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Conversation with Prince Phillip on BIA runway and President Premadasa’s genius for getting things done

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5 years ago

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Excerpted from the memoirs of Chandra Wickremasinghe, Rtd. Addl. Secy to the President

When Emperor Hirohito of Japan passed away at an advanced age, and the Duke of Edinburgh was scheduled to touch down at Katunayaka Airport on his return flight, after attending the funeral. Wije (KHJ Wijeyadasa) wanted me ‘to do the honours’ as he put it, by receiving him after touch down and entertaining him to high tea at the VIP lounge. Accordingly, arrangements were made for myself and British High Commissioner David Gladstone to welcome the Duke and conduct him to the VIP lounge. This was the time when SL had to face the menace of terrorism on two fronts from the JVP and the LTTE and as a precautionary measure there was a tight security wrap provided for the Duke’s safety by crack Air Force troops under the Air Force Commander.

When the plane, which was a small jet, landed, I went up the ramp with HC Gladstone and greeted the Duke who was in the cockpit. After exchanging the usual pleasantries , the Duke said that he had piloted ‘this small thing’ and what he wanted most was to stretch his legs a bit. I told him that we had arranged tea for him in the lounge to which he replied that he would prefer to do a walk up and down the runway to stretch his tired limbs.

I observed that he was dressed in workaday denims. Whilst walking with the Duke in the company of the British HC and the Air Force Commander, along with the security escorts, I engaged him in a conversation enquiring how the funeral was and how the older Japanese people, reacted to their Emperor, who had seen the country through the cataclysmic WW11, passing away. The Duke responded with his characteristic acerbic humour saying ‘ Oh he was dying for a long time and the Japanese had got used to the idea’!

Then about the funeral itself, he said with his typically wry wit, ‘it was a rather long drawn ceremony with a lot of sticks and incense being burnt.’ As the day happened to be cloudy and without any sun I commented that it was not the best of weather we were having that day, to which he replied smiling ‘Oh, ours is infinitely worse.” I also took the opportunity to ask him about the motor vehicle he was supposed to have owned while in Trincomalee where he had served during WW11 as a Sub- Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, adding that there were many here who claimed that they owned the vehicle.

He laughed and said that he too had heard the story of his motor car being owned by a person here adding that as he did not have much money at the time he remembers buying a small Standard or an Austin which was even at that time in a somewhat ‘clapped out condition.’ Soon after his brisk stroll up and down the runway, he opted to board the plane and take off despite our pleas to have tea in the VIP lounge. I must say it was quite an experience meeting the Duke in person and listening to his witticisms which have now become legendary as they are some times mixed with the occasional faux pas, he is notorious for making.

President RP’s way of getting things done on the double

Just one month before he was assassinated by an LTTE suicide cadre, I remember Dayaratna, the President’s Co-ordinating Secretary meeting me and saying that the President wanted to see me. I enquired from Daya, who was a very amiable officer, whether there was a problem; he replied “I do not know, Sir, HE is there alone in the office waiting for you”. When I walked in somewhat apprehensively into his large office room, Daya approached him and said “Sir, Mr. Wickramasinghe is here.”

I remember the President looking at me quickly and saying in Sinhala “Chandra, I have a big problem”. I was taken by surprise when he addressed me by my first name which he had never done before. My immediate reaction was to try to figure out what this big problem was that he as President could not solve. While studying the relevant file, he spoke to me switching onto English this time and said “There are two MPs who are fighting to get an unused paddy store. One of the MP’s wishes to use the store to rehabilitate 32 ex-JVP cadres while the other is keen on converting the store into a vocational training centre to train the youth in the area in vocational skills. This has become a big headache to me”. He then looked at me and said “Here is the file, you examine the problem and summon the MPs and tell them how it should be settled and let me have your report in two days”. I was totally flabbergasted, wondering how I could possibly summon MPs to appear before me and further, to tell them how the matter should be resolved. I had very little sleep that night and remember telling my wife that I regretted ever having joined the Presidential Secretariat.

It was in this despondent mood that I read through the file carefully that night and mapped out a strategy in my mind. I wanted to start working on it the very next morning as the report had to be submitted to HE in two days. I had decided by then in my own mind that the more viable option was the establishment of a vocational training centre which could cater to the needs of the youth in the area. With this in mind, I phoned the Secretary/Ministry of Mahaweli Development (it was either AA Wijetunge or DG Premachandra) and enquired whether land with a perennial water course was available in one of the border areas (Mahaweli H Division). His first reaction was to reply in the negative.

I then told him that HE was keen on settling 32 JVP cadres in a suitable border area. Thinking it was the President who was behind the request, he asked for half an hour to check and get back to me. He rang me within 15 minutes to say that there was a suitable land available with a perennial stream running through it. I then revealed the plan I had in mind for the settlement of the 32 ex-insurgents on this land. I asked him how much of land could be given to each settler to which his reply was that the normal allotment of two and a half acres would be given. I told him ,the extent will have to be five acres, to which proposal he reluctantly agreed, again thinking that this was being suggested at the instance of the President.

On further enquiry by me as to how much money would be given to each allottee to put up a house, he replied that the normal Rs. 5,000/= would be made available. I told him that the amount will have Rs. 20,000/= as we had to take into account the special circumstances. Thinking once again that these were President Premadasa’s instructions, he agreed to give the enhanced amount. I then requested him to send me a blocking plan of the land showing the stream and a report on the extent to be allocated and the amount of money that would be given to build a house, via fax. In the meantime, I made arrangements with Army Headquarters to issue these 32 JVP cadres the necessary firearms (pump guns, they called them) and ammunition and to train them in the use of these weapons. I also remember quipping that as they were JVP cadres such training may be somewhat redundant.

That evening, I telephoned the two MPs to convey to them ‘the decisions made by the President’. The first MP I contacted was the one who wanted to utilize the store for the rehabilitation of the 32 insurgents. I started the conversation asking him whether there was a problem regarding a warehouse in that area. The MP immediately launched on a tirade against the other MP saying that the JVP cadres were after all ‘our own people’ who had to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. At this point I told the MP that the President had gone into the issue very carefully and had decided to make the warehouse available for a vocational training centre, as such a training centre would be beneficial to youth in the entire area.

He was naturally taken aback and smelling something fishy, asked me what would happen to the JVP youth to which query I replied that the President had a plan of settling them in System H of the Mahaweli project. The MP immediately countered saying that they would be killed off in no time by the LTTE. I assured him that arrangements will be made to provide suitable firearms to them to defend themselves. He then wanted to know the extent of the allotment that would be given and when I said that each would be given five acres expressed disbelief saying that the normal extent was two and a half acres per settler under the Mahaweli project. I had to reassure him that it would be five acres. When asked about the financial assistance that would be given to build a house and being informed by me that Rs. 20,000 would be given per settler, the MP could not contain his surprise as the usual assistance given for the purpose was Rs. 5,000.

I also assured him that there was a perennial stream running through the land that would provide water for irrigation. At this stage he asked me somewhat testily whose decisions these were and I answered him without demur that they were the President’s. He was silent for a moment before telling me rather forlornly “What’s to be done.” I knew the President wanted me to settle the issue in a reasonable manner and that he would not object to this kind of settlement which ensured that the ex-insurgents who were to be settled in ‘System H’ would be treated exceptionally, providing them much better facilities than what the normal Mahaweli settlers were entitled to, without summarily throwing them to the wolves, so to speak.

I do not think the MP himself was too unhappy when I detailed to him the special concessions and facilities that would be extended to the JVP settlers, deviating from what was laid down. Further, the manner in which the MP somewhat timorously ended the conversation, indicated that he was prepared to accept the arrangement which he thought was based on the President’s instructions. I think what troubled him more was that the other MP was getting what he wanted and that this meant a loss of face for him.

The other MP whom I telephoned thereafter, was jubilant that the President had decided to give the warehouse to him to start a vocational training centre and gave expression to his joy by praising the sagacity of the President in making the correct decision. The next morning I took the file back to the President and explained to him at length what I had done informing him at the same time that I had deviated a little from the normal entitlements of a Mahaweli settler in view of the special circumstances of the case. He only asked me what Secy/Mahaweli had said about the deviations and on my replying that he concurred in them given the special circumstances, seemed satisfied that the additional concessions given were quite in order.

The President however examined my report very carefully, going into all the relevant details including the availability of water etc. Finally, he asked me what the MPs had to say about the decision and on my telling him that they seemed to agree with the new proposals, turned to me and thanked me which was again something he rarely or never did. I cited this particular case to show President Premadasa’s way of managing contending parties posing seemingly intractable problems which virtually defied solution. Being a hard-nosed realist with a decidedly practical orientation in working out solutions to problems, what was uppermost in his scheme of things was to forge a quick practical solution.

This is why officials who worked for him were all the time on tenterhooks trying desperately to work out practical solutions to problems which prima facie, seemed impossible to be solved. What facilitated matters in seeking solutions to such virtually intractable problems was the fact that all concerned officials in Ministries, Departments, State Corporations and Public Authorities at the time, were only too eager to chip in and help. This is what made our work, though trying and oftentimes exasperating , still, most satisfying, when the particular problems were eventually, successfully settled.


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Features

From stabilisation to transformation without delay

Published

22 hours ago

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2026/05/26

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At a symposium on reconciliation organised by the National Peace Council last week, more than 250 religious clergy, civic activists and political representatives from different communities gathered to discuss the country’s future. Speaking at the event, Minister Bimal Rathnayake explained the government’s approach to national reconciliation. He said the government viewed the country’s recovery in terms of a three stage process. The first stage was stabilisation, the second was development and the third was transformation. Reconciliation, he implied, would come in that final stage. The participation of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa at the same symposium, and the constructive nature of his comments, strengthens that hope.

When the present NPP government took office in 2024, the country was emerging from one of the gravest crises in its post Independence history. The economic collapse of 2022 had led to shortages of fuel, food, medicines and electricity. Inflation soared, foreign reserves disappeared and long queues became part of daily life. The political upheaval that followed culminated in the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after mass public protests under the banner of the Aragalaya movement. The country was then governed by a leadership that spoke the language of reform and reconciliation but was widely perceived as lacking a direct popular mandate.

Sri Lanka’s past experience suggests that stabilisation and transformation cannot be treated as entirely separate stages. Postponing reconciliation until some future moment risks repeating the failures of the past. If transformation is endlessly delayed until a supposedly perfect moment arrives, there will always be new crises and new reasons for postponement. Minister Rathnayake’s contention that the government’s immediate priority has necessarily been stabilisation flows from the government’s awareness of the precarious situation the country is. Over the past two years, the government has succeeded to a significant extent in restoring economic and political stability. Inflation has reduced, shortages have ended and public institutions have regained a degree of functionality.

Guaranteed Changes

On the other hand, the country’s development continues to face challenges due to adverse global conditions, including disruptions caused by conflict in the Middle East and extreme weather events that have affected tourism, trade and the cost of living. The danger is that reconciliation may be indefinitely postponed in the name of stabilisation. This danger can be reduced if the government works proactively with the opposition and civil society to commence practical measures of transformation now rather than later. The participation of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa at the symposium, and the constructive nature of his comments, has strengthened the sense that bipartisan engagement on reconciliation may now be possible.

The urgency of transformation came through strongly in the presentations made by representatives of the Sri Lanka Tamil and Malaiyaha Tamil communities. ITAK parliamentarian S.Shritharan spoke of the frustration caused by unresolved post war issues in the north and east. He referred to disputes regarding land occupied during the war years, including controversies linked to Buddhist temples and state sponsored settlement activity in areas claimed by local communities. He also pointed to the continuing large scale presence of the security forces in the north and east nearly two decades after the end of the war. These grievances have remained central to Tamil political discourse since the end of the armed conflict in 2009. Families displaced by war continue to seek the return of ancestral lands. Civil society organisations in the north have repeatedly called for greater civilian control over local administration and a reduction in military involvement in civilian life.

Academic research and practical work on the ground have shown that reconciliation cannot be separated from questions of dignity, equality and justice. Former minister Mano Ganesan, leader of the Democratic People’s Front, focused on the longstanding problems faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community. He spoke passionately about continuing housing shortages, landlessness and economic marginalisation, issues that have persisted since Independence. He also highlighted the devastating impact of recent extreme weather events on estate communities that remain socially and economically vulnerable. The condition of the Malaiyaha Tamil community remains one of the enduring social justice issues in Sri Lanka.

After Independence in 1948, a large proportion of them were denied citizenship and voting rights through legislation that rendered them stateless. Though citizenship rights were eventually restored, the social and economic consequences of exclusion continue to be felt generations later.

Many families still lack secure housing and land ownership despite their immense contribution to the country’s plantation economy. Minister Rathnayake’s responses to both these concerns were politically significant. He argued that recent political developments, including the declining influence of narrow ethnic politics across communities, indicated a major shift in public attitudes. According to him, the political ground has changed in ways that make it increasingly difficult for politicians who rely primarily on ethnic division and communal insecurity to retain public support.

Inter-Connected

There is evidence to support the assessment about the changing political grounding which sees future prospects in the resolution of long standing problems. . The economic collapse of 2022 affected all communities alike and generated a new politics centred on governance, anti corruption, accountability and economic justice. The Aragalaya protests brought together Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in a common demand for political change. Although ethnic grievances have not disappeared, the crisis created space for a broader understanding that the country’s future depends on cooperation rather than division. Opposition Leader Premadasa’s comments at the symposium reflected this changing political climate. He emphasised that national reconciliation could not be separated from economic justice and the need to address disparities between regions and social classes.v He also mentioned the need for civil society organisations to take this message to the community. This wider understanding of reconciliation is important because ethnic inequality and economic inequality have often reinforced each other in Sri Lanka’s history.

Academic studies have identified the denial of citizenship rights after Independence as a historic injustice that set back the Malaiyaha community for decades. The challenge now is to ensure that transformation becomes part of the stabilisation and development process itself. Practical first steps are both possible and necessary. The release of civilian lands still under state control, greater devolution of administrative authority, reduction of military involvement in civilian affairs, language equality in public administration and accelerated housing and land ownership programmes in the plantation sector are all measures that can begin immediately without waiting for a final stage of transformation.

The government’s recent commitment that provincial council elections will finally be held this year is therefore significant. These elections have been repeatedly postponed by successive governments. Holding them would not solve the ethnic conflict by itself. But it would signal a willingness to restore democratic institutions and share power in a meaningful way.

Sri Lanka has repeatedly postponed difficult reforms in the hope that a more convenient political moment would eventually arrive. But opportunities are invariably created and fought for instead of being provided as a gift by a benevolent government.

The present moment, shaped by the economic crisis and public demand for accountable government, offers a rare opportunity to move simultaneously towards stability, development and reconciliation. Provincial council elections can be the first meaningful step. But they must not be the last.

by Jehan Perera

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Features

Researchers to shape new environmental policy framework

Published

22 hours ago

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2026/05/26

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Some of the researchers at the meeting

In a significant move aimed at steering Sri Lanka’s environmental governance towards a more science-based and evidence-driven path, the Ministry of Environment has initiated a new collaborative mechanism to integrate leading researchers into national policy formulation and conservation planning.

The initiative was discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Dr. Dammika Patabendi at the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday, where top environmental scientists, wildlife experts and researchers were invited to contribute towards what officials described as a “strategic transition” in the country’s environmental management framework.

The discussions focused on strengthening the scientific basis of environmental conservation programmes and national policy decisions while creating a more research-friendly environment for academics and field scientists engaged in biodiversity and ecological studies.

Particular attention was paid to long-standing concerns raised by researchers regarding procedural and operational difficulties encountered when conducting studies in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Forest Department.

Minister Patabendi stressed the need for environmental policies to be guided by credible scientific data rather than ad hoc administrative decisions, ministry sources said.

Among the key proposals discussed was the establishment of a streamlined mechanism that would reduce bureaucratic obstacles faced by researchers in obtaining approvals, accessing field sites and sharing scientific findings with state institutions.

The Minister highlighted the importance of building stronger partnerships between policymakers and the scientific community at a time when Sri Lanka is grappling with escalating environmental challenges including deforestation, biodiversity loss, human-elephant conflict, climate-related disasters and ecosystem degradation.

Environmentalists attending the meeting had also highlighted the urgent necessity of incorporating empirical research into national decision-making processes to ensure long-term ecological sustainability and better resource management.

The meeting brought together several of Sri Lanka’s leading environmental researchers and academics including Rohan Pethiyagoda, Saminda Fernando, Sewwandi Jayakody, Samantha Gunasekara, Dinidu Devapura, Himesh Jayasinghe, Manoj Prasanna, Mendis Wickramasinghe and Suranjan Karunarathna.

Director General of Wildlife Conservation Ranjan Marasinghe also participated in the deliberations.

Officials said the proposed framework is expected to pave the way for a more transparent, data-oriented and scientifically credible environmental governance structure capable of addressing emerging conservation challenges more effectively.

The government expects the new mechanism to support the implementation of practical and scientifically robust programmes aimed at safeguarding Sri Lanka’s ecological future while enhancing cooperation between state agencies and the country’s growing community of environmental researchers.

 

By Ifham Nizam

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Features

Back home … for a special occasion

Published

22 hours ago

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2026/05/26

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Seven Notes: Sri Lankans based in Dubai – with Niluk (second from left)

Niluk Uswaththa, of Seven Notes fame, based in Dubai, surprised many when he and his wife Apeksha, turned up in Colombo, last week … unannounced.

Yes, they had a purpose in their surprise visit … to wish Apeksha’s mum for her birthday, which was on Monday, 18th May, and what a surprise it turned out to be!

In an exclusive chit-chat with The Island, Niluk said that the scene in Dubai is improving and Seven Notes do have work coming their way.

Since the members of Seven Notes are all employed (doing day jobs), they operate only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Niluk: Didn’t come prepared to perform, but obliged
friends in Galle

In fact, to get to Colombo for the birthday surprise (on Monday, 18th May), the band had to skip their 17th May, Sunday gig.

“Although it’s a short vacation, my wife and I are enjoying the setup here,” said Niluk, adding that they spent two days in Galle and that their next destination is Anuradhapura.”

Niluk didn’t come prepared to perform, but he obliged the crowd present, at a friend’s birthday celebrations, in Galle, singing and playing guitar.

They are scheduled to leave for their home, in Dubai, in the first week of June.

Seven Notes is an outfit made up of Sri Lankans and the band has been around for almost nine years.

Niluk came into their scene nearly seven years ago.

“When I went to Dubai, I had offers coming my way but it was Seven Notes that impressed me because of their acoustic style.”

The Dubai’s entertainment scene is showing clear signs of bouncing back and even levelling up in the next few months.

Niluk and Apeksha: Enjoying their short vacation

After a slowdown earlier this year due to regional tensions, shows and festivals are back on the calendar, and organisers say late 2026 could be the busiest concert season in years.

Time Out Dubai says “the 2026 concert calendar is filling up nicely” and “the city is ready to party once again” after some reschedules.

Dubai Summer Surprises in July brings retail activations, comedy nights, and indoor art exhibitions.

Organisers point to a backlog of postponed events that are being rescheduled for late 2026 and early 2027.

Yes, Dubai is calm on the surface but on alert. Life is mostly normal in the city, but there’s a “balancing act” as people watch for escalation.

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