Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka Geneva

Addressing the WHO Metal Health Forum held in Geneva on 14 October 2019, Sri Lanka updated the global healthcare community, which comprised policy experts and representatives of Member States and international organisations, on progress achieved in advancing mental health, providing healthcare support and improving the working environment that could foster good health and wellbeing among the Sri Lankan population.

The intervention made by Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka in Geneva at the Forum dealt with three main points namely, the need for mental healthcare and delivery of assistance to be holistic; the importance of an inclusive approach that ensured availability of mental healthcare coverage throughout the entire cycle of vulnerability; and the sustainment of a supportive environment that assured security, empathy and care for at-risk individuals.

The Sri Lankan envoy called upon mental health policy makers and experts to attune themselves to the urgency of addressing this growing global health concern as the international community actively pursued the UN Development Agenda 2030 and SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing. If the policy of ‘Leave No One Behind’ is to have any practical meaning” Ambassador Azeez said it was important the message should resonate with people at all levels”.

A proper assessment of all risk factors is in order if comprehensive mental healthcare is to be effectively ensured, added Ambassador Azeez, emphasising further that such an assessment would help countries find innovative solutions as well as  scale their efforts towards the implementation of  comprehensive multi-sectoral mental healthcare prevention strategies.

Sri Lanka also referred to the Presidential Task Force on Suicide Prevention, stressing that a number of multi-faceted and multi-sectoral recommendations of the Task Force continued to be followed up at the national level.  Among pro-active prevention measures taken by the government, remained media guidelines reporting; mental health promotion in schools; training programmes for healthcare providers on mental health; programmes on prevention and rehabilitation for alcohol and substance abuse; and operationalisation of helplines.

Sri Lanka further informed the Forum that a national mental healthcare survey is due to begin in the year 2020, adding that it would help identify treatment gap, healthcare seeking pattern and impact of mental health vulnerability.  The pivotal role of media in educating the public, creating dialogue and working towards the elimination of stigma around mental health challenges was also highlighted as was the importance of WHO using international sports events as platforms to increase awareness of the importance of addressing mental healthcare challenges and the related stigma surrounding it.

The 2019 edition of the Mental Health Forum convened by WHO focused on a specific theme ‘Enhancing country action on Mental Health’ as part of its policy dialogue in advancing the WHO Special Initiatives for Mental Health 2019-2020.

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva

Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Opposition MP Dr. Bandula Gunawardana today asked under what laws the Elections Commission has said that it was prohibited to use war victory and slogans in the election campaigns.

He said as a member of the Constitutionality, he cannot figure out under what laws or regulations that the EC has said campaigners can’t use war victory.

Addressing a news briefing, Dr. Gunawardana said the LTTE could not be defeated by any of the previous Commandants-in-Chief because they did not have a defence secretary like Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

None of the previous Presidents were able to defeat the LTTE since no defence secretary was able to strategies the war properly. Without Gotabaya’s efficient strategies, the LTTE could not have been defeated. That’s why we request the people to rally behind him when there is a terror threat again. No one is committed to national security like Gotabaya. If the Elections Commission is prohibiting to use war victory in campaigns, maybe we can talk about reasons led to military defeats during the war,” he said.

He said under President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s era, tax payer’s money were sent to fund the LTTE through the government. We have receipts to prove this. If false, anyone can file a case against us for forgery. At one point, two UNP leaders Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake brought an impeachment motion against President Premadasa for funding the LTTE,” he said. 

 Mirudhula Thambiah Courtesy Ceylon Today

Summons have been sent to former Chairman of the People’s Bank Hemasiri Fernando yesterday (14) to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating corruption in the current administration on 18 October.

The PCoI yesterday (14) investigated an allegation that the People’s Bank had lost a significant sum of money during its attempt to digitise operations in 2016.

Testifying before the PCoI, an official of the Auditor’s General Department, Chamali Indika, who examined an audit query on the digitisation operation said that they had raised a number of issues about the procurement process.

To which the Chairman of the PCoI, retired Supreme Court Judge, Upali Abeyrathne queried from the witness whether the Bank has to follow Government procurement guidelines during such a project.

The witness said that the Bank provided them with an April 1992 circular which stated that the Bank can come up with its own guidelines with regard to the procurement of goods and services.

To which, Abeyrathne said.”But is this a procurement of goods and services? This falls under the execution of works category. The April 1992 circular does not exempt the Bank from this category. Therefore, the Bank has to adhere to the Government’s procurement guidelines.”

The witness clarified: “For example, they initially decided that a five member Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) must be appointed and that two of its members must come from outside the Bank.

However, later, they decided that all five members must come from the Bank. When we asked them why this decision was taken, they said that the decision was changed as specifications were set by the Bank.

Then, we asked them as to who had formulated these specifications and when, and they informed us that the specifications were given by the Silver Lake Company that was already working with the Bank on Information Technology matters. However, they failed to provide documents that were sent by Silver Lake,”

Accordingly, the PCoI was informed that decisions on the digitisation process were taken by the Executive Officers Committee (EOC) and that the EOC had changed a number of initial decisions as the process went on.

 Mirudhula Thambiah

Pahan Wijesekera and Udayanthi Munasingha Courtesy Ceylon Today

President’s Counsel Shamil J. Perera, the private lawyer for Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, yesterday (14), submitted 34 documents along with affidavits which had been signed with witness statements by the Cardinal to the new five-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to probe the Easter Sunday carnage.

Sources said that the documents submitted to the Commission by the private lawyer for the Cardinal had included information that was not in possession of the Government in connection with the Easter Sunday carnage.

The documents had contained information regarding the exact number of victims that perished in the attacks that took place at the Katuwapitiya and Kochchikade Churches, the exact number of victims injured in the blasts and the exact number of victims rendered disabled by the bombings.

This information had been compiled by Priest Director of the ‘Sethsarana’ Social Service Institute which is under the purview of Cardinal Ranjith.

Also included in the documents had been written information, known to the Cardinal in connection with the basis for the incidents that took place on 21 April.

Furthermore, the details regarding children who had lost their parents in the terror attacks and pregnant women who had lost their husbands had also been included in the documents that had been submitted to the Commission.

Among the other details affixed to the documents by the Parish Priests of the two aforesaid Churches, had been photos of all victims from the carnage, including written proof and around 250 affidavits from those who had been wounded in the blasts.

Furthermore, also included in the documents had been the affidavits containing eight pages and a lengthy description about links between the damages caused to the Buddha Statues in Mawanella and a report filed in that connection by DIG Palitha Siriwardena who had functioned as the DIG of the Kegalla Division last year, on the maintenance of a terrorist camp at Wanathawilluwa by Islamic terrorists and the carrying out of the bombings on 21 April.

The Archbishop of Colombo had urged the Commission to conduct a probe where all citizens in the country could place their trust and confidence in them to get to the root cause of the Easter Sunday carnage and to carry out their duties sans any kind of political affiliations whatsoever.

 Pahan Wijesekera and Udayanthi Munasingha 08:09 AM Oct 15 2019  0   

Courtesy Ceylon Today

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the corruption of the current administration yesterday (16) that he could not appear before the PCoI until the Presidential Election is over.

Wickremesinghe was to appear before the Commission on 18 October to testify over the decision to store paddy at the Mattala Airport in 2015.

Summons for the Prime Minister to appear before the PCoI was issued on 14 October. 

The Police officers attached to the PCoI visited the Mattala Airport and observed approximately five million rupees worth of damages which have been sustained to the buildings by the storing of paddy.

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

Members of the National People’s Party charge that the party’s presidential candidate former Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayake was nominated for the candidature without the consent of the party members.

Local Government members of the party mentioned this holding a press conference today (17).

The Executive Committee Member of the Party Pradeep Panagoda expressed following views:

This is a decision taken by a group claiming to be civil organizations through receiving money by embassies and foreign institutions.

This is not a people’s movement, it is a betrayal of the nation.

There were only 110 persons at the Gampaha meeting. But over a Rs 1 million was spent on that.

Clearly this has a foreign intervention.

He did not address any social issues beyond the mainstream.

Party General Secretary Srinath Perera should be held responsible if the country is harmed.”

Meanwhile, Jana Setha Peramuna Presidential Candidate Ven. Battaramulla Seelarathana Thera has appointed Attorney-at-Law Nagananda Kodituwakku as his elections representative.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  අරුණ පුවත්

රට කඩන යෝජනාවලිය සමග දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය නතර වෙන්නේ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී වීරකුමාර දිසානායක පැවැසීය.

පසුගිය කාලයේ ආණ්ඩුව ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය කොන්දේසි වශයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යෝජනාවලියට මේ වන විට යළිත් වෙන්දේසි කිරීමට පටන්ගෙන ඇතැයිද මන්ත්‍රීවරයා කීවේය.

වීරකුමාර දිසානායක මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මූලස්ථානයේ ඊයේ (16 වැනිදා) පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවේදීය.

‘සම්බන්ධන්ලාගේ බලය බෙදීමේ යෝජනාවලිය ඉදිරියට ඇවිල්ලා. දෙමළ ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රශ්නවලට විසඳුම් දිය යුතුයි. හැබැයි ඒ රට බෙදලා නෙමෙයි. ඒකීය භාවය ආරක්ෂා කරගෙනයි විසඳුම් දිය යුත්තේ. පසුගිය කාලයේදී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි සම්බන්ධන්ලා කොන්දේසි වශයෙන් සකස් කළ යෝජනාවලියම තමයි මේ යළිත් ඉදිරිපත් කරලා තිබෙන්නේ’ යැයිද මන්ත්‍රීවරයා කීවේය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී සහය දැක්වීමට දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති යෝජනාවලියේ අතිශය භයානක කරුණු 13 ක් අන්තර්ගත බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ පවසනවා.

කොළඹ අද පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ඉන්දික අනුරුද්ධ මේ බව කියා සිටියා.

එම අවස්ථාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී පියල් නිශාන්ත ද එක්වුණා.

මේ අතර, දෙමළ සමාජ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පක්ෂයේ ජාතික සංවිධායක, උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළාත් හිටපු ප්‍රධාන අමාත්‍ය වර්ධරාජා පෙරුමාල් ඇතුළු එම පක්ෂයේ නියෝජිතයන් පිරිසක් සහ විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ අතර හමුවක් ඊයේ කොළඹදී සිදුවුණා.

ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂගේ ජයග්‍රහණය වෙනුවෙන් තම පක්ෂය කටයුතු කරන බවයි එහිදී වර්ධරාජා පෙරුමාල් ප්‍රකාශ කළේ.

එමෙන්ම, මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරක කටයුතුවලට යුධ ජයග්‍රහණය යොදා ගැනීම තහනම් කිරීමට මැතිවරණ කොමිසමේ සභාපතිවරයා නියෝග කළේ කුමන නීතියක කවර ප්‍රතිපාදනයක් යටතේ ද යන්න තමන් නොදන්නා බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන අද කොළඹ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී සඳහන් කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

පැහැදිලි ආර්ථික සැලස්මක් සමග සෘජු නායකත්වයක් යටතේ 2015 සිට නැවතුනු සංවර්ධනය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාමට කටයුතු කරන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව සදහන් කළේ් රඹුක්කන අද පැවති ජනරැලියට එක්වෙමින්.

මේ අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ කැගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික් බල මණ්ඩල රැස්විමට අද ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ එක් වුණා.

එම රැස්වීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන රංජිත් සියඹලාපිටිය සහ මහින්දානන්ද අලූත්ගමගේ  ද එක්ව සිටියා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණ අපේක්ෂකයින් සමග ගිවිසුම් ගත වීමේ අරමුණින් දෙමළ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ 5ක් එක්ව ඉදිරිපත් කල ඒකීය රාජ්‍ය සංකල්පය ඉවත් කිරීම ඇතුලු ඉල්ලීම් 13ක යෝජනාවලිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදත් මහා සංඝරත්නය ඇතුළු විවිධ පාර්ශ්ව අදහස් පළ කලා.

මේ අතර උහන ප්‍රාදේශීය සභාවේ පක්ෂ විපක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් මෙම යෝජනාවලියට විරෝධය පළ කරමින් එය ගිනි තබා විනාශ කළා.

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.

Clearing my RV at Baltimore Docks reminded me of my Marketing Departments days in 1955 when we worked from sheds and temporarily built structures. Today our plan to bring down the Cost of Living needs brand new shops to house the Coop and CWE Outlets.

 I was told that I could clear my RV at the Mid Atlantic Terminal (the Docks) on Broening Highway and when I phoned in I was told that I had to get an Escort to the Docks and the escort was to be met at another office at Broening Highway. When I went to that number by taxi, we found a lone jeep with two cars. There was no building. An officer working in the jeep hailed us and she checked my papers. Finding them in order she said that I had to pay $ 40.00 for the escort and told me to go in one car with the driver as my escort. Other lorries came in and the lady officer in the jeep barked out orders to them. This was Homeland Security at work. Had it been in Sri Lanka today a building would have to be put up for the officers to work. Not so in 1955 when we in the Marketing Department worked out of wooden sheds. Wilfred Saparamadu the Assistant Commissioner at Kandy worked in a wooden shed and so was my office at Ratnapura. The work was all-important; we did not care about the accommodation.

 At the Baltimore Docks, I had to carry my release papers- the Delivery Order from the Customs Authorities to three offices and all three offices were in very old buildings, partly rusted because of the proximity to the sea. The officers sat in old chairs and old desks- just like the old unkempt furniture out of which we officers worked in the Marketing Department. The officers were very careful in checking my papers but what was prominent was that they were not working from offices that were streamlined like the Highways Buildings and the Agricultural Complexes at the various Payas at Battaramulla. There one would find the furniture all imported and even the partitions made of imported chipboard and plasterboard.

 Back in the Marketing Department, our aim was to buy from the producer and most of the purchases were done at the back of our lorry parked in a corner of the Producer’s fairs, where all the officers had to be on their feet for hours on end without a chair to sit on. We had a board displaying our purchasing prices and had to buy everything that was bought by the producers. At times Saranasiri or Clarence Delwala the assistants would hog around junctions where the producers were due to bring their produce. It reminded me of the improvised office of the lady officer working from the jeep.

 In the Marketing Department, the cost of living was kept down by selling to produce cheaply. There were at least fifty retail shops established in small buildings that were rented out which housed an officer and the vegetables, sugar, dhall and other essential items that were needed as essential food items. There were a large number of small vans running around replacing stocks that were sold and the Triploi Market, the hub of the system of which I was in charge was a hive of activity taking in calls every minute and ordering officers to take things to replenish stocks.

 I am not writing about any fantasy. That was the way we worked and worked fast to combat the cost of living.

 What is happening today is that there is no Marketing Department to buy the produce at the Fairs; So the traders in a gang work in collusion to get the producers to sell at cheap rates. The traders keep a hundred percent as their profit- transport the goods to Colombo and sell them at a high price. The tomatoes cannot fetch Rs. 30.00 a pound is retailed at Rs. 80.00 or more in Colombo. The Marketing Department purchased the tomatoes at over Rs. 30.00 giving the producer a fair price and sold to the consumer in Colombo at around Rs 40.00 a pound. We kept around ten to fifteen percent to cover handling and transport costs. Thus, in fact, the Marketing Department reduced the profits that the traders make today. In the process, the producer got a fair price and the consumers too got goods at a cheap price.

The full economics of this system is available in my Paper published in the Lanka Web: The Proven Sri Lankan Solution to the spiraling Cost of Living- the malady of UNP policies.(Monday, March 29th, 2010)

We have to act fast to reduce increases in the cost of living and this need not await the building of offices and sales outlets. Today instead of controlling inflation we are increasing the salaries. That will be a never-ending task. The Marketing Department mechanism has to be established at least as a cooperative enterprise to help both the producer as well as the consumer. Buildings should be improvised and established quickly like in the 1950 days of the Marketing Department or in the manner that Homeland Security works at the Baltimore Docks in the USA today.

 Garvin Karunaratne
Former Government Agent,
First written at  Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 19 th June 2010

Edited today 16/10/2019

M. Ravi Hewa

My dear Green Man,

I thought I must write to you, now that you are free from the burden of campaigning and being a candidate.

That must be a big change for you as you have been at the forefront of all the Green campaigns for the past twenty-five years, even if most of them were not very successful.

It would be interesting if you could let us know what prompted you to finally pass the baton on to young Sajith. After all, right until the last minute, you still wanted to contest and the chances are that if you put the decision to just the Green Working Committee, they would have endorsed you anyway.

Was it the possibility that even the Working Committee might have dumped you and opted for Sajith,

though it consists of people hand-picked by you? You do realize that people who you had helped in the Green party – like Mangala and Malik, for example – have switched loyalties to Sajith, don’t you?

Or, is it a feeling that Sajith may not make it in the end? We know you are quite clever at passing the buck when it suits you which is why you gave the then General the chance nine years ago and then chose Aiyo Sirisena to run the race four years ago, although that didn’t work out as planned.

Green Man, it was interesting to hear all those who backed you and worked against Sajith- those like Bond Ravi and the revengeful Akila- get on stage at Galle Face the other day and sing his praises. I hope they mean what they say and they are not secretly hoping that Sajith would lose the race.

If there is one man who shouldn’t complain about Sajith being given a chance, that is you, Green Man. You have had more than your fair share of chances in the past twenty-five years and in that decisive period for our country, you were unable to get the Greens to govern on their own even once.

You inherited a party that was ruling with a five-sixths majority from your uncle. Even when Sajith’s father died, the Greens were still strong although a little unpopular. Under your watch, however, you allowed first Satellite and then Mahinda maama to steal your stalwarts and gradually gain control.

You may have been unlucky every now and then – such as when Prabha ordered a boycott of the big election the first time Mahinda maama ran for office – but it is also true that whenever you had the chance, you didn’t make the most of it, allowingthe Blues to steal power away from the Greens.

Make no mistake, Green Man, the worst period under your leadership was the past four years when AiyoSirisena ran riot, behavingas if he was looking after a Grama Niladhari division instead of a country. You must take part of the blame for that because it was you who put him in that position.

That was not all. You also allowed those who were accused of corruption on a massive scale to go scot-free, without inquiring into their activities efficiently. Now, they are going around the country saying they have done nothing wrong, simply because you haven’t proved anything against them.

Adding insult to injury was the bond scam in the big bank a few months after you took over, hiring your Singaporean friend as the bank’s Governor. Bond Ravi is still an important person in the Green camp, so you can’t accuse others of corruption now. You have also lost your ‘Mr. Clean’ label.

There was a brief glimmer of hope for you when AiyoSirisena lost his marbles on the night in October last year, sacked you and appointed Mahinda maama as PM. People rallied against that move because it was undemocratic but you misinterpreted that, believing it was a massive vote of confidence in you.

Some people are still saying that regardless of who wins the big race in November, you will be PM because Parliament cannot be dissolved until next year. I hope you are not naïve enough to believe that. Whoever wins, MPs will ‘jump’ to the winning side and you might soon be out of a job!

Green Man, this week we heard you say that you, Sampanthan seeya and Mahinda maama are still in politics because there is no retirement age. You entered Parliament at the age of twenty-eight and have been there ever since so why are you saying this now? Ah, wisdom comes late to some people!

Despite those forty-two years in Parliament you have always been second best and never had the top job. Now that you have passed the baton to Sajith, the baby elephant, I hope you won’t try to take it back, regardless of what happens in November. That is the best you can do for the Greens.

Just as your uncle allowed Sajith’s father to prosper, and just as we saw you guiding Sajith’s mother at the convention the other day, we hope you will guide him too. If you really want to help him, you could also ask Maithree to give a few tips to Sajith’s better half about what to do and what not to do!

Yours truly, Punchi Putha

PS- The results at Elpitiya don’t look good for the ali petiya or baby elephant, but a lot can happen in the next thirty-five days. Also, as our cricketers showed us three times last week, sometimes the most unexpected things happen when those who have been sidelined are at last given a chance!

M. Ravi Hewa.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

LAND GRAB IN RAMSAR SITE

A request has been made to release five acres of land from the Vankalei sanctuary, on the left side of Mannar Bridge, for the construction of a park. The request was made by the Project management unit of the Taskforce on the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).  It is Rishard Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Development, Vocational Training & Skills Development, who is keen on getting the five-acre plot,  said the media.

The proposed land belongs to the Department of Wildlife and is part of the Vankalei sanctuary designated in 2008 for the protection of birds. It is a Ramsar site. Ramsar Convention on Wetland protects wetlands that serve as critical habitats for migratory birds. Sri Lanka presently has six sites designated as Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance.

The purpose of declaring a sanctuary is to limit human activities in the area. Therefore the proposed park contradicts this.  An increase in human activities can disturb birds’ behavior and alter the natural environment. The resulting noise pollution, air pollution, and water pollution could degrade the environment.  Proposed night activities might also enhance adverse effects.

Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (Amendment) Act of 49 of 1993 says any development activity within one mile from the boundary of any national reserve is required to be subjected to Environmental Impact Assessment or Initial Environmental Examination and written approval must be obtained from the Director-General, Department of Wildlife Conservation prior to project implementation. Centre for Environmental Justice has urged the Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife and Christian Affairs to refrain from releasing the said land for a park. (Island 17.9.19 p 1). 

COUGH SYRUP

Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE)   found that in 2016 an imported cough syrup” which should have been tested on animals before release to the market has, instead, been tested on a group of patients who had sought medical treatment from the Ayurvedic Teaching Hospital, Colombo. 

A private company had supplied the cough syrup to the Institute of Indigenous Medicine. The cough syrup should have been tested at several stages before being released to the market and approval obtained from the Ethics Committee. A professor representing the Ethics Committee had been working as a director of the private company that supplied the cough syrup to the Institute. The cough syrup was tested, in 2016, on patients who sought treatment at the Ayurvedic Teaching Hospital, Borella. Advertisements and promotional campaigns had been conducted to promote the syrup, stating that it had been clinically approved by the Institute.

Director of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine admitted when questioned by COPE that this had indeed happened and that a committee was appointed to look into the matter. COPE then ordered a Ministry investigation in parallel with the Institute’s committee inquiry.

IMPORTING WASTE (1)

Several thousand tonnes of plastic waste (HS number 3915) had been cleared through the Customs during the past two years, said Gomi Senadhira, former Head of trade. He was not referring to the ‘stinking garbage containers rotting in the port’ but to the thousand tonnes of plastic waste (HS number 3915) which were imported and cleared through Customs during the last two years. Sri Lanka imported over 5000 tonnes per year of plastic waste from Pakistan, during the last two years, he said. Exact numbers were 5,914 tonnes in 2017 and 5,082 tonnes in 2018.

Importing plastic waste will drastically increase during the next few years, Senadhira said. China was the world’s largest importer of plastic waste. That accounted for almost 50% of the global imports or over 500,000 tonnes per month. In July 2017, China notified the WTO that she would forbid the import of plastics waste. India and Thailand have also announced bans on the import of plastic waste. Malaysia has tightened requirements for import permits, continued Senadhira. Plastic waste now has nowhere to go. The exporters are searching for new dumping grounds.

In 2016, Singapore exported almost 42,000 tonnes of plastic waste to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. With the Chinese ban looming, Singapore was looking for dumping grounds. It was at this time that SLSFTA was signed. Senadhira Thinkswe have agreed to import waste in the Singapore FTA.

“When I raised my concerns, I also pointed out there were many provisions in the SLSFTA to import and process plastic and other hazardous waste from Singapore. Those were simply shrugged off by the politicians and the trade officials, said Senadhira. They claimed that Sri Lanka had included those items in the FTA with Pakistan but there were adequate safeguards to stop such importation of waste & garbage to Sri Lanka. However, plastic waste was already coming in from Pakistan.

IMPORTING WASTE (2)

The proposal to have three waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in Karadiyana, Muthurajawela and Aruwakkalu, a sanitary landfill in Aruwakkalu  and an industrial incinerator in Muthurajawela cannot be seen as isolated proposals. Sri Lanka does not produce that much of burnable waste to use in that many WTE plants.  These WTE plants need at least 4000 Mt/day, but we produce less than 500 Mt/day burnable waste in Sri Lanka. These plants are probably made ready to burn global waste.

IMPORTING WASTE (3)

Five more of the 111 mystery containers from the United Kingdom lying at the Colombo Port have been found to have hazardous waste. Colombo Metal Industries and ITL Colombo Limited had used their licences to import hazardous waste. Director, Customs said that they wanted to send the containers to the UK and were waiting for the verdict of the Court of Appeal.

STORING RICE AT MATTALA AIRPORT

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating alleged corruption in the current administration (PCoI) has summoned Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to appear before it, to be questioned on the decision to store paddy at the Mattala Airport in 2015. This was because the former head of the Paddy Marketing Board Dissanayake told the Commission that the Prime Minister personally instructed him to store paddy at the Mattala Airport.

Dissanayake added that Minister Daya Gamage called me frequently. He told me that they had promised to store paddy at the Mattala Airport and that the Cabinet had approved a decision to store 4,000 metric tons there.” Charitha Ratwatte, senior advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also played a role in this initiative.

Dissanayake said that he had held a series of meetings with the officials of the Mattala Airport in 2015 to explore the possibility of storing paddy there during the next harvesting season as there wasn’t sufficient space in PMB’s stores. Mattala Airport officials turned down the request saying that the buildings around the runway contained valuable equipment. However Dissanayake had rented the Mattala premises for six months but rent initially for three months only. Mattala Airport officials were not aware of the decision to store paddy at the Airport until we went and took over the keys to the buildings, he said.

Manager of the Mattala Airport told the Commission that around 23 aircraft had landed at the airport after the opening of the airport. But the Yahapalana government put rice stores into the airport and planes stopped coming. Mattala was getting around Rs 40,000 as income and this fell to Rs 900 thereafter.

They also said that the world’s largest cargo aircraft, the Antonio An-225 Mriya, had landed at Mattala Airport on April 2018, to refuel and allow its crew to rest. This brought in revenue of nearly Rs. 15 million to the airport. Police officers assigned to the Commission had visited Mattala Airport and inspected the premises. They found that storing paddy inside the buildings had caused damage estimated at around Rs. 5 million.

FLAMINGO DUTY-FREE SHOP

Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating corruption in the current administration was told that Four shops in departure and arrival sections of the Bandaranaike International Airport had been vacant. We needed two operators to handle them, said Director Procurement, Civil Aviation Ministry. A Cabinet paper was submitted to select a suitable service provider who deals with liquor, cigarettes, toiletries, and fragrances.

We received five bids. We then appointed a five-member TEC to check tender documents. One of the main criteria set by the TEC was that the particular company had to submit its certificate of liability with tender documents. Flamingo Duty-Free Company did not submit this certificate. However, TEC had approved the tender document submitted by Flamingo Duty-Free Company without their certificate of liability. All the bids were submitted to the Cabinet appointed Procurement Committee and Flamingo was selected.

PAYMENT TO LIVERPOOL NAVIGATION”

Former Chairman of Lanka Sathosa, Kiran Atapattu, told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI), investigating alleged corruption in the current administration, that Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and his public relations officer, Abdullah had applied pressure on him to make an illegal payment of Rs. 549 million to Liverpool Navigation (Pvt.) Ltd in July 2015. The owner of Liverpool Navigation is a close personal friend of Bathiudeen, (Island3.10.19 p 1) 

A large quantity of rice was imported, in April 2015, and they were brought to Sri Lanka in over 1,600 containers. “The shipment arrived, on April 10 and due to Sinhala New year delay, the shipping companies demanded demurrage––a charge payable to the owner of a chartered ship on failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed,” We have to pay demurrage to shipping companies and the payments were prepared.

 However, on July 27, 2015, Liverpool Navigation (Pvt.) Ltd, who had acted as a clearing agent, also sent Atapattu a bill for Rs. 549 million, which they had no right to do. I rejected Liverpool Navigation’s request.  Minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s public relations officer, Abdullah and the Minister himself had pressured him to pay. Atapattu had refused.

He had fallen ill. During his absence, the Ministry Secretary was appointed the Chairman of Lanka Sathosa. On August 08, 2015 Miyanwala approved a payment of Rs. 100 million to Liverpool as demurrage for shipping companies. ( Island3.10.19 p 1 )  on March 05, 2018 the legal officer of Lanka Sathosa had sent a letter of demand to Liverpool saying that in 2015 alone they had paid the company Rs. 1.2 billion. However, Liverpool had only settled bills amounting to Rs. 981 million. “The legal officer asked Liverpool about the balance Rs. 267 million.” (Island 3.10.19 p 1) (Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

APPOINTMENTS (1)

A top official suspended for misappropriations of Rs 203,000,000 at Inland Revenue Department by manipulating eight files had been reinstated on a directive of Public Service Commission, reported the media. COPE was investigating this.

APPOINTMENTS (2)

The Home affairs Ministry had selected 103 Grama Niladharis who had passed the exam for promotion to super grade in Aug 2017, and were promoted in 2018  but  the promotions have so far not been effected, media reported in August  2019.

STATE VEHICLES (1)

Weerawansa observed in May 2016 that Cabinet had approved Rs 600 million to import a bullet proof vehicle for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe but only allocated Rs 150 million for disaster relief.

STATE VEHICLES (2)

The media wanted to know in June 2018 why lawmakers continued to receive massive duty free concessions to import super luxury vehicles at a time vast majority of people were struggling to make ends meet.

STATE VEHICLES (3)

Yahapalana government submitted a supplementary estimate, in October 2019, seeking parliamentary approval for 21.4 billion rupees including Rs 101,000,000 for the payment of the luxury tax on two security vehicles imported for President Sirisena. JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake asked the government to explain why two more security vehicles had been acquired for the President when a presidential election had been announced.

SRI LANKAN AIRWAYS

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government was planning to buy four and rent five planes but Yahapalana cancelled that arrangement and paid USD 98 million to those companies as termination fee, said Derana news of 18.7.18

DEFORESTATION

Deforestation has continued during Yahapalana rule. Derana news of 21.2.17 showed deforestation going on in protected forests.

 Large swathes of Ritigala nature reserve have been destroyed,  cut and burned supported by a influential politicians supported by government officers and officers of the Forest Department , reported the media in September 2018. This has been going on for the past 100 days. The forestry office nearby by had been shut down and officers had left the area, the media said.

SALAWA EXPLOSION

When the Salawa army camp’s armoury at Kosgama exploded in June 2016, Mahinda Rajapaksa said that in during his time these installations were guarded day and night checked at least twice a day and expired ordnance is regularly destroyed. There are precautions also for accidents such as electricity leaks. The central armory was at Salawa since 1990 despite protests. During the war we took special precautions to ensure the security of this installation, and the items were in the process of being relocated.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that the explosion was due to a failure to take necessary security measures. Gotabhaya said he had increased security measures at Salawa. He had moved some of the heavy weapons and their ammunition to Diyatalawa and Maduru oya camps. He decided to build two armories at Oyamaduwa in Anuradhapura and Palugaswewa in Rambewa. Both were old farms belonging to the Livestock Department. While we were doing the preliminary work we lost the election.” The   Yahapalana government did not carry out the plan. If they had done so, both Kosgama and Veyangoda armories could have been shut down many months ago.

COW ELEPHANTS

A wildlife conservation alarm has been raised with Wildlife officials suspecting a possible human hand in the deaths of up to seven cow elephants, found dead in succession over the past week in the Habarana forests. This is the location of a herd which is a popular tourist attraction. Three dead female elephants have been found in the Thunbikulam reserve in Habarana. Four dead elephants were found   the day before in the same reserve. Another dead elephant was discovered the day after. Two dead female elephants were found in the reservoir. The officials said they believed all the animals were from a single herd, and they were females with their ages ranging between 25 and 35 years.

All the dead elephants are females that had either been pregnant or had delivered calves. Poisoning is suspected as a possible cause. Local people reject speculation that the villagers are to blame for the elephant deaths. Meanwhile, the body of a tusker had been found in Moragahawewa in Puttalam. The animal, around 7 feet tall and 15 years old, Veterinarian said he believed it had had died of poisoning. One of the tusks had been removed.

REPLACING PLAQUE

A Kalutara District official of the National Housing Development Authority told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating corruption in the current administration that they were instructed by HQ that the plaque at Navodya Village, Bulathsinhala should be replaced by a larger one. The original plaque had cost around Rs. 43 000 and the subsequent one over Rs. 227 000. (Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

This essay contains snippets of information on Mangala Samaraweera and Ranil Wickremesinghe, taken from the media.

MANGALA SAMARAWEERA

Journalists based in Washington and New York have noted that, from the time Mangala Samaraweera assumed office as Foreign affairs minister,  he has taken upon himself to denigrate the previous leadership of the country before his Western counterparts, sometimes embellished with unsubstantiated tall yarns, perhaps in the naive and forlorn belief that his popularity among them would be enhanced. (One recalls his tales of the Rajapaksas siphoning off $50 billion to foreign tax havens or Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign being funded by the Chinese).

It is doubtful if this goal has been achieved as Western diplomacy itself is based on the continuity of a country’s interests. Badmouthing a previous leadership which could return to power at some point, with foreign counterparts, is certainly not cricket” and not in the country’s best interests.

Minister Samaraweera was in Los Angeles after attending the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. About 200 residents from Southern California were present at the September 25 event, 2016, which was the first featuring a visiting government dignitary organized by Mrs. Gunaratne who took office earlier this year,  reported Lankaweb.  Notably absent were Buddhist monks from the local Sri Lankan temples.

Minister Samaraweera, dressed in open shirt while the invitation called for formal attire, said he was surprised at the large turnout, quipping that as he walked in to the meeting he thought for a moment he was in Matara (his hometown). 

In contrast to other Sri Lankan leaders who from time to time have addressed the expatriate community here, Mr. Samaraweera, speaking for about 20 minutes, solely in English, did not have one good thing to say about Sri Lanka from independence to present.  None of the warm nostalgia for the homeland usually evoked by leaders from all sides of the political divide.

Quoting extensively from the late Lee Kuan Yew, founder and prime minister of Singapore, he painted a grim picture of a country that couldn’t evolve,” a nation, contrary to the promise shown when it became independent, is still struggling to move forward.”

When Ceylon gained independence in 1948, it was the classic model of gradual evolution to independence. Alas it did not work out.  It is sad that the country whose ancient name Serendip has given the English language the word serendipity” is now the epitome of conflict, pain, sorrow and hopelessness,” he quoted the late Singaporean leader as saying.

Now, after sliding for almost 70 years, Sri Lanka has finally caught a break according to the Minister.  There’s hope in the horizon with a new vision for democratization and development” being pursued by his government which came to power in 2015. All the countries are coming forward to help us,” he declared. Emphasizing that the island will be a strategic military hub in the Indian Ocean and a gateway to Asia (Source https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/07/28/the-foreign-minister-samaraweera-must-go).

Elsewhere, Samaraweera, touching on Sri Lanka’s economic future, said the government will take measures to make it easier for foreign investors to do business in the island as well as for foreign nationals to buy land. In pursuit of promoting reconciliation, there was a new political trajectory” aimed at breaking down walls and building bridges” and putting away past baggage.”Reconciliation was key to coming to terms with the tragedies of the past” which was why, he said, the government felt it important to show the world” its commitment by cosponsoring the Geneva Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1. ( Source https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/10/05/fm-mangala-samaraweera-in-l-a-says-no-separation-but-leaves-door-open-to-federalism/)

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (1)

Ranil Wickremasinghe should retire, he will definitely lose the presidential elections if he comes, said Derana news of 10.6.18.

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (2)

It may be recalled that the PM on several occasions, both within and outside the Parliament, made attempts to cover up Mahendran’s misdeeds, said a critic. He first appointed a committee of three attorneys handpicked up by him to report on the issue, who exonerated Mahendran fully. When the COPE report on the bond issue was submitted to Parliament, before the report was taken up for debate, it was conveniently dissolved. Further, the PM defended Mahendran at every opportunity he got. Covering up a misdeed is equally an offence as doing the misdeed itself.

With all the damage done to the country and to its economy by Mahendran, the PM should not be allowed to go scot free for handing over the Central Bank to Mahendran, particularly when there was opposition at the Cabinet, as if the Bank was his inherited property, this critic continued. Though the Commission has not held the PM responsible explicitly for Mahendran’s misdeeds, the PM has no option other than to tender his resignation if he has even an iota of self-respect,  the critic concluded.

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (3)

Probably the most noteworthy contribution ever made by Ranil Wickremesinghe  in support of the Rule of Law was his unswerving refusal to vacate Temple Trees during the 50-60 days that the unconstitutional regime of MR was imposed on the country. Given the revoltingly crude manner in which Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and General Sarath Fonseka had been treated by  Rajapaksa’s  regime, there was genuine public concern that a similar fate might befall Ranil Wickremesinghe .

However, in an unprecedented show of public support, a determined contingent of civic activists took significant risks, made personal sacrifices and gave very generously of their time to protect Ranil Wickremesinghe  and thereby safeguard the existing Constitution. The highly impressive, steadfast and absolutely vital part played by RW in protecting the Constitution during this fearful period is something for which all citizens of this country should be eternally grateful, said A.C.Visvalingam.

On the other hand analysts pointed out that Ranil Wickremesinghe was reappointed to the post of Prime Minister December 16, 2018. Which meant that  Rajapakasa’s appointment as Prime Minister was legal, and the  occupation of Temple Trees by the UNP was illegal.

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (4)

Senior Journalist and former UN official Mohan Samaranayake said that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was the only winner who wanted to promote imperialism and danced to the tune of Western powers. Citing examples, he said that PM Wickremesinghe was the only leader in the developing world who justified the US invasion of Iraq. (Island 28.6.19 p 2)

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (5)

This is how Prime Minister Wickremesinghe comes across in the account of an expert British analyst. Prof Paul Moorcraft is a former senior instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College.

 He writes:”…On 20th December 2001 a Special Forces team was in place in the Vanni jungle. For once it knew for certain where the elusive Tiger leader was. The assassination team was due to strike on Christmas Eve. The team leaders were just ready to press the start button when they were countermanded, despite fierce intelligence arguments that Prabhakaran’s death would end the war…The Special Forces operatives were stood down temporarily in a safe house in Colombo. In one of the biggest intelligence own goals of the war, the house was raided by Special Branch police from Kandy. The highly secret operation was exposed. It was not a case of overzealous detectives…The heads of military and national intelligence were overridden when the police arrested the operatives and jailed them in Kandy. They were released after two weeks and, as a scapegoat, a middle-ranking police officer was suspended, temporarily. It didn’t end there: the intelligence leadership was accused of using the safe house as a base to assassinate the Prime Minister. Once again, the Tiger leader was unscathed.”(Paul Moorcraft, ‘Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers: The Rare Victory of Sri Lanka’s Long War’, Pen & Sword Military, UK, 2012, pp. 38-39.)I

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE (6)

The Dayaka Sabha of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara passed a resolution to remove its Chairman Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from that post. The resolution was moved by a member of the Kelaniya Seela Bhavana Samitiya and seconded by Co-Secretary of the Dayaka Sabha.

Chief Incumbent of the temple Ven. Prof. Kollupitiye Mahinda inquired from the Sabha whether there was anyone supportive of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, and seven members of the Sabha raised their hands in support of the PM. There had been around 300 members of the Sabha present. Chief Incumbent then announced that the matter would be referred to the Executive Committee of the Sabha for a final decision.

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE ( 7)

The Sri Lanka joint study group for  CEPA  set up by Ranil Wickremesinghe  in 2003 included  18  persons. Among them were Ken Balendra as  Co chairman of joint study group, Arjuna Mahendran, Chairman BOI, R. Paskaralingam, advisor to Prime Minister ,N.Pathmanathan, Chairman of Rehabilitation of Persons, Properties and Industries Authority, Mano Selvanathan, Chairman Korea  Lanka garments, K. Shanmugalingam, Chairman, Tariff advisory Council,  and R Selvaratnam, Chairman EDB. Several who were in the CEPA committee Such as Mahendra, Paskaralingam are also in the ECTA committee, added Chandraprema. 

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE ( 8)

Suave, comfortable in a European life style, fluent in the only European language he knows, English, neo liberal in thinking, and from an elite background, Ranil Wickremesinghe  is fondly addressed as Ranil” by the European diplomats and the dominant Western media representatives. He moves in Western circles with ease and is the darling of the mainly Western funded NGOs. Ranil enjoys an easy relationship with the Occident, having cultivated individuals and institutions there over the years, said analysts.  

 He  is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society. The Mont Pelerin Society is a society dedicated to dismantling the welfare state. The USA  liked him and wanted him to be President of Sri Lanka .he was nominated for the Presidential election of 1999 . He lost, continued critics.

Politicians sometimes make fun of Ranil Wickremesinghe . When Ranil  went to Singapore, they wanted him to bring Arjuna Mahendran back with him. They criticize him heavily too. Corruption charges against  Mahinda Rajapaksa are not proven but corruption charges against Ranil Wickremasinghe are, said one critic. Wickremesinghe and his group of closest friends conducted themselves as if shaping the future of the country was a fun game they played, said  President Sirisena angrily.  ( Continued)

Media secretary to Hon. Mini. Arjuna Ranatunga,

ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය සිවිල් ගුවන් ක්ෂේත්‍රයට නව පරිච්ඡේදයක් එක් කරමින්  යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපොළ විවෘත කිරීම හෙට සිදු කෙරේ. ඒ් හෙට උදෑසන නවයට ආරම්භ වන රාජ්‍ය උත්සවයේදී ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මැතිතුමාගේ සුරතිනි. අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මැතිතුමා,  ප්‍රවාහන සහ සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අමාත්‍ය අර්ජුන රණතුංග මහතා,  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් තරංජිත් සිං සන්ධු මහතා ඇතුළුව සම්භාවනීය අමුත්තන් රැසක් එම අවස්ථාවට එක් වේ. එම රාජ්‍ය උත්සවයේ සූදානම පිරික්සීමට අද (16) යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපොළට ගිය අමාත්‍ය අර්ජුන රණතුංග මැතිතුමා පැවසුවේ යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපොළ උතුරු පළාත මුල් කරගනිමින් සමස්ත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පමණක් නොව ඉන්දීය කලාපයේ ගුවන් ප්‍ර‍වාහනයේ අනගි අවස්ථාවක් වනු ඇති බවයි.

”මේ අපේ රටේ ඉතාමත් වැදගත් දවසක්. ඇත්තටම ගුවන්‌ තොටුපොළක් කියන්නේ ගුවන් ගමන් විතරක් නෙමෙයි. ගුවන් තොටුපොළත් සමග විශාල සංවර්ධනයක් ඇති වෙනවා. රැකියා විශාල වශයෙන් ‍උත්පාදනය වනවා.  ඒ් වගේම අපි දන්නවා උතුරේ ජනතාවගේ ඥාතින් විශාල පිරිසක් ඉන්නේ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ. මින් ඉදිරියට උතුරේ ජනතාවට කොළඹ කටුනායකට නොගොස්  යාපනයේ සිටම දකුණු ඉන්දියාවට යන්න පුළුවන්. මූලික සැලසුම්වලදි අපි ඇත්තටම අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වුණේ  සතියකට ගුවන් වාර 03 ක් විතර. නමුත් දැන්  අපි ඉන්දියාවත් එක්ක සාකච්ඡා කළ අවස්ථාවේ  නගර කිහිපයක් ඉලක්ක කර දවසකට එකක් වගේ ගුවන් ගමන් වාරයක් අරඹන්න අපේක්ෂා කරනවා.  අපි බලාපොරත්තු වෙනවා ඒ ගැන  නොවැම්බර් වන විට අවසාන තීරණය ගන්න. ඒ වගේම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට 50% ක අයිතිවාසිකම් තියෙන අයෝජකයෙක් ආවොත් අනිවාර්යෙන්ම ඒ් ඒගොල්ලන්ටත් පුළුවන් දකුණු ඉන්දියාව, මාලදිවයින, මැලේසියාව වැනි රටවලලට ගුවන් ගමන් මෙතැනින් යන්න….” යිද අමාත්‍ය අර්ජුන රණතුංග මහතා පැවසිය.

යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපොළට හෙට  පැමිණෙන මුල්ම ගුවන් යානය පැමිණෙන්නේ ඉන්දියාවේ චෙන්නායි  සිට වේ. ඒ් Alliance ගුවන් යානයකි. මංගල දූත කණ්ඩායම තිස්  දෙනකුගෙන් සමන්විත වේ. හෙට විවෘත කෙරෙන යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන් තොටුපොළේ දෛනික ගුවන් මෙහෙයුම් නොවැම්බර් මාසයේ සිට ආරම්භ වෙයි. යාපනය පලාලි ගුවන් තොටුපළ සංවර්ධනයට දැනට ආයෝජනය කෙරෙන මුදල රුපියල් මිලියන 2 250ක් වේ. ඒ සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 1,950ක් සහ ඉන්දීය ආධාර රුපියල් මිලියන 300ක් වශයෙන් යොදවයි. ප්‍ර‍වාහන සහ සිවිල් ගුවන්සේවා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අතිරේක ලේකම් සුනිල් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසන්නේ අදියර තුනක් යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙන මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතියේ පළමු අදියරේදී දැනටමත් ගුවන් යානා මෙහෙයුම් කටයුතු සඳහා භාවිතයට ගැනෙන ප්‍රධාන ධාවන පථයෙහි මුල් මීටර් 950 අලුතින් ආස්ථරණය කළ  බවයි. ඒ සමඟම ආසන 72ට අඩු Bombardier – 100 වර්ගයේ ගුවන් යානා පලාලි ගුවන්පොළෙහි හැසිරවීමේ අවස්ථාව උදා වේ. ඡයාරුප සහ දර්ශන අමුණා ඇත.

BODHI DHANAPALA

News reports (e.g., Island 12-Oct-2019) tell us how the Malaysian anti-terrorist unit is handling nascent neo-LTTE groups when it arrested seven operatives including two members of parliament (Lawmakers).

Malaysian newspapers have reported the arrests of seven LTTE operatives in Malaysia. Two Malaysian Tamil lawmakers are among the seven arrested. Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-terrorism Division (E8) principal assistant director, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay says:

“To the police, it does not matter who the individual is. Anyone found to be involved in terrorist activities, regardless of their political party, religion, race, if there is evidence that they are involved in terrorist activities, we will arrest them.”

Two of the people arrested were those who had attacked the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in 2016 at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Others had pro-LTTE material, or attempted to organize “Hero’s Day to commemorate Prabhakaran”.

Mr.R. Sampanthan, and also Mr. C. V. Wigneswarn since 2013, and many other TNA lawmakers had made statements eulogizing Prabhakaran and pushed the Ideology of the late terrorist leader. Heroes’ Day celebrations have been held repeatedly. Last year a UNP lawmaker stated that the LTTE had to be revived. Such statements would have landed these lawmakers in jail if they had been in Malaysia.

So we see how the law of this country is being applied, even in regard to an extremely serious offense, equivalent to propagating the ideology of Prabhakaran.

This breakdown in law seems to be a part of the rule of TNA in the North. But now, Mr. Sampanthan has raised the issue of the cremation of a Buddhist monk in an area contested by a Palliyar Kovil and a Buddhist Temple.

How can Mr. Sampanthan and other TNA leaders now come to Colombo and complain in Parliament that the law is not obeyed? If they themselves can break the law with impunity in promoting Prabhakaran’s ideology at every public meeting they hold, their complaints ring hollow. How can the lawyers of the Northern Province protest in unison when they keep mum about the breakdown in law tantamount to treason as seen by the people in the South? This is what the foreign-funded NGOs in Colombo claim to be “Sinhala-Buddhist” hegemony!

The heavy-handed “Bodu-Bala-Sena” of Ven. Gnanasara displays the very antithesis of the behavior expected of a Buddhist monk, who is expected to be calm, disciplined, always practicing compassion even to his enemies, and even under provocation. So the BBS is simply a political force.

According to an article in the Sunday Island by its political correspondent Chandraprema, the BBS is also an NGO with initial links to Champika Ranawaka and the West. It is alleged to be initially funded and supported by the Nordic “peacemakers” and the US. The US granted Gnanasara a five-year visa and invited him over to visit the US, after his visit to Norway. After his return to Sri Lanka, the BBS started its strong-arm tactics.

So, was the Palliyar Kovil-Temple incident staged to create anger and discord at the dawn of a presidential election? Is this a way of saying, this is what will happen under a “Sinhala-Buddhist dominated” Gotabaya government? Are the NGOs the TNA playing out the scripts allotted to them?

BODHI DHANAPALA

RANJITH SOYSA

It was indeed a source of hope and encouragement to hear the statement of Presidential candidate, Gotabaya Rajapakse that he intends to reject the UNHRC resolution co-sponsored by the Yahapalanay government in Oct 2015  which created a world record by sponsoring and adverse ruling on its own country.

The resolution was based on the Darusman report which was essentially mandated ONLY to appraise the Secretary-General of the UN. It was emphatically mentioned by UNSG’s then spokesperson as ‘ not a fact-finding mission, not, an investigation,, not an inquiry.,only a panel to advise the SG. The evidence of the OISL report was so weak that it failed to establish the primary claim that Sri Lanka had committed war crimes. Without questioning the scope of the UNHRC controlled by the UN charter and the resolution 60/25 of 2006 which created UNHRC, Yahapalnaya government opted slavishly to punish Sri Lanka and her armed forces in the hope of winning favours from the West and also to gain the support of the extremist Tamil political including the FNGOs.

We now await to hear the response of the other contenders to this critical issue

RANJITH SOYSA

ALI SUKHANVER

An article of Harsh Mander was published in the Hindu with the title ‘Lynching, the scourge of new India’ in the second week of last October. The writer says, In the years since Narendra Modi was elected in 2014, ugly mob hate has spilled onto the streets, trains and people’s homes. Fevered throngs surround, brutally assault and sometimes kill unarmed men, mostly Muslim. The crowds allege that the men had slaughtered cows, or were thieves; but sometimes their only crime — as when a child was stabbed to death on a crowded train near Delhi — is that they are visibly Muslim.” Before that somewhere in the last week of June 2019, a viral video did the rounds on social media in India. A young Muslim man tied up; bleeding profusely all over his body, hands folded, was being lynched by a mob and forced by the mob to chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman.’ The victim was later identified as 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari. The incident took place in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Reports say that he was beaten for hours until he died at the hands of a Hindu mob. Lynching is a term used for a punishment without trial. Instances of lynching and similar mob violence can be found in every society but their number is alarmingly high particularly in the Indian society.

An alarming increase in incidents of cow related violence and mob Lynching is being noted after Modi’s becoming Prime Minister, says a recent report. The Reuters also narrated the same situation. It said, A total of 63 cow vigilante attacks had occurred in India between 2010 and mid 2017, mostly since the Modi government came to power in 2014. These attacks which occurred during the period 2010 and June 2017, took lives of 28 Indians – 24 of them Muslims; more than 124 were injured”. The Muslims are not the only target of lynching; many times the Christians also become a victim to this brutality but usually all victims lynched are accused of cow-slaughtering. In April this year, Prakash Lakda, a 55-year-old member of a Christian tribe, was lynched by a mob of Hindu villagers who suspected him of slaughtering a cow in the central Indian state of Jharkhand. Three other tribals from his village were also attacked, leaving them grievously injured. Astonishingly no one from the Christian world raised any voice against this cruelty.

There has been a rise in the number of incidents of cow vigilantism since the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Indian central government in 2014.” says a report of the Human Rights Watch.  The report further said, The frequency and severity of cow vigilante violence has been described as unprecedented. There has been a surge in cow vigilante violence since 2015. The surge is attributed to the recent rise in Hindu nationalism in India.” In 2017, Bloomberg reported that according to the meat industry representatives, cow vigilantes have been stopping vehicles, extorting money and stealing valuable livestock. Cow vigilante activity also increased during the run up to 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. Reports say that 2016 had been the worst year with reference to the activities of cow protection vigilante groups. Only in Delhi, there were more than 200 such groups. Day by day, the incidents of mob-lynching are increasing in India and this situation is no doubt very much alarming. Even different political leaders are expressing their serious concerns over lynching-incidents. Last August, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said commenting on increasing number of lynching incidents that such incidents are not only defaming the country but also bringing a bad name to the Indian society. He further emphasized on an urgent need to control such incidents through an effective law-making. At the same time there are few extremists in the BJP government who shamelessly support and favour those involved in lynching incidents; one of such shameless leaders is Nishikant Dubey who is a BJP lawmaker from Jharkhand. Addressing a public meeting he had announced that he would pay for the legal expenses of four men in Jharkhand lynching case.

One of the most brutal and most cruel incidents of lynching is the Jharkhand Lynching incident. The case was registered with the local police somewhere in the mid of March 2016. Two Muslim cattle traders, 32 years old Mazlum Ansari and 12 years old Imtiaz Khan were cruelly lynched by a group of more than hundred Hindus. The police had found the hanging dead bodies of these two Muslims, next morning. Since then, the matter is in the court. Now Nishikant Dubey has jumped into the affair and has promised to provide all legal support to the convicted culprits. In such a situation where the ruling party’s members support the wicked ones; what kind of justice could be expected for the wretched ones. It is the worst form of human rights violation in India which the Muslims and the Christians and even the low-caste Hindus are facing continuously but unfortunately the world around has turned a deaf ear to it. It seems that the Hindu extremists are simply making things painful for the minorities because it is their philosophy that India is only for the Hindus.

Edited By: Natalia Jones Courtesy Baba Mail

The golden spice is one of the most potent natural ingredients out there, and the active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, has been shown to have antimicrobial and cancer-fighting properties, among many other health benefits. Unfortunately, several manufacturers have been adulterating the spice since the 1980s by adding lead chromate, a lead-based yellow dye that enhances the natural bright gold color of the spice, as reported in a recent article by Stanford researchers.Lead, a heavy metal, is a known neurotoxin that interferes with brain development, so it’s especially dangerous for children, but it also significantly contributes to brain, endocrine and heart disease in adults, which is why it has been banned from the food supply for decades.Despite the ban, high blood lead levels were consistently found in children and women in Bangladesh, creating a serious threat to public health. After years of trying to find the source of the lead poisoning, Stanford researchers managed to spot the culprit. The source of this mass lead poisoning was turmeric, a culinary staple in Bangladesh.

LikeThis prompted a new study, where the researchers tested a total of 524 samples from 9 of the major turmeric manufacturing districts across the country. The researchers used X-rays to scan the samples and locate traces of lead in those samples, and found lead cadmium in 7 out of the 9 districts. A ban of lead cadmium in the food industry in Bangladesh has existed since 1999, but it appears that the ban needs further and urgent enforcement.On a global scale, Bangladesh is the fifth largest exporter of turmeric in the world, producing an estimated 3% of turmeric powder in the world. This may seem like a small percentage, but Bangladesh isn’t the only country caught adding lead to turmeric in the past. In fact, a total of 15 manufacturers in India and Bangladesh have been refused certification by the FDA in the past few years due to lead-based dye use.Furthermore, many of the worst offenders found by the study discussed above had plans to export their products abroad. The authors of the article also pointed out that many potentially adulterated products may have flown under the radar of international regulatory authorities due to the lack of awareness about the possibility of lead contamination in the products. This is extremely alarming knowing that turmeric is a staple in cuisine worldwide and a common ingredient in ready-made foods and condiments, such as mustard and macaroni and cheese, for example.

LikeThe study prompted global awareness to the issue of lead contamination in turmeric and suggests conducting X-ray testing by the regulatory authorities before approving the import of turmeric into a certain country. As a consumer, the authors of the study point out, you should avoid low-cost and potentially-unregulated goods and get rid of old turmeric powder, if you have any, as these powders have a higher likelihood of containing lead.This is why it’s better to purchase turmeric in-store or from trusted websites and from a reliable mainstream brand. Also, it’s best to avoid turmeric that originated in Bangladesh for the time being, so look at the manufacturing label on the packaging before purchasing a new packet of turmeric. Finally, try to avoid low-cost spices you can buy in bulk, as these have a greater chance of being diluted or containing added dyes.

Professor Nishan Wijesinha

As an International Forensic Jurisprudence Professor, I had to wait until the time was correctly staged for me to expose the unseen hand that is causing stage dramas in Sri Lanka, which are brainwashing the people’s minds and making them fall into their subtle trappings.

The Western Superpowers Mainly, the USA, UK, Canada, Australia & New Zealand with their crafty and sharp political intelligence network, first crept into the minds of parents to abhor Sri Lankan Cultural based National education system and its local education and higher education publications; and clouded their attention to an internationally well manipulated commercialized system of education, through their political agents.

One could see through the success  of these trappings, when with escalating costs of living with no price controls on goods and services and scarcity of drinking water in almost every rural village, whereas in the political forum it is made up of pledging TABS to villages when scarcity runs out for TAPS.  

On the other hand the Sword of Damocles is Hanging on Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty.

At this junction it should also be pointed out that the aforementioned Western Superpowers together with the Tamil Diaspora through the currently governing political bodies have successfully destroyed local military intelligence, that prevailed during the war against the LTTE.

It was thus in their cunning agenda to see through that in no framework of time that the Sri Lanka’s military intelligence should ever come to know that Sri Lanka is blessed with the natural potency in its Northern Province within the Coastal Belt of Chundikkulam and Muthalaippalla Toduvay, the landmass passage which is shown in Fig.1 marked by a triangle, when once removed to a certain depth, that its cuts open to the sea; which enables Sri Lanka to have its first ever military and economy harvesting  Sri Lanka Sovereignty Amphibious Vehicle Strategic Fort”.

Fig.1

This is why they grabbed to their pockets the UNITED NATIONAL PARTY and gave them promise in the international forum, so that this military intelligence could completely be wiped-out from the vocabulary of Sri Lanka.

With this unveiling of secretive facts, I pray that the correct wisdom will prevail in Sri Lanka, in the forthcoming presidential elections.

Courtesy Business Today

South Asian countries like Pakistan (94), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (66) and Nepal (73) have fared better than India in terms of high-levels of hunger

India has ranked 102nd among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). In 2018, India had ranked 55 among 77 nations listed in the GHI. South Asian countries like Pakistan (94), Bangladesh (88) and Sri Lanka (66) have fared better than India, says a report prepared by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.

India is among 45 countries that have serious levels of hunger. The report says several countries have higher hunger levels now than in 2010, and around 45 countries are set to fail to achieve low levels of hunger by 2030. The GHI report says hunger is the highest in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara region. “South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara are the regions with the highest 2019 GHI scores, at 29.3 and 28.4 respectively, indicating serious levels of hunger,” says the report.

India’s ‘child wasting rate’ (low weight for height) is extremely high at 20.8 per cent — the highest wasting rate of any country, says the report. Child stunting rate in India, 37.9 per cent, is also categorised as “very high” in terms of its public health significance. In India, just 9.6 per cent of all children between 6 and 23 months of age are fed a minimum acceptable diet, it says.

The report says as of 2015-2016, around 90 per cent of Indian households used an improved drinking water source while 39 per cent of households had no sanitation facilities. Contradicting the government’s claim of making India open defecation free, the report says “open defecation is still practised” in the country. “In 2014, the prime minister instituted the “Clean India” campaign to end open defecation and ensure that all households had latrines. Even with new latrine construction, however, open defecation is still practised,” it adds.

This situation jeopardises the population’s health and consequently, children’s growth and development as their ability to absorb nutrients are compromised, it adds.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2 had announced that villages in India had become open defecation-free.

Lauding neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, the report says they have made significant advances in child nutrition, and their experiences are instructive. The report says that a 2015 case study was conducted to look at how Bangladesh achieved decline in stunting from 58.5 per cent in 1997 to 40.2 per cent in 2011. “The study attributed the decrease primarily to rising household wealth associated with pro-poor economic growth and gains in parental education, as well as health, sanitation, and demographic factors reflecting decreased fertility rates,” it adds.

Nepal’s remarkable reduction in child stunting from 56.6 per cent in 2001 to 40.1 per cent in 2011 is also associated with increased household assets, increased maternal education, improved sanitation, and implementation and use of health and nutrition programs, including antenatal and neonatal care, says the report.

Edited by Manoj Sharma

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said yesterday that the SLFP organisers who were said to have joined hands with the United National Party (UNP) were those who were sacked from the party.

Mr. Jayasekara said this in response to Minister Sajith Premadasa’s claim that more than 40 SLFPers had joined hands with his party.

He said forming an organisation to protect the SLFP and allying themselves to the UNP could not be called as protecting the SLFP.

SLFP must be protected by its members while being in the SLFP. True SLFPers would protect the SLFP and its integrity while moving forward in this journey. Despite the obstacles we might face, we will stand united for the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and move forward while protecting the dignity of the SLFP,” he said.

Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera said a strong economic policy ensuring national security while safeguarding our cultural heritage is necessary.

The Ven.Thera said Mr. Rajapaksa had introduced environmentally friendly economic policies to create an economy based on our own agricultural lands and energy sources.

Meanwhile, MP Dullas Alahapperuma alleged government media of being biased and he requested the Elections Commission to investigate this issue. (Thisari Andria Walawege)

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ

රටට ආදරය කරන නායකයෙකු පත්කර ගැනීමට ජනතාව කල්පනාකාරීව කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව පූජ්‍ය ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හිමියන් පවසයි. 

එහිදි අදහස් දැක්වු උන්වහන්සේ පැවසුවේ දේශපාලන නායකයින් සමඟ රහසිගත සාකච්ඡා නොපවත්වන ලෙස පූජ්‍ය ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හිමි සියළු ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂකයින්ගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කරන බවයි.

යුතුකම සංවිධානය” අද (16)  කොළඹ කැදවා තිබූ මාධ්‍ය හමුවකටඑක්වෙමින් උන්වහන්සේ මෙම අදහස් පල කළේය.
 
උතුරේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ 05ක් ජනාධිපති අපෙක්ෂකයන්ගේන කළ ඉල්ලීම් 10ක් සම්බන්ධයේද අදහස් දැක්වීය.

Courtesy Adaderana

The manifesto of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa is scheduled to be launched on the 25th of October.

Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila stated that this decision was taken during a discussion held at the official residence of Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa last night (15).

Meanwhile, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pointed out that Sri Lanka’s sovereignty is currently under threat.

He stated this addressing a convention held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute yesterday. The event was held under the auspices of SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He also commented that the State resources the incumbent government sold to foreign countries must be reclaimed. We have a policy that ensures our country moves forward, putting the nation’s sovereignty at the forefront,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa added.

Speaking of the UNHRC resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka during the special press conference held in Colombo yesterday, Rajapaksa said We will always work with the United Nations. But I can’t recognize what they have signed with a different government. It’s not with my government.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been requested to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate and inquire into serious acts of fraud, corruption, and abuse of power, state resources, and privileges on the 18th of October.

Along with the Prime Minister, Minister Daya Gamage, too, has been summoned to appear before the Commission.

This was in connection with an investigation into the alleged loss to the government during the paddy storage at the Mattala International Airport.

Considering the evidence collected on the case, the Commission has notified the Premier and Minister Gamage to appear before them either on behalf of their own rights or through legal representation.

Courtesy Adaderana

Several stone weapons used by prehistoric man have been found in the area nearby Panikkan Kulam in Mankulam, Mullaitivu, says Professor Paramu Pushparatnam.

Speaking to Ada Derana reporter, Prof. Pushparatnam stated that he had inspected the area after he was notified by the residents that artefacts belonging to the prehistoric times exist there.

According to the estimation of Prof. Pushparatnam, the stone weapons recovered from the area had been used over 10,000 years and he added that these artefacts would be directed for chronological dating.

Prof. Pushparatnam added that multiple fragments of rocks, which proves ancient settlements had existed in the area, were also observed in the proximity of Panikkan Kulam.

A formal inspection will be conducted in this regard and a detailed report will be submitted to the Director General of the Department of Archaeology on the discovery of ruins and stone weapons.

Paramu Pushparatnam is a professor of History at the Jaffna University and he had conducted many archaeological inspections in the northern areas of the country.

Courtesy Adaderana

The officers of the Election Commission today (16) commenced an investigation regarding a complaint with regard to over 2,000 confirmation letters set to be given to employees of the National Housing Development Authority.

The Organization to Protect the National Housing Development Authority, which filed the complaint, charged that the chairman had made the appointments violating the election laws.

It further stated that the Authority’s chairman and the upper management had utilized over Rs 400 million for election campaign purposes. The funds were to be allocated to construct sanitary facilities for low-income families as proposed by the Budget 2019.

The organization also charged that the ‘Sevana Funds’ established under the Authority to provide free housing for low-income families had been used to give out housing loans.

It also alleged that the appointment made to the Authority were done as a part of the UNP’s election campaign.

The Election Commission’s officers accordingly launched an investigation in this regard and as a result over 2,000 confirmation letters were confiscated at the Authority.

Courtesy Adaderana

The presidential candidate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he would restructure the government’s tax framework and bring VAT to 8 percent when he comes to power.

He stated this during an event held yesterday (16) with the owners of tea factories.

Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax imposed on labourers and employees who earn middle-level salary scale must be removed, Rajapaksa stressed.

Meanwhile, addressing a public meeting held in Ratnapura Gotabaya said, under his administration, steps would be taken to stabilize national security by restoring the powers vested upon the intelligence services, which were removed by the incumbent government.