Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara says that according to the agreement signed between Sinopec and the Ministry of Power and Energy, the state-owned Chinese company will be granted a 20-year license to operate 150 fuel stations currently operated by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

In a tweet, the minister said that the agreement also allows Sinopec to invest in 50 new fuel stations and to invest in Sri Lanka’s energy sector.

The contract agreement was signed between Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and its parent company in China and Singapore and the Ministry of Power and Energy this morning (22) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, for Sinopec to enter the domestic retail petroleum market.

Courtesy Adaderana

State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an anti-China workshop” on Monday, a day after Beijing summoned Japan’s envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the group’s summit in Hiroshima.

Group of Seven (G7) declarations issued on Saturday singled out China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear arms, economic coercion and human rights abuses, underscoring the wide-ranging tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries which includes the United States.

The U.S. is pushing hard to weave an anti-China net in the Western world,” Global Times said in an editorial on Monday titled G7 has descended into an anti-China workshop”.

This is not just a matter of brutal interference in China’s internal affairs and smearing China, but also an undisguised urge for confrontation between the camps.”

Beijing’s foreign ministry said it firmly opposed the statement by the G7 – which also includes Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy – and late Sunday said it had summoned Japan’s ambassador to China in a pointed protest to the summit host.

Russia, a close ally of China that was also called out in the G7 statement over its war in Ukraine, said the summit was an incubator” for anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hysteria.

Separately, China’s embassy in Britain urged London to stop slandering China, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Beijing represents the world’s greatest challenge to security and prosperity.

The main G7 leaders’ communique mentioned China 20 times, the most in recent years, and up from 14 mentions in 2022.

China’s reaction this time is quite intense,” said Wang Jiangyu, a professor at City University of Hong Kong.

The G7 mentioned many concerns (over China) in an unprecedented way. China view these issues as its core interests that are entirely its internal affairs which are not for the G7 to wag their tongues about,” he said.

As well as taking issue with G7 comments on Taiwan, the democratic island China claims as its own, Beijing also accused the U.S. and its allies of double standards over comments about a nuclear build-up and the use of economic leverage.

Despite Beijing’s reaction, U.S. President Joe Biden said he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China very shortly”.

Some analysts, however, see no sign of any immediate easing of tensions, especially given Beijing’s rapid and sharp rebuttal.

Beijing’s reaction (especially the early timing of its release) underlines that tensions in the region are already quite high and likely to increase further,” said Moritz Rudolf, research scholar and fellow at Yale University’s Paul Tsai China Center.

JAPAN BACKLASH
China’s decision to summon Japan’s ambassador underlined the intensity of its anger, some analysts said.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned the ambassador to register protests over hype around China-related issues”, the ministry said in a statement.

Sun said Japan collaborated with the other countries at the G7 summit to smear and attack China, grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs, violating the basic principles of international law and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan,” referring to the China-Japan Joint Statement of 1972.

Japan’s ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, said it was natural” for the G7 to refer to issues of common concern as it has done in the past and will continue to do so in the future as long as China does not change its behaviour, according to a readout.

Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at the Renmin University in Beijing, described China’s overall reaction to the G7 communique as restrained” but singled out Japan as particularly provocative.

He referred to Japan’s pick for the summit venue Hiroshima, the city flattened by an atomic bomb at the end of World War II, and its push for a joint statement on nuclear disarmament that raised concern about China’s nuclear arsenal.

The main thing that’s happening here is Japan, using its position as the rotating chair, to create an anti-China movement,” said Wang Yiwei.

Among the G7, Tokyo has also voiced some of the strongest concerns about China’s muscular rhetoric around Taiwan, which sits just off its southern island chain. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that the country’s policy toward China has been consistent, that it will insist on matters that are needed and urge responsible behaviour, while take steps to address concerns and cooperate on common issues.

Source: Reuters

–Agencies

 Insight By Sunil Kumar

 Surprisingly Canadian Prime Minister Mr.Justin Trudeau seems to have taken a  path  which his World Respected father Mr. Pierre Elliot Trudeau who was once  closely associated with Sri Lanka would never have taken by virtue of  how well informed of world affairs he was and never once dipping into  the till of misinformation to give him due credit and the younger Mr.Trudeau’s comments perhaps simply to secure his Tamil voting base and constituents  of which there were none during his father’s tenure but nonetheless  something beneath the decorum he always possessed as a political  leader, referring to the senior Mr. Trudeau who was a class act.

 It has been a trend one might add for Canadian politicians whether  Liberal, NDP or Conservative in the past also to make statements in  support of Tamil Tiger sympathizers who made up their voter base  perhaps while being coerced about a misconceived genocide which never took place, all the while never admitting that what transpired in Sri Lanka for nearly 4 decades was an internal armed insurrection led by Insurgent Tamil Terrorists and  minority Tamils in their quest to disrupt Sri Lanka towards their own objectives of secession which was put down  by the Armed Forces as an uprising against  Sovereign Sri Lanka and her Territorial Integrity where it would be totally wrong to even think of it as Genocide.

It was a well organized Military operation that other Nations wish to emulate where the Armed forces even protected the  Tamil minority whose insurgent oppressors eventually turned on them in a final  act of aggression when they were being overrun.

Thus  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  has made a statement recently  in recognition of what is called ‘Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, the  day  the ‘war’ ended in Sri Lanka 14 years ago where Mr Trudeau has somewhat misguidedly made his comments which has caused an uproar within the Sri Lanka Administration within reason.

 Consequently Sri Lanka through its Foreign Ministry has denounced the  statement which it  has cited unhelpful to the reconciliation process  locally as well as  majority world opinion which has always deemed the  conflict as an internal armed insurrection against a Sovereign Nation  by a terror group so much so that its perpetrators have been outlawed  globally including Canada so what is Mr.Trudeau talking about?.

The Canadian leader in his statement said, Today, we reflect on the  tragic loss of life during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which ended 14 years ago. Tens of thousands of Tamils lost their lives, including  the massacre in Mullivaikal, with many more missing, injured, or displaced. Our thoughts are with the victims, survivors, and their loved ones, who continue to live with the pain caused by  this senseless violence.”

Curiously, nothing has been mentioned about the vast number of lives  within the Sinhalese and other minority communities including innocent  women, children and elders who were massacred  by the terrorists  beyond their right to exist where the wanton destruction of life, limb  and property was no ordinary turn of events but constituted a genocide  by rights initiated by the Tamil Tigers backed by the Tamil minority and needs to be clearly outlined for the world to fully comprehend and probably needing investigation by the International Court of Justice.

The world needs to understand that what the Canadian Prime Minister is alluding to appears to be a definition of convenience which is the furthest from reality and there  is another side to this so called “Genocide” regardless of what  anniversary they are celebrating.

 A footnote to all of this is that the Tamil Tigers  and their  supporters are banned in Canada and have taken their covert  activities and database underground.Their entire operation was outlawed and  disbanded by the( RCMP) Royal Canadian Mounted Police and have not  surfaced since! If Mr.Trudeau in all sincerity wishes to comment about Sri Lanka he  should do so in an impartial manner citing every perspective which  very nearly destroyed Sovereign Sri Lanka for which it was the Tamil  Insurgents backed by the minority Tamils who initiated the horrors  that the Sri Lanka Government with the Armed Forces valiantly fought off.

 The( UNHCR) United Nations High Commission For Human Rights  which makes such a huge issue about Sri Lanka Tamils needs to also take up the case of the Sinhalese and other minority communities who suffered unimaginable attrocities and ruthless acts of terror at the hands of the unrelenting Tamil Tigers backed by a greater proportion of the Tamil Community now lamenting with the help of voices like Mr Justin Trudeau’s which only portrays one side of what really transpired in Sri Lanka which will  neither help the reconciliation process nor the reunification of  ethnic harmony.

Senaka Weeraratna

 Shashi Tharoor has said 

DRS is such a major innovation. I never want to see international cricket without DRS ever again. It is so indispensable and eliminates so many bad decisions, and it creates an additional form of excitement for the viewer. It adds an extra element of tension to the plot and it is a very welcome addition as far as I’m concerned,”. 

For more, see 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/i-was-extremely-upset-with-dhoni-and-tendulkar-for-refusing-drs/story-v86ji6jgAN450PRjLcDQBN.html

Any other cricket playing country would have glorified the invention and the inventor had any one of their own people claimed credit for the invention. In India the Bharat Ratna ( highest civilian award) or Padma Vibhushan ( second highest civilian award) may have been awarded had an Indian inventor claimed it. An Indian inventor of, say, the DRS,  would have become a world celebrity appearing on TV shows, Radio Talk shows and further more Indian Cricket Commentators would have gone to town repeatedly taking pride in the fellow Indian’s brain child i.e., DRS.

In contrast, in Sri Lanka, unfortunately, there is a dead silence, despite a Sri Lankan lawyer ( Senaka Weeraratna) being the only claimant in the whole world for inventing DRS. ICC is unable to identify anyone from its stables. Their answer is that a man they cannot name discovered DRS. If say, a property is stolen it becomes awkward for the Principal to name the miscreant. ICC now finds itself in such dubious position in full glare of the cricket world. The ICC’s position is Untenable. Unconvincing.

 Furthermore, the failure of the local cricket establishment to back a Sri Lankan’s claims at ICC level leads to the growing suspicion that the cricket controllers in Sri Lanka have let down or betrayed their country, are envious  ( eerishiyawa) or spineless to back their own man for fear of losing the patronage of the ICC,  perks and a very comfortable ride in the rich gravy train.

What ever the morally indefensible track record of the past, it is never too late for the SLC to intervene vis a vis ICC and take pride in a Sri Lankan’s gigantic contribution to the development of modern cricket through a ground breaking concept called ‘ Player Referral’ that uses video playback technology in combination with the procedural functions of an Appellate court of law, to correct a ground umpire’s decisions.

This is the Decision Review System that has changed the face of the game of Cricket. 

Senaka W

ලෙසන්ත චතුරංග (කුලරූ ආදි ශිෂ්‍ය)

පාසැල් පරිශ්‍රයක් තුල ඉදිවූ දිවයිනේ විශාලතම හිටිපිළිම වහන්සේ වන අවුකන ප්‍රතිමා අනුරූ පිළිම මහන්සේගේ නේත්‍රා ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපන මංගල්ලය හා මහජන ප්‍රදර්ශනයට නිරාවරණය කිරීම.

අටමහා කුසල් වලින් එක් කුසලයක් සම්පූර්ණ කරමින් අම්බලන්ගොඩ කුලරත්න විද්‍යාලයේ විදුහල්පති ජගත් සේනාරත්න මහතා ප්‍රධාන ගුරුභවතුන්, ආදි හා වර්තමාන ශිෂ්‍ය ප්‍රජාවගේ මැදිහත්වීමෙන් පාසැල් පරිශ්‍රය තුල ගොඩනැංවූ අවුකන පිළිම වහන්සේගේ අනූරූ පිළිම මහන්සේගේ නේත්‍රා ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපන මංගල්ලය හා එම පිළිමය මහජන ප්‍රදර්ශනයට නිරාවරණය කිරීම මෙම මස 24 වැනි දිනෙන් ආරම්භවන පිංකම් මාලාව තුලදී සිදු කිරීමට නියමිතය.

මැයි මස 24 වැනි දිනෙන් ආරම්භ වන උත්සව මාලාව මැයි මස 28 වැනි දින දක්වා පුරා දින පහක් තුල පැවැත්වෙන අතර පාසැලේ සියළුම ආදි/ වර්තමාන ශිෂ්‍ය ප්‍රජාවට අමතරව අවට පාසැල් වල ආදි/ වර්තමාන ශිෂ්‍ය ප්‍රජාවට, ප්‍රදේශ වාසීන්ට, පිං කැමති ඔබ සියළු දෙනාටම මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා සම්බන්ධවීමටත්, නන් අයුරින් මෙම පිංකම් මාලාව හා සම්බන්ධ වී කුසල් රැස් කර ගැනීමටත් අවස්ථාව සලසා ඇත.

මේ යටතේ,
1. ප්‍රථම වතාවට පැවැත්වෙන තිස්තුන් පැය පිරිත් දේශණයක්
2. බුදුන් ප්‍රමුඛ මහා සංඝයා වෙනුවෙන් පැවැත්වෙන සංඝගත දක්ෂිණාවක්
3. දිවයිනේ සුප්‍රසිද්ධ ධර්ම දේශක හිමිවරුන් විසින් සිදුකරන ධර්ම දේශණා මාලාවක්
4. දන්සැල් මාලාවක්
5. විදුලි ආලෝක පූජාවක් ඇතුළු බෞද්ධාගමික වත් පිළිවෙත් රාශියක් සිදු කිරීමට නියමිතය. පිං කැමති ඔබ සියළු දෙනා⁣ මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වී සංවේගය උපදවාගන්නා ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටින අතරම මේ සඳහා පුළුල් මාධ්‍ය ආවරණයක් ලබා දීමට අවශ්‍ය ඔබගේ සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන ලෙසද ඉතා කාරුණිකව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

ස්තුතියි
මාධ්‍ය සම්බන්ධීකාරක
ලෙසන්ත චතුරංග (කුලරූ ආදි ශිෂ්‍ය)

Courtesy The Island

It is not possible to separate public morality from private morality. Public morality is largely the collective expression of the morality the individuals practice privately. Public morality merely reflects back to us ourselves.”

Speaking in Sinhala, so said Neville Jayaweera while addressing the Annual General Meeting of Avadhi Lanka at the Center for Culture and Religion recently. Professor C.S. Hettige, Professor of Sociology of the Colombo University, presided.

Mr. Jayaweera congratulated Avadhi Lanka on the initiative they had taken to subject public morality and civic accountability constantly to public scrutiny. He reminded them of Mao’s admonition that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He hoped that Avadhi Lanka will grow into a major moral force in this country.

He defined public morality as the moral environment that grows of the moral choices human beings make. It is comprised of those values and norms around which a society organizes itself. But its content is ultimately determined by the values whereby its individuals live out their lives in private. The separation of private morality from public morality is fatal to the latter.

Mr. Jayaweera identified four principal influences in the shaping of public morality. Firstly it is shaped by the values which the principal actors of the State manifest in their private and public lives. That is to say, the values shown forth by political leaders who direct the affairs of government have an enormous impact on public morality, not the values they recommend to others but the values they actually live by bad practices themselves. Similarly, the values manifested by public officials holding leadership positions and the values revealed in the conduct and work of judges shape public morality in a significant way.

Secondly, the values, principles and ideologies followed or not followed by political parties either inspire people to great endeavour or breed contempt and cynicism. In Sri Lanka, the sharp decline in public morality may be attributed largely to the people’s disenchantment with political parties and politicians.

He recalled how in the immediate aftermath of Independence, the Marxist parties instilled into peoples’ hearts an intense awareness of their rights but failed to instil into them an awareness of their duties as well. Consequently, two whole generations grew up in the belief that the State and society owed them everything from free rice to free education, free health, free this, and free that while they in turn, owed the state and society nothing. So now, 50 years after Independence, we have a Me Only” moral environment. Likewise, capitalism has also bred a selfish, self-centred moral ethos, within which private gain at whatever cost, disregarding the other person, is the driving energy.

In addition, opportunism, the lack of scruples and the abandonment of principles by individual politicians in their pursuit of power have bred a pervasive cynicism throughout our social system.If one were to identify the single most potent factor in the deterioration of public standards, it is the example set by politicians.

Thirdly the role of the media in shaping public morality is crucial. Television propagates values and stimulates expectations which drastically overhaul the values of a society. Newspapers create new idols and project new images which people tend to emulate. Advertising generates new tastes and new status symbols, which serve as magnets that turn people away from traditional habits and values.

Likewise, magazines, the cinema, videos and, to a lesser degree, drama and songs impact on public values and tastes, for good as well as for evil.When these media are driven solely by the profit motive, traditional values and morality tend to be swept away to be replaced by the values of the bazaar.

Fourthly and very importantly, Civil Society can play a vital role in shaping public morality, but in Sri Lanka, it has failed to play its role to its optimum potential. Civil Society is meant religious institutions, religious leaders, intellectuals and academics, NGOs, grassroot awareness groups, environment and human and animal rights groups, consumer resistance groups, etc. Avadhi Lanka is typical of an institution that can strengthen Civil Society.

However, an important requirement of their effectiveness is that they must be clear of political partisanship and must be unafraid in their witness.If civil society is bold and courageous, it can play a crucial role as a countervailing power against state power and the corrosive influence of politicians.

Reversing the deteriorating standards of public morality requires action at two important levels. At one level, every defection from public morality must be challenged, exposed and publicly critiqued, relentlessly and systematically, but at all times observing the highest standards of integrity and with due regard for facts. Furthermore, judgmentalism and condemnation at a personal level must be avoided at all times. Also, there must never be a departure from the truth.

However, the most effective remedy for a decline in public morality is for individuals who comprise society to observe themselves the values and standards they recommend to others. Ultimately the environment merely reflects back to us who we really are. In the final analysis, public morality is merely the outworking of our own individual consciousness.

The Late Mr Stanley Jayaweera authored the above article, published on February 15, 1998, in the Sunday Times. His son Sanjeewa Jayaweera, a regular contributor to our newspaper, has requested us to republish it. He has commented, ” My father expanded on what his brother, Neville Jayaweera, had articulated in a speech to Avadhi Lanka, a civil society group. Both were distinguished public servants and foresaw the decline in public morality primarily as a result of the corrosive influence of politicians. But, sadly, nearly all that was said and written by them 25 years ago about what ails our nation remains so with no apparent effort to make a course correction by the politicians nor the public.”

KAMALIKA PIERIS

 J.R .Jayewardene decided to step down after his second term and Premadasa was nominated as the party candidate for the presidential election set for December 1988. Premadasa insisted that his nomination for   President had to be unanimous.

Premadasa became Executive President from 1988 -1993. But the election of 1988 was not a walk over for the UNP. It was a hard fought election where many died, said Bradman Weerakoon. Premadasa had squeaked in with a much reduced poll, commented Sarath Amunugama. Election results indicated that Premadasa got     50.43% and Sirimavo got 44.95% but SLFP had won 49.5% of the postal vote, said analysts.

Premadasa had two opponents in this election, Sirimavo and JVP. Premadasa arranged to keep voter turnout low in pro-Sirima electorates and keep it high where he had the advantage, said Victor Ivan.  The voter turnout was 12% in Wellawaya, 19% in Mulkirigala, 49% in Galle.  

JVP tried to sabotage the election. Premadasa’s chief of staff Sirisena Cooray employed Soththi Upali, a gangster and municipal contractor to rival the JVP in launching their poster campaign in one night, thereby challenging the notion that JVP could enforce its will countrywide, said Sarath Amunugama. Kandy, which was UNP anyway, welcomed Premadasa with a mammoth    rally. It ignored death threats from the JVP.  

Premadasa outwitted the JVP in other ways too. JVP had forbidden the public to attend Premadasa’s election meetings. At Dodanduwa meeting Premadasa spoke through loudspeakers and the people listened from behind closed doors. He did so at other meetings as well. He spoke for hours to empty seats, knowing that they were listening to him behind closed doors, said Evans Cooray.

The greatest contribution made by Premadasa as President, was the 200 Garment factories programme. The 200 garment factories programme could be considered one of the main achievements and contributions made by President Premadasa to uplift the rural economy of Sri Lanka and promote exports with the help and support of big companies in the private sector, said Lakshman Watawala.

It started when Kumar Dewapura, Chairman of the Tri Star Group was given land in the Kurunegala district by Jayawickrema Perera, then chief Minister, to set up a garment factory and President Premadasa was invited for the opening. It was there that the idea of the 200 factories programme was developed. Dewapura was instrumental in setting up the first few factories and helped to interest other investors in the project.

The target was to set up 200 factories  all over the country, in neglected areas. Owners were given low interest loans and a share in the textile quotas for USA and Europe.Each garment factory was to have a minimum of 500 employees each. Preference was given to Janasaviya certificate holders in the granting of jobs. All factories had to give free breakfast to the workers.

The factories would be run by private firms who were already in the industry. These firms would be responsible for the technology, the investment, the recruitment of workers, and ensuring that the product had a market.

The climate for this was good.  Garment manufacturers had exhausted their preferential quotas elsewhere and were    willing to transfer some of their production to Sri Lanka.We also had investors from UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Germany investing in factories in rural areas. Increases in garment export quotas were also obtained to sustain the expansion, said Watawala.

The private sector was drawn into the programme with tax incentives, infrastructure such as land, electricity, telephones, water, roadways and other benefits and assured quotas depending on factory location, said Watawala.

What the government did was to use carrots and sticks to achieve the relocation, said Rohan Samarajiwa. The companies had some incentives to go to the rural areas. More willing and trainable workers were available there for lower salaries, he agreed. They had disincentives too such as power supplies, transport to and from the port were unreliable and costlier than in the cities.  If the infrastructure then had been as good as it is today, the task would have been easier.

I remember the frequent meetings we had at Sucharitha where President Premadasa invited investors who were due to open factories and solved any problems they brought up, said Watawala. The Chairmen of the CEB, Road Development Authority and the Water Board were always present as these meetings as investor complaints were mainly about non availability of electricity, roadways and water.

Premadasa was present at all the official openings of factories. He gave dates to all investors so they had to work round the clock to have their factories ready by the deadline. The opening of each factory was marked by the construction of a clock tower, paid for by the investor, in all the areas they were set up. The clock towers were opened by the President before he opened the factory.

For the first time we saw factories shifting out of the Katunayake and Biyagama in the Colombo and Gampaha Districts to other provinces. Workers who had to leave their villages and come to Colombo and Katunayake and live in expensive boarding houses were now able to travel to work from their homes and have a substantial take home pay.Factories were opened  in districts like Batticaloa, Puttalam, Ampara and Vavuniya as wel.  By 1993, 160 locations had been allocated to construct factories and 117 factories, were running. Six were ready for opening and 37 under construction, said Watawala.

The 200 garment factories project transformed a vast network of rural villages, said Sarath de Silva. An example of this transformation is Dehiattakandiya. However, when garment factories came to  rural Sri Lanka, women workers found themselves having to battle the notion of “Juki girls with loose morals, observed feminists.

Premadasa‘s 200-garment factories project was the butt end of jokes and was roundly ridiculed as the ‘jungi industry’. Today, just 10 years later, the garment industry is a USD 2 billion enterprise, runs 890 factories, employs a million people and is the mainstay of the country’s export economy, said Evans Cooray.

The 200 Garment Factory Programme was continued by all successive governments although while in the opposition they criticized it. The garment industry became the largest industrial exporter from Sri Lanka. In 1991 the Apparel and Garment exports were approx. US $ 764 M. with the 200 garment factory programme the exports increased and in 2022 reached US $ 5.4 billion.

 Many who criticized the garments industry as a sunset industry” could now see its sustainability for themselves as well as benefits reaped by the country. These included becoming the highest export earner and biggest employer of females. Tough environmental and working conditions were met to achieve global standards. Today we have many ‘green’ garment factories and investors striking out overseas to set up factories, observed Watawala.

The 200 garment factory project enabled Sri Lanka to be one of the top exporters in garments and this continued even after abolition of the quota system to produce quality products at competitive prices.

 Majority of the original operators were operating under the Multi-fiber Agreement on the European quota system.  When this ended in 2005, many of the factories went out of business.  The larger Sri Lankan exporters took over and expanded these rural factories. They adapted to the new market environment, added greater value to their products, created higher volumes and generated more jobs.  (continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Premadasa carried out two highly publicized programmes Gam Udawa and Jana Saviya. The Janasaviya Poverty Alleviation Programme was inaugurated in October 1989 and soon became a lead program of Premadasa’s government.  

In 1990, a $100 million Janasaviya trust fund (JTF) was launched with World Bank assistance, to support a five-year Janasaviya programme. The International Development Association, (IDA) an affiliate of the World Bank agreed to give a long-term concessionary loan of 3.2 billion rupees ($95.5 million) to the JTF. Sri Lanka would contribute 800 million rupees over the next five years.  

The aim of Janasaviya was to transform impoverished households into well off ones, through a controlled set of handouts which included credit entitlements as well as cash and subsistence gratns.   There was a Janasaviya Commissioner and a special Ministerial Steering Committee, with seven working committees under it, for Janasaviya.

The Janasaviya recipients were selected from those who were receiving food stamps. 189,088 families   were selected from the 225,000 who were on the food stamps.Each   family was paid 2,500 rupees per month, for 24 months, but each family had to do 24 days of labor per month or engage in some other   approved activity. Some families had dropped out at this point.

Rs. 1042 went to a compulsory savings account and the 25,000 rupees accumulating at the end of the 24 month period from this had to be used for an income generating activity. The balance 1,458 rupees were issued as a coupon with two separate payments, for rupees 1,000 and Rupees 458. The rupees 1,000 was to be used to buy goods from the Janasaviya basket of goods available at the local co-operative stores. 

The Janasaviya Programme was administered by 5 tiered committees, each committee reporting to the one above. The committees were the Hamlet Level Task Force, Divisional Coordinating Sub-committee, District Coordinating Sub-committee, Provincial Coordinating Sub-committee and National Coordinating Committee.

The first of these was the Hamlet level Task force.  The Island was divided into 30,000 hamlets of around 150 families each. Each hamlet had a five-member task force led by the Grama Sevaka. The other four members were selected by the community. One had to be a woman.

This task force was expected to guide the Janasaviya families towards productive work. It would provide counseling, training, supervision, equipment necessary for the income generating activity. This task force was also expected to find suitable markets for the Hamlet goods. This grass level task force reported to the committee above it.

The Grama Sevaka also had a Sahayaka Kandayama which included village elders, local business men and government officers such as Agricultural Project Officers, teachers and Public Health Midwives.

The other four committees   were composed of government officials and others, led by GA and AGA. . These committees decided what income generating projects were to be followed in each hamlet. They also organized village fairs, set up sales centers, and at the highest level, coordinated with Export Development Board and export-oriented private sector organizations to obtain markets for the goods produced in the hamlets.

 The government also provided training for the Hamlet Task Force, which totaled 150,000 persons. They were trained at distirct level by 75 handpicked master trainers. They in turn trained 1,350 divisional-level trainers. These 1,350 in turn trained the 150,000 support team. The AGAs were also trained. The training programme included three modules.  The first was on propagating the underlying goals and aspirations of the Janasaviya Programme.

Critics observed that there were too many committees, as well as an expanding bureaucracy in Janasaviya. This would lead to duplication of effort and delays making the Programme expensive to run.

There is no information as to the success of the Janasaviya movement. Biographers are silent about Janasaviya. However Norwegian researcher K. Stokke, writing in 1995, said that the Janasaviya Poverty Alleviation Programme enjoyed widespread support within and outside Sri Lanka , but it has been rapidly dismantled.

 Lakshman Watawala has described another activity connected to Janasaviya. Under Janasaviya the two state banks, Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank gave loans to the rural sector for sums between Rs. 5,000 and 25,000, without security .They gave a variety of loans, self-employment loans to youth, agricultural loans, start up loans, tiny sector loans, athamaru loans, Janasaviya loans, and also assisted the cooperatives and the cooperative rural banks.

A category known as Praja Naya Niyamakas (PNN)   were created as   intermediaries for these bank loans.  Peoples Bank and Bank of Ceylon gave them loans between Rs. 50,000 to 100,000 at normal interest rates on provision of security. PNNs were to use this to provide the hamlet   with small loans ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000 for micro projects. They were to lend at rates of 3 to 4% per month which was very much lower than the rates charged by money lenders.  By going to the PNNs, villagers were able to avoid going to banks and fill lengthy forms. They could instead go to these agency banks to obtain loans. (Continued)

e-Con e-News

Who owes whom? Believe the English and their relentless media chatter, and it’s we who still owe them! Despite all talk (& so much art and literature!) about chattel & indentured & wage slavery, despite all talk of over 500 years of colonialism & imperialism – Is we bankrupt! Is we owe them!  Such is their mathematics! Their numeracy. ‘Tis a calculatedly expensive farce of course. A Private-Public Partnership (PPP)! Talk about LARPing – Live Action Role Playing! A defanged ‘state’ is blamed. Workers (mostly informalized) are lazy. Politicians (mostly eternal) are corrupt. White envoys (no matter their pallor) are non-stick teflon – tho toxic when their thin skin of white supremacism is scratched.         

     This week ee focuses on the first US colony in Asia, the Philippines. The US economic policies there were based on labeling the ‘natives’ as corrupt & uncivilized and therefore unable to administer a colonial economy. Welcome therefore to the latest not officially announced US colony, of Sri Lanka… One may notice the similarity of the charges.

     ee Readers may recall, the ‘founder governor’ of the Central Bank of Ceylon in 1950 – John Exter – was a member of the privately owned US Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors. In 1948 he was made an adviser to the Secretary of Finance of the Philippines, and set up their Central Bank. Exter was then made Central Bank of Ceylon Governor, 1950-53, after writing the report to set it up. He promoted a culture of exorbitant consumption of imported goods, wasting profits from rubber sales during the genocidal US war on Korea. He bribed various political constituencies to ensure colonial rule, and prevented investment in a modern industrial economy (see Random Notes).

• A court in New York censored this week all matters relating to Sri Lanka’s ‘international sovereign bond debt’. The court also demanded – and was provided – a series of deadlines to chart a resolution of the lawsuit against Sri Lanka, involving a shady US Hamilton Reserve Bank (HRB) based in a Caribbean tax hideout, demanding full payment of what is owed them for their investment (in what?).

     Last week ee discussed a lawsuit in Scotland ‘on behalf of’ Kenyan tea pluckers. Those expecting justice from a New York court should not hold their breath.

     BlackRock, Sri Lanka’s biggest ISB debt holder, is linked to Unilever, the largest English multinational in Sri Lanka. ‘Private creditors such as Blackrock and Ashmore hold 47% of Sri Lanka’s debt via bonds that were issued post Sri Lanka’s civil war’. The HRB suit is a ploy by such large ‘asset managers’ as BlackRock. BlackRock leads the bondholder group that is negotiating a restructuring with the Sri Lankan government. BlackRock is the leading known holder of external private debt ‘in the global South’.

     New York State’s legislature recently passed a bill to ensure that private creditors can’t use courts to get better settlements than bilateral government creditors. China is demanding that all of Sri Lanka’s loan sharks, including multilaterals like the IMF & World Bank, as well as private bondholders, take equal responsibility, take their share for creating the ‘crisis’ in Sri Lanka.

     Our numerous experts on ‘China’s debt trap’, have no idea about the role played by the IMF & World Bank and other ‘conglomerates of conglomerates’ in Sri Lanka, let alone of the role of asset fund managers, family funds, etc. They actually don’t care. They have similar interests as those who brought us these ‘weapons of mass destruction and distraction’.

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• Every news story mentions the previous government’s inauspicious organic policy, primarily opposed by England’s ICI-CIC, as being one of the roots of last year’s Aragalaya! Well, here now is Baurs, also part of the League of Multinational Corporations (LMNC) in Sri Lanka, now deciding what organic is: Baurs laboratory services to certify ‘organic fertilizers’ – Swiss multinational A Baur & Co was recently awarded Switzerland’s international standard accreditation for organic fertilizers – ISO/IEC 17025. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are also based in Switzerland. ‘Baurs laboratory was firstly accredited for inorganic fertilizers in 2015!’ (see ee Agriculture, Baurs)

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• Canadian media recently accused a ‘Native Indian man’ of ferrying Indian (Chowdhari) and Romanian (Iordache) families across the icy St Lawrence River, from Canada to the USA. The families had (been?) drowned, and the ‘native man’ pronounced as ‘missing’. The media is notoriously negligent when it comes down to staging cogent reality. The ‘native man’, Casey Oakes is from the besieged lands of the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, straddling the border with the USA – a historical product of settler wars, yet an ancient trade route no doubt.

     This ee shares a report on a recent truck drivers’ strike in Europe, which sheds light on who is really behind so-called human trafficking to the West, based on their need for unprotected workers.

For Full Report

Wall Street Court Censors All Talk of Sri Lanka’s Real Debts

Sugath Kulatunga

Hon Minister,

This note is to bring to your notice an illegal circular issued by a former Secretary Defense restricting the issue of gun licenses to persons over 60 years of age. This is one of the reasons of the increase of crop loss due to animal damage which is estimated as 40 percent of the crop.

The present problem of inordinate increase in animal pests and serious damage to agricultural crops and danger of animal attack did not exist before the shotguns were withdrawn from farmers and property owners on an irrational action taken to restrict the issue of gun licenses on a circular issued to the Police by the Secretary of Defense. It is clear from the circular that the intention was to prevent guns being owned by terrorists. There is no terrorism today. Another reason may be to prevent the use of shot guns by criminals in serious crimes. It is well known that today the weapons used in crime are not shotguns but

T56 guns and 9mm pistols.

One does not understand why persons over 60 years were deprived from getting gun licence. Most of the older generation farmers would be over 60 years but quite capable of handling a shotgun. If a person can handle a mammootty he should be able to handle a shotgun. Use of a gun is not like driving a vehicle where physical fitness counts.

Shot guns were issued for protecting farms and property and for self-defense which is very important now. Penal code Sections 89 and

90 provide for the right of defense of body and property. One cannot expect an elderly person to exercise that right without the ownership of a weapon which is more a deterrent.

The present problem of animal damage accelerated after the introduction of that infamous circular which does not seem to be issued under any law. If it is a legal document, it should have been gazetted. According to the Ordinance licensing authority is the Government Agent. Also under this Ordinance (section 25.5 No rule made by the Minister under this section shall have effect until it is approved by Parliament, and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette.

In terms of Section 36.1. The Minister, whenever it appears necessary for the security of the public peace in any district that licences to possess and use guns should be cancelled or suspended, may, by Order published in the Gazette, cancel or suspend for a period. The circular issued to the Police on approving gun licenses by the Secretary Defense is legally invalid and can be questioned in a court of law.

In this context the gun control circular should be withdrawn, and we go back to the status quo ante and let the farmers tackle the problem as they did in the past. These monkeys are very intelligent animals and the very sight of a gun in the hands of a farmer will keep them away. This will also obviate the controversial issue of exporting monkeys.

It is suggested that the gun licenses issued for personal security are charged at least Rs 1000 which will bring an additional revenue to the government. It would be useful to examine the current process in a farmer renewing the annual license. It is estimated that a farmer has to spend at least a minimum of 6 days to go through the police station, the office of the ASP, and the Kachcheri, to obtain the license which cost him only Rs 250 but at a loss of 6 days of work of which the opportunity cost may be a minimum of Rs 6000.

In this context, I on behalf of over 60 years old gun owners of shotguns appeal to you to revoke that circular and direct the Police to release the guns surrendered to the police by them.

Yours truly,

Sugath Kulatunga

Courtesy Ceylon Today

Port City Colombo is set to reach its highest level of activity as the region’s first multi-currency, service export Special Economic Zone. The five-year roll-out plan envisages USD 5.6 billion in FDI which will fast-track Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, positioning both Port City and Sri Lanka as a leading player in the service export industry.

Port City Colombo will help drive Sri Lanka’s new phase of growth, and will be a significant contributor to the country’s GDP and BOP. Our focus will be to drive the future economy by attracting more green-field FDIs in key sectors while strengthening the country’s competitiveness within the region,” said Thulci Aluwihare – Dep. MD, CHEC Port City.

Poised to be Sri Lanka’s largest development project since the Mahaweli Development, Port City Colombo is expected to create over 140,000 direct job opportunities and contribute USD 13.8 billion to the GDP of Sri Lanka, annually.

Spanning 269 Ha of ocean reclamation, Port City Colombo is Sri Lanka’s first special economic zone dedicated to exports of services. Established under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act No 11 of 2021, the Special Economic Zone was created to attract businesses engaged in global and regional trade, maritime services, banking and financial services, information technology, professional/ knowledge services, corporate headquarter operations, tourism and other ancillary services.

Since the commencement of the project, a contribution of USD 3 billion was made to the country’s GDP, creating 12,000 direct jobs and training for 4,000 Sri Lankan workers across over 20 Sri Lankan sub-contractors. Land reclamation alone resulted in Sri Lankan companies providing over 5 million tonnes of stone, 12 million litres of fuel, 80,000 tonnes of cement and 1,200 tonnes of steel. With Sri Lanka’s economic crisis prompting a mass exodus of skilled workers to relocate, Port City Colombo as a Service Export hub will open doors for global brands to set up within the zone with over 70% of employment created in modern services (PwC Economic Impact, November 2021).

The GoSL will see a significant increase in economic activity spurred by Businesses of Strategic Importance inducing multiple sources of fiscal revenue. An estimated fiscal revenue of USD $ 1.7 billion is expected at the construction stage while a recurring revenue of approximately USD $ 700 million per annum is expected at the operational stage of the project.

Port City Colombo’s strategy will see it become a global centre for business and innovation, with a significant positive impact on Sri Lanka’s economy.

The Project is now seeing heightened interest from investors and businesses looking to establish a presence within Port City Colombo to access opportunities, particularly in South Asia as one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has condemned and rejected outright the genocide claims made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pertaining to Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long civil war.

Sabry conveyed this when he summoned Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday (May 19).

Minister Sabry stated that this ‘politically motivated’ statement was divisive and was issued for domestic political consumption in Canada.

Sri Lanka vehemently rejects this unsubstantiated allegation of ‘genocide’ relating to the country’s almost 3 decades of terrorist conflict perpetuated by the LTTE, Sabry to the Canadian envoy.

He observed that the ‘inaccurate and provocative’ allegations in the statement will lead to polarizing Sri Lankans at this particular juncture when the Government is working towards economic stability, peace and reconciliation for all.

He emphasized that the arbitrary and erroneous use of ‘genocide’ on Sri Lanka is driven by a small section of the politically motivated anti-Sri Lanka elements in the Diaspora with a separatist agenda.

The Sri Lankan government, as a long-standing bilateral partner, has urged the co-operation of the Canadian Government and encourage a mutually supportive relationship between the two countries, whilst constructively engaging the community of Sri Lankan heritage in Canada to work towards realizing our common objectives of inclusive development and sustainable peace.

Courtesy Adaderana

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has promised to establish a separate unit under his government, dedicated to the betterment of businessmen of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of the government sector.

Premadasa vowed to do so while addressing a discussion with businessmen of SMEs today (20 May).

The Party Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) further emphasised that his party has always advocated for SMEs, both within and outside of the Parliament.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that he intends to seek the Japanese Government’s assistance during his upcoming visit to Japan, to establish a Maha Vihara University, an international standard university to study Theravada Buddhism.

The President expressed that the hope is to get the contribution of Buddhist countries like Thailand and Bhutan for this purpose.

The President made these comments while visiting the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu & Asgiri Chapters, this morning (20 May).

President Ranil Wickremesinghe also submitted a bill to amend the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance & establish a Theravada monk discourse to seek the guidance of the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu & Asgiri Chapters.

The Chief prelates pointed out the importance of formalizing the Tripitaka Conservation Bill and the Buddhist Publications Regulation Act, and the President instructed the Secretary of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana to prepare amendments to the Tripitaka Conservation Bill & the Buddhist Publications/Texts Regulatory Act to be submitted to the Cabinet.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who first arrived at the Malwathu Maha Vihara this morning, visited and received the blessings of the Chief Prelate of the Malwathu Chapter, Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Mahanayaka Thera, and engaged in a brief discussion.

Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of the Presidential Staff, was also present on this occasion and the Maha Sangha led by Chief Incumbent of the Malwathu Chapter chanted Pirith, and offered his blessings to the President and the delegation.

According to the request made by the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters, at the Presidential Palace in Kandy on February 19, the bill was completed in three months and presented again for the admonition of the Chief Prelates.

Emphasizing the need to develop Kandy as a state-of-the-art city by developing the infrastructure, the President said that the development activities related to the Kandy Metropolitan Plan will be started this year, and that all major city development plans in the country are planned to be implemented and completed promptly.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe mentioned that Pathahewahata and Kundasale local councils are expected to be converted into municipal councils and it will be implemented under the Kandy city development plan.

The President also stated that plans to develop Kandy’s old prison and post office as a tourist attraction will be implemented in the future while preserving historical values.

Also, the possibility of extending the expressway from Kurunegala and Galagedara to Katugastota, and the benefits of it, was also focused on.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe further stated:
My intention is to develop Kandy City immediately under the municipal plan. I believe that the country’s economy will be able to be brought to a certain stable level by next September after the debt restructuring program is successful. There after a lot of investment is needed to strengthen the country’s economy. Also, more tourists should be brought to this country. The Trincomalee New Town Plan is now in effect. We are working to commence the Kandy Metropolitan Development Plan this year. After that, Jaffna will be developed.

It is also expected to establish the Maha Vihara University to study Theravada Buddhism under Japanese aid. In particular, a program should be developed to teach Artificial Intelligence (AI) and developing the mind.

Also, we have focused on modernizing agriculture. It has the potential to harvest 8 metric tons per hectare in the future. The ability to get 10 litres of milk from one dairy cow can be done through this agricultural modernization program.

Arrangements should also be made to retain visitors in Kandy for a day or two. It is also critical for tourist guides to be registered. It is necessary to improve their knowledge about the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic ‘Dalada Maligawa’, the Buddhist history and the history of the Upcountry.

Following that, President Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the Asgiri Maha Vihara and met with the Chief Prelate of the Asgiri Chapter, Venerable Sri Gnanarathana Thero, and engaged in a brief conversation.

The President inquired regarding the development operations of the Asgiri Maha Viharaya and Maha Sangha led by the Chief Incumbent of the Asgiri Chapter chanted Pirith, and offered his blessings to the President and the delegation.

The leading Executive Sangha Committee led by Chief Incumbent of the Asgiri Chapter expressed their gratitude to the President for establishing the appropriate social framework to host the last Vesak festival in a grand manner.

Central Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Lalith U. Gamage, and Secretary of the Ministry of Buddhasashana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Somaratne Vidanapathirana were also present on this occasion.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

People of Sri Lanka could express views on the credit programs provided to the country if anyone investigates the condition of credit facilities, it is possible to understand the condition of credit facilities.  Although the International Monetary Fund provides credit facilities to member countries, it is not a social service organisation, as many Sri Lankan believe. The IMF has policies and provides credits to its member countries for the balance of payment settlement.

I think policymakers in Sri Lanka could adjust policy work without blaming to the IMF, which has good motives helping member countries to get out of significant economic problems and in the past China and India gained large facilities from the IMF and adjusted the economic problems. My feeling is many guys talk and claim the IMF has no clear understanding of the way operating the international financial system. 

If there are no IMF conditions, the country might go out of the way and the proposed condition would support the country turning to the right pathway. The requirement is to go along with the IMF conditions rather than blaming the IMF programs and looking at their way programs are implementing and if there are any corrupt practices like in the past, reporting them to scrutinize programs.

Nobody gives credit facilities without condition, and local commercial banks insist many covenants and supervise the programs. The government of Sri Lanka needs educating its people about the IMF and its programs, if it happens, people would not blame to the IMF. I understood about the IMF when I was studying International Monetary Economics at the university and I gained a broader knowledge about the IMF role.

Shenali D Waduge

LTTE is demanding a separate Tamil Eelam – so is TNA & even LTTE fronts. Anyone in doubt need only to take their statements, press releases, election manifestos, webpages, interviews to relieve their doubt. What no one can forget is that TNA was created as the political wing of the LTTE no sooner US declared its War on Terror in 2001. Majority of the TNA members were part of the TULF that openly advocated a separate Tamil Eelam in 1976 via Vaddukoddai Resolution. It was in that same year that Prabakaran rechristened his Tamil New Tiger movement as LTTE. However, the US-India regime change in 2015 propped TNA/ITAK as leader of the Opposition. That same year Sri Lanka went on to co-sponsor the UNHRC resolution politically accepting war crimes by Sri Lanka’s armed forces & lifting bans on LTTE fronts. While Tamil politicians, LTTE & LTTE fronts seek a separate state, why would West, India & UN apparatus support this contrary to what they preach diplomatically?

If the statements by LTTE & Tamil political parties as well as echoed even inside the Jaffna university which is run with public funds, are virtually on par with each other, it means they share a common ideology.

However, with the defeat of LTTE in May 2009, the military arm of that ideology was quelled. What the political players failed to understand was that the ideological arm of separatism continued & began to thrive thereafter in fusion with geopolitical agendas.

To a certain extent the LTTE quelled the rise of the political ideology through Prabakaran’s military might, yet no sooner he was eliminated the separatist worms came out of the political closet both in Sri Lanka & overseas. They saw the weaknesses of Sri Lanka’s political parties & players & used their funds to accentuate their separatist quest to another level, that would have been impossible had Prabakaran been alive. Confounding matters was the manner that geopolitical players & their agents gave oxygen to this quest.

This is why all of the players that were on the side of LTTE have become the post-LTTE champions of reconciliation” peace doves” and accountability” crusaders. This surely exposes their hypocrisy. They ganged up to bring terror on Sri Lanka & now they are ganging up to bring a different form of terror. These come in the form of organizing street protests to remove military & camps in the North & East and not allowing Sinhalese & Muslims chased out from the North to return to their original habitats.

Will the countries that demand Sri Lanka close its camps in North & East, first leave the illegally occupied countries they are keeping their troops for over 20 years.

The quest to separate though initially launched in South India was encouraged in Sri Lanka via Tamil politicians. The 50-50 demand, to the formation of ITAK (Tamil State Party) in 1949 & thereafter the Vaddukoddai Resolution in 1976. The Church played a key role throughout & perhaps considered the architects of the slogans that were used. Fast forward to present day politicians – the younger politicians screaming for homelands” are all linked to some form of Church.

The TULF contested the 1977 general elections using the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution.

12 years later in 2001, LTTE took reigns & formed the TNA alliance which comprised TULF, All Ceylon Tamil Congress, India created TELO & EPRLF.

8 years later the Global Tamil Forum was created in 2009 & had as its policy advisor Joan Ryan, Labor MP. Following the demise of Prabakaran, a plethora of LTTE fronts began emerging to claim stake to the LTTE kitty as well as take the Eelam” demand to another level. These outsourced eelamists” must be the only foreign-passport holders claiming a ‘separate homeland’ that they will never live in but are able to generate funds & churn stories of history that even historians should feel embarrassed about.

 With LTTE military defeated & LTTE leader eliminated, the baton to ‘separate Sri Lanka’ was passed to ITAK which was echoed at the ITAK 2014 Convention – ITAK is now the legitimate representative of the Tamil people”.

It was at this same ITAK convention that R. Sambanthan its leader declared that India will never welcome a political solution in Sri lanka that does not accord with the interests of India”.

In short it meant that whatever solutions” were being laid on the table had to be advantageous to India not the Sri Lankan Tamils. While the Sri Lankan politicians both Tamil & Sinhalese are well aware of this fact, majority of Tamils are ignorant.

Thimpu Talks got nowhere because it was not ‘advantageous to India’,

The Federal  Constitution got nowhere because it was not ‘advantageous to India’.

Indo-Lanka Accord stands in limbo until India can secure its hold of key assets/resources in North & East & thereafter it will push for full implementation & autonomous rule. Another area that Sri Lanka’s politicians & policy advisors have failed to comprehend the scope of threat.

There is a steady pattern to the demands that were initiated by Tamil political parties & not the LTTE. All of Sri Lanka’s governments have failed to see these patterns & devise strategies to address them. Government police makers have failed to read the constitutions of TULF, ITAK, TNA, LTTE fronts & put the puzzle of their ultimate goals & aims. All of Sri Lanka’s Governments have fallen for the reconciliation bogey and followed a cuckoo land scenario thinking everything to be honky dory by spreading love while the enemy is busy preparing the grounds to declare self-determination.

There is no reason for any elected government to be negotiating with any party if their aspiration is to separate Sri Lanka under whatever nomenclature in an armed or political effort. This political bargaining, that is not based on the interest of the citizens, must stop.

Shenali D Waduge

• sangam.org – Vadukoddai Resolution 1976
• sangam.org– TULF General Election manifesto 1977
• tamilnet.com– TNA manifesto 2001
• tamilnet.com– TNA manifesto 2004
• com  – TNA manifesto 2010
• colombotelegraph.com– TNA manifesto for 2013 NPC elections
• colombotelegraph.com– TNA manifesto 2015
• colombotelegraph.com– Sambanthan speech at 14th ITAK Convention 2012
• tamilcanadian.com
• colombotelegraph.com– ITAK Convention 2014
• Global Tamil Forum – globaltamilforum.org
• tgte-us.org– Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
• sinhalanet.net

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

 ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ සංචාරක ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ පාර්ශවකරුවන් සක්‍රීයව සම්බන්ධවන මෙරට දැවැන්තම සංචාරක ප්‍රදර්ශනය වන සංචාරක උදාව ප්‍රදර්ශනය  2023.05.19 දින  කොළඹ, බණ්ඩාරනායක සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේදි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් විවෘත කරන ලදී.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා අභ්‍යන්තර සංචාරක ක්‍රියාකරුවන්ගේ සංගමය (SLAITO) විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද සංචාරක උදාව ප්‍රදර්ශනය ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ සංචාරක ක්ෂේත්‍රයට සම්බන්ධ කුඩා හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ ව්‍යාපාර කරුවන්ට මෙන්ම මෙම ක්ෂේත්‍රයට පිවිසීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන ඕනෑම අයෙකුට තම භාණ්ඩ හා සේවා සදහා වෙළඳපොළ අවස්ථාවන් සොයා ගැනීම සඳහා ඉවහල්වේ.

වෙළඳ කුටි 250කින්  සමන්විත මෙම ප්‍රදර්ශනය අද (19)සහ හෙට(20) දිනයේදී පෙ. ව 10 සිට ප. ව 8:00 දක්වා මහජනතාව සඳහා විවෘතව තැබේන අතර  හෝටල් ,සංචාරක නියෝජිතයන්, ගුවන් සේවා සමාගම් , සංචාරක සේවා සපයන්නන්, අධ්‍යාපන ආයතන මේ සඳහා සහභාගි  වේ.  

මෙම අවස්ථාවට SLAITO හි සභාපති නිශාද් විජේතුංග, සංචාරක උදාව ප්‍රදර්ශනයේ  කමිටු සභාපති චරිත් ද අල්විස් යන මහත්වරු ඇතුළු සංචාරක ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Shenali D Waduge

https://www.shenaliwaduge.com/new-parliamentary-budget-office-bill-attempting-to-outsource-parliamentary-functions-to-a-corporate-body-mcc-private-company/

When Sri Lanka in view of its geopolitical position is vulnerable to a plethora of external destabilizing attacks (regime change, economic subjugation, cultural genocide, foreign-funded ethno-religious terrorism / diluting of heritage values, infiltration into Public Sector apparatus riding on accountability” trojan horse) Sri Lankans need to look at every proposal with caution. Anyone reading the draft Bill to set up a Parliamentary Budget Office should realize that the attempt is to outsource parliamentary functions to a corporate body. Anyone who followed the Millennium Challenge Corporation documents would see sharp resemblances.

The MCC presented as a gift” immediately after Easter Sunday in April 2019 was a meagre $480m over 5 years to be given NOT to the GOSL but to a Private Company set up by the GoSL.

• GOSL signs MCC & passes in Parliament (sign first passing second – making MCC a domestic law though MCC agreement is valid only for 5 years). With that shelved, is the PBO an alternative?
• GOSL establishes an accountable entity”- a Private Company – MCA Sri Lanka Private Limited (Primary Agent of GoSL to legislate on behalf of Sri Lanka ‘ AGENT of the Sri Lankan Government ‘)
• Only after above, the disbursement of money will take place to a private bank & not to the Sri Lankan Treasury (just like the current Bill)

Refer: MCC Agreement / Program Implementation Agreement / Annex 1-34 of MCC Annex IV under Independence & Autonomy

• Does Sri Lanka’s Constitution permit a Govt elected only for a term to hand over land & interests of people to a company who is agent of the $480m
• This Company – MCA Sri Lanka is outsourced Govts role & able to enter undisclosed agreements (just like the current Bill)
• Given that there was objection to MCC Private Company – is the Govt attempting to take a different path to achieve same objective via the PBO Bill claiming it is for accounting purposes but given the objectives under the MCC Private Company?
• Sri Lanka’s legal luminaries must question if both are a violation of Article 76 of Sri Lanka’s Constitution

Parliament shall not abdicate or in any manner alienate its legislative power and shall not set up any authority with any legislative power” (golden words – is this why there are attempts to change the Constitution)

• The present Bill omits the international law” that was applicable to US & US citizens who were given immunity, however instead the Bill gives the Parliamentary Budgetary Office immunity.
• The present Bill also commits an entire nation to ‘unknown agreements’ which can be used as well
• MCC Company Board comprised GOSL Secretaries / PBO is basically providing scope for same
• GoSL undertook responsibility & accountancyity for MCA-SL private company (Section 3.2) – the PBO which also sets up a virtual separate entity under a CEO is about to do the same
• MCA-Sri Lanka could enter into contracts, sue & be sued, hold MCC funding in a private bank – just like the present Bill
• MCA-Sri Lanka private company was to get access to all Sri Lanka’s state records (just like the present Bill)
• Why would the GoSL wish to pass on the work that the Auditor General & Elections Commissioner can do within their current capacity to a private body? This is the golden question.

Are the above aspired objectives not covered or cannot be covered under existing Article 148 of the Constitution?

• Why would a Parliamentary Budget Office become a body corporate” exactly what is a body corporate” & what is aspired by perpetual succession”.
• Why would a Parliamentary Budget Office wish to be sued”.
• If the PBO is accountable to Parliament” how can it be independent” from Parliament?
• What is implied by independence of PBO”
• Who is implied as no person” influencing or interfering
• What is the undue influence or interference” being implied?

• Doesn’t Article 148 provide provision related to public finance?
• What is this independent, non-partisan analysis related to the budget’ being referred?

• The PBO seeks to provide services to 4 segments – a Committee in Parliament / a MP / a recognized political party or independent group or to Parliament
• However, it is only fair to question why these aspects cannot be fulfilled within the existing apparatus?

• Why should the Constitutional Council recommend to the President to appoint a Parliamentary Budget officer to be a CEO?
• What is the purpose to be appointing a private role to a public service?

• Does it mean that a person with at least 15 years of experience in government budgeting has to APPLY to the Constitutional Council who then recommends to the President to be appointed
• Who is he reporting to?
• Who can fire him?
• This question emerged when the IGP could not be sacked as there was no provision in the independent commission to sack him

• Is this appointment to be immediately after the election of a government?

• Is it the Constitutional Council who decides to extend the term of the PBO?

• Why is there a need for a Deputy Parliamentary Officer, who is recommended by the Constitutional Council, appointed by the President & eligible to become the PBO?
• How can he be sacked?

• Is this to encourage non-public servants or public servants now working in international or private roles to apply?

• What a merry-go-round this is going to be – if the Constitutional Council does not accept the 1^st list sent by the Secretary General of Parliament, a 2^nd list is sent or fresh applications are called

• The Secretary General of Parliament selects the PBO & Deputy PBO with assistance from 2 new roles (Chair of the Committee on Public Finance & Chair of the Committee of Ways & Means) & Deputy Speaker of Parliament
• Ways & Means Committee” originated in the UK though abolished in 1967 yet the Chairman’s role remains with Deputy Function as Chairman (Chairman & 2 Deputies are voted by ballot in Parliament)

• If the PBO or Deputy PBO cannot be a MP, or even from PC or Local Authority or from a political party or trade union – does this indirectly imply that the 2 positions are only for non-state sector persons?

• Who can send complaints is not addressed
• So the Secretary General of Parliament forwards complaint to the Committee on Public Finance (CPF) with copies to the CC. the CPF conducts an inquiry.
• Why should the Executive President of Sri Lanka function to the dictates of the CC?
• 
• Can this role not be undertaken within the present existing system?
• Who can replace the Deputy PBO in the event he is unable to perform duties.
• 
• If PBO is accountable to Parliament & remuneration is determined by Parliament, why should it be called a body corporate”.

• Is this recruitment from within State service & as staff of state service?
• What is implied as obtain services from any person” does this include foreign consultants?
• What is implied by enter into agreements with any person” what type of agreements & who are the persons & is this without informing Parliament?
• Why the emphasis on ‘digital transfer in mailable formats” … information possessed by any State Institution – is this to be sent abroad?

• Again, why can’t these services be done within the existing set up?

• What is the reason for this clause?
• When a person is appointed for a specific task, why should that task need to be delegated to others. If so, it may as well be included in their job profile!

• What is implied as undue influence”
• How can there be transparency if 26 (2) (b) requires not to ‘disclose to the public any agreement entered into with any public institution” – what kind of secrecy is the PBO office expected to carry out under the guise of ‘independent’ entity?
• Let it not be forgotten that if the Parliament is accountable to the people, and the PBO is accountable to Parliament, then the PBO has to also be accountable to the People.

• There is little magic being done under this role & begs to question why it cannot be done in the existing set up?

• Who is going to be funding these independent” inquiries some involving foreign as well, while keeping details secret from the Public?
• Exactly what is the purpose of these inquiries?

• What is going to be the outcome of all this analysis & who is going to be funding it?
• When political parties are not legally registered, how can their manifestos be questioned?
• Doesn’t the Election Commission have powers to check the funding to parties?
• What is the role of the Auditor General as against this new entity?
• Is there not likely to be not only conflict of interest but overlapping of work & roles too

• What are the appropriate safeguards” the PBO can put in place?
• Why would PBO wish to be privy to ‘national security information’?
• Why are state sector employees being bound to provide all info to this new Office?
• What is the danger of giving information when this ‘body corporate’ is also given scope for ‘perpetual succession’ and can even be ‘sued’ as well as able to ‘dispose any property movable or immovable’ belonging to the state of Sri Lanka?

• What is the sudden hurry to analyze party manifestos which can easily be monitored by the Election Commission

• This leaves just 14 days to scrutinize what the PBO has presented

• It is now clear that the PBO is to run independently” with provision for perpetual succession” being funded by donations, gifts & grants” and we can guess where these will come from & how far such will undermine the sovereignty of Sri Lanka as PBO is accessing information of all State institutes & having their data in a format that can be emailed too!

• Does any bank” imply that PBO can hold account in private banks or even international banks?
• This is one key aspect of the MCC corporate body

• What is the role of the Auditor General against this new Office with a vague set of ‘independence’ measures?

• If this newly formed office is only collating statistics and compiling reports, why should they be granted immunity?
• Also all Public Servants even under Scheduled Institution are prone to action against corruption.

• If they are public servants why should they be immune?

• Is this not cause for concern given that donations, grants & gifts from unknown sources are allowed to the PBO?

• The PBO may make rules, which has to be gazette & PBO can take upto 3 months after publication to place before Parliament for approval? – what kind of arrangement & wastage of time is this?

• Again why cannot the Auditor General’s department not take on this role?

cWhy can’t the Election Commission carry out what PBO is attempting to do via party manifestos?

• With this new office being privy to State information, why are they given immunity?

The Parliament cannot outsource its delegated tasks to a company run by a CEO and with ‘perpetual succession’ – this is violating the constitution and the spirit with which the citizens delegate their powers to elected representatives to function as custodians of the State.

Shenali D Waduge

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara..

The promulgation of a Republican constitution on 22 May 1972 saw the end of Dominion status (rather colonial subservience and servility) and the birth of a completely an independent Sri Lanka, and thanks to that great and patriotic lady Sirimavo Bandaranayaka, the modern Vihara Mahadhevi of Sri Lanka.

Under the new Republic Constitution of 1972 enacted at her command, the office of Governor General, the Head of the State, hitherto appointed by the Queen of the United Kingdom, was replaced by the office of President. Mr William Gopallawa  the Buddhist mahopasaka going by the age old tradition of this country became the first President of fully Independent Sri Lanka, while Mrs Bandaranaike became Prime Minister.

With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka, the National State Assembly superseded the Seventh Parliament. The country thereafter came to be known as the Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka and the Parliament as the National State Assembly, thus giving a sense of a national outlook and pride, replacing the colonial Parliament. This event marked the birth of a new era of a new nation flowering the aspiration of a newly independent nation, ever since 1815 after 133 years of colonial subjugation and oppression

Since then, the Republic Day was celebrated for 6 years with pomp and glory as the Independence Day of a free nation up to 1977.With the change of Government in 1977 July, the  UNP came in to power. JR Jayawardhana became the President of the Republic. But JR keeping in line with his Western bias replaced the newly invented National State Assembly with the old colonial Westminster Parliament. Also, once again he reversed the Independence Day back to Feb 4^th  in  1978 as if he was a family member of the British Royalty, to perpetuate the colonial imprint displaying the servility to the colonial west. This aptly shows his patriotism setting a wrong example and a black mark as the Head of the State.

 Ever since all governments, even those of Chandrika, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sirisena and even Gotabhaya, all of whom had cut their umbilical codes in the SLFP labour room shamelessly and disgracefully sticked to the JR model of the British inherited Parliament in place of the indigenous term Jaathika Raajya sabhaava”,betraying not only their leader who gave birth to these terms, Mrs Bandaaranayaka in 1972 in keeping with her fervent patriotism and respect to tradition of her motherland and the Sinhala Nation but also the  whole nation, without a shame unto them and also structed to Feb 4^th as the Independence Day continuously thereafter, completely ignoring may 22^nd  the real independence day of the native people of Sri Lanka , ignoring their celebrated leader and all the patriotic policies of the SLFP and the burning aspirations of the newly born Sinhala nation.   

Thereafter, the much celebrated Janaraja Dinaya, the pride of the nation, has been in limbo for the past 26 years since it was discontinued in 1978 by JR, after it had been celebrated with patriotic pomp and glamour for 6 years from its first celebration held on the Mahamaluwa in front of the Sri Daladaa Maaligava in Mahanuwara marking a historic land mark in the political history  and the dawn of a new era in the history of this country.

Since I too had the fortune to be a member of the organizing committee headed by the Government Agent Kandy  S. Maaralanda, as a young Assistance Director of Small Industries, I could still remember the enthusiasm, the joy and the sense of pride abundantly displayed by the organizers as well as the participants at this state function presided over by the most Venerable Mahanaayaka Theros of Aagiriya and Malwatta attended by the Governor General William Gopallava and Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka, that great lady who created world history as the  first woman Prime Minister in the world and  her Cabinet and decorated with diplomatic dignitaries. I too had the privilege of being a party to this historic national ceremony as the person who provide 2500 chairs for the function.

Is it persistence of colonial subservience and servility and stupidity on the part of political leaders of the post 1977 and their lack of commitment for nation building and the   indifference on the part of the general public or something entirely different, invisible and externally manipulated only the presidents will know.?

It is a well-known fact that this country got full independence from the British colonial rule only on the 22^nd of May 1972 and definitely not on the 4^th of February 1948 for the following reasons.

I. It is only with the enactment of the 1972 Republican Constitution on May 22^nd this country became a fully independent and sovereign country as the following three things happened only on that date.

The Legislative, Executive and the Judicial powers of the country became fully independent for the first time only in May 22^nd   1972 after ceding it to Britain in 1815 by the Kandyan Convention. Sovereignty of the people and the country was also restored only on that day after 157 years of subjugation. The day a new nation was born.

Until then, although we were supposed to have received full independence  , as  a section of the politicians and also some political pandits say, from the British rule on the 4th of Feb 1948 as the books record it, in reality, even after 1948, we were functioning more or less as a suzerainty of the British empire with constitutional restrictions as given below.

1 Legislation in the Sri Lankan Parliament of the country up to May 1972 was made in the name of the Queen of England

2.The executive Head of the State who was called Governor General was also appointed by the Queen of England answerable to the King/Queen of England and finally,

3. The appellate power of the Judiciary was also with the Privy Council of the United Kingdom of Britain and as such there was no independent Judiciary in this Island.

Furthermore, the Legislative power of the Parliament was also restricted by the conditions set out in chap 15 on Defense and External affairs of the Solebury Constitution.

Is it sheer political ignorance or lack of an iota of sense of Independence, patriotism or national pride on the one hand  and colonial subservience and ugly servility on the part of all post 1977 politicians that made them to go back to past colonial subservient and servile mentality on the other hand is  a moot question that baffles my mind as a patriotic son of Mother Lanka. Truth like oil always come to the surface. As such I hope, the day a patriotic leader comes to power this deplorable political decision will definitely be reversed.

Taking all these facts in to consideration, I hope and wish the President and the Prime minister will take action to restore May 22 as the Republican Day and the Independence Day of this Nation, at least from next year and go down in history as two rare leaders who took the correct decision making the people of this country to think and feel that once again they have become an Independent nation  on this planet.

Shenali D Waduge

Geopolitical Terrorism:

There is a difference in being BORN gay & BECOMING gay. When there is a sudden surge in adults becoming gay & inducing teens to follow, it raises doubt as to its ‘natural’ increase. When the LGBTQ movement is being sponsored by Western governments, within UN apparatus & via well-funded movements it further raises doubt especially when job quotas” promotional campaigns” scholarships” draw people to become gay to gain a place” for themselves. This aspect of whether people are being drawn to become LGBTQ against their natural orientation needs to be publicly debated by all stakeholders.

Cultural Terrorism

The global campaign is being steered by the usual slogans that illegally invaded nations: human rights” freedoms” are all western coined phrases used to nitpick on countries they geopolitically target. The slogans force western values, western laws, western freedoms & western rights & attempt to erase Eastern civilizational heritage that is centuries older than the West. Therefore, can the West dictate what values, freedoms, rights should be upheld by countries & punish countries for preferring to follow their historical cultures instead of the new cultures imported by the West?

This is another area for public debate.

Economic Blackmail

Is it not strange that the Western countries & UN backing LGBTQ take pains to demand decriminalization & inclusion of LGBTQ agendas even in school education or face economic sanctions/ AID cuts or even negative UN reports? Wasn’t this what led to Sri Lanka’s Foreign minister agreeing to decriminalize LGBTQ without even seeking permission from the GoSL or the People. Why do the West not show similar attitude to stop drugs, human smuggling, child prostitution, elite crimes etc?

To be included to the debate is the issue of against order of nature” as given in Section 365/365A of the Penal Code. Even normal man & woman are required to behave differently in public. Why should this small community get preferential treatment to behave as they like? 

If the Penal Code regards ‘against order of nature” as being illegal & anti-social, when the LGBTQ movement & its supporters demands its removal – does it not imply that they admit that their behavior is against the order of nature & that is why they want it to be removed? Should a small segment of society be able to erase clauses that have been upheld by people as law whether they like it or not?

The lobby to decriminalize LGBTQ want the Legislature to accept their behavior is not against law & order by removing the clause that refers to their behavior as being against the order of nature(365 & 365A of the Penal Code)

If Sri Lanka’s Parliament passes the law & repeals the Penal Code that has thus far criminalized their behavior, Parliament is firstly accepting that their sexual conduct was against the order of nature but agrees to repeal it. Is what the Parliament is doing fair by the larger populace of non-LGBTQ public who regard LGBTQ behavior as being against the order of nature (at least done in Public)?

When supporters of LGBTQ request to remove 365/365A they are asking to remove their conduct of ‘indecency’. In so doing, they are admitting to their behavior as ‘indecent’.

LGBTQ community are giving themselves the seal of ‘misconduct’ and ‘indecency’.

They are arguing to repeal clauses that have regarded behavior against order of nature as being indecent. To seek to remove it means they admit to acting against the order of nature & being indecent.

If they now claim their behavior is natural – what is their ‘evidence’ to show?

Cultural Shock – Children Shocked 

Simply because there is a global wave supported by foreign funds & foreign lobbies & foreign campaigns to spread LGBTQ among young & adults, Parliament has to consider the likely outcome to society. What is the percentage of this movement which has suddenly gathered numbers because of the foreign wave of lobbying. This itself confirms there is no ‘natural’ tendency but a movement based on a trend.

Decriminalizing would impact society in many ways.

Why would LGBTQ movement wish to remove the penal code clauses applicable to safeguard children from carnal sex / indecency or anything against order of nature?

Why are entities paid to protect children’s rights backing the removal of provisions that safeguard children! Would they sacrifice their own children to become gays & behave in ways that they are advocating for other children to behave?

Imagine a child from 1 year to 18years viewing men & men & women & women in carnal pleasure in public? What kind of shock is this to these  young minds? Would they not want to experiment themselves (is this type of behavior to be regarded as the new normal simply because it is diplomatically forced down on us), what would this mean to their psychology & mental framework. How do parents explain these matters? In a world where virtues and values are getting warped and ruined by all types of illicit programs at play, mentally tormenting the child constitutes abuse.

Is Parliament being led to legalize unnatural behavior?

Parliament needs to also look at the manner this form of new sexual behavior has escalated. There are all forms of sex that borders on brutality, enslavement, even endangering life of people (including children). What is the protection for adult & child against hard sex? It may come to a point where the LGBTQ partner comes a victim & a sexual slave & physical & mental victim of sexual bribery. The Parliament & not the Court must take this up.

What is the psychological standard which the Parliament must set to maintain a healthy society? 

Man is differentiated by animal not because of the lower carnal similarities but because of the mindfulness of the humans.

Is Parliament to give prominence to carnal behavior over the mind? 

If LGBTQ that thrives and survives on the carnal aspect enters into all spheres of society & is encouraged as ‘natural’ which is defined not something coming from birth as something being a common factor of life, will this not be deployed as another tool no different to how geopolitics used prostitutes to defeat the enemy. There are scores of examples from history where great battles & leaders have fallen, simply by hiring the services of a prostitute for carnal pleasure. The moment the psychic level is brought down & degraded, the society declines & the eastern civilizational pattern also declines. Is this the Western agenda?

Even the West that boldly legalized LGBTQ ar

A society is at an advanced or lower state based on the psychological prowess of its people not their carnal prowess – the battle is thus between human’s natural vs unnatural & decent vs indecent. The Legislature is expect to maintain the people at a higher level not move them lower to carnal instincts.

The LGBTQ community & their supporters are asking to be accepted at an unnatural & indecent level(in the manner they have sought to repeal penal code)

It is proven that the moment the psychic level lowers vis a vis sexual pleasure it brings disastrous outcomes to the level of addiction, mania & madness & impacts long term psychic health of a society. Some may even view this as ‘fanciful’ but what if these hypotheses become a reality?

Ideally, the LGBTQ lobbies should have sought to maintain the penal code sections & requested changes to laws so they do not face discrimination in everyday living.

The Court looks at the constitutionality only but the Legislature/Parliament has a far bigger role & must take stock of the social economics & psychological impact & gain a majority consensus  without rushing to please the western promoters and a handful of their stooges.

Shenali D Waduge

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando.

Up-country reign was divided into 21 sectors. Out of 21 sections, the kingdom was divided into 12 main sectors, with a separate section head (Disapathy) in charge of every section who possessed the executive powers (civil and war affairs).  These Disapathys collected taxes from the king’s subjects and sent taxes to Kandy.  Disapathys paid all the facilities of the king and paid to the government stores annually. They rented land not for the money but for their service to the King.  

However, economic growth cannot be compared with Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa eras. It was mentioned that, unlike the dry zone, up country being a wet zone, there was adequate water supply in the up-country in both seasons (yala & maha) because of the river’s waterways were available adequately. Apart from that, some rivers and waterways made the earth retain water which would be ideal for agriculture. During the 17^th century kings in the upcountry didn’t say much because they didn’t have to do much apparently. However, due to political reasons and the independence of the nation, some kings had to do various things.

That may be why some of the kings had to do something due to political reasons, the security, and economic establishment of the country. King Wimaladharmasuriya was one of them who took some action. The hill country made some progress and founded several foundries and encouraged the cotton industry. It was mentioned in the Mandaram news. During the Kandy reign there were under-mentioned table gives in detail how the income of the King was generated:

1 Whenever a King was crowned, all the gifts were offered to the King by all Adikarms, Disapathies, and senior officials

2. After the New Year, what are senior officials paid to the treasury annually?

3 Out of Royal Stores bags of rice and paddy.

4. Out of royal estates and lands the produce.

5. Out of the areca nut income of all ‘Koralyas,’ main establishment, including all three ‘Koralayas’ on areca nuts.’

6, The King possessed the sole ownership of precious stones.

7. Kada Service (Marala Badda) – if a person dies who owned cattle (a calf, a cow, or even a buffalo) had to be given to the King. Kada service (Land tax)- during the Kandy Reign (the land tax) was the main tax form.

SOCIETY, OCCUPATION, AND THEIR SOCIAL STANDING

During the Kandy reign, the income came to the king by land tax.

One remarkable feature of the upcountry regime was that those who lived in the King’s Palace, known as the Pariwahara, enjoyed special privileges. The upcountry kingdom had a unique system of distributing land (Badawadili) to those who lived in the Palace.

The king’s Ministers were known as Nilames, Adi Karam, and Chief Adikam. When they toured ordinary people had to pay respect to them. Anyone, except the royal family, was banned to sit in the presence of Nilames. When Adikarms walk, others had to get to a side. A very special costume adorned the Adikarms. Regarding Kath Rice Service- the entire reign had organised the number of paddy seeds to be handed over to the Kath Idam (ekkayanta ) organisations and the amount of spreading of paddy seeds was taken into account, and out of this common tax was exonerated from the farmers. If anyone did not pay the tax (as there were records in the royal office) the person who avoided tax could be jailed in a store. Dugganna Ralas declared those who were dead.

In 1817 John Doyley and James composed the name list of the up-country Nilames

Second Adikarms.

Sathara Korale Dissawa

Hath Korale Dissawa

Mathale Disawa

Sabaragamuwe Dissawa

Udunuwara Rate  Mahattaya

Yati Nuwara Rate Mahattaya

Thunpane Rate Mahattmaya

Haarrispatthuwa Rate Mahattmaya

Dum bara Rate Mahatmaya

Hewahata Rate Mahtmaya

Meemure Rate Mahatmaya

Kotmale Rate Mhatmaya

Uda Bulathgama Rate Mahatmaya

Paatha Bulathgama Rate Mahatmaya

Maha Diyawadana Nilame

Pallewagla Diyagabawadna Nilame

And Maha Gabada Nilame

Extra list of Munandirams.

White cattle class Munandiram (Sudu Harak Panthiye).

Kuttaga Secretaires (Cavum Badda sparu pugagalala yande praddaniya).

Lunu bade Pradniya (The official who collected the Salt tax).

Patti Vidana

Poropakara Munandiram (The chief officer who fells trees.)

Uve Gon Baddsathsare Pradaniya (The official who transports goods).

All Sathara Korale Madage and Wadige Karyance chiefs (They were Muslims)

Pahatha Bulath Gama Chief neli

Everywhere agriculture existed, there were paddy fields. Everyone’s livelihood depended on successful paddy farming, unlike in the flat land framers creating on precipices. Dry Land farming was done beautifully and systematically. Dryland and what was known as adakku. Itbecame a family requirement such as coconut; areca nuts, vegetables, firewood, and grass, as home supplies, except for clothes, salt, etc; which villagers made by themselves.

Every small village consisted of 8-10 houses, whereas there were more than 100 houses in large villages. The ownership of homes depended on the service to the King. When the farmland hires another person to work on the paddy field, the lender had to give the owner a box of rice and paddy ten nelis.

In Kandy, it was believed that there were many forests. Without the king’s permission, it was illegal to do any agriculture. During this era, the land was distributed in different ways. Everything that belonged to the king and was allocated to the treasury was named Gabada land,

Industries and Technology.

Because agriculture was given a prominent place, irrigation was given prominence. Knox had named the hill country as follows: ‘He could clear the earth flat, and did irrigation work. No slopes or mounds were seen when he made it to flat land. According to the precipice, steps were completed. Liyadda in the paddy field was divided in such a way that the earth was moved and flattened so that from bottom to the top, it looked like a flight of steps. He made it from the top of the hilly side so that the water flew to the precipice. Hoo sound was usually made into practice. Two ‘hoowas’ were equivalent to a man who could carry a log without being tired. Four miles were equivalent to a Gawwa. Generally, a Gawwa is equivalent to any journey less than 10 miles. Each land was categorised in a different way. For instance, whatever lands allocated through the treasury were named idam Gabda; daily royal workers were named Vidana idam, permanent royal worker’s lands were named Wasm idam, personnel, vihara, and religious land as vihara gam and I’m sorry, but “devala gam.”

Apart from specific numbers in the military services, during emergency situations, there was a method of recruiting members to the military service existed. In 1821John David devised methods according to the cast system that prevailed.

Vaishada Wansaya.

Govi Wansaya (Agriculture), Includes Ved – Tailedas.

Nilamakkara (Patti) Shepherds.

Ikrasdra Wansaya

Karawa (fisher folk)

Baantho (Dur (Taileawe) Toddy Tappers

Achari, Black.

Sannali (Tailers).

Badam Hela, Kubaalu).

Ambattayo, Pannkki.

Rada Badda (Dhobis)

Hali, Chariwaru (ie:Halasgama)

Hunu Badda, those who produce chalk.

Pannayo, (who cut grass),

Villidarai (a province in Kandy)

Theda Veddo (hunting Veddas).

Padu (those who melt Iron ,Gahalayo)

Berawa Badda or Mahabadda, Drummers.

Hedi (Those who supplied Boxes and spices to the Royal stores

Pallara

Oli

Radayo.

Pali (A lower cast than Kumbal Kuleena- Dhobies

Kinara Badda.

Society did not accept those categories

Ganna

Rodi

End.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Courtesy: The writer translated into English from the text of the late Prasad Milinda Siriwardena, Ceylon Economic Analysis between BC 543 to 1832. The only relevant sections were extracted out

Shenali D Waduge

It was in 1752 that Ven. Upali Thera of Siam was assigned by the Siamese monarch to visit Sri Lanka to restore the Buddhist Sangha Order in Sri Lanka. The backdrop to this was the request made by King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe who sent a convoy of monks initiated by Ven. Weliwita Saranankara to Siam.

The hospitality shown by Siam continues unabated to this day and Sri Lanka acknowledges with pride the warmth with which a fellow Theravada nation continues to uphold traditions.

The Sri Lankan delegation headed by Wilbagedera was a journey that departed from Trincomalee Port on 1^stAugust 1750 & took 3 months passing Cambodia to reach Siam. The delegation returned on 30 May 1753.

The detailed and picturesque account of the respect and honor given to the Sri Lankan 60 member delegation in 32 boats by the Siamese King is enchanting to any reader.

It was after this visit that Sri Lanka saw a revitalization of Buddhism & within 3 years, 3000 samaneras had joined the Sasana.

Over 50 Buddhist theros from Thailand arrived by boat to commorate the 270^th anniversary of this journey.

But this commemoration was disturbed by a mob of unruly protestors organized by Jaffna District Parliamentarian S. Gajendran infront of the playground in Trincomalee. The behavior of the hooligans necessitated the decision to change the venue of the protest for the safety of the theroes.

Had this happened to a non-Buddhist event, by now the entire diplomatic entourage would have been blowing hot & cold and Geneva would be issuing non-stop statements against Buddhists. 

With very little or no support from the Government top brass or the Minister tasked to protect Buddhism, the non-Buddhists of the area alongside the Sri Lanka Armed Forces & Police, took mattes into their hands & facilitated the commemoration as planned. Though it is extremely sad that in a majority Buddhist country, the Buddhists have been brought to a level where commemorating an ancient journey is prevented by protests that are excused on the bogey of bogus reconciliation & promoted by a bunch of racist separatist Tamil politicians & their hired stooges.

https://www.dailymirror.lk/worldnews/breaking_news/Protest-against-higher-ordination-ceremony-in-Trinco/108-259222

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=2Rb1fB&v=1152143515615347

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=591002939839491&extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=2Rb1fB&ref=sharing

Arun Siddharth has declared that the protestors protesting against the Thai theros commemorating 270^thAnniversary were hired Jaffna university students – we are not a bit surprised.

270 years ago Sri Lanka had to seek the assistance of the Royal Thai king & it is prudent that we have returned to warrant a similar request on account of the challenges & denigrations the Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka currently face.

It is unfortunate that inspite of holding a Buddhist Summit in India, no statement has been issued against the Tamil politicians by India against this racist act of attempting to prevent a religious commemoration while also scaring Buddhist theros arriving from Thailand to mark this anniversary.

Shenali D Waduge

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා සහ ඔහුගේ බිරිඳ ජලනි ප්‍රේමදාස මහත්මියද ජෙරම් ප්‍රනාන්දු දේවගැතිවරයාගේ ගෝලයන් බව හිටපු හමුදා බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන් කීර්ති රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

රාජපක්ෂලා පමණක් නොව සජිත් පේ‍්‍රමදාස, ජලනි පේ‍්‍රමදාස, රෝසි සේනානායක, දප්පුල ලිවේරා, සාලිය පීරිස් ඇතුළු පිරිස්ද මේ අතර සිටින බව ද හෙතෙම පවසයි.

මෙරට බලවත් පිරිස් ජෙරම් සමග සිටින පොලීසියට ඔහුගේ මයිලකටවත් අත තියන්න බැරි බව ද හෙතෙම කියා සිටී.

ජෙරම් ප්‍රනාන්දුගේ ආගමික ස්ථානය ඉදි කිරීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුව විසින් ඉඩම ලබා දුන්නේ පර්චසය රුපියල් 50 බැගින් බවත් ඔහු තවදුරටත් සදහන් කලේය.

ඔහු මෙම අදහස් පල කරන්නේ අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ නිවස ගිනි තැබීමටද මූලික වුණේ බෝර්න් අගේන් කල්ලිය බවත් හෙතෙම එහිදී පැවසීය.

 Lanka Lead News

උතුරු සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත්වල ආණ්ඩුකාරවරු ඉවත් කිරීමට අදාළව ජනාධිපතිවරයාට මෙතෙක් කිසිදු ජනාධිපතිවරයකු නොකළ ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ගැනීමට සිදුවන්නේ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගේ බලපෑමට යටත් වීම නිසා බවත්, නැගෙනහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ලෙස සෙන්දිල් තොණ්ඩමන් පත් කිරීම යනු ගෝපාල් බග්ලේ ආණ්ඩුකාර ධූරයට පත් කිරීම වැනි ක්‍රියාවක් බවත් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා ලංකා ලීඩ් වෙත කළ ප්‍රකාශය සත්‍ය බව මේ වන විට සනාථ වී තිබේ.

සෙන්දිල් තොන්ඩමන් මහතා ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ලෙස වැඩ බාරගත් වහාම, ප්‍රථමයෙන්ම හමුවී ඇත්තේ මෙරට ඉන්දියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් ගෝපාල් බග්ලේ මහතා ය. ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා අතර පවතින සමීප සබඳතාව හෙළිකරන ඡායාරූපයක් ද මේ වන විට සමාජ මාධ්‍ය වෙත නිකුත්වී තිබේ.

සෙන්දිල් තොන්ඩමන් මහතා එම ඡායාරූපයත් සමග සටහනක් තබමින් පවසා ඇත්තේ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ලෙස දිවුරුම් දීමෙන් පසු ප්‍රථමයෙන්ම ඉන්දීය මහ කොමසාරිස් ගෝපාල් බග්ලේ මහතාගේ නිවසේ දී ඔහුව මුණගැසීම ඉමහත් සතුටකි. අප අතර ඇති ශක්තිමත් ද්වීපාර්ශ්වීය සබඳතාව ඉදිරියට ගෙනයාමට මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කර ගන්නවා  යන්නය.

අදාළ ඡායාරූප සටහන හා ප්‍රවෘත්තිය පහළින්…

ආණ්ඩුකාරවරුන් ඉවත් කළේ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගේ බලපෑමට… නැගෙනහිරට සෙන්දිල් තොණ්ඩමන් පත්කිරීම සහ ගෝපාල් බග්ලේ පත්කිරීම අතර වෙනසක් නැහැ – ජාතික සංවිධාන කියයි

Courtesy Adaderana

Another petition has been filed before the Commercial High Court demanding compensation for the environmental disaster caused by the X-Press Pearl ship, which was gutted in a fire in May 2021 on Sri Lankan waters.

Accordingly, the petition seeks an order to secure a compensation of at least USD 06 billion from the relevant shipping companies for the grave damage caused both to the environment and various other sectors as a result of the disastrous fire.

The petition was filed by four parties including the ‘Wana Arana Foundation’, with eight companies, including Sea Consortium Lanka, the local representative of the Singaporean-flagged vessel,  being named as respondents.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has unreservedly rejected the recent statement issued by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pertaining to Sri Lanka’s civil war.

On 18 May 2023, Trudeau issued a statement containing ‘outrageous’ claims of genocide relating to the past conflict in Sri Lanka, to which the island nation’s Foreign Ministry responded saying such ‘irresponsible’ statements made by the leader of a nation breeds disharmony in both countries, as opposed to promoting peace.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the Ministry urged Canada and its leaders to refrain from making pronouncements from Canada which promote hatred, misinformation and extremist views, and to cease its unhelpful focus on Sri Lanka based on distorted facts.  

This runs contrary to the Canadian Prime Minister’s stated objective of ‘safeguarding human rights across the world’”, the statement read.

Below is the full statement issued by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs unreservedly rejects the statement issued by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 18 May 2023 containing outrageous claims of genocide relating to the past conflict in Sri Lanka. Such irresponsible and polarizing pronouncements by the leader of a nation breeds disharmony and hatred both in Canada and Sri Lanka, instead of promoting peace and reconciliation.

Sri Lanka urges Canada and its leaders to refrain from making pronouncements from Canada which promote hatred, misinformation and extremist views and to cease its unhelpful focus on Sri Lanka based on distorted facts.  This runs contrary to the Canadian Prime Minister’s stated objective of safeguarding human rights across the world”.

Sri Lanka vehemently rejects this unsubstantiated narrative of ‘genocide’ which has been deliberately constructed by politically motivated anti-Sri Lanka elements whose so-called recognition in Canada depends on spreading misinformation and a false narrative of hatred.  We urge caution at a time when the world is combatting the dangers of misinformation, including through social media platforms.

For over three decades the people of Sri Lanka suffered from the brutal terrorism waged by the LTTE” one of the world’s most ruthless terrorist organizations which suppressed the lives and democratic rights of all communities, Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese in all parts of the country. The LTTE atrocities included assassinations of Sri Lankan and foreign leaders as well as moderate Tamil leaders. The defeat of this terrorist organization brought security and stability to Sri Lanka.  The LTTE continues to be proscribed in several democratic countries including Canada. Many Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and disabled in protecting the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the country.

Sri Lanka and Canada are linked by a significant community of Canadians of Sri Lankan heritage who maintain a rich and mutually reinforcing relationship between our countries. We urge the Canadian Government and its leaders to leverage this platform to form bonds of friendship and harmony between people and to refrain from polarizing communities in both Canada and overseas.

Despite the socio-economic challenges encountered by the country at present, Sri Lanka has made a cautious start in ushering in stability, recovery and furthering reconciliation for all communities and all segments of the people. We deeply appreciate the support we have received from the international community in this effort.

Both Sri Lanka and Canada are committed to common democratic values, institutions and traditions and to the promotion of peace and prosperity to improve the lives of fellow citizens.  Sri Lanka wishes to engage with Canada, a longstanding bilateral and development partner, in this spirit of mutual respect and calls on Canada to ensure that its pronouncements are not detrimental to Sri Lanka’s overriding national interest of ensuring the prosperity of our people and future generations.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

News reported president Wickremasinghe wants to implement education reforms, however, which area of education should be reformed has not clearly expressed. Reforming the education is a policy action in any country and Sri Lanka would not be extraordinary compared to other countries. In many countries, education reforms will be concerned about the availability of funds as the reforming process demands funds for various payments and the Sri Lanka needs to focus incorporating essential features should be education and the values should be gained by kids from the education.    

The address of the president (at Rahula College, Matara) focused on education reforms without mentioning a specific area of education. Education could be divided into early childhood, primary, secondary, TVET and high education.  The address of the president was a general statement without specification of reforms and whether the policymakers taken to account the president’s speech is a vital question because politicians in Sri Lanka make public statements, but they would not become a part of the active policy process.  

Since the era of the State Council education reforms has been a significant aspect and many changes in the education system in Sri Lanka incurred since then but only few reforms have been activated by bureaucrats, the major reason for inactive in implementation of education reforms seem to be a lack of knowledge and experience of bureaucrats, and the other point is giving priority for talks than actual implementing the required reforms.

As I observed, education reforms in Sri Lanka could save many spending for unnecessary activities and the quality could be improved by reforms. In Sri Lanka, many activities that could be done at school level could be avoided by reforms and educators should be given a responsible role in allowing them to use the system for making money. Private tuition by persons without proper training to educate kids should be banned and in the teachers’ supervision and evaluation process should be examined how the role of accountability of teachers performed.  

The education system of Sri Lanka is suffered by lack of funds and while this issue remaining, the education administration seems to be wasted funds for not essential work, such as for conducting competitive exams. G.C.E ordinary level, scholarship exams that are purely wasting funds and they should be done at the school level. In many countries, the Grade 10 examination and a part of Grade 12 examination are done at school level and the management structure of the schools has forced to continue scholarship examination unnecessarily getting involved by parents.

From the Kinder to grade 12 kids could be offered education in three media, Sinha, Tamil and English, however, many people with negative attitudes oppose such a broader education and TVET education also could offer according to international standard, education reforms have not directed to implement such a valuable education.  The major reason is attitude problems of parents, teachers, administrators, trade-unions, politicians and many others.

The government of Sri Lanka could be saved lots of funds if it was successful implements reforms. There are different roles for stakeholders and in Sri Lanka, the role of stakeholders alloyed, and many problems created in the education system.    

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Ranasinghe Premadasa was born on June 23, 1924 at Dias Place in Keselwatte, Central Colombo. His parents were Richard Ranasinghe of Hegalle, Kosgoda and Jayasinghe Arachchige Ensina Hamine of Batuwita, Horana. Premadasa was the eldest of five children.

Premadasa had told Sarath Amunugama that his father had a hackery transport business near Colombo harbor,  where he rented out hackeries (rickshaws) for transporting people and goods.  Colombo was developing at the time and the business would have flourished.

There is a photograph of Premadasa when he was one year old, in a hackery. The best reproduction of this photograph is in Bradman Weerakoon’s book Premadasa of Sri Lanka, 1992 (see photo facing page 48)

One-year-old R. Premadasa with his parents in 1925

The photograph makes is clear that Premadasa did not come from a poor home.  Premadasa was not ‘the son of the urban poor’ as he is presented in the media. He came from a comfortable middle class home. In the photo, his father and mother look confident. They carry themselves well and they are well dressed. His mother wears many chains and his father displays the comb expected of southerners. Baby Premadasa also is very smart. He is dressed from head to toe, in western costume, including leggings. The child pulling the rickshaw is the only one who is poorly dressed.

 Premadasa had his primary education at Harvard Methodist Girls School and Lorensz College. Lorensz College, which does not exist today, was situated at Skinners Road, Maradana.    It has been described by Henry Jayasena as the poor man’s English school. Premadasa‘s   secondary education was at St.  Joseph College, where he studied up to the Cambridge Senior.  Premadasa had also attended Hewavitarana Daham Pasala in Purwarama temple in Pettah.

When he was fifteen years old, Premadasa started the Sucharita Children’s Society, to help needy families, especially those in shanties. This later became the Sucharitha Movement.  He started a night school for school dropouts. This became popular and he moved the school to a rickshaw garage close by, probably his father’s. It is Sucharita Hall today.  At 17 years, he chaired the anniversary meeting of Sucharita Society.

Mrs. LSB Perera, a relative, told me that she had gone to Sucharita Hall as a young girl to help out. She knew the young Premadasa. She had studied at Ladies College and her doctor father owned the Private General Hospital in Ward Place, Colombo. This shows that Premadasa had the support of some at least, of the upper class in Colombo for his charities.

Premadasa first entered politics through A.E. Goonesinghe’s Ceylon Labour Party.Premadasa’s father came from the same village as AE Goonesinghe in Balapitiya and Goonesinghe had helped him establish his hackery transport business, Sarath Amunugama said.

Premadasa joined   the Ceylon Labour Party as a full-time member in 1946   and campaigned for Goonesinghe in the 1947 general election.  In 1949, Premadasa was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the San Sebastian ward, a UNP pocket borough.      He   continued to represent this ward till it disappeared.In 1955 Premadasa became Deputy Mayor of the Colombo Municipality.

Premadasa    joined the United National Party in 1956.  His political talents were quickly recognized,  specially his superb speaking skills and organizing ability. Premadasa was easily one of the best speakers on the UNP platform. He was a brilliant attacking speaker. UNP pitted him against SWRD who was also a brilliant speaker but without the Sinhala language skills that Premadasa had, said Sarath Amunugama.

 Premadasa made his mark as a pugnacious fighter.He contested Ruwanwella against NM Perera in the 1956 elections, though he had never even visited there. The first time he had ever gone there was to hand over nomination paper. His election campaign was so good that he gave a good fight to NM.  Premadasa’s   organization ability was legendary. He undertook tasks that others shirked, continued Sarath.

Premadasa never forgot his supporters from Ruwanwella. He helped them even after he had established himself in Colombo Central and had no intention of ever going back to Ruwanwella. Premadasa had great respect for the left leaders specially NM Perera and Colvin R. de Silva and did not attack them with the venom reserved for SWRD, concluded Sarath.

 Despite many obstacles Premadasa   forged ahead. There was the usual issue of caste, Premadasa was non Goigama, but that did not deter Premadasa .In the March 1960 General election, Premadasa was elected to the multi member Colombo Central  seat. This was a   difficult multi-member seat, observed Bradman Weerakoon.

In 1961, Premadasa also returned to Colombo Municipal Council having been elected from the Cinnamon Gardens Ward .This ward was in   a   fashionable part of Colombo, but it also had pockets of poor and disadvantaged.He held this position till 1964 and during this time he opened pre-schools for poor families and initiated vocational training centers in sewing and tailoring for the youth, said Bradman.

Premadasa married Hema Wickramatunge in 1964. Premadasa said that after 1964 he never suffered an electing defeat, his wife had brought him good luck.

 In 1965 he was Member of Parliament for Colombo Central and in 1968 he was appointed Minster for Local government. Premadasa entered the Cabinet, within a few years of entering Parliament, observed Bradman. It was a quick rise.  Nihal Seneviratne, then Clerk of the House of Representatives, recalled that soon after, Premadasa had told Nihal that he wanted to learn the parliamentary procedure as he did know anything about them. He learned fast, said Nihal.  

Premadasa was very active as Minister of Local Government. He impressed at all levels of local government, village, town, urban and Municipal, said Bradman Weerakoon.He became known in the local governments in the island. He thought up imaginative projects, such as the ‘instant bridges project’, small bridges across streams, which were of great assistance to local people. 

Premadasa set up a Rural road and Bridges Division in his Ministry for the purpose. This Division completed 22 pre- cast bridges in 22 districts, ‘in one day’, said Evans Cooray. Within a year he had completed 80 pre- cast bridges.  Further, Premadasa    converted the Maligawatte swamp into a flourishing low cost housing scheme, with a school, health facility, playground, park, post office and shops. This is not remembered to day, but I think that this was one of his best achievements.(continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Premadasa won his seat at the General election of 1970, without any difficulty. In 1970, Premadasa had built five pre- fabricated houses and one community hall in every district, said Evans Cooray. Mayors and chairmen of local bodies were invited to Temple Trees and their views were obtained.

The UNP victory at the General Election of 1977 was Premadasa‘s victory not only JR’s, said analysts.  Premadasa played an important role in that election. He planned his campaign and canvassed throughout the country. With his earthy anecdotes and devastating wit, he drew huge crowds, said Bradman Weerakoon.  When JR became President, Premadasa became Prime Minister. Premadasa held the position of Prime Minister from 1978-1989.

Prime Minister Premadasa set up mobile offices to take government offices to villages, meet people and solve their problems on the spot. For this purpose, a new division was created under the Prime Minister, called the Mobile Office Secretariat.

An electorate was selected by the Prime Minister and a Mobile Office was set up in a school in that electorate. The school was selected by the Prime Minister. Officers moved one day ahead to set up their offices in   the school classrooms. We had to arrange school desks, tables and chairs to function as an office.  The staff were put up in villagers homes for the night.

Premadasa virtually took the entire Government machinery, from the Department of Registration of Persons to the RMV, to a selected village and attended to the villagers’ problems for a couple of days, said analysts. An oath of service (prathigna) was taken to start off proceedings. Prime Minister Premadasa visited every office set up for this mobile project.He could usually be found in one of the kiosks personally supervising the whole operation, said an analyst.

A senior officer who could take decisions was sent from each ministry or department to this mobile office. The instructions were that the officer sent should be able to take decisions on the spot and see that they are carried out without delay. I was appointed by my Ministry for this duty, at the first mobile office said GAD Srimal.

 GAD Srimal related that at the Mobile clinic, villagers came to his office, seeking employment in the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) which came under his Ministry. I had to find a way out without displeasing and disappointing them, so I opened a register to register their names and pleased them by saying that I will be sending these names to CEB and they will be called as when vacancies occur. They left rather satisfied. Whether they received any such letters from CEB is another matter, but as far as I was concerned, I had not disappointed them.

 Then there were organizations, continued Srimal. Buddhist priests wanting electricity to be supplied to places far away from the existing transmission lines. I inquired as to how many houses were there and the distance from the transmission lines, just to show I was keen to help them. The area electrical engineer who was with me spoke of the approximate cost which was prohibitive.

Seeing that there was no way in helping them, as there was no financial provision in the budget of the Ministry as well as CEB, I requested them, to contact the Member of Parliament to provide funds from his Decentralized Budget. The MPs later stormed my office, in Colombo and expressed their displeasure for making them lose face in their electorates.

The parents in the house he stayed in asked Srimal to find employment for their daughter. I gave him my office address in Colombo and requested him to send me an application, with her educational qualifications and left, genuinely to help. Sure enough, I received her application, to see she had not passed O/Level. I had to reply, saying her educational qualifications were not enough to at least consider for appointment as a clerical hand and that ended our connections.

GAD Srimal was also involved in the mobile office at Matugama electorate. I contacted the Divisional Manager and the Area Electrical Engineer, to find out what projects are in hand in this particular electorate . In this electorate there were four Rural Electrification Schemes under construction. We decided to have Prime Minister declare open at least one of these on the day of Mobile Office was to be held.

 The Divisional Manager and the Area Electrical Engineer also said that if any person wishes to have electricity connection on the same day, it could be provided, if the house is close to the transmission lines, and no new electrical post to be planted.  I contacted my friend Jehan Cassim, Chairman of Bank of Ceylon. He told me that there would be a mobile BOC there and he could make arrangements to receive payments. 

We announced over the address system that the Prime Minister will be declaring open a particular rural electrification project and those desirous of having electricity connection on the same day could call over, get the estimate and make payments at the Bank of Ceylon Mobile Office. When Prime Minister heard this, he was surprised and when he walked into my office, which he normally does, visiting all offices, he thanked me and said that it was such action people want, not to hang around offices in Colombo to get a minor job done.

A week or so later, an officer met me and wanted to know whether I wish to join the Prime Minister’s Mobile Office Secretariat, which I politely declined. Jehan Cassim had told me how he is called up at odd times of the day and night, disrupting domestic life.

 An engineer, who had also attended a Premadasa mobile office, told a group of us this story. The villagers had asked for a water connection. The Water Board had said that it could not be done. Premadasa had then asked the Water Board officials whether they could provide taps and pipes, to the houses, but without giving the water connection. The officers had readily said that this could be done. ‘What a great chap Premadasa is”, concluded the speaker. The audience was silent.

My first day of experience in a Mobile clinic is worth mentioning for another reason, said GAD Srimal. That evening, after I set up my office in the classroom allotted to my Ministry, a few officers from the Prime Minister’s Mobile Secretariat walked in and questioned me rather rudely, as to why I had not hung a picture of the Prime Minister. I said that there were no such instructions and I have not brought a picture. One of them ran back to the Prime Minister’s Mobile Office Secretariat and brought a framed photograph and hung it on the wall behind where I was to sit. While leaving the officer told me that the Prime Minister was very particular about having his picture exhibited.

Next morning, I found that the clerical assistant and the KKS had garlanded the picture with Watu Sudda flowers, plucked from a tree in the school garden. I questioned as to why this was done and my clerical assistant and the KKS said that they heard what the officers had said of the importance of the picture of Prime Minister hence placed a garland to give added recognition.  When the PM stepped into my office and I greeted him, I noticed him looking smilingly at his own portrait.  That was the start of hanging pictures of political leaders.

 At Matugama too, the Area Engineer had garlanded the photograph with Yellow Daspethiya flowers. Sure enough, when Prime Minister Premadasa, stepped into my office, I saw his smiling facial expression on seeing his picture, concluded GAD Srimal.(Continued)

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando.

Up-country reign was divided into 21 sectors. Out of 21 sections, the kingdom was divided into 12 main sectors, with a separate section head (Disapathy) in charge of every section who possessed the executive powers (civil and war affairs).  These Disapathys collected taxes from the king’s subjects and sent taxes to Kandy.  Disapathys paid all the facilities of the king and paid to the government stores annually. They rented land not for the money but for their service to the King.  

However, economic growth cannot be compared with Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa eras. It was mentioned that, unlike the dry zone, up country being a wet zone, there was adequate water supply in the up-country in both seasons (yala & maha) because of the river’s waterways were available adequately. Apart from that, some rivers and waterways made the earth retain water which would be ideal for agriculture. During the 17^th century kings in the upcountry didn’t say much because they didn’t have to do much apparently. However, due to political reasons and the independence of the nation, some kings had to do various things.

That may be why some of the kings had to do something due to political reasons, the security, and economic establishment of the country. King Wimaladharmasuriya was one of them who took some action. The hill country made some progress and founded several foundries and encouraged the cotton industry. It  was mentioned in the Mandaram news. During the Kandy reign there were under-mentioned table gives in detail how the income of the King was generated:

1 Whenever a king was crowned, all the gifts were offered to the King by all Adikarms, Disapathies, and senior officials

2. After the New Year, what are senior officials paid to the treasury annually?

3 Out of Royal Stores bags of rice and paddy.

4. Out of royal estates and lands the produce.

5. Out of areca nut income of all ‘Koralyas,’ main establishment, including all three ‘Korlaya’ on ercanuts.’

6, The King possessed the sole ownership of precious stones.

7.Kada Service (Marala Badda) – if a person dies who owned cattle (a calf, a cow, or even a buffalo) had to be given to the King. Kada service (Land tax)- during the Kandy Reign the land tax was the main tax form.

SOCIETY, OCCUPATION, AND THEIR SOCIAL STANDING

During the Kandy reign, the income came to the king by land tax.

One remarkable feature of the upcountry regime was that those who lived in the King’s Palace, known as the Pariwahara, enjoyed special privileges. The upcountry kingdom had a unique system of distributing land ( Badawadili) to those who lived in the Palace.

The king’s ministers were known as Nilames, Adi Karam, and Chief Adikam. When they toured ordinary people had to pay respect to them. Anyone, except the royal family, was banned to sit in the presence of Nilames, When Adikarms walk, others had to get to a side. A very special costume adorned the Adikarms. Regarding Kath Rice Service the entire reign had organised the amount of paddy seeds to be handed over to the Kath Idam (ekkayanta ) organisations and the amount of spreading of paddy seeds were taken into account, and out of this common tax was exonerated from the farmers. If anyone did not pay the tax (as there were records in the royal office) the person who avoided tax could be jailed in a store. Dugganna Ralas declared those who were dead.

In 1817 John Doyley and James composed the name list of the up-country Nilames

Second Adikarms.

Sathara Korale Dissawa

Hath Korale Dissawa

Mathale Disawa

Sabaragamuwe Dissawa

Udunuwara Rate  Mahattaya

Yati Nuwara Rate Mahattaya

Thunpane Rate Mahattmaya

Haarrispatthuwa Rate Mahattmaya

Dum bara Rate Mahatmaya

Hewahata Rate Mahtmaya

Meemure Rate Mahatmaya

Kotmale Rate Mhatmaya

Uda Bulathgama Rate Mahatmaya

Patha Bulathgama Rate Mahatmaya

Maha Diyawadana Nilame

Pallewagla Diyagabawadna Nilame

And Maha Gabada Nilame

Extra list of Munandiram.

White cattle class Munandiram (Sudu Harak Panthiye).

Kuttaga Secretaires (Cavum Badda sparu pugagalala yande praddaniya).

Lunu bade Pradniya (The official who collected the Salt tax).

Patti Vidana

Poropakara Munandiram (The chief officer who fells trees.)

Uve Gon Baddsathsare Pradaniya (The official who transports goods).

All Sathara Korale Madage and Wadige Karyance chiefs (They were Muslims)

Pahatha Bulath Gama Chief

Everywhere agriculture existed, there were paddy fields. Everyone’s livelihood depended on successful paddy farming, unlike in the flat land framers creating on precipices. Dry Land farming was done beautifully and systematically. Dryland and what was known as adakku became a family requirement such as coconut; areca nuts, vegetables, firewood, and grass, as home supplies, except for clothes, salt, etc; villagers made by themselves.

Every small village consisted of 8-10 houses, whereas there were more than 100 houses in large villages. The ownership of homes depended on the service to the king. When a farmland hires another person to work on the paddy field, the lender had to give the owner a box of rice and paddy neli ten.

In Kandy, it was believed that there were many forests. Without the king’s permission, it was illegal to do any agriculture. During this era, the land was distributed in different ways. Everything that belonged to the king and was allocated to the treasury was named Gabada land,

Industries and Technology.

Because agriculture was given a prominent place, irrigation was given prominence. Knox had named the hill country as follows:  ‘He could clear the earth flat, and did irrigation work. No slopes or mounds were seen when he made it a flat land. According to the precipice, steps were completed. Liyadda in the paddy field was divided in such a way that the earth was moved and flattened so that from bottom to the top, it looked like a flight of steps. He made it from the top of the hilly side so that the water flew to the precipice. Hoo sound was usually made into practice. Two ‘hoowas’ were s equivalent to a man who could carry a log without being tired. Four miles were equal to a Gawwa. Generally, a Gawwa is equivalent to any journey less than 10 miles. Each land was categorised in a different way. For instance, whatever lands allocated through the treasury were named idam Gabda; daily royal workers were named Vidana idam, permanent royal worker’s lands were named Wasm idam, personnel, vihara, and religious land as vihara gam and I’m sorry, but “devala gam.”

Apart from specific numbers in the military services, during emergency situations, there was a method of recruiting members to the military service existed. In 1821John David had devised  a methods according to the cast system that prevailed.

Vaishada Wansaya.

Govi Wansaya (Agriculture), Includes Ved – Tailedas.

Nilamakkara (Patti) Shepherds.

Ikrasdra Wansaya

Karawa (fisher folk)

Baantho (Dur (Taileawe) Toddy Tappers

Achari, Black.

Sannali (Tailers).

Badam Hela, Kubaalu).

Ambattayo, Pannkki.

Rada Badda (Dhobis)

Hali, Chariwaru( ie:Halsgama)

Hunu Badda, those who produce chalk.

Pannayo, (who cut grass),

Villidarai (a province in Kandy)

Theda Veddo (hunting Veddas).

Padu (those who melt Iron ,Gahalayo)

Berawa Badda or Mahabadda, Drummers.

Hedi (Those who supplied Boxes and spices to the Royal stores

Pallara

Oli

Radayo.

Pali  ( A lower cast than Kumbal Kuleena- Dhobies

Kinara Badda.

Society did not accept those categories

Ganna

Rodi

End.

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Courtesy: The writer translated into English from the text of the late Prasad Milinda Siriwardena, Ceylon Economic Analysis between BC 543 to 1832. The only relevant sections were extracted out