Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

SriLankan Airlines unveiled extensive expansion plans for the near future, including the induction of seven more aircraft in 2011, launching a floatplane domestic service, adding several new destinations, luxurious flat-bed seating in Business Class, and diversifying into several related areas of activity.

The plans include the acquisition of five Airbus A320 s and two Twin Otters. Three of the A320 s will be the first brand new aircraft acquired by the Airline since the year 2000, and will be fitted with the latest Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment systems. The Airline will also re-launch its SriLankan Air Taxi domestic service as early as this winter, with plans to fly to more than a dozen destinations island-wide including the city of Colombo.

SriLankan is also finalizing plans to launch new services in 2011 to several cities including Guangzhou in China, expanding its global network to over 50 destinations. Meanwhile the Airline s existing long-haul fleet of A330 and A340 aircraft will be fitted with Flat-Beds, providing absolute luxury for Business Class passengers on all flights to Europe and other long-haul routes.

NishanthaWickremasinghe, the Airline s Chairman, said: SriLankan Airlines intends to be a catalyst for our country s economic expansion, by supporting the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to transform the island into a hub. Our plans will spur growth in all types of export and import industries, with particular emphasis on tourism. We believe this is the right time for the National Carrier to expand our products and services - our country is at peace tourists are flocking to our shores in record numbers and the economy is growing.

The Airline s subsidiary SriLankan Catering (Pvt) Ltd. just took over the management of the 24-roomed Transit Hotel at BIA last month. SriLankan Catering also recently launched a new Laundry Service targeted at airlines using Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), hotels in the Negombo region, and factories in the area s industrial zones.

SriLankan s plans were announced at a ceremony on 3rd September in Katunayake for the Airline s 31st anniversary, which was attended by Sri Lanka s two Deputy Ministers for Ports and Aviation, Hon. DayashrithaTissera, and Hon. RohithaAbeygunawardena, together with Member of Parliament Hon. NamalRajapaksa.

The federal government is dispatching a former spy chief to Asia as a special envoy on human smuggling to help prevent more migrant ships from arriving on Canadian shores.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says former Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Ward Elcock will visit Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries to improve co-operation and information sharing.

Kenney, in the middle of an Asian tour of his own, plans to tack an Australian stop onto his trip to meet officials in Canberra and see an asylum processing centre.

The Conservatives are putting together a package for this fall that would aim at putting a stop to -- or at least seriously deter -- ships full of migrants heading to Canada's shores.

They hope to have a bill before Parliament by early next month.

In August, the MV Sun Sea showed up off the coast of Vancouver Island with almost 500 Tamil passengers on board, fleeing Sri Lanka via Thailand.

It was the second such ship in less than a year, prompting speculation the Tamil Tigers terrorist group is targeting Canada as a destination.

Now, rumours are rampant that more ships full of Tamils are preparing to depart Thailand for Canada.

The federal Conservatives have said repeatedly they will respond forcefully with legislation and other messages to dissuade smugglers.

'There's nothing that we can do to eliminate the possibility of human smuggling,' Kenney said during a conference call with reporters Thursday.

'There are some things we can probably do to decrease its frequency or its likelihood. One of those things is better co-operation with countries in the region.'

The Asian trip by Elcock, who served as CSIS director from 1994 to 2004, is part of that effort, Kenney added.

The minister's move reflects a growing recognition that stopping migrant ships can't be done by Canada alone, and any effort Ottawa makes needs to be complemented by measures elsewhere in the world to control human smuggling.

Elcock said Thursday it was 'way too early' to discuss the issue, noting his assignment is in the planning stages.

Earlier this week, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews launched a public awareness campaign to fight human trafficking.

And several federal departments are hashing out a list of measures they could adopt to turn ships away -- including harsher penalties for human smugglers, and devising ways to intercept ships well before they sail into Canadian waters.

The RCMP is carrying out an 'intensive and ongoing investigation' into the recent arrival of the Sun Sea and the Ocean Lady last year, Kenney noted. But he hinted at difficulties confronting police.

'I believe that sometimes in these situations the smugglers, the organizers, use fear as a tactic to intimidate their customers, if you will, into silence, and not fingering the profiteers. That's an operational challenge for the law-enforcement agencies.'

One insider said authorities believe the Sun Sea ringleaders threw their weapons overboard before approaching the B.C. coast and later tried to blend in with the migrants who almost certainly paid hefty sums for passage to Canada.

Critics say Canada has the tools to deter human smuggling operations -- it just needs to use them more effectively. Penalties are already stiff, but Ottawa could apply them more actively to send a message around the world.

'All they have to do is implement what Parliament has given them the power to do,' said NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow.

Ottawa should be working more actively with Sri Lanka to ensure peace and respect for human rights there, she said.

At the same time, the Canada Border Services Agency should modernize its technology and improve its tracking of migrants in Canada so they can be processed quickly, she said.

Plus, Parliament has just passed a bill completely reforming the refugee system so that it works faster. As soon as the government implements the new rules, spurious refugee claimants should get the message and stay away, Chow added.

Sri Lanka has consistently been one of Canada's top sources for refugee claimants, according to figures from the Immigration and Refugee Board. Sri Lankan claimants also have one of the highest rates of acceptance among people seeking refuge in Canada.

Ottawa could solve many of its problems by designating Sri Lanka a 'source country' for refugees, said law professor Sharryn Aiken at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

That way legitimate refugee claimants could deal directly with Canadian officials in Sri Lanka, without having to deal with any shady middlemen or dangerous ships, she said.

'We're throwing a whole lot of solutions at the wrong place,' she said.

In 2008 and 2009, more than 90 per cent of their claims were accepted, although this rate fell slightly to 85 per cent in the first half of 2010.

In 2008, 1,002 people from Sri Lanka made claims for refugee status in Canada, followed by 827 in 2009. In the first six months of 2010, 355 claims came from Sri Lankans.

Canadian investigators have identified six LTTE captains among the illegal immigrants who arrived on board the Ocean Lady in October 2009 and MV Sun Sea last month.

Investigation findings remain discreet as the government intends to arrest the organisers of both these ships shortly, authoritative sources said. Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney who was in India last week on a multi-country visit has also changed his travel plans to tour Australia, this week, where he is expected to discuss the country s tough policies in dealing with illegal immigrants, the paper said.

Elcock, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director from 1994 to 2004, will visit Thailand and the Philippines, where the international smuggling networks are based in and most of the illegal migrant activities take place, to pursue high level discussions seeking cooperation on intercepting smugglers.

Canada is pursuing coordinated efforts and international policies to deter human trafficking following the arrival of Ocean Lady, a suspected LTTE arms vessel carrying 76 refugee claimants last year and the much bigger human smuggling operation on MV Sun Sea last month with 492 illegal immigrants and suspected LTTE members.

Sri Lanka maintains that both these ships were operated by the active LTTE human trafficking network and hardcore LTTE leaders and members, were also on board among others. Sri Lanka s High Commissioner in Ottawa, Chitranganee Wagiswara is in contact with the Canadian Foreign Ministry sharing intelligence on the background of the ship and its crew, the Foreign Ministry said.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left for China on a week-long visit as the head of a military delegation.

He is accompanied by Army s Chief of Staff Major General Daya Ratnayake, Navy s Chief of Staff Rear Admiral D.W.A.S. Dissanayake and Air Force Chief of Staff Air Vice Marshal P.B. Premachandra.

China was one of the main suppliers of military hardware in Sri Lanka s campaign to defeat the LTTE.

The Sunday Times team comprising Anthony David, Leon Berenger and photojournalist Saman Kariyawasam trek three hours in the jungles of the Knuckles Range recently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO to get a first hand view of the controversial holiday home being built by Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunatilleke
Past the 27th kilometre post on the highway from Rattota to Pallegama, we take a right turn into a rugged road. Strewn with worn out metal and potholes are stretches of what was once a paved tea country roadway during colonial times.

Our Dolphin van moved even slower than a steamroller, wading through some bushy outgrowth and mud. After six kilometres, precariously crossing culverts made of old, decaying railway sleepers or logs and skirting over watery ditches, we could not proceed.We alighted and trekked another six kilometres along pathways. The journey was slow and painful. Removing leeches, wiping the blood they sucked out and walking the hilly tracts took three hours. Rays of the hot noon sun came only through patches of sparse vegetation overhead in the dense jungle. We were now in the 155 square kilometre Knuckles National Heritage and Wilderness Area, now a UNESCO declared heritage site. The climate was cool.

Rare endemic flora abounded the jungle. Wild boar, deer and monkeys roamed freely in the area.

From a hilly plateau, we climbed over 120 steps to a taller mountain. The steps were paved with rugged slabs of rock. As we reached the top, the contrast seemed like a scene from a movie. The mountain range, which resembled the knuckles of two fists, was beautiful and offered a panoramic view. Standing before us was a brand new bungalow. Curtains covered the windows. The chimney of a fireplace rose above the green amino metal sheet roof. The floor was paved with wooden parquet flooring. An old house and a few abandoned structures lay next to the new one. Private Property. Trespassers will be prosecuted, warned a board in Sinhala. The area, once the village of Sudugala with tea plantations, is now part of the conservation zone. The only remnants of agriculture were abandoned cardamom plantations.

We approached the front door of the older house. A youth in his late twenties, whom we later learnt was the caretaker answered. Is the owner of these houses here? Can we speak to him, asked Leon. Who are you? he asked. We said we were from the Sunday Times. We had thought that the neatly built adjoining house belonged to a leading Colombo businessperson. The caretaker proved us wrong. He reached for a CDMA telephone, dialled a number. We heard him saying in Sinhala that two persons from the Sunday Times (Times paththaren ) had come. He then handed over the receiver to David.

David asked Whom am I talking to? The answer: I am Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunatilleke, Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force. David told him that the Sunday Times was investigating reports about people constructing houses in the conservation area, flouting the law. I am well within the law and have nothing to hide, declared ACM Gunatilleke. He said he was the lawful owner of the two roomed house on 50 acres of land. The Sunday Times of August 22 reported that it was an eight-roomed house. Members of Nature Forum, an environmental group had claimed the house estimated to be worth Rs 60 million, was eight roomed and had granite flooring. It has now turned out that they had not visited the exact location.

ACM Gunatilleke claimed that the construction was on an existing building and is hence legal. I have not felled a single tree. He described the new bungalow as a mini holiday home and claimed he had spent only Rs 2.8 million for the 1300 square feet building. However, other contractors, both in Matale and in Colombo, told the Sunday Times (upon being shown pictures of the house and description of the location) that costs would far exceed Rs 2.8 million. Remember, every item that was required for the construction had to be transported, hand carried by labour and taken uphill. This is expensive, they told the Sunday Times. A construction engineer in Matale added, It would cost at least five million or more since the overheads are so high when you construct a building in a remote location inside the jungle. Even with free labour, you cannot build a two roomed house with luxuries for that price. Both spoke on grounds of anonymity.

A.G. Kumarasingha, the Chairman of the Laggala Pallegama Pradeshiya Sabha also told the Sunday Times that construction work has been carried out on an old house. I have visited the house and found that out. It is only if you build a new house that permission is required, he said. However, as the picture on this page shows, the bungalow is brand new. We walked around and saw no signs of it being built on an old structure.