Web of Life

Consequent to the recent massive increases in fuel prices, which keep fluctuating internationally, almost on a daily basis, an urgent and priority need exists for stringent economy in fuel consumption.

One of the means that can be adopted to economise on fuel consumption is for the State to initiate and encourage the use of alternative means of transport for the following categories of persons:

1. Public servants who use privately owned cars/vans to travel to work and return.

2. Mercantile Sector employees who utilise private transport to travel to work and return.

3. School teachers who travel to respective schools and return in private vehicles

4. School children, many thousands of whom use privately owned vans and cars, for travel to school and return.

5. Housewives who at present use private vehicles for marketing, shopping, etc.

There are large numbers of privately owned coaches and luxury buses, which are uneconomically utilised.

If the Ministry of Transport could encourage the owners of these vehicles to run their coaches/luxury buses at rates which will be attractive and profitable to the owners of these vehicles, and attractive to the class of people mentioned above, who travel to places of work or schools in the comfort of private vehicles, a tremendous saving in fuel consumption will undoubtedly result.

Implementation of a scheme of this nature, commencing in Colombo and other towns and cities, with immediate effect, will result in the following advantages to the country:

1. Savings on fuel consequent to a reduction of the number of vehicles on the roads.

2. Reduced numbers of vehicles on the roads will result in far less congestion

3. A large number of man hours will be saved

4. Reduced number of vehicles on the roads will result in a reduction in accidents.

5. Reduced number of vehicles on the roads will result in far less environmental pollution.

6. The tasks of the Traffic Police will consequently be much easier and more effective.

8. Overall, there is bound to be an improvement in traffic and road discipline.

The Ministry of Transport will have to issue permits for these coaches/luxury buses to operate at agreed times, on agreed routes, at agreed rates which will have to be attractive to the vehicle owners. If the concerned parties agree to this in principle, it is strongly suggested that, as far as possible, these vehicles operate on a ‘circle route’ basis.

In so far as private car and van owners are concerned, utilising this means of transport in lieu of their private vehicles, will be most attractive, because of economies in fuel, time and vehicle wear and tare, provided punctuality, availability of sufficient vehicles and no overcrowding is ensured.

<>It is recommended that this matter be looked in to as matter of urgency and high priority by the concerned authorities.

Developing an effective strategy for the sector

The Nature of the problem

The agricultural sector provides employment for approximately 2.4 million people, about 35 percent of the country’s total workforce, according to the 2003 Central Bank Annual Report. At the same time, agriculture contributes only 14.7 percent of the total value of goods and services produced by the country (GDP). To look at this in another way, the average productivity, measured by the value added generated for the economy by the 2.4 million people in agriculture amounts to Rs 10,131 per month. The average productivity of the 4.5 million non-agricultural workers engaged in the rest of the economy generates Rs 23,237 in value added per month – 129 percent higher.

What does this mean in practical terms? Quite simply, if the productivity in a sector is low, the people working in that sector will earn low incomes. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, in 2002 the average daily earnings in agriculture were Rs. 128.72 while in manufacturing they were Rs. 273.27 and construction Rs. 259.63. Non-agricultural incomes were 112 percent higher than agricultural incomes. It is worth noting that the relative difference between non-agricultural to agricultural earnings doubled after 1992, when the differential was only 56 percent.

One of the major causes of the low productivity and declining relative incomes in agriculture has been the significant increases in land fragmentation. In 1982 there were 1.8 million parcels of agricultural land less than 20 acres. By 2002 this number had increased to 3.3 million. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, about 45 percent of these small parcels produce mainly for home consumption while the remaining 55 percent produce for the market. If this trend towards greater fragmentation continues and land parcel sizes continue to decline, we can expect to see less and less agricultural produce coming into the markets, putting greater upward pressure on local prices and greater reliance on imports.

With such a large share of the population engaged in agriculture, a sector characterized by low productivity and low earnings, any effective strategy to reduce poverty will have to address the fundamental problems facing the sector.

Development Goals for Agriculture

Everyone agrees that solving the problems facing agriculture should be one of the country’s highest priorities. The politicians from all parties agree. And while many of them may know little about the economics of agriculture, they can all count. The large numbers of potential voters engaged in agriculture, struggling to make ends meet, provides an irresistible attraction for politicians who make promises offering quick fixes for these problems.

But rarely is there any coherent vision of what structural changes will be required to increase productivity and raise incomes near the levels earned in the rest of the economy. The UPFA government’s vision document begins it section on agriculture by stating "The key economic objective of the Government is to assist our agriculture sector to attain self-sufficiency in food production and food security." They go on to say that existing smallholder activities "provide an ideal ownership structure for growth with equity." This document then goes on to propose the sorts of quick fix solutions favoured by so many politicians.

Attaining self-sufficiency and food security mean little and would do nothing about addressing the fundamental problems facing farmers. Unfortunately no one in government offers any reasonable economic argument why self-sufficiency in food is a desirable goal for the country. It amounts to little more than a political slogan. There is little doubt that if all of the country’s resources were devoted primarily to food production that self-sufficiency could be reached. But at what cost?

If we could somehow take the 4.5 million workers in the non-agricultural sector and move them all into agriculture, at the same level of productivity currently achieved in the sector, total GDP would drop by nearly 46 percent. Per capita GDP would fall from $947 to $513 and Sri Lanka could move backwards into the ranks of least developed countries. Of course in reality, given the limited amounts of available fertile land, it would be impossible to maintain even the current low levels of agricultural productivity if more people were shifted into agriculture. The comparison may sound far fetched, but this was precisely the approach avidly pursued by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouges in Cambodia in 1975-79, with disastrous results.

The Central Bank’s 2003 Annual Report offers a more sensible vision: "The policy on agriculture in any economy should aim at developing a viable and sustainable agricultural sector capable of competing successfully with competitor countries, while sustaining the farmers engaged in agriculture." This correctly focuses on the need to improve farmers’ economic conditions and the critical importance of increasing productivity.

Raising Agricultural Productivity

Productivity in any activity depends upon employing the available resources in the most efficient ways possible, producing the greatest value of outputs at the least cost. The same is true for agriculture. Unfortunately, there are a number of factors that stop this from happening, leaving resources to be used in highly unproductive ways. Several of these can be summarized very briefly here.

Ensuring that the value of agricultural output is maximized:

There are a number of reasons why farmers are restricted in their ability to produce the highest value of agricultural produce possible. These are typically driven by political motivations that ignore economic realities. This can be seen in the UPFA government’s policy, as stated by the Minister of Agriculture several months ago: "When we took over the Ministry of Agriculture there were 870,000 hectares of land under paddy cultivation. As long as we are in this ministry we will not let this extent of land under paddy be reduced in any way. Next we will be taking all possible steps to bring in new land and expand the area under paddy cultivation." (Business Today, June 2004) There seems to no questioning whether this makes any economic sense at all. This approach is enforced in part by laws and regulations that make it illegal to shift from paddy to other crops that might be more profitable. There has also been a strong institutional bias in government promoting paddy production including government paddy purchases and subsidies of the types of fertilizer most commonly used in paddy production.

There are other impediments that limit farmers’ ability to increase the value of the crops they produce. One is the failure to deliver effective extension services to farmers. This makes it more difficult for farmers to introduce new crops or to adopt more productive planting techniques. While paddy may well be the most profitable crop in some areas of the country, it is equally clear that there are areas where more profitable crops could be grown.

Ensuring that land and labour are employed productively:

Land and labour are the two most important inputs used in agricultural production. Here too politically driven restrictions work to keep sectoral productivity low. The Department of Census and Statistics finding of a significant increase in the fragmentation of agricultural land holdings means that more and more people are trying to make a living farming ever smaller plots. This is partly a result of the lack of clear land titles for an estimated 1.2 million farmers – a substantial share of the total of 2.4 million people employed in agriculture. While it was agreed during the previous government to grant clear titles to these farmers, political conflict prevented getting this done.

Another major reason why rural land is often not employed productively is the poor state of infrastructure, particularly roads. If farmers in remote areas cannot get their produce to the main population sectors profitably, it greatly restricts the value of their labours and reduces their options.

While it may not be a politically popular position, it should be recognised that the agricultural sector cannot provide adequate incomes to as many as 2.4 million people. As the economies in virtually all countries grow and develop, there is a substantial reduction in the number of people in agriculture. Farm sizes increase and more productive techniques are adopted. But for this transition to take place there has to be adequate employment opportunities elsewhere. Sooner or later this process will take place in Sri Lanka as well, if the country is to succeed economically.

How Government Can Assist Agriculture

There is overwhelming evidence from many countries that shows that agriculture performs best when farmers have the support and freedom to make well founded production decisions. It is inevitably a mistake for the government to impose its judgments on farmers concerning production decisions. However, the government does have several important roles to play. Perhaps their most critical responsibility in this regard is to invest heavily and substantially to improve the country’s road system in rural areas. The government should also eliminate many of its restrictive laws and regulations that distort agricultural production decisions. Finally, there is also an important role to provide resources to assist farmers in gaining access to extension services and improved seed varieties.

New Delhi, Oct. 26 (AFP) - Modern-day Indian English or "Hinglish," as the variety of English spoken in India is called, has a distinct time-capsule flavour-harking back to the days of the British Raj.

Phrases that are dying out elsewhere remain in common parlance on the subcontinent, where "sleuths nab" their man, "miscreants abscond," youths engage in "tomfoolery" and politicians say their opponents speak "balderdash."

Now a leading British linguistics expert says Indian English could become the most widely spoken form of the language worldwide.

"Already about 350 million people in India speak English as a second language," more than the number of native speakers in Britain and the United States, said David Crystal, a world authority on English.

And knowledge of English is set to rise in India with the population growing by three percent annually compared to one percent in Britain and the United States, he said.

"With the Internet spreading English like no other tool ever and Indians at the forefont of the IT revolution, Indian English will soon become the most common spoken form globally," he told AFP in a recent interview.

Hinglish is coined from the collision of English and Hindi in the subcontinent where Britain was the predominant power for nearly two centuries.

Crystal, a University of Wales professor who has written over 40 books on linguistics, also said other varieties of English as a second language were spreading and would also have great influence in years to come.

"Mother tongue countries have had their day," said Crystal, who was in India as a British Council guest to speak on the "Future of Englishes".

"It’s the turn of countries where English is spoken as a second language to take the lead," he said. "Internationally- accepted standard English is there but the real language resides in these colourful, creative local varieties."

Indian English is spiced with Hindi words, like "pukka" for real, "Jungli" for uncouth, "chappals" for sandals and "Chuddis" for underwear.

It also has an old-fashioned formality that evokes an era when India was the brightest jewel in Britain’s colonial crown. People offer to "do the needful," people are "wished" on their birthday, the bereaved are "condoled".

It produces mutations like "time-pass" for an activity that is not very gripping but passes the time, appointments that are "Preponed" or scheduled earlier and people who "airdash" by plane.

Sometimes, it’s mixed with English such as in Ford’s slogan for its Ikon sedan billing it as the "Josh" Car — "Josh" is the Hindi word for exciting.

Crystal said India’s British colonial past has given it the edge in creating a booming outsourcing industry. Western firms are increasingly shifting business to India to take advantage of its cheaper English-speaking workforce.

"India has this historical, cultural connection. English is everywhere, even on signs in the smallest shops. This doesn’t happen in China and Russia," other nations seeking to lure outsourcing business.

India’s ascendance as a global economic player also has brought about a "new self-confidence and pride" among Indians in embracing "Hinglish," once disparaged by purists, Crystal said.

Indian writers liberally sprinkle "Hinglish" in articles and books and disc jockeys and TV presenters jabber away in it. "Hinglish would have been very much frowned upon in literary circles. Now its acceptance is a very important sign of Indian English coming of age," he said.

Still, he said there’s a danger the dominance of English, and particularly the feeling it’s a passport to success, could harm smaller languages.

"A language is dying every two weeks somewhere in the world today. Half the world’s languages will no longer be spoken in another century. This is an extremely serious concern and English has to share the blame."

India will have to work to ensure survival of its other languages-the country’s constitution recognises 18, he said, noting in parts of the world where English has been allowed to dominate, it has crushed minority languages.

"It’s up to India to decide which way to go. What I hope is respect for multilingualism. Human beings are naturally multilingual. Three-quarters are bilingual, two thirds are trilingual and monolinguals are the exception."

Around 150 operations or more are expected to be performed during the free plastic surgery mission by the visiting team of plastic surgeons and medical personnel from InterPlast UK and other countries at the Hambantota base hospital, the German Help Foundation (GHF) said.

The InterPlast UK team is now in the country on the invitation of GHF, which organised, co-ordinated and sponsored the mission.

The mission was launched at the Hambantota base hospital on the morning of October 18 after the final screening of patients late into the night on the previous day assisted by members of the Foundation, GHF Chairman Malcolm Periera said.

"Upto October 25, 85 operations had been performed, and many more have been lined up till the Oct. 30. About 150 operations or more are expected to be performed by this time", he said.

The mission has been co-sponsored by Deva Priyan, Jet Wing, Hotel Sapphire, Peacock Beach Hotel, Sunil Travels, Tudawe Bros., Hansgrohe of Germany and the D. A. Rajapakse Foundation.

The InterPlast UK team is headed by its Chairman Dr. Charles Viva. The mission was conducted in Hambantota to pay tribute to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse under whose patronage this project was carried out.

Trincomalee is to be developed into a tourist attraction with an "Elephant meets Whale" project scheduled to be completed in two months time.

Cabinet spokesman and Minister Mangala Samaraweera told journalists on Thursday that the proposal submitted to Cabinet by Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike, when completed would attract more tourists to Trincomalee known as the world’s capital of whales.

"Trincomalee is the world’s best place to watch the biggest blue and sperm whales in addition to the biggest elephants in the world. Hence the name Elephants meet Whales projects to develop the city and port".

Samaraweera said that a cabinet sub committee comprising Ministers Lakshman Kadirgamar, Anura Bandaranaike, Sarath Amunugama, Dinesh Gunawardena, Tissa Vitharana, Ferial Ashroff and himself have been tasked to studying the project and submit their report within two months. (ZJ).

Hambantota district leads in acid throwing and kerosine oil lamp burn victims. However, victims of the latter which is due to poverty has been reduced with urbanisation and the introduction of electricity to rural areas.

Last week a voluntary medical team from Inter Plast (UK) performed plastic surgeries on many patients, mainly acid throwing victims at the Hambantota base hospital.

The 15-member medical team did the screening, surgery and gave medicines free of charge were here on the invitation of the D. A. Rajapakse Foundation and the visit organised and co-ordinated by the German Help Foundation (Sri Lanka).

When ‘The Island’ visited the Hambantota Base Hospital last week there were many acid and kerosine oil burn victims most of them disfigured, some patients were to be operated on for double cleft, skin grafts, palates, scar contractures, post traumatic injuries and birth deformities.

For most of these patients impoverished peasants from Hambantota and the nearby districts, this free plastic surgery mercy mission is a blessing in disguise.

Dr. Charles Viva, the Sri Lankan-born Senior Consultant, Plastic, Aesthetic, Cosmetic and Hand Surgeon in the UK who heads the team said Inter Plast (UK) has on previous visits conducted plastic surgeries in the hospitals of Jaffna (two clinics), one each at Ratnapura and Vavuniya but in Hambantota there were a large number of acid throwing victims and stressed in a developing society such things should not happen and people must get rid of vengeance and hatred, he said.

Sri Lankan physician in the team Dr. S. Wijayarajan said many patients wanted the scars on their faces removed. This was not done as when the skin is grafted from one place to another it will become even darker. So its better that you don’t undergo surgery in such cases.

Francis Vethanayagam, Secretary of GHF, said Inter Plast (UK) had planned to perform as much as 200 surgeries during their fortnight long mission in Hambantota, but he regretted that there is a snag in achieving this target as some of the patients who were screened by the doctors and lined up to be operated on have not turned up on the due date of the operation thus depriving others of a rare opportunity.

When queried about this Dr. Wijayarajan said "it could be due to ignorance about plastic surgeries and some of them would have been misinformed by others." However he said "we are certain that we could complete around 150 surgeries by the end of the month."

Gamini Dissanayake, a 43-year-old small time fish mudalali from Veyangoda, a father of three a victim of acid throwing with severe burns and disfigured face said: "An year ago when I was going to fetch fish from Negombo in the wee hours of the morning, some one from the darkness splashed acid disfiguring my face with severe burns." He said: "I sought treatment in a private hospital in Colombo costing Rs. 1,200,000 only for a skin graft on my forehead, now I have exhausted my resources and the "mercy mission" by the Inter Plast (UK) came to my rescue."

Dr. Wijayarajan said the keloid between his chin and the neck which causes him a lot of pain will be removed by surgery and also the disfigured areas around the eyes and the nose will be corrected.

Asked how much the entire surgery would have cost the patient, the doctor declined to give a figure but the patient said "it would have cost me a fortune."

Inoka Priyadharshini, 23-year-old mother from Uda Walawe a victim of multiple burns after she fainted and fell on a kerosine oil bottle lamp while being pregnant.

She said she underwent surgery for a skin graft in a government hospital but it was not successful. "Now I find it difficult to open my mouth."

Dr. Wijayarajan said surgery will have to be done around five to six times as her injuries are of a serious nature.

The medical team expressed their joy as they have been able to shed some light on the lives of those unfortunate peasants by performing plastic surgeries.

Dr. U. P. Ariyawansa, ‘superintendent of the hospital said: "Inter Plast (UK)’s visit to the Hambantota Hospital has helped a number of poor patient who wouldn’t have been able to undergo plastic surgery due to financial constraints and it was a magnanimous gesture on their part."

He appreciated the role played by the German Help Foundation and the D. A. Rajapakse Foundation who together facilitated the project and finding of the sponsors.

Francis Vethanayagam of GHF explaining the project said Inter Plast (UK) has spent about Rs. 35 to 40 million of their money and from the contributions from donors.

He was also grateful to the Country Manager in London for the national carrier SriLankan Airlines for providing the medical team with air tickets with big discounts and concessions on baggage.

The medical team consisted of Dr. Charles Viva, team leader, Dr. Detley Erdmann, consultant plastic surgeon Germany and USA, Dr. Charles Stacey, plastic surgeon UK, Dr. Mrs. Yu Sin Lau general plastic surgeon UK, Dr. S. Wijayarajan, general physician, Sri Lanka, Dr. Easwarn Velauthapillai consultant anaesthetist UK, nursing sisters from UK Majorie Burns, Stephnie Jones Sarah Deane, Diadrie Cussack and Andrea Falkner from New Zealand, Mrs. Jane Porter occupational therapist from UK, Anaesthesists Drs. Mrs. Nilmini Wijesuriya, Vasuki Dayanandana, Champa Arunatillake from Sri Lanka, and Chairman GHF Malcolm Perera and Secretary Francis Vethanayagam and Pradeep Jayaratnam coordinated.

Betel is a leaf which is treated with tradition in Sri Lanka. Betel leaf occupies a prominent place in society it is so popular and close to people that the United Peoples’ Freedom Party selected the betel leaf as the political symbol of their party which won. Betel chewing is a common habit among the Easterners, specially among the Sri Lankans. This habit has come down from time immemorial. Robert Knox in his book on Ceylon has vividly described the custom of offering betel to visitors to a home, and how the host joins the visitors in enjoying a chew of betel. The following story is a hilarious episode in the series of tales regarding the village Gamarala.

In the spicy wooded vales of Lanka a rich Gamarala had extensive fields which gave him a large income. On an auspicious day he sowed it with paddy and two days later went to see how it was growing. But what he saw were a number of big round marks in the mud, like those made by rice-pounding mortars. He ordered that all rice-pounding mortars in all the houses should be tied and the Gamarala decided to keep watch He had an early dinner and left for the field It was a long and tedious vigil and he was about to fall asleep when he saw a huge elephant, a most majestic beast descend from the sky and walk in his fields. The Gamarala approached the elephant and inquired why it was damaging his fields. "Oh no" said the elephant, "I have no bad intensions I love you so dearly that I have come down from heaven to take you there and show you the place". Overjoyed at this the Gamarala clung to its tail and was taken to heaven. It was a delightful place where everything was of gold. Heavenly beings, the most charming one could think of danced around him, smiling, as though to win him over. However despite all these he thought of his beloved Gamamahage. To him his wife was lovelier than all the angels there. He wanted to come back to her and therefore expressed his willingness to the elephant to come back to earth. The Gamarala was brought back to earth by his friend the elephant in the same manner he was taken to heaven. He straightaway ran up to his wife and told her about his trip to heaven and what he had seen there. All at once she expressed her desire to visit heaven herself and the Gamarala got the elephant to take them both there the following day. Having spent a time in heaven the good wife thought of home and said that she wanted to have a chew of betel which commodity was not found in heaven. She returned home with the Gamarala and the first thing she did was to visit every house in the village and relate the story of their going to heaven. Naturally almost all in the village begged of her to take them too to heaven. A date was fixed and the elephant summoned. Lest any male other than the husband should touch her, the Gamamahage was the first to hang on to the elephant’s tail and to her clung the Gamarala. All the others who formed the chain were males except the Redi-nenda, the village Dhoby woman who was at the other end clinging to the one just above her, the Hene-Mama., the village Dhoby, her darling husband. The elephant started off and all the travellers were in ecstasy. The males were silent but the females could not keep their mouths -shut. "Walawwe Hamuduruwo" cried the Redi-nenda "Is it a nice place?’’’’ Why not "replied the Gamamahage "everything is of gold and once you, go there you will not like to come back" ‘Are there big pots in which I can boil dirty linen?.... Why not "was the reply again. "they are all made of shining gold, and some can hold all the dirty linen in the village.... "Then they must be very big" said the Redi-nenda. "They are of various sizes" replied the Gama-mahage and in trying to show the size she let go the elephant’s tail. The travellers to heaven all dropped down in one whole heap and got stuck in the mud. Thus ended the trip to heaven. God in creation made the man stronger than the woman but to make amends gave the woman a loquacious tongue.

The group of Sri Lankan experts, specializing in various spheres of activity concerning the oceans, who met on 18th October 2004 under the auspices of ONS (Our Nation and Sea Initiative) after a full day seminar on the possible adverse impact on Sri Lanka’s environment, marine resources and other socio-economic interests that may result with the commencement of the Sethusamudram Canal project (SSCP) embarked upon by the Government of India, have resolved through their Bureau as follows:-

Planning for a baseline survey of the areas is already in progress.

The meeting of the Group of Sri Lankan experts on the Sethusamudram Project.

Noting with concern the possible impact of the Sethusamudram Canal Project (SSCP) on Sri Lanka’s environment, marine resources and other socio-economic interests.

Noting further that Sri Lanka has not been consulted or made a stakeholder in the relevant Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by India and that no EIA has been carried out within the territory of Sri Lanka to ascertain the possible trans-boundary environmental impact on Our Nation.

Noting also the strong protests from Indian fishermen’s organizations and several NGOs regarding the impact on the environment and marine resources;

Recognising the appointment by the Government of Sri Lanka of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to act as a forum to assess the impact and make suitable recommendations;

Bearing in mind the cordial bi-lateral relations between Sri Lanka and India and the need for an objective assessment based on the best available Sri Lankan scientific, technical expertise and relevant data.

Decides as follows:

(A) To make representations to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Government of Sri Lanka to communicate to the Government of India through the proper channels expressing the concern of the government of Sri Lanka with regard to the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project and its possible implications and to request immediately all information including the full NEERI report available with the Indian authorities in order to assess the possible impact of the said project on Sri Lanka.

(B) to inform the Inter-Ministerial Committee that this support group of inter-disciplinary Sri Lankan experts functioning in their individual capacities have organised themselves to

1) gather all relevant information and expertise in the country

2) build awareness

3) develop the expertise and the capacity of the group to study all relevant issues and function as an independent think tank for the country

4) render all possible assistance to the Inter-Ministerial Committee in this context.

C) To request the Inter-Ministerial Committee to give an opportunity at a very early date for the experts, functioning as an independent body, to brief the members of the Committee of the possible impact of the said project on Sri Lanka and to explore ways and means by which the Group functioning in its independent capacity, could continue to render support as a public interest group through an objective assessment of the various parameters;

D) The Group of Sri Lankan Experts be facilitated with other resources required to plan and undertake as a matter of urgency a survey of the relevant sea and coastal areas and make a rapid multi-disciplinary assessment, involving government and other institutions competent to contribute to the same and submit their findings as a broad-based expert report to the Inter-Ministerial Committee. The Group of National Experts be further facilitated in their studies with official data to be obtained from the Government of India.

E) To continue to monitor and study the development in this regard and make available information to the appropriate parties.

F) To recognize the importance of long-term trans-boundary collaboration between the two countries, and to establish, consolidate and continue long-term co-operation with Indian counterparts at all levels with respect to the common water body between the two countries.

G) To urge the Inter-Ministerial Committee to take urgent measures to hold bi-lateral talks with India and convene and ad hoc regional forum to develop a common long-term strategy — for co-operation and harmonization of the respective national activities in the fields of shipping and port development as to avoid and/or mitigate economic dislocation and other adverse consequences arising from a lack of harmonization and co-ordination inter se.

Farmers in Tissamaharama and Lunugamwehera, who depend on water from the Kirindi Oya Development Project claim that they were not getting the required amount of water for cultivation.

The farmers plan to stage a protest rally at Lunugamwehera against the water distribution plan, which they said had not provided them with enough water for agriculture since 1992.

The dispute between the farmer groups on left and right banks of the project over the Kirindi Oya waters had left nearly 2,000 families on the Left Bank without water for cultivation.

The water levels in the Kirindhi Oya had reduced drastically since the early '90s due to drought in the Southern areas.

President of the Tissa Farmer Group Organisations, Ranjith Kumarasinghe said the present method of water distribution had left farmers on the Left Bank with inadequate water to cultivate two harvesting periods a year.

"Although we have repeatedly requested the District Agriculture Officer to amend the water plan to distribute water in an equitable manner the protests from the farmer groups on the Right Bank had prevented action being taken," he said.

Meanwhile in a letter to the Prime Minister, Ministers and officials the farmer groups had demanded the appointment of a technical committee to investigate amendments to the present water plan.

The farmers also called on the government to reconstruct the old tanks and irrigation systems in the area to store rainwater for the dry season.

Families can find it best to stick together even in the insect world, biologists at the universities of Nottingham (UK) and Georgia (US) have discovered. Researchers studying the unusual life-cycle of a parasitic wasp found its larvae refused to attack close relatives even under extreme starvation conditions.

Led by Dr Ian Hardy in Nottingham's School of Biosciences in the English midlands, and Professor Mike Strand at the University of Georgia, the team were attempting to solve an evolutionary problem that has perplexed scientists for decades - why do animals sometimes cooperate with their competition? They expected to find that, as food resources reduced, soldier larvae would be less discriminate about who it attacked in an effort to secure their own survival. Dr Hardy, a population biology lecturer, said: "We didn't quite anticipate this. We would expect that, under extreme conditions, the survival of the individual would outweigh family considerations. Recent scientific theory predicts that competition for resources overrides close family ties but we found, over the course of almost two years, that this wasn't so."

The study, funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council, looked at a parasitic wasp which can produce numerous sets of identical twins over its lifetime - polyembryonic reproduction. These wasps can have between 800 to 3,500 young, or larvae, from just one egg, making them the most polyembryonic species known to science.

The adult wasp finds a host, usually a caterpillar, in which to lay its egg. This hatches into two types of larvae: the reproductive larvae that will eventually emerge from the host as adult wasps and soldier larvae that are doomed to death after protecting the reproductive larvae long enough for them to consume their host and complete their life-cycle to adulthood.

Dr Hardy continued: "Despite the fact that they are both genetically identical, the two types of larvae look completely different - rather like the film Twins starring Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. We know that sterile soldier larvae with tough, fighting mandibles develop first. They distribute themselves throughout the host caterpillar protecting their reproductive relatives. Alien species and distant relatives feel their wrath; the soldiers attack those they do not recognise as their own. We found the soldier larvae are most protective towards closest relatives - in fact their aggression increases as the relationship to a relative reduces."

The team believes the larvae recognises close family by a membrane shrouding that has unique chemical properties. This membrane also protects the larvae from the host's immune response. Professor Strand's group has shown that removing the membrane and placing it on a close relative leads to soldier larvae attacking its own relatives. Altruistic behaviour is common throughout the animal kingdom, particularly in species with complex social structures. An animal is said to behave altruistically when its behaviour benefits other animals - at a cost to itself. The costs and benefits are measured in terms of "reproductive fitness" - expected number of offspring. Therefore by behaving altruistically, an organism reduces the number of offspring it is likely to produce but greatly boosts the number of offspring produced by close relatives - increasing the chance that a specific line of genes continues into another generation.

This biological notion of altruism is not identical to the everyday concept. An action would be called "altruistic" if it were done with the conscious intention of helping another. But in the biological sense there is no such requirement. Sterile soldier larvae devotes its whole life to protecting reproductive larvae. This behaviour is 100 per cent altruistic: sterile workers obviously do not leave any offspring of their own but their actions greatly assist the survival and eventual reproduction of the reproductive larvae. The research was published in the journal Nature.

London Press Service

A television news showed street lights along the Galle Road burning the whole of the day time. Hundreds of lights burning in similar manner in various places cannot be captured by the TV stations. There is always something that lacks in the street light unit of the Colombo Municipal Council.

We have read a lot in the newspapers and have not seen any improvement or steps taken by the Mayor at least to make some changes in the unit. I think a couple of more engineers, who would be conscious enough to serve for the salary, they receive, in this unit will be an advantage to keep the lights in Colombo working and at the same-time of knocking them in time. It is also suggested that five zones be given to one officer, of course, with necessary equipment and workers. The street lamps planted at Maligawatte from BCC roundabout have not been given the connection for over five months. Why is it? Branches of many trees have covered a lot of street lamps and the unit is not bothered to cut them down. Why is it, one wonders what is happening in that unit? Like scavenging has been given to a private company, why not the street light unit too be given to another private company? What the rate-payers need is service let anybody do it.

This is a project the Englishmen thought of starting 144 years ago, but put on hold for lack of funds. After India gained independencc, several politicians started to campaign for it, specially in the South. In early 1985 the subject again surfaced and the Indian authorities were seriously discussing the issue. ‘The Island’ and ‘The Daily News’ highlighted the issue for the information of our rulers of the time.

In early August 2003 in the ‘Maha Sinhale Wansa Kathawa’ programme telecast by "Swarnavahini," the matter was taken up for discussion by Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Nayake Thera, Professor Mendis Rohanadheera and Mr. J. R. P. Sooriyapperuma with Jackson Anthony as the moderator. On 11th August, 2003, I addressed a letter to the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with a copy to then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Ports Development, and the then Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapakse, MP and the JVP highlighting the dangers—both environmental and economic—this project could pose to Sri Lanka. But there was no acknowledgement of the receipt of my letter! Before that eminent Engineer A. T. G. A. Wickremasuriya had written a detailed letter to ‘The Island’ of 22nd May, 1999. In July this year, ‘The Island’ published an article titled "India’s proposed Suez Canal".

On 24th August this year, I again wrote a letter to the present Prime Minister with a copy to the Leader of the Opposition, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Ports Development, JVP and JHU urging them to take some action to halt this project. It was published in "The Island" and The Sunday Observer but again there was acknowledgement from politicians.

Despite severe warning of adverse affects to Sri Lanka from authoritative source, it is appalling and surprising that the government of the day has not made any effort to contact their Indian counterparts to discuss the issue at least with a view to halting it until more impartial and detailed studies are undertaken jointly by both sides. Apparently, India has carried out a survey to ensure that there would be no adverse affects on India.

Experts have warned of adverse impact on Sri Lanka, both socio-economic as well as geo-economic.

The Indian Cabinet is to take up the matter for discussion and approval this month. As I pointed out earlier this may contravene the existing Maritime Laws and as per the ‘Manithan’ report it is against "UN Law of Sea Convention - 1982".

If no action is taken immediately, it will be too late and our chances of getting a detailed and independent survey and opinion will be lost for good.

It is of no use the public and authoritative sources writing letter after letter to the press, if the attention of those who matter cannot be drawn to the issue.

(Ranjith C. Dissanayake,Deputy President, Eksath Sinhala Maha Sabha.)

"The government’s programmes of rehabilitating 10,000 tanks and asveddumising abandoned paddy fields will definitely be an impetus for promoting paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka and make the nation self-sufficient in its food requirements" said the Matara District M. P., Jinadasa Kitulegoda.

Addressing a meeting at Paraduwa Yaya, Elgiriya in Akuressa to commence paddy cultivation activities in a 165-acre field (yaya), Mr. Kitulegoda said the field had been left fallow for a number of years and the event was being held to coincide with the World Food Day organised by the cultivation committees of Elgiriya, Paraduwa and Pahuranwila.

Mr. Kitulegoda further said that the ill planned Nilwala Ganga scheme had been a bane of farmers in most parts of the district whose once flourishing paddy fields had been reduced to mere barren lands due to various factors.

The biggest problem of the farmers in the country was lack of water for their cultivation activities and the Ministry of Agriculture was doing its best to solve the problem by its methodical plans and co-ordinating relevant state organisations for this purpose.

However, the leadership of the farming community was also very essential to make this programme a real success, he said.

The Ven. Paraduwa Jinaratane Thero, chief incumbent, Kahawilgoda Purana Viharaya, Elgiriya said that Sri Lankans though they had an agro based culture with a proud history had gradually had become a nation of idlers or lotus eaters and had abandoned their farming activities following foreign invasions and switched on to white collar jobs.

D. Weerasinghe, Divisional Secretary, Malimboda who is also the acting Divisional Secretary for Akuressa, said that steps would be taken to rehabilitate irrigation anicuts and channels in the yayas of both Akuressa and Malimboda to provide water requirements of the farmers, before long.

The Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services, Matara, D. A. L. Nimal Chairman, Pradeshiya Sabha, Akuressa, Upali Sarathchanchra, Manager, Ruhunu Development Bank, Akuressa, K. Ariyathilake and I. P. Wickramapala also spoke.

I refer to the news item in The Island of the October 14th, under caption, Farmer family makes hay while sun shines . I was delighted to read this item of news and especially happy that the farmer concerned was able to dispose of his crop at an attractive price.

Reference the query in this item of news, about why most of the farmers in the H Zone are not cultivating onions, I wish to present one possible reason. A trial plot of big onions was planted in the Ipolagama Block, Nochchiyagama, as far back as 1984. It was a very successful trial and a good harvest was on the cards. The farmer and his wife slaved a lot on the field to ensure a high yield and they were all smiles anticipating a lucrative financial return for their labour. But what followed was disaster. Just as it was time to harvest the crop, a shipload of big onions was unloaded at the Colombo Port. There was no market for the farmer’s crop thereafter. The farmer and his wife were soon seen at the Nochchiyagama town and Mahaweli Camp site, making house-to-house sales of their onion crop a pathetic sight indeed.

The farmer, on seeing the success of the trial plot (about 1/8th Ha in extent) had dreams of cultivating an extended area with big onions the next Yala season. Their dreams were shattered. No onion cultivation again for this farmer nor for other farmers of the area, who were witness to this experience!

During the Yala season, irrigation water is not sufficient for farmers to cultivate the full extent of their fields with in the Mahaweli H area. To compensate for this, other field crops were introduced. Chili was and still is grown very successfully, and so too, field crops as cowpea, green gram, black gram etc. The success of the big onion trial in the Ipologama area in 1984 and by the Eppawela farmer this year, proves beyond doubt that onion holds good prospect for the Mahaweli H area.

A trial plot of potato, was also grown in the Nochchiyagama area in the same year (1984), which was also very successful. I am unaware of any progress in this crop thereafter.

From the above, it would be seen that not only onions but also potatoes could be grown successfully in the H area. However, in promoting these crops, it should be ensured that the fate suffered by that onion farmer in 1984, would not recur.

At long last, food prices in the parliament canteen have been jacked up. Breakfast, which was available at a ridiculous price of Rs. 6 has now gone up to Rs. 60 and lunch from Rs. 15 to Rs. 150.

This is a salutary step albeit belated. But we hope that these price increases won’t be followed by a thumping hike in parliamentarians’ salaries and/or allowances.

Subsidised food for MPs, however, is not the only thing that has come under public criticism. It is the whole kit and caboodle of perks and privileges parliamentarians are enjoying at public expense, especially the tax-free vehicles on soft loans. Jumbo cabinets with a large number of deputies maintained at a tremendous cost to the state coffers have also been of grave concern to taxpayers languishing under a soaring cost of living.

Public resentment stems mainly from hubris and attendant callousness on the part of politicians, reflected in the way they conduct themselves in public. For example, there is a ceasefire on and the ruling party politicians sound sanguine about the country not reverting to war. But they retain armed guards, move about with escorts and keep personal weapons. (Recently we disclosed that many parliamentarians did not have licenses for their guns.)

If the situation in the country is so peaceful as it is made out to be, then why on earth can’t these politicians do without their weapons and armed guards and travel like other civilians?

How many of those parliamentarians who have opted to pay ‘more’ for their food, have declared their assets in compliance with the law? Only a few. It is this serious omission that has left room for corruption. It behoves those who were instrumental in getting the parliament food prices increased to give serious thought to asset declarations as well. Paying taxes should be considered more important than paying less for meals. None will mind these political worthies eating even five star food for free, if they abstain from bribery and corruption. That alone will make this country prosper.

The idea behind parliamentarians’ decision to pay more for canteen food may be to empathise with the people burdened with high commodity prices. But the people are saddled with other problems as well. They don’t live by bread alone. Public transport is in a horrible mess. Why can’t parliamentarians and provincial councillors under whose purview public conveyance comes, travel by bus or train at least on the days when Parliament meets so as to see for themselves the suffering the people are subjected to.

The Iegendary politician of the south the late Mr. W. Dahanayake used to do so. He travelled by train mingling with the common people as one of them. And if today’s politicians could emulate him, the transport sector will improve in no time. The officials concerned will be on their toes and private bus operators will behave themselves. How roads that remain in a state of disrepair for years in spite of appeals to the authorities, are repaired overnight before a political potentate’s visit is a case in point. (Once, it should be recalled, a government agent in the south had to remove his tie and coat and dig drains to help plumbers finish laying pipes in time for the late President Premadasa’s visit to avoid being dressed down coram populo. That is the way to shake awake the bureaucracy of this country. Whatever his shortcomings may have been, President Premadasa knew how to get his work done.) A set of rulers living in air-conditioned cocoons cannot solve the problems besetting the public. They ought to come out and live among the people eating and travelling as others do at least once in a way, if they are to call themselves ‘people’s representatives’.

Politicians must also stick to the regulations governing school admissions and send their children to schools close to their residences in the electorates they come from. There are about 4,000 sitting politicians at present in parliament, provincial councils and local government bodies and if they all do so, that will be the best antidote to the closure of rural school and surefire way to develop education in the provinces.

No attempt is—lest it should be mistaken—being made to pooh-pooh the decision to increase parliament food prices. It is laudable as was said earlier. But that alone is not enough. Politicians have to forego much more in the public interest.

Over to you, ‘the servants of the people’!

The Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order has viewed with concern the spread of a variety of betel known as Babul which gives an intoxicating kick and is widely used by schoolchildren.

The police and drug control authorities have reported that this type of betel imported from Pakistan is being freely sold by vendors near many schools. It has reached alarming proportions and if not stamped out quickly would endanger the youth. It has also been pointed out that Babul betel is the first introduction to much stronger drug addiction.

Following the disclosure, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Law and Order Tilak Ranaviraja has written to the Controller of Imports and Exports not to allow import of Babul betel to Sri Lanka. He has told the controller apart from saving foreign exchange the ban would prevent a much greater catestrophy.

KURUNEGALA: The coir industry in the Kurunegala district has been greatly affected owing to lack of raw materials, i.e. coconut husks.

There is an acute shortage of coconut husks in the area because coconut trees have been cut on a massive scale in the process of land sales.

Once upon a time, the coir industry was in full swing with hundreds of thousands rural families engaged in a range of activities in the sector and earned a living, according to the research material.

Unfortunately, most of the people willing to join the sector for a living due to the scarcity of raw materials.

Products related to the coir industry have opportunities only in the local markets in the good old days but nowadays the situation has changed having access to foreign markets too.

There are now at least fifteen products in the field of coir industry for which there is a good demand from France, Germany, the USA and some other European countries, according to market sources.

This seemingly paradoxical query is from a theme that came up for discussion at a conference of environmentalists who met in Perth a few years back to talk about what we should do when building towards the future. We were represented by Mr. C.G. Weeramantry who was the Vice-President once of the Court of International Justice at The Hague . He refers to this Perth conference in the preface he wrote to a little booklet where he published his separate opinion (while agreeing with the conclusions of the Court) on this very interesting case that came up before the Court around 1997.

The litigants who appeared in this case were two states, Hungary and Slovakia. Their grievance was over a dam that was being built on the river Danube, which also happened to be their common frontier. Slovakia had spent several billion dollars on the initial investment and Hungary was now complaining that the dam was going to create a lot of environmental damage to its country. We didn’t hear of this dispute earlier, if there was one, because the two countries were then under the Soviet grip. The treaty that was signed by these two countries then was now coming apart.

What was before the Court, however, was a dispute over development and environment - the development of one country in this case being disastrous to the other. How was the Court going to resolve this problem? Mr Weeramantry tells us that his mind took him at once towards his childhood memories when he accompanied his parents on their visits to the historic cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa and the sight of those huge reservoirs has remained in his memory ever since. That experience soon became relevant to the understanding of the problem now before the Court.

Legal issues

Faced with similar problems, how did our kings set about damming the rivers and the waterways without damaging the environment too much and also improving the welfare of the land and its people? After studying the question at some depth he gathered a lot of useful information on how traditional wisdom helped the conservation of the environment which he has now included in a little booklet. This will soon become a useful little compendium of traditional wisdom to jurists interested in what is now becoming a subject of great importance - sustainable development.

"One of the legal issues before the court," writes Mr Weeramantry, "was the concept of sustainable development which is so much in the forefront of modern international environment law. I realized that our ancient irrigation heritage was an example par excellence of the practical application of this concept. In fact it offered one of the best examples in world history of the implementation of this concept. Its relevance to the legal question before the Court struck me as inescapable."

Another reason for his effort to draw wider attention to this subject was when he circulated some statistics among his colleagues in the panel of judges "concerning the scale and duration of the Sri Lankan operation...(which) neither the bench nor the bar, as far as I could detect, had the slightest awareness of this phenomenal Sri Lankan contribution to universal culture." Since this is a rare feature in the equipment of the Sri Lankan academic, who often is aware only of the negative side of the Sri Lankan landscape, he deserves a special word of thanks for displaying to the world the genius of the people of this country.

You gather from the information he provides that the Sri Lankan civilization was not an isolated case, but one which had diplomatic relations with Rome in the first century A.D., with Byzantium in the 4th century A.D. and that the presence of Sri Lankan ambassadors in Rome was recorded by Pliny (lib. vi, c 24) and the detailed knowledge Rome had of this country was noted by Grotius in his Mare Liberum and how Lanka was known to the Greeks as Taprobane, to the Arabs as Serendib, to the Portuguese as Ceilao and to the Dutch as Zeylan. Gibbon, too, noted that Lanka had trade relations with the Far East and the Roman Empire,

Arnold Toynbee also refers to our tank civilization as an ‘amazing system of water works’ and goes on to describe how the hill streams were trapped and the water guided into giant storage tanks ‘some of them four thousand acres in extent.’ Mr. Weeramantry also quotes extensively from a modern day campaigner for the environment, Edward Goldsmith, as in the following quote:

High degree of sophistication

Sri Lanka is covered with a network of thousands of man-made lakes and ponds known as tanks (after tanque, the Portuguese word for reservoir). Some are truly massive, many are thousands of years old, and almost all show a high degree of sophistication in their construction and design. Sir James Emerson Tennent, the nineteenth century historian, marvelled in particular at numerous channels that were dug underneath each bed of the lake in order to ensure that the flow of water was constant and equal as long as any water that remained in the tank.

The quotations cited by Weeramantry range from Pliny to Arthur C Clarke and may be sufficient to impress a reader from the West, but the one he quotes from the Mahawamsa may strike this same reader as being ‘quaint’ but, nonetheless, startling. In the modern West the role of Man is conceived as that of a conqueror of Nature.

But here in the East he plays only a secondary role as pointed out by Arahat Mahinda, when he surprised King Devanampiya Tissa in the middle of his hunt with the following words:

O great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have as equal a right to live and move about in any part of the land as thou. The land belongs to the people and all living beings; thou art only the guardian of it.

It is difficult to imagine that the West will ever come to grant a secondary role to Man in the scheme of things. The way the modern scientific age stands now, dreaming of building cities on remote planets and satellites, it is hard to dissuade it from spending billions of dollars on such projects. Here on earth he is unable to live barely in peace among his fellow men, how is this same Man going to build a better future over there?

No doubt there were voices in the West, too, that cautioned those who wanted to rush headlong into the future with words of warning such as this:

Why has not man a microscopic eye? It is Alexander Pope who asks this question and goes on to supply the answer:

For this reason, man is not a fly.

And he goes on to ask a second question:

Say what the use, were finer optics giv’n

T’inspect a mite, or comprehend the heav’n’

Alexander Pope

In this traditional scheme of things man is not on the top of the pile, says Alexander Pope but somewhere in the middle alongside ‘Beast, bird, fish, insect’ in what he calls the ‘Vast chain of Being’ extending from microbes to God. But then who reads Pope these days? From Alexander Pope to T.S. Eliot and Wendell Berry in our time, they are all voices crying in the wilderness.

That is why I am beginning to wonder whether the term ‘sustainable development’ is the most appropriate to apply here. ‘Development’ has several meanings, the one that comes most to mind readily is a state of change of state from worse to better. And striving towards a better state means for people today a desperate yearning to go to the Middle East or Italy, only to come back loaded with all the gadgetry in the world and to find that they are unsuited for our style of doing things.

Some people in the West are now realizing that over consumption is all wrong and wasteful and harmful to the environment. They are recommending now, like E.F.Schumakar, a Buddhist economics that can observe a proper balance of economic, environmental and social needs to reduce the tension between development and environment. Schumakar sums it all up in one sentence - A maximum of welfare with a minimum of consumption.

If you like to see how this worked read Robert Knox:

Eat to live

‘Thus plentifully has Nature stored this island that they neither need nor have many manual operations, except making tools to till the ground to sow Cotton for Clothing and for rice; for they reach not for more than food and raiment and drink the water of the brookes.

Thus with these naturall helpes they live with little labour; having less riches and Care than we in England, but are healthful, Chefull and Carelesse and so live with their wives and children tell worned out with old age.

‘Thus they eate to live (not for wantonnesse) and live to eate, for they use not sports for recreations when grown up, but their Chief diversion is to sett and talk with their friends and neighbours.

‘This kind of life have I had many years experience of having but little and wanting less - I mean such things as are absolutely necessary for mans subsistence - and so could very well have Continued myself to have Continued...’