Corrupt ex-secretary of Finance Ministry of Sri Lanka granted permission by Supreme Court to re-enter public service

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Supreme Court of Sri Lanka granted today the ex-secretary of the Finance Ministry Dr. P.B. Jayasundara to revoke an affidavit he submitted promising not assume any state office in future.

Seven-member bench of Supreme Court chaired by Chief Justice Asoka De Silva and comprised of judges Dr. Shiranee Bandaranayake, Saleem Marsoof, Jagath Balapatabendi , K. Sripavan and A. Ratnayake ruled to invalidate the affidavit filed by Jayasundara only Dr. Shiranee Bandaranayake dissenting the judgment.

Supreme Court previously found Dr. Jayasundara guilty of committing damage to the state through his acts in a deal to sell a state land belonged to Ports Authority to John Keells Holdings. Jayasundara was fined Rs. 500,000 for his offense and the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva directed to submit the aforesaid affidavit.

Jayasundara said in a motion filed in Supreme Court that he was asked by the President Mahinda Rajapakse to assume the post of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the affidavit he submitted under influence was an obstacle to proceed.

Jayasundara is a close associate of President Mahinda Rajapakse. The fundamental rights petition in which Jayasundara was found guilty was filed by veteran leftist Vasudeva Nanayakkara who is also a close associate of the President and a President's adviser too.

Israel will learn a good lesson if it attacks Iran, says state-owned newspaper of Sri Lanka

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Israel will learn a good lesson if it attacks Iran, says the editorial of Sri Lanka's state-owned Sinhala daily Dinamina newspaper.

The newspaper that propagates the foreign policy of Sri Lanka charged that the recent statements of Israel officials to attack Iran is the voice of US.

Pointing out that the President of Iran will never surrender to US, the editorial says that both Israel as well as US must understand that the world forcing are uniting to respond the malicious attitudes of US.

The editorial also explains that US economy is run with money borrowed from China and Israel depends on aids of US. This paradigm will change if Israel is attacked, says The Dinamina.

Rabies among elephants in Sri Lanka

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Veterinary doctors of Sri Lanka have identified two elephants that were infected by rabies. This is the first time the decease was identified among elephants, said Sri Lanka's virology research institute chief Ochala Wimalaratna addressing a seminar held yesterday.

The infected elephants are tamed ones that live in Colombo municipal limits, she said.

Sri Lanka is among the ten leading countries in the world that report highest death rates from human rabies and animal bites requiring post-exposure treatment. Dogs are the main reservoir and transmitters of rabies in Sri Lanka.

Each year a total of about 75 human deaths are reported on the island, according to WHO reports. 

Ex-official challenges former Chief Justices judgment in Sri Lanka

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) A seven member bench of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is to consider a motion by the former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance appealing to revoke an affidavit filed by him promising not to assume any government post in future.

P.B. Jayasyndara, former Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, was ordered by the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva to submit the aforesaid affidavit as he was found linked to illegal privatization of public property.

Jayasundara now states that the President Mahinda Rajapakse has invited him to assume the post of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the affidavit he submitted unwillingly under pressure is a obstacle to it. 

Many of the controversial judgments delivered by the ex-Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva is legally challenged now.

No liquor policy of Sri Lanka increases state revenue

(September 24, Colombo - Lanka Polity) "Fullstop to alcohols," a policy of the President of Sri Lanka, has opened new revenues to the cash-strapped government, according to the police chief of the state.

Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramaratna says that the police conducted 17639 raids within the last two years and the fines imposed to the culprits were well over US $ 260,000.

Sri Lanka state imposes over 100% excise on all kinds of alcohol. However, home-brewed illegal spirits can be purchased from all nooks and corners of the island despite regular raids of the police and excise officials.

Park and ride service in Sri Lanka displays the corporate responsibility of the business class

(September 23, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Transport authorities of Sri Lanka in March this year introduced a service called Park and Ride City Liner on Galle Road from the outskirt of Colombo to the city heart.

The vehicle park on Galle Road near the Angulana Junction at Katubedda provides parking for around 150 vehicles and is serviced by the first CityLiner Coach Service for which a permit has been granted to E.C.D. Global Ltd by the Western Provincial Road Passenger Authority on the recommendation of the National Transport Commission for operating between Moratuwa and Fort via Nawam Mawatha.

The Transport Ministry website says, "This service provides a facility that allows commuters and other people wishing to travel into the city center, to leave their personal vehicles in a secured car park and transfer to a luxury coach which will take them as close as possible to their destinations. Initially the Katubedda-Fort service will be operated every 30 minutes between 6.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. hours. Those wishing to use this City Liner Services can either park their vehicles at Katubedda which is free of charge at present or board the City Liner Coaches en route. However, passengers will need to have purchased a ticket before boarding the bus and cannot hail it on the road and get in. A seat will be guaranteed for every passenger and passengers will be able to choose which vehicle they wish to travel in according to the available time table. It is expected that the City Liner would operate through the day as the demand picks up and will operate at 10 minutes frequencies during the peak hours."

Around 750,000 people travel by road to Colombo daily. Of them, 65% arrive in 12,000 buses and trains with the balance 35% traveling in 200,000 cars, vans, motor cycles and three wheelers. The Urban Transport Strategy aims at reducing the number of private vehicles to 175,000 by the year 2010. Private vehicles presently take up around 65% of the road space. Thus for every 1% reduction in private vehicles, current speeds are expected to increase by 1%.

However, the Park and Ride facility and the City Liner that was expected to save both time and fuel for the user as well as for the non-user has become a white elephant. Minister of Road Passenger Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna said to state-owned Dinamina Sinhala language newspaper that only 12 passengers used this facility since March to September. However, the number has increased to 40 now.


The NTC has also selected a site to develop for a Park and Ride in Kadawatha on Colombo - Kandy highway. Places in Talangama and Werehera have also been identified on some other highways.

The cold response of Sri Lanka's upper middle class officials and businessmen to this business class facility clearly portrays the nature of the corporate responsibility of this social strata.


 

Peep into the democracy of Sri Lanka through Southern Provincial Council election

(September 22, 2009 - Lanka Polity) The Southern Provincial Council election is providing the world a panoramic window to peep into the state of the democracy in Sri Lanka. These days, a candidate of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Mahinda Rajapakse is hitting headlines. The candidate, Nishantha Muthuhettigama is seeking representation from Galle district vowing to be the next Chief Minister of the Provincial Council by hook or by crook.

Talking about his qualifications for the post, he says that he will be the second Chief Minister who can fire guns with both hands. The first, he says, is Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan who was a child soldier in Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

Muthuhettigama is now in remand following publicly blaming police at a press conference last week and Criminal Investigation Department is to grill him over his statements. This man's brawls are not with opposition. He clashes with two candidates of his own party prominently. One is former Miss Sri Lankan 22-year-old Anarkali Akarsha, who has obtained the SLFP ticket reportedly with the backing of the President Mahinda Rajapakse's eldest son Namal Rajapakse. The other candidate is the ex-CEO of the state-owned budget airline Mihin named after the President, Sajin Vaas Gunawardhana who uses even a helicopter for his campaign although he should be responsible for massive loss of public money due to the losses of the airline. He is directly supported by the President and poised to win with huge majority. Muthuhettigama is accusing that Presidential Security Division personnel are in his campaign.

The ruling alliance has not named a Chief Minister candidate and the person that achieves the highest percentage of preferential votes is likely to be given the post. There are Galle, Mathara and  Hambanthota districts in the Southern Province and a close relative of Rajapakse family is contesting for Mathara district with the widest possibility of becoming the next Chief Minister.

President Mahinda Rajapakse's favorites can easily be elected to the Provincial Councils and they immediately be given portfolios to start a fast growing career. They are to be the handpicked candidates of the Rajapakse regime at the upcoming general election. They pose a severe threat to the political  existence of the old political stalwarts of the SLFP.

During the past years, the ruling party that started with a single vote majority in the parliament has bought MPs from major opposition United National Party (UNP) and almost all the other political parties representing the parliament. The majority of the MPs in many districts are now government ministers and they will have to fight tooth and nail among themselves to be elected for another term.

Government uses all public property including state-owned media for its election campaigns and the opposition cannot match with it. People normally like to vote to a winning party and the UNP lacks luster to build up confidence among the voters. However, there is a possibility of drastic crossovers from the government ranks to the opposition at a future election since many a seniors of the SLFP are disgruntled with the party leader President Mahinda Rajapakse's policy of favoring a few handpicked and letting loose the rest to kill each other for preferential votes.

Meanwhile, reliable sources say that the President is considering to hold the Presidential before the parliamentary election to seek election for the second time after clearing that he may not lose years from his first term due to premature election for the second term. There are talks among the opposition parties to field a viable opposition common candidate to give a fight to the President Mahinda Rajapakse who is selling the war victory over Tamil rebels to the Sinhala majority voters. No wonder if the opposition common candidate will be another war hero.