Web of Life

The Sethusamuduram Project Canal project, which the Indian government has approved and for which funding has been arranged, is likely to take off very soon. We have in our editorial comments and articles published this week, shown that this project could have dire consequences for Sri Lanka, environmentally, commercially and geopolitically.

In our editorial comments on Monday (Oct. 4) we pointed out that even though this project has been on the backburners of Indian think tanks for long years, we Sri Lankans who had inkling about it took no action to safeguard our national interests. This is not only because of our national trait of Lotus eating but probably because we were impotent to meet the huge challenges such a project posed.

The form commitment of the Indian government and state governments to the project and the euphoria that has been generated in Tamil Nadu, have we believe, shaken most Sri Lankan decision makers out of their slumber. The warning sounded by an Indian think tank Manitham (excerpts of which have been published in The Island) should make us all sit up. There is the possibility of half the Jaffna peninsula and 85 islands on the western and eastern coasts going underwater, the Indian report has said.

Yet, it does appear that we are all at sea on how to meet this challenge. It is a problem which will require the scientific and technological expertise of a wide array of scientific disciplines. Oceanography and its associated disciplines, specialised biological disciplines, application of satellite technology and many other sciences will be called into play, say those who have some knowledge of the problems involved. We are ill-equipped both with regard to manpower and technology in these fields.

On the other hand, the application of the Law of the Sea to this project, laws pertaining commercial navigation in addition to the geopolitical implications come into play, experts say. Foreign powers other than India too will be concerned because of the obvious strategic implications on defence and commercial sea routes.

The Island understands that the Foreign Ministry has put together a sub-committee on the issue and so are some concerned professionals who are to meet to discuss the challenges ahead. However the magnitude of the problem is such that an effort emanating from the highest level, involving either President Kumaratunga or Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is called for.

They should put together a team of expert scientists, diplomats and legal experts to grapple the problem and summon foreign assistance in areas we are lacking. There should be a sense of urgency instead of our traditional lackadaisical way of doing things. Quite obviously Sri Lanka cannot lock horns with India on this issue. It will need India’s co-operation and sympathy. The Sethusamuduram Project will test Indo-Lanka relations to the hilt.

The first priority however will be to get a high powered team headed by the President or Foreign Minister moving fast on the issue.

How to bust the underworld

Newly appointed police chiefs, as a tradition, make known what their priorities would be during their tenure of office. The new IGP Chandra Fernando has placed ‘busting the underworld’ high on his agenda.

He realises that it is by no means easy and said that it would be a ‘stupendous task’ and cited some of the difficulties that lie ahead.

What Mr. Fernando had not said - although he is well aware of it - is that busting the underworld would require busting quite a few outstanding people in the world of politics. The underworld, we are well aware, has become such a menacing force in our society because of political patronage.

Most Sri Lankans are well aware how underworld kings are used to do dirty work during election time such as intimidating and even killing political opponents. They have become friends of high-ranking politicians, even those of old and respectable families, whose ancestors would be aghast to know that criminals are honoured guests in the homes of their sons and daughters. Highly respected officials who are supposed to keep the furthest possible distance from criminals have been seen to be fraternising with them. How the new police chief would undo this Gordian Knot that has developed between political leaders and criminals is hard to imagine. It could well result in the undoing of the IGP, himself. Perhaps he may be well aware of the fate of a bright young Assistant Superintendent of Police, the son of an incumbent IGP who dared raid a moonshine den of the well known criminal who had as his patron one of the most highly placed politicians in the land. The ASP was transferred from his post despite his father being the head of the police service!

Mr. Chandra Fernando, we hope, would seek the protection of the Police Commission in carrying out his duties rather than seek politicians as his patrons. The appointment of an independent Police Commission was precisely for that purpose.