Editorial
A healing touch?

Although the dust has settled on the matters raised by Dr. A.H. Sheriffdeen’s letter to the President of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka (CSSL) and the heat generated by the issue has now cooled, it is worth reflecting on this matter. Emeritus Professor Sheriffdeen has acquired a well deserved reputation as an excellent surgeon and teacher of the highest calibe and it was natural that what he had to say struck a resonant chord among a wide section of society not only because of what he said but also the way he said it. Anybody who read his letter, widely publicized by both the mainstream and social media, would have clearly seen the anguish with what he wrote and empathized with the reality that things were much better in times that are now long past.
Both Dr. Sheriffdeen, in a subsequent letter, and Dr. Jayaindra Fernando, President of CSSL, have expressed dismay about the original letter being publicized the way it was. Fernando has said that the College of Surgeons “were surprised and dismayed” by the publication of what they termed was a “private letter” intended to be read by its members. Sheriffdeen has said that he is appalled that an “internal email” to the President of CSSL had been published as it was. Given the excellent tone and tenor of of what followed, we do not wish to strike a discordant note but want to say in defence of the publication, that the letter did not say it was private and confidential or meant only for the reading of a select audience. Also, at least the mainstream editors (we can’t speak for the social media), would not have seen it as a ‘plant’ – something not common in our line of work. We might add our belief that is was a good thing that a matter as important as this was widely disseminated and provoked extensive discussion among those who matter – both in the medical profession and elsewhere.
The response to the original missive by the paediatric surgeons working at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH) deserves the highest commendation by all for the way in which it was worded. This letter was formally released to the press by the President of CSSL and although published elsewhere earlier, is republished in this issue of our newspaper both for the reason that we ran the original story as well as the need for the widest possible dissemination of what for the lack of a better word be styled as the “rejoinder.” The LRH surgeons who called themselves a “Paediatric Surgeon’s Collective” wrote in lighter vein that “it is said in jest that every story has three sides – your side, our side and the truth.” We professional journalists are trained to investigate both sides of what we write in the hope that the truth lies in-between your side and my side and would hopefully be discerned by the readers.
The rejoinder was a model of the best diplomacy which conveyed what the writers had to say with no offense to anybody. It called Prof. Sheriffdeen “one of our beloved and respected teachers” who had striven during his career to impress upon his students the ideals of being a good doctor. They did not try in the slightest way to criticize Sheriffdeen for what he wrote saying “the exasperation of a man who feels betrayed and thwarted is understandable (and) if his impassioned communication…..did help to restore his equilibrium, as he expected, then we will somehow try to take in stride the damage done to our reputation and that of the hospital.” Most letter writers would have socked in the words with which that sentence ended, “even though the events that had taken place are misrepresented.” There was no strident accusation of misrepresentation or any kind of fault finding.
In essence the LRH surgeons made the point that standards of care for any condition is ever-evolving and they are guided by what is appropriate at that point of time. Presently, acute appendicitis in children, does not have to be rushed into the theatre in the night (unlike in Sheriffdeen’s heyday they did not say to their eternal credit). They explained that in the contentious case under discussion, it had been decided to do the appendectomy after fluid resuscitation and antibiotics. It had been planned to operate on the child as the first case the next morning, successful surgery performed and the patient who was fully recovered had been discharged. They agreed that the consultant surgeon does not stay in after normal working hours “but is only a telephone call away.”
All’s well that ends well we are tempted to say with no two-fisted attack on anybody. But there is no escaping the reality that there are great deal of deficiencies in the state healthcare system and that most people in the country have a perception that private healthcare, despite the enormous and in most cases unaffordable cost, is preferable to going to a government hospital. Knowledgeable people know that the finest and most skilled services are present in the state sector. But it is also true that healthcare is today a lucrative business not only for the private hospitals but also for specialist consultants permitted private practice despite being employees of the state health service. We do not think that all these doctors can place their hand their hearts and swear that they put in the necessary hours at their government jobs at the cost of their private practice. There are many who do and perhaps many more that do not. Hopefully the wide discussion of all the issues arising from Prof. Sheriffdeen’s letter will be a healing touch on the country’s healthcare system.
Editorial
Trump’s pound of flesh and bleeding nations

Friday 4th April, 2025
US President Donald Trump has jacked up tariffs on imports in the name of making America wealthy again. Yesterday, he signed an executive order, with his usual melodrama, increasing tariffs on goods imported from many countries including Sri Lanka, which will now have to pay as much as 44% by way of tariff on its exports to the US. Claiming that the unprecedented tariff hike is a reciprocal measure, Trump has said the new 44% tariff is in response to Sri Lanka’s 88% trade barriers on American goods. It is a case of a giant competing with a dwarf!
Powerful nations are resilient enough to absorb the US tariff shocks, but the weaker economies like Sri Lanka are bound to reel and even go into a tailspin, causing further destabilisation of the developing world. The US tariff hike will deal a body blow to Sri Lanka’s export sector, especially its garment industry, which is showing signs of recovery. Sri Lankan goods, especially garments, will now be less competitive in the US market. Other Asian garment exporters, such as India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, also have higher US tariffs to contend with but not to the same extent as Sri Lanka. There’s the rub.
A drastic decline in export earnings due to the new US tariffs will invariably lead to a decrease in Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves, causing a further depreciation of the rupee, an increase in inflation, job losses, and even socio-political upheavals unless the US takes the fragile condition of the Sri Lankan economy and softens its stand.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed an expert committee to study the economic fallout of the US tariff hike and recommend remedial measures. This is a step in the right direction, and it is hoped that the government, together with all other stakeholders, will be able to formulate a mitigatory strategy to cushion the impact of the new US tariffs on the local industries and the ailing economy. Most of all, the government will have to manage the country’s foreign currency reserves frugally.
What the US can gain from the unprecedented hike in tariffs on Sri Lankan exports is negligible, and it will not give any significant boost to the US economy or industries. Is Washington trying to leverage Sri Lanka’s overdependence on the US as an export destination to further its geopolitical interests in a bigger way? Is the Trump administration goading Sri Lanka into a situation where the latter will be left with no alternative but to agree to anything including controversial agreements, owing to its sheer desperation to have the US tariffs on its exports reduced?
If what Trump said, while announcing the new tariffs is anything to go by, he wants to make America wealthy again by creating conditions for the domestic industries to be ‘reborn’. But he has apparently ignored factors like stringent environmental laws, higher cost of domestic labour, increases in raw material costs due to new tariffs, technological competition, etc., which will stand in the way of the US in achieving his dream.
Whether Trump will be able to realise his MAGA (Make America Great Again) goal by resorting to ruthless actions that weaken the economies in the developing world may be in doubt, but one possible outcome of his tariff war, as it were, is not difficult to predict. Extremely high tariffs the US has imposed on imports are at variance with the liberal economic principles and policies it has long championed. Such excessively protectionist measures could undermine America’s global dominance, driving smaller nations to gravitate towards its rivals in search of favourable trade terms. Russia lost no time in offering to help Sri Lanka’s export sector. Other powerful nations are likely to follow suit where the developing countries troubled by the US tariffs are concerned.
Editorial
A welcome judgment

Thursday 3rd April, 2025
Justice finally caught up with former North Central Province Chief Minister S. M. Ranjith and his sister-in-law Shanthi Chandrasena yesterday, when the Colombo High Court (HC), which heard a case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) against them in 2021, sentenced them to 16 years RI for having misappropriated Rs. 2.6 million between 2012 and 2014. They were also fined Rs. 200,000 each. The HC judgment must have gladdened the hearts of all those who long for an end to corruption.
The criminal misappropriation of state funds at issue happened during the heyday of the Rajapaksa rule, which became a metaphor for corruption and abuse of power. When politicians are intoxicated with power, they become blind to the consequences of their actions, and enrich themselves as if there were no tomorrow. They usually cover their tracks, but the January 2015 regime change may have prevented CM Ranjith and his sister-in-law, who was his private secretary, from doing so. Their offence, however, pales into insignificance in comparison to what some other members of previous governments have been accused of. Unfortunately, most of those allegations have gone uninvestigated, or escape routes have been opened for the accused in some high-profile corruption cases, which were made to collapse, much to the dismay of anti-corruption campaigners and the public. Thankfully, most of those characters failed to get re-elected last year, and this is something the NPP government can flaunt as an achievement.
Another former Chief Minister––Chamara Sampath Dassanayake––has been remanded for causing a huge loss to the Uva Provincial Council by withdrawing six fixed deposits prematurely in 2016. It is hoped that all allegations of corruption, abuse of power and serious crimes such as murder against the members of previous administrations will be probed thoroughly and the culprits prosecuted expeditiously.
Corruption usually thrives under powerful governments in this country because huge majorities tend to nurture impunity. Integrity of most Sri Lankan politicians is a mere result of the unavailability of opportunities to line their pockets rather than an unwavering commitment to moral principles. Power tends to have a corrosive effect on scruples, and many self-proclaimed champions of good governance, who come to power, vowing to rid the country of corruption, end up being as corrupt as their predecessors. What we witnessed following the 2015 government change is a case in point. The ‘paragons of virtue’ in the UNP-led Yahapalana camp committed the first Treasury bond scam a few weeks after being voted into power. The present-day leaders who are campaigning hard against corruption were on a political honeymoon with the UNP at that time, and their alliance lasted until the end of the Yahapalana government in late 2019 despite very serious allegations of corruption against that administration.
There is nothing stupider than to rely on individual politicians to rid the country of bribery and corruption. They may have allegations of corruption against their political rivals probed, but it is doubtful whether they are serious about eliminating bribery and corruption. One may recall that having come to power by campaigning mainly on an anti-corruption platform, in 1994, the SLFP-led People’s Alliance government, ably assisted by several other political parties, including the UNP and the JVP, effectively deprived the national anti-graft commission of its suo motu powers, making it dependent on formal complaints to take action. Hence the need for anti-corruption laws with stronger teeth and robust institutional mechanisms to battle bribery and corruption. All existing anti-corruption mechanisms should be given a radical shake-up.
Editorial
Another Mafia

Wednesday 2nd April, 2025
Petrol was unavailable at some filling stations yesterday as their stocks had not been replenished in anticipation of a petrol price reduction. The government reduced the prices of petrol by Rs. 10. Long lines of vehicles were seen near the fuel stations where petrol was available. Some people delayed refuelling their vehicles until the announcement of the monthly fuel price revision, expecting substantial fuel price reductions in view of the upcoming local government (LG) elections. That too may have led to a marginal increase in the demand for fuel yesterday morning.
There have been numerous instances where speculation of downward price revisions led to fuel shortages. Fuel retailers have become a law unto themselves and do not care to maintain adequate petroleum stocks. A similar situation is bound to occur early next month as the government is expected to decrease fuel prices in view of the upcoming local government elections. So, precautions will have to be taken to foreclose such an eventuality.
There is a pressing need for stringent regulation of fuel retailing to ensure that all filling stations maintain petroleum stocks at the stipulated levels. Noncompliance should result in penalties. Previous governments gave filling stations owners kid-glove treatment for obvious reasons; it was only the businesspeople with political connections who could establish fuel stations, and some of them were family members of politicians. Those who voted the NPP into power expected their interests to prevail over those of unscrupulous businesses, such as rice millers, and fuel retailers, but sadly the status quo remains. NPP leaders flex their muscles and order pre-dawn raids on peaceful protesters just like the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe government, but they have no qualms about kowtowing to the exploiters of the public!
Meanwhile, filling stations, save a few, have earned notoriety for various malpractices such as meter tampering and pumping in bursts. Regulatory authorities do precious little by way of conducting regular inspections and calibrations of fuel dispensers, making one wonder whether they are in league with the unscrupulous fuel retailers. The government must put its foot down and take action to safeguard the interests of the public and ensure that fuel consumers get their money’s worth without hassle.
Propaganda and reality
The NPP government has pulled out all the stops in a bid to win the upcoming local government (LG) elections. While it is leveraging everything at its disposal to achieve that end, its propagandists are claiming that it needs to have control of all local councils to be able to serve the public better. They would have the people believe that the JVP/NPP is not controlling the LG institutions at present. But this claim does not bear scrutiny.
Local councils have remained functional although they are without elected representatives. They have been under Special Commissioners (SCs). The SCs report to the Provincial Governors, who are appointed by the President. Thus, all local councils are currently under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for all intents and purposes.
One can understand why the NPP is campaigning so hard to bag the local councils. It wants to win the mini polls and cement its impressive victories in last year’s national elections. However, the argument that unless the people vote for the NPP overwhelmingly again, enabling it to gain control of all LG institutions, it won’t be able to carry out its pledges, is flawed. That is a propaganda lie.
One may recall that the Colombo Municipal Council remained under UNP control during the UPFA and SLPP governments, but that did not stand in the way of the development of the City of Colombo. The JVP won the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha in 2002 while the UNP was controlling Parliament and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was holding the executive presidency. Governments have to come to terms with such situations.
All signs are that the government and the Opposition will have to cooperate in many LG institutions, after the upcoming mini polls, for those councils are very likely to be hung.
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