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Another assault to the political opponents in Kelaniya

(Lanka E News -2007 July 27, 7.30 PM) A mob last night hurled stones at three houses belonged to the supporters of Sripathi Suriyaarachchi who took part in the People's Wave demonstration and rally held yesterday (26).

The houses belong to SLFP central organization secretary Gamini Gunarathna and two other members, one a member of the Kelaniya Muslim branch.

The houses of these three ardent supporters of the SLFP - People's Wing Coordinator Sripathi Suriyaarachchi were attacked within half an hour period.

Police has not made any arrests yet and the current organizer of the Kelaniya electorate is Minister of Labor Mervin Silva.

Can we speak the truth?

By Siri Hettige
Professor of Sociology, University of Colombo
While some political groups in the South seem to be happy about the government?s war efforts, ordinary citizens continue to experience untold hardships due to increasing insecurity, widespread violence, loss of employment and escalating cost of living. The general attitude of the average person today is that the future is extremely bleak and that, all those who can should get out of the country as quickly as possible.

Some people continue to express the view that other countries should not interfere in the affairs of the country because Sri Lanka is a sovereign state. Now let us find out how independent and sovereign this country is. One does not need to be an expert to figure out that Sri Lanka has never been so dependent on the outside world for its day today needs as it is today. We have over a million workers abroad earning much needed foreign exchange for the country. We have borrowed so much from foreign countries over the last three decades that Sri Lanka is indebted to the tune of over 60% of the country?s GNP. The country does not produce adequate food and depends on regular imports of such vital food items like sugar, milk food, and wheat flour. We do not produce most of the pharmaceutical items, medical equipment, etc needed by medical institutions and therefore heavily depend on imports to keep our hospitals and health clinics going. We import almost all transport equipment including fuel to run all our transport services and if there is any interruption of such imports, the country will come to a grinding halt.

The worsening security situation has reduced the inflow of tourists to a trickle and most tourist hotels and other enterprises dependent on tourism have already laid off thousands of workers. The questions they and their dependent families ask can be deeply troubling to people who have any human feelings: where can we go? How can we feed our families? For how long do we have to wait before our livelihoods are restored?

It is common sense that economic collapse and political trouble in developing countries drive people away and the lines outside western embassies in these countries get longer by the day. This is naturally a worrying development from the point of view of western countries. The latter usually want to be selective, not just accept all those who are fleeing trouble spots like Sri Lanka. It is usually economically and socially useful migrants who are welcome in western countries.

Sri Lanka?s recent experience shows that many people with investment capital and entrepreneurial skill leave the country when the situation in the country deteriorates. This happened in the late 1980?s. They leave not only because it is difficult to do business and make money under such conditions but also due to the fact that they are worried about the safety and future prospects of their children. When such people leave, many more people are adversely affected due to loss of employment and income opportunities. Most of these innocent people have to suffer in silence as they have nowhere to go.

Even the richest country in the world has no unlimited resources. A poor country like Sri Lanka, which is highly indebted to the outside world, has serious resource limitations. Both direct and in-direct cost of the war has absorbed a large part of the country?s resources, both human and financial. It was reported in the parliament recently that the war has cost Rs.1, 240 billion so far in financial terms. This is the direct cost. If we add the indirect costs of loss of income and investment opportunities, the amount is much more. The value of human lives lost, disabilities caused, property destroyed etc. would not be easy to estimate. Those who support the war do not tell us for how many more years the country will have to carry on with this war. Each passing year will cost not only billions of rupees but also thousands of human lives and many economic opportunities, in addition to destruction of public and private property. Deteriorating social and economic conditions drive more and more people away from the country. As mentioned before, it is usually the most qualified people who run away, leaving less competent people in the country. This naturally contributes to a further decline of the country and its institutions. Increasing politicization of public institutions and government programmes have made matters worse.

Greater public and private investments are needed to develop social and physical infrastructure in the country Roads, water, electricity, railways, environmental sanitation as well as health and education sectors. These sectors require hundreds of million of rupees on a regular basis for many years to come. From where do we find the resources? Increasing public expenditure largely due to defence expenditure and declining state revenue result in ever increasing budget deficits that can be bridged only by resorting to more borrowing, both domestically and from overseas, resulting in inflationary pressures that make life more difficult for the vast majority of low-income groups. Deteriorating or at best stagnant social and physical infrastructure also adversely affects the poorer groups more than the well to do. It is poorer schools, rural hospitals, village roads, and transport services that suffer most, when public funds are not available.

It is unfortunate that the mainstream media reflect the views of the privileged, be they religious leaders or political activists the poor and the marginalized who are adversely affected by senseless political programmes rarely have a chance to vent their views, experiences and desires with a few exceptions.

Today public funds are wasted by the political leaders in the country with impunity. The fleets of luxury vehicles that are paraded on roads in all accessible parts of the country are an incredible eye sore to everybody other than the political stooges. Our political leaders have elevated some of the most mediocre people to very high positions and bestowed on them privileges that they could never have if they were required to find their own way up, based on their skills and professional qualifications.

Political leaders talk a lot about the need to raise more tax revenue from citizens. They never talk about what they use this tax money for. In Nordic countries like Sweden, there is wide public support for higher taxation. The people in these countries know that higher taxes mean better infrastructure facilities such as health, education, public transport and welfare benefits like higher pensions, unemployment insurance and youth allowances. The leaders in these countries, unlike our own are not driven around in luxury cars while the ordinary people are struggling to get into over-crowded buses and disintegrating trains. Unlike in our country, they have lean governments with a small cabinet with highly qualified and competent cabinet of ministers. Publicly funded media institutions are not abused to bombard the hapless people in the country with their narrow political propaganda.

I very much support progressive income taxation, provided those who pay taxes have some control over how their tax money is spent and those who spend public funds are accountable for their actions. There will always be a need to impose legal sanctions on those who evade tax payments but, it is equally important that those who pay taxes are persuaded to think that the money taken away from them is used for the benefit of the general public. In fact, taxation should evolve into a social contract between the state and its citizens tax payer should be convinced that their contributions are used to promote public welfare through good governance, better social and economic infrastructure, and social support programmes. In this regard, this country has a long way to go. It is unfortunate that even the few liberal minded politicians we have in this country do not bother to talk about this very serious issue that the underpins the legitimacy of political regimes. It is true that they will be sacked in no time if they speak out. But then, where is their conscience?

Sri Lanka is beset with a range of serious structurally rooted problems. We need to formulate policies and programs that would address their root causes. Yet, we devote all our energies to deal with the symptoms and the problems persist. As I have pointed out on many occasions, the language issue is a major problem with very wide ranging implications. It is connected with social exclusion of youth, ethnic relations, quality of education and international relations. Yet, nothing is done to solve the problem, partly due to the absence of any serious policy making and partly due to the influence of vested interests.

Meanwhile even those who are concerned, witness helplessly the massive injustice caused to hundreds of thousands of young men and women in all parts of the country. We see the agonising experience of some of our own students who struggle in vain to catch up. No wonder there is so much unrest in some of our universities, particularly among these students who do not see much prospect for their future.

I would like to see President Rajapaksa to talk about it. Can some one let me know how I can reach him.

Are you related to Kangaroo from Australia

ASP chairman denies Sripathy?s claim

The Chairman of the ASP Group, Deshabandhu A.S.P. Liyanage denies the claims made by SLFP- (M) Coordinator Sripathy Sooriyarachchi that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers have bought a house from his company in the run-up to the last Presidential election.

Mr. Liyanage says that he has been put in an embarrassing position in facing the President due to this allegation and vows to close down his company if Mr. Sooriyarachchi proves his allegation. He further says that the house referred to by Mr. Sooriyarachchi belongs to his wife and is currently occupied by a former Maldivian Minister.