Normalcy of Katunayaka Free Trade Zone of Sri Lanka marred by police violence

(June 01, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's local media reported that a young man injured in the clash between the police and the agitators on Monday in Katunayaka Free Trade Zone is in critical condition.

Sinhala daily The Divaina newspaper reported that 22 year old Free Trade Zone employee Roshen Shanaka has sustained gun shot injuries near his waist.

The man's kidneys are not functioning and his right leg has been amputated, says the newspaper. The patient depends on life saving machines, some other media reported.

The patient Roshen shanaka is a resident of Minuwangoda. He is the fourth of the five siblings of the family and joined an employment in the Free Trade Zone four months ago, family sources said to media.

Meanwhile, BBC Sinhala service reported that another Free Trade Zone employee who pleaded to police not to harm him because he had undergone a by-pass surgery has also been attacked by police.

A left oriented News Service UPU said based on ground sources, "The problem started on Monday 30 June, with the arrival of several ministers including Sarath Gunaratne and Priyadarshani Fernando claiming to distribute leaflets to the factories to make the workers aware of the benefits of the proposed pension scheme. They have come with a large group of security personnel. NSSP leaders of the area informed UPU news that the arrival of these ministers at a time when the government has announced that the pension will not be applicable to the free trade zones is quite strange. Workers were provoked into hooting and work stoppage. Police who came with the ministers wanted to stop hooting and that started the clash which ended with one worker critically injured. Trade union activists of JTUA shut down free trade zones after clashes between police."

Health Services Trade Union Alliance Chairman Saman Rathnapriya said that over 300 employees of the Free Trade Zone were injured and treated in hospitals. Of them, around 20 are critically injured, he said.

The employees of Free Trade Zone agitated against the government proposal to set up a pension fund for private sector employees with additional deductions from their salaries and other benefits.

Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Jayanthi Bandaranaike said to media that the Free Trade Zone of Katunayaka that was closed since yesterday would be reopened as usual since tomorrow.

Several factories have sustained damages, a foreign manager of a factory said to BBC Sinhala Service appearing anonymous. The Chairman of the BOI said that out of the 50,000 workers of the 84 factories of the Katunayaka Free Trade Zone, 4500 employees of six factories joined the agitations. The unrest was spreading to other factories, the official said.

The Joint Trade Union Alliance that comprised of 26 trade unions including powerful Lanka Bank Employees' Union, Ceylon Mercantile Union and Free Trade Zone General Employees' Union says that they have decided to launch a token strike in protest of the proposed private sector pension fund.

The Joint Trade Union Alliance is to hold an agitation today noon before the Colombo Fort railway station to protest the police attack at the Free Trade Zone employees yesterday.

Joint Trade Union Alliance says that it has also taken measures to file a fundamental rights petition against the assault that took place on Monday in Katunayaka Free Trade Zone.


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Sri Lanka government defeated by private sector employees

(May 31, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee that met under the patronage of party leader President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday evening unanimously decided to hold the proposed private sector pension scheme temporarily.

The decision drew a close resemblance with the socialist dictatorships of the former Eastern Block in which the central Committee of the Communist Party was the actual governing council of Sri Lanka.

The Central Committee decided to reconsider the bill and to hold it until a new bill that they say suits the needs of the private sector employees is drafted.

SLFP central committee granted powers to the the parliamentary group of the ruling coalition to proceed with the matter. They say they will call for consultation from the trade unions and public, a step that could have taken prior to draft the bill. This proves that democracy  is not default in this system and it is something that should be won through struggles.

Meanwhile, the government also decided to close the Free Trade Zone in Katunayaka today to establish 'industrial' peace. Peace for them is just industrial peace. It is the peace that is needed by the investors to run their production process.

The employees of the Free Trade Zone held protests continuously and yesterday clashed with police injuring 15 police personnel including a Deputy Inspector General. Police used tear gas to disperse them. Mainstream media did not report that 230 employees of the Free Trade Zone in Katunayakewho were injured by the police attack and they been admitted Negombo Hospital, as reported by Lanka Truth website.

Sri Lanka government early yesterday said they had decided to exempt the employees working in the Free Trade Zones and the affiliated industry from the proposed Private Sector Pension Scheme, reported the official website of the Government Information Department.

The proposed private sector pension scheme (PSPS) would be optional and employees could obtain their contributions with interest if they leave a job before mandatory 120 months to be eligible for the pension benefits, the government said. It was a clear change from the original plan to give such employees only 60% of what they saved without interest when they reached the age of 60 years.

The workers of the Katunayaka Free Trade Zone of Sri Lanka launched a wave of protests against the proposed private sector pension scheme.

Sources from the Free Trade Zone said that the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) led Inter Company Employees' Union was behind the protests.

The government's decision to take a step back is a real victory to the workers and also to the JVP too.


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Non academic staff of Sri Lanka's universities warns to strike

(May 27, 2011,  Lanka Polity) While the struggle of Sri Lanka's university teachers is dragging without a solution, the non-academic staff of the universities also threatened strike action unless their demands are granted within a fortnight.

R.M. Chandrapala, the Chairman of the Inter University Trade Union Federation (IUTUF) said that the executive committee of the federation that represents 10 trade unions came to this decision recently.

He said that the decision of the IUTUF was informed to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Disanayaka, the secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education Sunil Jayantha Nawarathna and the Chairman of the University Grants Commission Gamini Samaranayaka in writing.

The trade union official said that the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Disanayaka breached the promise to the university non academic staff to grant the promised other half of the salary increase that was given in 2007 after a strike.


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Isolated open dwelling places for the stray dogs of Sri Lanka

(May 27, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's health authorities have planned to establish isolated open dwelling places for the stray dogs.

The first of such canine dwelling grounds is to be established in a two acre land in Anuradhapura for the stray dogs in the area.

The government says it has stopped execution of stray dogs as a policy and spends around Rs. 200 million per annum for sterilization programmes for dogs.

Sri lanka Ministry of Health says that 2000 to 2500 dog bites are reported everyday in Sri Lanka. Most of these dog bites are treated in government hospitals and a single vaccination costs Rs. 30,000 for the government.

The cost for treatment for dog bites cost Rs. 500 million to the public coffers.

Sri Lanka's dog population is believed 2.5 million and the majority of them are stray dogs.


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Twenty Sri Lankans die everyday due to smoking

(May 26, 2011,  Lanka Polity) The Chairman of Sri Lanka Tobacco and Alcohol Authority Prof. Carlo Fonseka says that 60 Sri Lankans die everyday due to illnesses caused by smoking.

Citing the latest research reports, the medical professor said that every year 20,000 persons die due to excessive smoking.

The professor accused that the tobacco companies have programmes to make the people addicted to nicotine in tobacco since very young ages.

The authority has planned programmes to prevent people from smoking to mark the World Anti-Smoking Day that falls on May 31.

Under the Mahinda Chinthana policy of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, publicity on smoking has been banned in Sri Lanka. Selling cigarettes to under aged and smoking in public places have also been banned. Government has imposed heavy taxes on tobacco and that income is one of the most lucrative sources of income of the government.

However, not only the official reports, but also the public observances show that there is a trend of decline in smoking in Sri Lanka. The government can spend the tax money for education on smoking and also to create alternate activities for the people to engage.



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Sri Lanka foreign policy pendulum swings from India to China this time

(May 21, 2011,  Lanka Polity) As soon as the official visit to India ended without apparent success, Sri Lanka Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris will leave for an official tour in China on May 23.

The Foreign Minister's tour is on an invitation of his counterpart in China, Sri Lanka Ministry of External Affairs say.

Minister Peiris is to have bilateral talks with the Foreign Minister of China and other senior politicians and officials during his two day visit.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Minister wished to raise the issues pertaining to the UN panel report on Sri Lanka at these discussions.

Same facts were reported in advance to the Foreign Minister's tour in India but the statements at the end of the tour lacked what the government aimed regarding the 'Darusman' report.

Sri Lanka's pendulum behavior of  swinging between India and China is symbolized through this tour. The foreign policy of the island nation seemed to be manipulating the interests of these two countries in relation to the Indian Ocean.

If you do not support us, we will go to your enemy is Sri Lanka's foreign policy. The defeated Tamil rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) also dis the same in between Europe and US.


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What a time bomb Sri Lanka's Eastern Province Chief Minister Pillaiyan is sitting on!

(May 20, 2011,  Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka government sources say that the Tamil People's Liberation Tigers (TMVP) party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan agreed to corporate with the government further as TMVP delegation met the President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday.

The TMVP leader and the Chief Minister raised the problems he and his party men were facing. A team of Army reportedly raided the house of the Chief Minister without a warrant, as TMVP accuses. It is reported that the President instructed the Inspector General of Police to take measures to conduct investigations in line with the law and to pay due respect to the privileges of the Eastern Province Chief Minister.

Then who ordered the raids, if the President is against them? Some media reported that the raid was conducted under the orders of the Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The Police was also instructed by the President to speed up investigations regarding the arrested TMVP provincial councilor Pradeep Master. He was arrested last week in suspicion for the killing of a coordinating secretary of Deputy Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, a rival of the TMVP.

The President reportedly highlighted at the meeting the need of respect by all sections of the society to the rule of law.

The Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka, Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya and President's Secretary Lalith Weerathunga also participated in the discussion.

Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayaka appears as the person who arranged the meeting for Pillaiya. That means Pillaiyan has no very good rapport with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The clashes between paramilitary politicians Deputy Minister Karuna Amman and the Chief Minister Pillaiyan haunt the Batticaloa district since a long time. Karuna who nearly lost the entire ground and fled to UK once to be arrested and imprisoned there for breach of immigration laws fought back after returning to the home country.

He somehow won the heart of the ruling family and elevated into national politics as a Deputy Minister and a Vice President of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

The killings that took place in Batticloa last week appears as a direct clash between these two paramilitary leaders.

However, with Karuna's advent to the ruling family, Pillaiyan is in a very disadvantaged position. He seems sitting on a time bomb as metaphorically said by certain media. It is a time bomb of which the remote controller is in other people's hand. It may be in the hands of his arch rival Karuna.

One thing is definite. Pillaiyan who has been sidelined by the government will not be able to win a future election for a Provincial council or any other set up that will be created in future, especially in a context the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has reappeared and invaded the main stream politics of Tamil polity.

However, Karuna will cling to power still preventing his enemy's hold. Power is power and the color of the power will not be a matter to Karuna. Poor Pillaiyan! Unknown gunmen killed the Chief Minister's secretary at Athurugiriya some times back. Culprits are yet to arrested.

Lanka-e-News that appears since recently a pro-Pillaiyan media says that Pillaiyan has the widest support of the former paramilitary cadres. It also hints that Pillaiyan has a huge arms cache as well.


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