system depends on crises. Politicians depend on them too. Is anyone interested in ‘Wilpattu’ or ‘Lankagama’ these days? Anyone for the human-elephant conflict? How about captive elephants and animal cruelty? Reconciliation, anyone?
How about the so-called ‘Draconian 20th Amendment’? The 20th, for the record, did not do away with the 19th Amendment, as some claim. Therefore it is not a reinstatement of the 18th, as they also claim. Anyway, if the 20th was as bad as its opponents claim, then the logical thing for a principled political activist to do would be to work tirelessly to mobilize the masses through awareness creation and organization. We didn’t see that. We are not seeing it. We are unlikely to se it either.
Covid-19 was a bless-’em-all kind of development. It blessed them all. It enables governments to ‘legitimately’ put things on the back burner or junk them altogether. The nature of the virus ‘legitimizes’ the imposition of restrictions. It makes surveillance ok. It’s great for the Opposition too. Nothing that’s done is good enough. There’s always something that could have been done differently. A surge, a bad story, a death make for slogans and memes, criticism and ridicule.
So what of the moves to formulate a new constitution, in the middle of a pandemic, no less? Is this the time for such things, for goodness’ sake? What’s most pressing is combating the virus, surely? First stop the spread, then think about other stuff, a new constitution included. People are going through a rough time, especially the daily wage earners in the city; this is not the time to make new laws. The economy is under severe strain, didn’t you realize?
There’s a lot of noise along these lines. Covid-19, let me repeat, makes for noise. Bigger noise than usual. Remember how the virus was waved by some to criticize the dissolution of Parliament and how moves to replace a legislature that had lost legitimacy was called ‘undemocratic’ and ‘uncivilized’ by those who, funnily enough, wanted to convene that same illegitimate parliament ‘to respond to the pandemic’? Remember how they also wanted elections postponed (citing Covid-19)? Remember the dire predictions? It’s easy of course to make pronouncements after the fact, but it does seem that Covid-19 had little or nothing to do with the concerns expressed. Some were terrified of elections for reasons that became clear a few months ago.
That script was re-used when the 20th Amendment was tabled. In the middle of a pandemic, are you crazy, asked the (selectively) horrified. Today, they express horror about the new constitution. Covid-19 to the fore, once again, we see.Let’s break it down. First, do we need a new constitution? The obvious answer is ‘yes’ and if the need to amend the J.R. Jayewardene ‘The Mother of all Draconian’ Constitution no less than 20 times doesn’t make a conclusive case, then the non-believers are unlikely to ever believe. Do we need it right away? No, we don’t. We’ve not folded up as a nation. We have demonstrated admirable resilience, in fact. We can wait.
That said, would it detract from the country’s efforts to combat Covid-19, as the nay-sayers insist? Well, right now, there’s a committee tasked to draft a new constitution. That committee has called for public comment. There is a strain on every citizen, but then again, not all citizens really get involved in such exercises. It is hard to argue that all those who do care will not have the time, energy, peace of mind and ability to offer suggestions. Life is never smooth. Everyone has issues. We attend to multiple tasks. Those who really feel a need to get involved, can make the time for it.
In any case, it’s a job for representatives. It’s the job of the legislator. Now there are 225 of them. What are they doing right now? They are, we hope, maintaining social distance, wearing masks and washing their hands, i.e. strictly adhering to protection protocols. This is something everyone is required to do, even as they go about the not-easy task of living and earning bucks, one way or the other, to meet their various expenses.
Covid-19 or no Covid-19 MPs have ample time to study the existing constitution, its flaws and suggested correctives. They have time to peruse from home constitutions of other countries to find out how others have resolved similar issues through legislation.
The truth is that the 225 worthies we elected on August 5, 2020 are not in the forefront of the battle against Covid-19. That’s for the health authorities in the main, with the support of the relevant state institutions and the public sector workforce. Legislators are not part of that story, outside of the responsibilities they have as citizens, just like any of us.
In short, they have the time. They have the JD. They can and better get to work on it.
Interestingly, those who say ‘this is not the time,’ are not saying ‘this is not the time to do business, operate factories or shops.’ They are not saying ‘let’s shut down the entire country.’ No, they are arguing against such ‘draconian’ measures. ‘The economy must move,’ they insist. ‘People must work, must earn money,’ they argue. Well, politicians are people too. They do get paid and enjoy perks on account of being elected to….to….to do what? Well, MAKE LAWS!
So let’s retire these silly objections. The economy must move. The country cannot be shut down. If something is working, we can work to make it work better. If something is not, we fix it. The constitution. It needs fixing. Seriously. And now is as a good time as any. Indeed, this could be the best time. The lawmakers don’t have to preen and parade. They can law-make. malindasenevi@gmail.com
Confronted with rising anger among workers, who forced the closure of an infected factory, Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakse on Sunday announced an extension of a lockdown in selected areas and home quarantine” for suspected cases. At the same time, he tried to blame ordinary people for the resurging COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Last week, the MAS Holdings-owned Bodyline garment factory, which employs about 6,000 workers, was compelled to close down. One member of a 200-strong team tested positive. When 145 team members were tested, another 34 were found to be infected. Workers’ opposition forced the factory to shut.
MAS is a giant company, with factories in 15 countries employing around 99,000 workers, producing apparel for international brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Marks & Spencer and Calvin Klein.
Nurses protesting in Kandy last July
Rajapakse made his announcement in a discussion with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 at his office. The media ran reports painting those measures as the government intensifying the battle against rapid spread of COVID-19.” In reality, the decisions are aimed at continuing corporate operations, particularly factory production for exports, forcing workers to stay on the job.
Basil Rajapakse, the president’s younger brother, who heads the PTF, said on Monday: The majority opinion was to impose a nationwide curfew.” He added that health authorities wanted to stop everything at least for 10 days.” However, the lockdown was limited to the Western Province.”
Since one coronavirus infected worker was found accidentally on October 4 at a Brandix Fashion Wear factory at Minuwangoda, the number of cases nationally has rapidly increased, to over 12,000 with 24 deaths, as of Wednesday. These numbers understate the toll because the government is not conducting systematic testing.
The president extended a lockdown of the Western Province until November 9. Major commercial, industrial and administrative institutions are located in this province. In the North-Western Province some areas in the Kurunegala district have been isolated also.
However, these restrictions do not affect big business or state institutions. Last week, President Rajapakse told the cabinet that economic activities would continue without hindrance, despite the pandemic. The Colombo government and the ruling class are following similar, criminal pro-business policies as their counterparts in other countries.
After the country felt the impact of the global coronavirus earlier this year, Rajapakse declared that the government had uniquely handled the pandemic and was able to control it, unlike other countries. Over recent weeks this lie has been exposed as the pandemic began to spread.
During the last nine months the government has taken no measures to overhaul the health system, which has been increasingly run down during the past four decades under successive governments.
Last week, the head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, Army Commander Shavendra Silva, said the first contacts of infected patients would undergo home quarantine but would not be sent to designated quarantine centres. That is because there is inadequate space and funds. Yesterday, it was reported that nearly 64,000 persons are already in home quarantine.”
The government is not recommending systematic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for people in home quarantine. Tests should only be conducted on the 10th day of quarantine, the president has ordered.
Rajapakse cynically emphasised the importance of conducting continuous and regular random tests.” Yet the government has just 25 PCR test machines, which can process about 8,000 samples daily, state health spokesman doctor Jayaruwan Bandara said. One machine was broken for days and only repaired this week.
An editorial in the pro-government Island newspaper indicated the run-down condition of the public health sector. It warned that limited intensive care units could be overwhelmed soon. The country has only 641 hospitals with 84,728 beds (3.9 beds per 1,000 persons),” it stated, and most of them were overflowing with patients even before the COVID-19 outbreak. They usually have patients lying under beds and in corridors.”
There are only 91 medical officers and 212 nurses per 100,000 persons. The editorial added: These numbers are not sufficient. Frontline health workers are burnt out, and some of them have even contracted COVID-19.”
Already, about 100 health workers, including doctors, nurses and other hospital employees, have been infected.
An incident recently reported in the Kaduwela area, near Colombo, demonstrated the impact of the government’s policies on the lives of the affected people. A man who tested positive for the virus had to stay at home for four days. When he called the relevant authorities, he was told there was no room in hospitals.” He spent all four days outside his house, fearing that his wife and children would become infected.
The government last week decided to use a low-cost Rapid Antibody Test (RAT), which is not widely endorsed by epidemiologists. Sri Lankan medical expert Ravi Rannan Eliya told the Daily Mirror: RAT tests are not as accurate as PCR, since a majority of those who tested positive are asymptomatic in Sri Lanka.”
Rajapakse is blaming ordinary people in order to cover up the responsibility of the government and the ruling class. At the meeting last Sunday he said: This is not a virus dropped by the government. It is a worldwide health issue. People have a great responsibility. Obviously this situation has arisen because the people have given up that responsibility.”
Rajapakse’s priority is propping up the corporate elite, not funding the health sector. The government has released to big business, via the Central Bank, funds totalling 178 billion rupees, but for 2021 the government has allocated only 159 billion rupees ($US873 million) for health expenditure.
At the same time, the government has set aside 500 billion rupees for the military and internal security agencies. The Rajapakse regime is preparing to suppress working class unrest.
The government is keeping the economy open for the benefit of the business elite, particularly for export production. Export Development Board chairman Prabhash Subasinghe last week said exporters should capitalise on the European Union’s recently extended Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP) tax concessions.
Sri Lankan exporters have a natural hedge because of the GSP,” while creating a cost advantage to the European importers,” Subasinghe said.
The EU is the biggest market for Sri Lankan exports, while the US is the largest importer of Sri Lankan textiles. Giant supply chains are reaping huge profits from apparel and other imports from sweatshops in Sri Lanka, as well as those in Bangladesh, Vietnam and other impoverished countries.
Foreign investors, some in partnership with local big business, are running factories in Board of Investment (BOI) approved operations, including in free trade zones (FTZ), amid the deadly pandemic, with the Rajapakse regime’s blessing.
Some 1,615 factories outside the FTZs employ 580,000 workers, while 133,000 workers are employed inside FTZs. According to the BOI figures, however, only 28,670 PCR tests have been conducted among these more than 700,000 workers. Even with such low numbers of tests, more than 1,500 workers have tested COVID-19 positive.
According to BOI director general Sanjaya Mohottala: All the factories in general are strictly adhering to health and safety guidelines. The BOI is strongly upholding the relevant regulations.”
The reality is the opposite. When the government announced the reopening of these factories at the end of April, the employers adopted minimum safety measures, only to abandon them within a few weeks.
It is on record that the Brandix Fashion Ware management did not allow workers at its Minuwangoda plant to seek medical treatment, even when hundreds of them showed symptoms of infection during September. When the company was compelled to carry out the testing of all workers in early October, more than 1,000 employees were found to be infected.
The only concern of the Rajapakse government and big business is the extraction of profit from workers’ labour power, not human lives.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is keen that a 10-day curfew now in force in Sri Lanka’s Western Province and some other areas be lifted Monday
Sri Lankan authorities will end a pandemic curfew imposed in parts of the country, saying people themselves should take the responsibility to avoid being infected the new coronavirus.
Army Commander Shavendra Silva heads a COVID-19 task force and he says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is keen that a 10-day curfew now in force in Sri Lanka’s Western Province and some other areas be lifted Monday. Silva says the country’s economy can’t sustain continued closure, with daily wage earners and small businesses being particularly hit hard. He told Sri Lankans, The country must move forward and the responsibility is with you the public.” Sri Lanka is in the midst of a second wave of virus infections after the detection of large clusters centered on a garment factory and the country’s main wholesale fish market.
The Government Information Department has announced that there has been another 05 deaths due to Covid infection today (05).<
Accordingly the number of Covid infected deaths in the country has increased to 29.
The following deaths have been reported today.
46 year old male from Colombo -02, who died in hospital yesterday (04). He has been suffering from long term Kidney ailments.
68 year old female from Wellampitiya who died in hospital yesterday (04). She has been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital with chest pains.
58 year old female from Colombo -12 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a heart attack caused by coronavirus.
73 year old female from Colombo -14 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a lung infection caused by coronavirus.
74 year old male from Colombo -15 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a heart attack caused by coronavirus.
Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists stated that information regarding the stock of rapid antigen tests which is said to be brought down to Sri Lanka must be disclosed.
President of the Association Ravi Kumudesh stated the above while addressing the media today (05)
A new form of test that can diagnose Covid-19 in minutes is set to be rolled out across the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced.
The test will provide results in 15-30 minutes, rather than hours or days, and dramatically expand the capacity to detect coronavirus cases in low- and middle-income countries, the global health body said on Monday.
It is hoped that will allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries and therefore assist containment efforts.
The development comes as the global death toll from Covid-19 continues to climb having now already surpassed the one million mark.
So, here’s what you need to know:
The antigen test will provide results in 15-30 minutes (AP)
How does the new test work?
The antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests are being produced by two drugs manufacturers – Abbott and SD Biosensor – and work by detecting proteins found on the surface of the virus.
The tests look similar to pregnancy tests and can yield results within 30 minutes, simply displaying two blue lines for a positive result.
How do they differ from other tests?
The main difference between rapid-antigen tests and nasal/throat swabs and finger-prick blood tests is the antigen tests do not require laboratory processing to produce results.
This means they are able to detect coronavirus infection within minutes, compared to the hours or days necessary for the genetic tests, known as PCR tests, to turnaround results.
They are also far cheaper, with each test costing just 5 US dollars (£3.90) each for low- and middle-income countries, however, they are generally considered less accurate than laboratory-based tests.
The companies which manufacture the tests claim they are about 97 per cent accurate, but that is in optimal conditions.
The non-profit Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (Find) puts their sensitivity between 80 per cent and 90 per cent in real-world conditions.
How important are these new tests in the fight against coronavirus?
The rapid antigen tests will be vital in improving the testing capacity of lower and middle-income countries who lack enough laboratory resources or trained health workers to properly carry out PCR tests.
They will also allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries, in hopes of following up with containment and other measures to stop it.
Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics, said the tests represent a significant step” in the effort to combat and contain the virus on a global scale.
He said: They’re not a silver bullet, but hugely valuable as a complement to PCR tests.”
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meanwhile hailed the antigen tests, described by the WHO as “highly portable, reliable, and easy to administer”, as good news” in the fight against Covid-19.
The WHO has agreed a deal with drugs manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor as well as the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside other partners, to deploy 120 million rapid-diagnostic tests over six months.
The deal spans 133 countries, including several in Latin America, which is currently the hardest-hit region by the global pandemic in terms of fatality and infection rates.
Catharina Boehme, chief executive of Find, said the initial rollout would take place across 20 countries in Africa, starting in October this year.
What do the new tests mean for the UK?
While poorer countries will primarily benefit from the rapid-antigen tests, wealthier countries who have signed up to the Access to Covid tools initiative, which the UK has, will also be given access to them.
They represent a potential boon to the Government’s Operation Moonshot scheme for mass testing, though it is not clear if the UK intends to buy these tests.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously said mass testing was the nation’s best chance” of reducing social distancing measures without having a vaccine.
What have other people said about antigen tests?
Former prime minister Tony Blair has called on the Government to adopt the rapid antigen tests, saying they could enable an extra 300,000 coronavirus tests to be carried out every day within a few weeks.
However Baroness Dido Harding, the head of NHS Test and Trace, warned companies and individuals could be forced to foot the bill for the swift turnaround tests as they were too unreliable for use within the health service.
But she said those without symptoms might choose to pay for the tests to act as a kind of Covid-19 passport to allow them to take part in non-socially distanced activities.
A
simple solution to the tyranny of minoritarianism. This is just a personal
opinion for what it’s worth.
Post-independence
politics in Sri Lanka has been characterised by a continuous struggle between
exclusive minority communalism and inclusive majority nationalism, in the form
of roughly thirty years of cold war between the two and another thirty years of
open conflict, which ended with the defeat of armed separatism in 2009.
Minority communalism has gradually acquired a religious dimension with intensifying
fundamentalist Christian and Islamic subversive activities targeting Buddhists
and Hindus; Islamists have been active particularly since the early 1970s. On
top of this, Sri Lanka’s strategic geographic location has led global and
regional superpowers to be actively engaged in exploiting these anti-majority
movements to their advantage, thereby condemning Sri Lanka to constant
political destabilization, economic stagnation, threatened national security,
sovereignty and independence.
The
title is an English rendering of a line from a ‘freedom song’ written by
Tibetan Buddhist monk S. Mahinda Thera (1901-1951): ‘aesgedivalata hena
gahalada sihalunne?,’ lit., ‘Have the eyeballs of the Sinhalese been struck by
lightning?’. As an author and poet writing in Sinhala, he made a passionate
contribution to Ceylon’s independence movement in the 1930s and 40s decades by
inspiring nationalism among the Sinhalese, whom he criticized for what he
thought was their ignorant indifferent laid-back attitude towards the grave
injustices they, especially as Buddhists, were being subjected to under British
colonialism. Current happenings in the Sri Lankan political scene brought this
striking line of verse to my mind.
It
is a fact that in Sri Lanka there is a simmering problem of religious
fundamentalism, which is an incubus that takes away the peace of mind of the
majority population and disengages their attention from the more vitally
important problems that the country is facing as a nation. It is being used as
a weapon of destabilization by the powers that be that want to exploit Sri
Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian, lately Indo-Pacific, Ocean.
There are numerous fundamentalist Christian and Islamic sects that have been
active in the country for many decades. Fortunately, they are not of the type
that is likely to set the mainstream Christians and Muslims against Buddhist
Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils. Apparently, religious fundamentalists are a problem
to the respective mainstream Abrahamic religions as well, giving rise to
internecine doctrinal disputes.
Unlike
in the case of traditional Christians and Muslims, the fundamentalist attitude
to Buddhists and Hindus is not one of peaceful coexistence. They treat the
latter as spiritually misguided subjects ripe for conversion. The twofold
fundamentalist menace shows no sign of abating in the near future. The
most virulent form of religious fundamentalism that is posing a formidable
challenge to Sri Lanka’s intercommunal unity and peace right now is Islamist
extremism. Activist Buddhist monks and their lay followers claim, based on
evidence, that Jihadist agents have already infiltrated practically every
department of life in the Sri Lankan state. (It is upto the authorities
concerned to check this evidence.) The problem is worsening because politicians
of both the main parties seem to be following the Three Wise Monkeys’ example:
See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil where evil is seen and heard, but
nothing is said against it.
An
online Sinhala news website, Lankacnews, reported October 24, 2020 that,
according to government sources, there was a possibility that state minister
portfolios will be given to two of the nine MPs of the Opposition who voted for
20A. I, for one, originally believed that this was not true; the website could
have been reporting an unfounded rumour or somebody’s fabrication. But, another
online publication, Colombo Telegraph, which is usually critical of the present
government, lamented in a headline: ‘20A Once Again Proved: Muslim Political
Opportunists Are Up for Sale’. Meanwhile, the more authoritative and reliable
website referred to at the beginning, Lankacnews, again reported (26) that
Diana Gamage, one of the nine SJB MPs who voted for 20A with the government, as
saying that she would like to accept, if offered, the post of minister for
child and women’s affairs though she did not support 20A in expectation of a
ministerial portfolio or any other reward. This faintly hints at such offers
having probably been made, after all. If that is true, isn’t it possible that
the Muslim MPs were enticed with even bigger quid pro quos? The marked
cordiality that minister Chamal and MP Rishad greeted each other with in that
picture that shocked us all would not help neutralize such speculation.
But
there was absolutely no need for horse trading with questionable characters in
the circumstances. What is the use of legislation passed with assistance from
wheeler-dealer politicians who the majority consider duplicitous? (In the case
of 20A, however, their help was not critical; their votes were actually
redundant.) Besides, these MPs were (and still are) in a politically vulnerable
situation of their own making in which they didn’t know (and still don’t know)
which way to look. The latest news I read about Hakeem was that he wanted to
launch an internal inquiry into why his four MPs violated his party’s policy of
opposing 20A! This is in spite of the fact that he had given his four MPs tacit
permission to vote for the amendment. National list MP Diana Gamage of the SJB
told a You Tube journalist that her leader Sajith Premadasa knew beforehand
that she was going to vote for the amendment, for her husband had phoned him
and told him the night before about her decision, though, later, like Hakeem in
the case of his MPs, Premadasa threatened to take disciplinary action against
her. There is no doubt that both Premadasa and Hakeem are partly trying to
salvage the little prestige that they ever had and that they have now
irretrievably lost. Be that as it may, until the government establishes clarity
in this respect, negative reflections will not stop. More important, what about
the just anger and frustration that the ambitious MPs of the SLPP and allied
parties must feel at the danger of some crooks of the Opposition who worked for
the downfall of Gotabaya and Mahinda getting ministerial positions that even
they were denied?
Doesn’t
this mean that a government which has got an overwhelming popular mandate to
rule by restoring law and order, national security, and political and economic
stability (all of which had appallingly deteriorated under the previous
administration) could not even take the first step towards that goal by
abolishing the controversial 19A and bringing in the stopgap 20A, without having
to buy over MPs or to engineer desertions from the Opposition benches? It is no
ordinary mandate: it is a doubly confirmed mandate in the form of a president
elected by 69.9 million voters and a prime minister leading an alliance
that won 144 seats in parliament, the kind of huge mandate that is not likely
to be repeated unless those who have been given that mandate act
sensibly. Whenever is Sri Lanka going to make headway as an independent
sovereign nation? Seventy-five percent of the voters are Sinhalese, who
don’t cast their vote on a communal basis. They overwhelmingly account for the
above people’s mandate. The passage of 20A with due amendments was what they
wanted. If a few anti-majority extremists were allowed to be in a position to
decide on its fate, who was to blame for that grievous anomaly? Wasn’t it the
fault of the Sinhalese MPs elected by their own people to serve the nation
whether they happen to sit in the Government or in the
Opposition?
The
appointment of two more ministers is constitutionally defensible thanks to a
clause that is being retained in 20A as a salutary feature from the now
abolished 19A, which set limits on the numbers of cabinet and state minister
portfolios respectively at 30 and 40. Currently, there are only 38 state
ministers; so, there are two vacancies. The Yahapalana coalition rechristened
itself as a national government in order to increase the number of ministers
beyond these limits until practically every government MP was some sort of
minister. Awarding ministerial positions to corruptible MPs as mere
political sinecures just to ensure their mechanical Ayes and Noes on
appropriate occasions in the legislature is a despicable ruse that must be put
an immediate end to. If it had to be resorted to particularly at this juncture
(when the undeniable fact of the majority community being victimized by a few
communalist opportunists is so evident), it was all due to there being not
enough patriotic Sinhala MPs in the Opposition (Not that all Sinhala MPs in the
Government are patriotic either. What I found as an independent observer living
abroad trying to penetrate the real motives and concerns that drove them as
revealed in their speeches and occasional acts during electioneering prior to
the August 5 general election was that nearly all of them, with a very few
exceptions, were unashamedly narrowly focused self-seekers worried only about
their personal ‘political careers’, not about their mandatory obligations to
the country/nation.
But
still there is time for them to think, and support, from wherever they are, the
only ‘philosopher ruler’ that we have got since independence in the
non-partisan GR (I believe GR is free from political ambitions that distort his
vision and that cause him to baulk at taking action when it is necessary but
difficult to do so).
Communalistic
behaviour is out of character for Sinhalese MPs. However, for the time being,
there is no alternative for them but to act as if they were communalists
themselves. On the contrary, right now, it looks as though most Sinhalese MPs
in parliament are behaving like willing dupes of some Islamist extremists or
their sympathisers; they seem to voluntarily assist the miscreants in their
stratagems. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kirielle has asked the Speaker in
writing (as reported in the media October 31) that a special seating plan on
the government side be made for the nine SJB members that he claims have been
expelled from the party. Seven of these are Muslims, one Tamil, and one
Sinhalese. In effect, the SJB is palming off the extremists that it fostered
and used to prolong the Yahapalana misgovernance onto the government, in the
apparent vicious hope that they initiate a cankerous relationship with it.
Kirielle and the rest of the SJB hierarchy cannot be expected to take kindly to
this criticism, but this is my gut feeling.
State
minister Dayasiri Jayasekera has long been complaining that the SLFP MPs are
not receiving the recognition they deserve within the government. Its leader,
former president Sirisena, who was expecting an agrapalaya or an ultimate
reward got nothing, but the PM was reported to be ‘creating’ a suitable post
for him. Anyway, do these people worry as much about vital national issues
including the Grim Reaper abroad in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic? Are the
disgruntled SLFP’ers within government ranks trying to rock the boat? The
President twittered November 1st that he was presented with a locally produced
Lion Flag by state minister Dayasiri Jayasekera. A former provincial Governor
Rajith Tennekoon has complained that the Lion in this flag is holding the sword
by its blade, not by its hilt! and that this is a grave violation of the
Constitution, because disfigurement/distortion of the Flag is a criminal
offence. Probably, Tennekoon, who is another political activist, is exaggerating
an apparent shortcoming in the drawing of the flag. A careful look at the image
of the locally produced flag will reveal what I mean: the cross guard that
separates the blade from the grip part of the handle of the sword is not
properly drawn; it is as if it is not there. Having said this, it is a big
defect that must be corrected. Is it a result of a genuine oversight or of an
act of deliberate sabotage? Tennekoon’s demand that the circulation of this new
local flag be immediately halted must receive the attention of the
authorities.
The
few communalists and religious extremists that there are will try to cripple
the government whether they are in it or in the opposition. However, it is
clear that they get little support from the general public. Foreign
interventionist powers are laying siege to the country, but they can’t do much
damage if Sri Lankans manage to put their own house in order. In this all Sri
Lankans have a collective responsibility. Each community must be united within
it and act in solidarity with other communities as equal Sri Lankan citizens,
and this must be reflected among the MPs in parliament. Partisan politics must
be shelved for the time being. People of each faith must take responsibility
for and deal with the extremists among them, without giving in to their
extremist ideologies. If there is any terrorism, let the government security
apparatus deal with that. People of all faiths must be united as a single
nation. It will be of the strongest support for overcoming religious
fundamentalism in general and the Islamist terrorism in particular if Sinhalese
Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, who share similar peaceful nonviolent religious and
cultural values, overcome artificial divisions and enmities of the past and
decide to find refuge in each other as children of Mother Lanka against both
overt and covert aggression and oppression. That will be the end of meaningless
separatism as well.
President Trump is reported to be trying all sorts of methods not
to concede defeat. The more he tries his
pranks, the more does our Prime Minister’s image gets boosted.
Let us see what Prime Minister Mahinda did:
Sri Lanka: President Mahinda Rajapakse concedes defeat in election
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse this morning
conceded defeat to the pro-US opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena in
yesterday’s presidential election. Rajapakse reportedly left his official
residence, Temple Trees, and stated through a spokesman that he will
facilitate a smooth transfer of power.
Overall
results are to be announced this afternoon, but initial figures indicate
Sirisena received around 51.25 percent of the votes counted. Some 75 percent of
the 15 million eligible voters cast ballots.” (From WSWS.org)
With
the first indication of defeat Prime Minister Mahinda, packed his bags and ran to his home at
Medamulana.
The more President Trump
tries his tricks to linger longer. the more does he boost the image of
our Prime Minister as a true democrat.
France is keen on establishing more
people-to-people contact with Sri Lanka, through initiatives such as
scholarship and exchange programs. This was expressed by the Ambassador of
France in Sri Lanka Eric Lavertu when he met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa
yesterday (Nov. 3) evening at Temple Trees.
The Ambassador mentioned that a number of
government sector employees are already pursuing advance studies at French
higher educational institutions and that the two countries could collaborate on
more student exchange programs.
During the courtesy call, the French
Ambassador also congratulated the Prime Minister on the election victory and
spoke highly about the Government’s handling of the pandemic.
We’re all in the same boat,” Ambassador
Lavertu said while opining that the low COVID-19 related death rate in Sri
Lanka is indicative of the good healthcare infrastructure that Sri Lanka has
invested in throughout the years.
Prime Minister Rajapaksa said that the
Government’s first priority is to deal with bringing the pandemic situation
under control. Thereafter, the focus will be on economic development, the Prime
Minister added.
In addition to France being keen to be a
part of the development of the Hambantota Port,” Ambassador Lavertu said that
France is also in the market for more Sri Lankan products, indicating a
potential to increase trade relations between the two countries. Both countries
are keen to further bilateral trade and investment. Currently, Sri Lanka’s
major exports to France include apparel, precious stones and pneumatic rubber
tires.
Some are aghast at the news trickling in that Basil Rajapaksa is
to be anointed with a Ministerial position.
But when one thinks of things actually done, Basil Rajapaksa
stands out.
It was no other than Basil that created a political party from
scratch when both Chandrika and Maithripala were holding on to the SLFP.
Again earlier when his brothers Gotabhaya and Mahinda had
won the war, there was a mass of some three hundred thousand refugees- Tamil
people moved from their hearth and homes, dragged at gun point as a human
shield by the LTTE when their forces were defeated and pushed from Batticaloa
in the South and Mannar and Vavuniya to the shores of Mullativu. It was
then Basil that took charge of finding temporary accomodation for them, finding
their homes and putting them back. Go to other parts of the world and one
can find refugees in tents without finding their roots for decades despite
attempts by the prestigious United Nation attempts.
Take what is happening right now- who directs the major operation
to provide food etc to people in their thousands, confined to the curfew areas.
I am certain that all these were difficult tasks. These
words come from a son of Mother Lanka who has experience in attending to
difficult tasks. I know what it takes to do something worthwhile. It was
I that designed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme in
Bangladesh, starting from scratch, without any funds, scraping the barrel for
savings in budgets to implement a new programme that has today stood the test
of time- three million youths guided to be self employed.
The achievements of Basil Rajapaksa detailed above, to me, show
him as a person of steel that can tackle our problems, a person who cannot be
derailed. Our Motherland needs him. I am fairly certain that our Motherland
will eventually grab him back.
Good Luck dear sir,
May I wish him luck and I am certain that Sri Lanka’s economy will
find a major contribution from him.
Biden moves closer to the presidency as Trump launches legal challenges
Former Vice President Joe Biden has moved to within 17 electoral votes of claiming the presidency by winning the state of Michigan, CNN projects, in the latest twist of a dramatic election clash with President Donald Trump that has left America’s political fate uncertain hours after polls closed.His breakthrough came as Trump’s campaign launched a flurry of lawsuits in several states designed to stop the former vice president from getting over the line, including challenging Pennsylvania’s vote count at the Supreme Court.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), the flagship of India-based Adani Group, is in the lead to develop the stalled East Container Terminal at Colombo port in Sri Lanka.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), the flagship of India-based Adani Group, is in the lead to develop the stalled East Container Terminal at Colombo port in Sri Lanka.
APSEZ and a local partner have secured in-principle approval to sign a deal with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
In the currently stalled project, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority will hold a majority stake.
Details regarding holding of the stakes are being established, following a review of the project.
A preliminary agreement for the project was signed by Adani in 2019. However, labour union protests due to concerns over foreign control had stopped the deal before parliamentary elections in August.
Following protests, the Sri Lankan Government had announced a review.
The project is being jointly developed by Sri Lanka, India, and Japan.
Last week, Sri Lanka Port Authority commenced operations at parts of the East Container Terminal that were constructed.
The government has provided more than Rs. 7.3 billion (Rs 7355.53 million) to provide relief to the people in the quarantine process to control the Covid-19 virus outbreak, the Government Information Department said today.
These funds have been allocated for the above activities up to now after the Covid-19 virus was reported in the Divulapitiya area again,” it said.
In addition, the Treasury also hopes to allocate further funds as necessary at the request of relevant parties, including Government Agents.
These funds have been allocated to provide relief packs to families quarantined in their own homes and to provide a relief allowance of Rs. 5,000 to low income families in areas where quarantine curfew has been enforced.
An amount of Rs.2721.27 million has been allocated for the Rs.5000/- relief allowance in the Gampaha District. Rs. 2333.60 million has been allocated for the Colombo District and Rs. 1310 million has been allocated for the Kalutara District for this purpose. An amount of Rs.469.57 million has been allocated for the families in need of relief in Kurunegala District and an amount of Rs. 128.39 million has been allocated for the Batticaloa District.
Accordingly, the government has allocated Rs. 6.9 billion (6962.83 million) during this period to provide an allowance of Rs. 5,000 to families who have lost their livelihoods due to the quarantine curfew.
In the process of providing dry ration packs to the families under home quarantine, a sum of Rs. 75 million has been allocated for the Colombo District. Gampaha and Kalutara districts are provided with Rs. 40 million each. A sum of Rs. 24.61 million has been provided for Kurunegala District and Rs .17.86 million was provided for Galle District. The amount allocated for the Batticaloa District with this purpose is Rs.15.92 million and the amount provided for the Nuwara Eliya District is Rs. 15.60 million. The government has spent a total of Rs. 336.54 million to provide dry ration packs to families under home quarantine in 20 districts.
In addition the government has provided Rs. 56.16 million to implement quarantine related activities in 11 districts.
A 79-year-old woman from Colombo 13 has been found to be infected with the COVID-19 virus posthumously, the Department of Government Information stated.
It is reported that she had been sick at her home for some time and had been suffering from chronic illnesses prior to her death.
The cause of death has been determined as a cardiac arrest caused by the COVID-19 virus infection.
Accordingly, she is counted as the 24th coronavirus-related death reported in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, a 78-year-old male, also a resident of the Colombo 13 area, had succumbed to a head injury due to a fall at home.
He had been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital on November 02 and passed away yesterday (02).
A postmortem PCR examination had diagnosed the deceased with COVID-19.
However, as the cause of death is not related to COVID-19 infection, the death is not counted as a COVID-19 death, the Director-General of Health Services announced.
Total Covid-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka went past the grim milestone of 12,000 today (04) the Ministry of Health announced.
The latest spike in figures came after 274 more persons were tested positive for the virus.
Health Ministry’s data revealed that Sri Lanka has confirmed 12,018 novel coronavirus infections to date.
All the fresh positive cases have been linked to the Minuwangoda-Peliyagoda cluster, which registered a record total of 8,540 cases since the beginning of October.
The Government Information Department said 07 of the new patients were found from quarantine centres. The remaining 267 are contacts of earlier infections connected to the cluster.
Epidemiology Unit says 6,097 active cases continue to receive treatment at selected hospitals across the country.
Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 recoveries total meanwhile reached 5,858 earlier today, after 277 patients were discharged from hospitals as they have returned to health.
The country has also witnessed 23 deaths from the virus.
Sri Lanka witnessed the highest daily count of Covid-19 cases on the 23rd of October with a record total of 866 fresh positive cases. The second-highest was recorded on the 6th of October with 739 infections.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stresses that the country cannot be kept under a lockdown until a cure is discovered for Covid-19.
During a meeting held today (04), the President noted that people should adhere to health guidelines and prepare to continue normal day-to-day life.
The President pointed out that medical health officers who interact closely with Covid-19 infected individuals are less likely to contract the virus because they follow proper hygiene practices.
The country can function as per usual if the public strictly follow the health guidelines, he stressed.
Speaking on the appeals for a countrywide lockdown, the President explained that people who get by with daily earnings will be affected the most by the move, not those who earn a monthly wage.
He also pointed out the importance of making correct decisions taking into account every aspect.
At a meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda
Rajapaksa this evening, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri
Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos, commended the Sri Lankan Government for how it has
dealt with the Coronavirus outbreak.
Expressing deep gratitude for the
relationship” that Sri Lanka and the World Bank share, Hadad-Zervos
congratulated the Prime Minister not only on the election (victory) but how
Sri Lanka has managed the pandemic.”
We wish you a speedy exit from this
situation,” he said. He was accompanied by the World Bank Country Manager for
Maldives and Sri Lanka, Chiyo Kanda.
The Sri Lankan delegation thanked the
World Bank for the many years of close cooperation and assured that the new
government will continue that relationship. It also appreciated the Bank for
the various assistance programs during the pandemic. The World Bank was the
first donor agency to come forward with assistance when the pandemic first
broke out early this year.
The Country Director said the World Bank
will assess how best to support Sri Lanka and to see how we can turn this
crisis into an opportunity.”
Asked about Sri Lanka’s priorities, Prime
Minister Rajapaksa responded by pointing to several key sectors the Government
would like to priorities after the current outbreak situation is under control:
Economic development, roads, drinking water, sanitation and agriculture.
In the area of agriculture, the two
delegations explored how farmers could be more empowered to produce value-added
products that could be marketed internationally as uniquely Sri Lankan brands.
The World Bank Country Director highlight Sri Lanka’s Ayurveda sector, noting
that there is a great international demand for Ayurvedic products.
Another area that was discussed was film
tourism. With a very well-developed tourism sector, Hadad-Zervos said a
possible next step for countries like Sri Lanka to increase tourism even
further is to attract the entertainment industry from around the world to use
Sri Lanka as the location for productions. Studies have shown that seeing a
location in a movie or television can have a significant impact on the number
of tourists visiting that location. One of the most successful examples of
film-induced tourism is New Zealand after being featured in the The Lord of the
Rings trilogy.
Prime Minister Rajapaksa said the
Ranminithenna Tele Cinema Village was establish — during his presidency — with
film tourism in mind. However, it was not put to good use during the past few
years. While there are examples of some popular films shot in Sri Lanka — such
as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Water
— there is a lot of potential for growth, the two delegations agreed. The Prime
Minister expressed a keen interest on further collaborating with the World Bank
in this area.