Features
Unravelling Sri Lanka’s great mysteries
Asiff Hussein, author of The Zeylonese Treasure Book on Myth, Mystery and Mystique, traces the origins of some well-known but elusive local beliefs and legends
Interviewed by Ifham Nizam
Q: The Zeylonese Treasure Book of Myth, Mystery and Mystique you wrote was a pioneering attempt at solving some yet unsolved mysteries which have eluded many. Could you elucidate some of them for the benefit of our readers?
A: The book deals with a hundred such topics, from the whereabouts of Ravana’s kingdom, the strange sanctity of Adam’s Peak, the legendary Nagas, a missing race of dwarfs, cannibalistic women, lost gold mines, buried treasure, strange phenomena and other oddities such as the mysterious female spectre known as Mohini, to name just a few.
What I have done is adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem at hand, incorporating historical notices, archaeological evidence, a study of etymology or word origins, etc., to come to a tenable solution to these problems. Also, very important is to interpret historical data through a modern lens.
For example, we read in the Mahavamsa that during the reign of King Sirisanghabodhi, a Yakkha (Demon) named Rattakkhi (Red Eye) came here and made the eyes of people red, causing their deaths. This ancient account may well be a reference to a fatal epidemic that swept through Sri Lanka in the 3rd century. One of the telltale symptoms of Rattakkhi, according to the chronicle, was Red Eyes, a condition where the white of the eye becomes reddened. Although we cannot say for certain what it was, given the reference to red eyes followed by the death of the victims, we can only guess that it might have been an outbreak of a deadly mutant strain of cholera.
Another example is the origins of the ancient temple of Tirukonesvaram in Trincomalee, the origins of which are recounted in hoary old Tamil tradition, faithfully recorded by Sir Emerson Tennent in his book Ceylon, published in 1860, where it is stated: “A Hindu prince, having ascertained from the Puranas that the rock of Trincomalie was a holy fragment of the golden mountain of Meru, hurled into its present site during a conflict of the gods, repaired to Ceylon and erected upon it a temple to Siva”.
This is a very interesting account as it may suggest how the temple came to be founded. The reference to a fragment of the sacred mountain Meru flung here in a conflict between the gods may well be a recollection of some ancient meteorite that fell here and later came to be worshipped as a lingam or relic, setting in motion the building of this temple of a thousand columns that was later razed to the ground by the intolerant Portuguese conquistadors. The Hindu temple that presently stands in its place is only a shell of its former self.
Q: You have made a painstaking effort to trace the origins of some of our local legends such as the origin of Mohini. Would you care to elaborate a bit on this, how she came to be?
A: Mohini, as we know, is a sort of female spirit who is said to appear to travellers in the middle hours of the night, dressed in white, half-clad to expose her body and cradling a babe in her arms. She would beseech unsuspecting travellers to hold the child while she tightens her garment. No sooner they do so, she would vanish into thin air with her child. Her victims would take on an unusual pallor, develop a high fever and go berserk before dying an untimely death.
This belief is at least a 100 years old, probably more. Perhaps the earliest reference to it is the so-called Teldeniya Ghost mentioned by a writer simply known as L.A.D in his Some Ceylon Ghost Stories published in the Times of Ceylon, Christmas Number 1925. L.A.D says of this phantom: “It appears that her particular friends are cartmen, who rest themselves and their weary cattle by the roadside, and begin to cook a mid-night meal.
With a crying child in her arms, and tears flowing down her cheeks, she creeps from the shadows, and begs them to escort her to a neighbouring village, explaining that she has lost her way and is benighted. Beauty in distress appeals to them as it does to every gallant heart, and they immediately offer assistance. One fatherly man lifts the crying babe from her arms, and attempts to pacify it, but as he does so the girl vanishes. They search for her in bewilderment, and the baby disappears mysteriously, too.
This is more than even a cartman can stand, and they hastily yoke the bullocks to the carts, and hurry away. The following day the unfortunate man who held the baby dies suddenly, and ghostly mocking laughter is heard in the night. His relatives feel quite peeved over it all, but are helpless, and what is worse, the poor bereaved wives cannot have the satisfaction of pulling the hussy’s hair, or of biting her”.
It seems from the above account that belief in the Mohini was once not as widespread as today and it is possible that even a 100 years ago it was localised to Teldeniya and neighbouring areas. This is supported by the folk tale of Galmal Oya Pokuti recorded by Sandaruvan Lokuhewa in his Dumbara Janakata (2011) which tells of a woman named Kumarihami, who upon seeing her little son floating lifeless in a body of water, committed suicide by jumping into it.
She is said to have been reborn as Pokuti, a sort of she-demon taking her name from her pokutuor curly hair, and haunting the area known as Katubokkuva on the Teldeniya-Hunnasgiriya road in the dead of night, taking form as a beautiful woman with babe in arms and telling travellers “Aney, me daruva tikak atata ganta ko, mage redipota aenda gannakal” (Please take this child in your arms while I correct my attire). If the man as much as holds the child, he would certainly die, this legend tells us.
Q: You have also made a detailed attempt to trace the origins of our lost tribes, such as the Nagas. What is your take on the Nagas, did they really exist in ancient Lanka or are they the stuff of myth?
A: Although I was earlier very sceptical that such a race known as Nagas existed in our country, I have lately revised this view to admit the possibility that they might have well lived here in ancient times.
These Nagas,if at all they existed, were probably Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian pirates and seafarers. These were the folk, known as Orang Lautor ‘Sea Peoples,’ who had made the sea their principal domain and who in later times possibly settled in the southern parts of our island. A good many old accounts connect them with piracy, seafaring and settlements on the coast or river mouths.
The ancient Sinhalese chronicle, Dipavamsa speaks of the pious Naga named Maniakkhika who lived in Lanka in the time of the Buddha, around the 6th or 5th century BC, when it states: “At the mouth of the Kalyani river, there lived a Naga together with his children and a great retinue of Nagas”. We also read in the Mahavamsa that the Naga King Mahodara had his Naga Kingdom”in the Ocean that covered half a thousand yojanas”. This work also tells us that when the Theri Sanghamitta was conveying the great Bodhi tree from the dominion of Emperor Asoka to Sri Lanka and had fared forth into the sea, the Nagas practiced their magic to win it.
Hoary old local tradition also records that there once lived in a village, to the West of Anuradhapura, a beautiful woman named Hema who got romantically involved with a merchant who resorted to Mantota. When he left for his country, the infatuated maiden, unable to bear the delay in his return, took to the sea one night in desperate hope of finding him. She was captured by a Naga-Raja or Naga King to whom she preached Buddhism and who, being pleased with her, rewarded her with a valuable gemstone.
Such stories, though of a seemingly mythical character, suggest that the Nagas were thought to be a seafaring nation, thus connecting them to the Malayo-Polynesians. Although the Nagas of these stories seem to have been thought of as water-spirits, living beneath the waters, it is possible that the idea evolved from the sea-pirating activities of maritime Oceanic or Malayo-Polynesian peoples which is known to have taken place in ancient times. This idea finds support in Kshmendra’s Bodhisattvavadana Kalpalata of the 10th century which records serious depredations against maritime trade in the Gulf of Bengal by Naga sea pirates from the days of King Asoka.
This suggests a connection of the Nagas with the freebooting sea people in the seas in and around West Malayo-Indonesia who are very ancient and already mentioned in early Chinese accounts of the region.
It is quite possible that it was the Naga race that introduced to our island the Oruva or Outrigger canoe, the coconut and the culture of betel chewing, not to mention a faint mongoloid strain found among some Sinhalese. It is pertinent that Sinhalese folk tradition holds that the betel vine was introduced from the Naga world and this was known among the ancient Austronesians as bulu which could well account for the Sinhala word for betel bulat, from bulu-pat ‘betel leaf’.
Q: In your book, you have propounded some interesting new theories, including the rather outlandish view that the Skanda god of Kataragama had his origins in Alexander the Great. How would you justify such a view?
A: Whether we like it or not, there are many similarities between Alexander and Skanda. Both the names Alexander and Skanda are very similar sounding especially when we consider that the eastern form of Alexander was Iskandar or Sikkandar.
Strangely, the Sinhalese tradition also knew the Kataragama deity as Iskanda, which it attributed to the Brahmins, who, wanting to give him a name and knowing well that he would do heroic deeds and end up possessing a heap of heads, called him Iskanda (Mountain of heads). Iskanda is said to have, as a young man, committed all sorts of heroic acts and a lot of terrible things and was thus exiled by way of a ship that eventually landed in Devundara whence he proceeded eastwards on foot a long way (katara) when he came to a village which was henceforth called Kataragama.
This derivation is no doubt due to folk etymology. This means that when the original meaning of a particular word has been lost over time, later folk tend to give other explanations as to its meaning. So here we find the older name of Iskanda being preserved bringing it closer to the name by which Alexander was known in the East, Iskandar.
Alexander was a prince of Macedon and Skanda, too, we know, was given the princely epithet of Skanda Kumara ‘Prince Skanda’. It might also reflect Alexander’s supposed claim to be the son of Zeus, in this case the epithet kumara being simply a reference to his sonship in relation to Zeus of Ammon whom later Hinduism must have confounded with Siva, thus making him to be a son of Siva.
Alexander was also regarded as the Warrior par excellence and Skanda was known as Mahasena ‘Great Army’ meaning a commander of the Army. That he was once considered the God of War and may have been originally worshipped by soldiers may be the reason why he was called Kanda Surindu Mahasen (The Soldier God Skanda). We also know that the Kataragama deity was much feared, being regarded as the god of war, and in the olden days struck terror to those who even as much as heard his name. Alexander, too, we know, was both loved and feared in his lifetime, often more feared than loved due to his warmongering and reputation as a stern administrator. In contrast, Murugan, with whom he is today often confounded, especially by Hindus, is never feared as such by his devotees.
Another proof of Skanda’s connection to Alexander is seen in the velor lance as the symbol of the deity which can be seen planted in the ground at Kataragama. Pilgrims would bring iron lances which they leave as votive offerings and silver needles with which they pierce their cheeks and tongues. These are actually regarded as little lances and taken to be symbols of the deity himself.
The fact that the lance was regarded as the symbol of the deity suggests his military character was deemed to be very important by his worshippers of an earlier age who came up with these rituals. Likewise, we find Alexander being depicted holding a lance or spear as his weapon of choice in the Issus Mosaic which is believed to be a Roman copy of an original painting by Philoxenus and which was produced during Alexander’s lifetime or shortly afterwards.
The similarities go on. Alexander conquered Persia whose Shahs of later times were seated on the Peacock Throne and to this day the vehicle of Skanda or Kataragama Deviyo as he is called locally is the peacock. Alexander encouraged mixed marriages between the Macedonians of the West and Persians of the East and himself married a Sogdian princess named Roxana, while in local tradition we have Skanda the foreigner marrying the Vedda girl Valli. Such resemblances are too close to be dismissed.
Another possible vestige of Macedonian influence that survived was to be seen a little more than a 100 years ago during the festival of the shrine that took place in the Esala period (July-August). C.A.Murray, a British Government Agent who supervised the Kataragama festival in 1897, had this to say about it: “Six women take part in the procession, walking in front of the elephant. They have their hair done up in a peculiar Grecian style, the secret of which it is said no one can master”.
The supposed date of Skanda’s arrival here is also pertinent, since it places it fairly close to Alexander’s period. The Okanda Devala near the beach in Yala is said to have been erected on the site where Skanda landed in the island on his way to Katararagama about 2,000 years ago.
What we must understand here is that when a deity is said to visit a particular country, it does not necessarily mean that he in his human form prior to deification physically visited the locality but more probably meant that his cult had spread to these parts. Thus, it is possible that Greek or Macedonian worshippers of Alexander, possibly those given to military pursuits, perhaps even mercenaries, had arrived here long ago before establishing his worship in the country. This is supported by the finding of a Greek or Macedonian coin in Tissamaharama in the Southern part of the country. It is therefore quite possible that soldiers or mercenaries from the Balkan or Mediterranean region, or who knows, even Hellenized Egypt, where Alexander was worshipped following his death had settled here in times long past.
There is a lot we can discern from old stories and legends but it depends how far we are willing to think out of the box and interpret them through a modern lens.
Revisiting field research in Ampara
by Prof. Amarasiri de Silva
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, also known as the Boxing Day tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on 26 Dec., 2004, had a catastrophic impact on Sri Lanka. It is estimated to have released energy equivalent to 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, wiping out hundreds of communities in minutes. The tsunami struck Sri Lanka’s eastern and southern coasts approximately two hours after the earthquake. The eastern shores, facing the earthquake’s epicenter, bore the brunt of the waves, affecting settlements on the east coast. The tsunami displaced many families and devastated villages and communities in the affected districts of Sri Lanka. Although Boxing Day is associated with exchanging gifts after Christmas and was a time to give to the less fortunate, it brought havoc in Sri Lanka to many communities. It resulted in approximately 31,229 deaths and 4,093 people missing. In terms of the dead and missing numbers, Sri Lanka’s toll was second only to Indonesia (126,804, missing 93,458, displaced 474,619). Twenty-five beach hotels were severely damaged, and another 6 were completely washed away. More than 240 schools were destroyed or sustained severe damage. Several hospitals, telecommunication networks, coastal railway networks, etc., were also damaged. In addition, one and a half million people were displaced from their homes.
Ampara district was a hard-hit district, where more than 10,000 people died. A Galle bound train from Colombo, carrying about 1,700 passengers visiting their ancestral homes and villages, on the Sunday after the Christmas holidays, was struck by the tsunami near Telwatta; most of them were killed.
About 8,000 people were killed in the northeast region, which the LTTE controlled at the time. The Ampara district was a hard-hit district, with more than 10,000 people dying and many more displaced. In sympathy with the victims, the Saudi Arabian government established a grant to construct houses to assist 500 displaced families in Ampara in 2009. The Saudi Envoy in Colombo presented the house keys to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2011 for distribution to tsunami victims in the Ampara district. However, due to the protests by local majoritarian ethnic groups, the government intervened, and a court ruling halted the housing distribution to the victims, mandating that houses be allocated according to the country’s population ratio. The project includes residential units and amenities such as a school, a supermarket complex, a hospital, and a mosque, making it unique for Muslim people. Saudi government ambassador Khalid Hamoud Alkahtani engaged in discussions with the Sri Lankan government to sort out the issues and agreed to give the houses to the respective victims.
Immediate Recovery
The immediate relief work was initiated just after the disaster, and the government had financial and moral support from local people and countries worldwide. As most displaced people were children and women, restoring at least basic education facilities for affected children was a high priority. By mid-year, 85 percent of the children in tsunami-affected areas were back in school, which showed that the relief programme in school education was a success.
Relief efforts for households included the provision of finances to meet immediate needs. Compensation of Rs.15,000 (US$150) was offered for victims towards funeral expenses; livelihood support schemes included Payment of Rs.375 (US$3.75) in cash and rations for each member of a family unit per week, a payment of Rs. 2,500 (US$25) towards kitchen utensils per family. These initial measures were largely successful, though there were some problems with a lack of coordination, as witnessed. (See Map 1)
The most considerable financing needs were in the housing sector. The destruction of private assets was substantial (US$700 million), in addition to public infrastructure and other assets. Loss of current output in the fisheries and tourism sectors—which were severely affected—was estimated at US$200 million and US$130 million, respectively.
2004 tsunami-impacted zone. (Image courtesy Reliefweb)
Strands of Hope: Progress Made for Tsunami-Affected Communities of Sri Lanka
By mid-June 2005, the number of displaced people was down to 516,000 from approximately 800,000 immediately after the tsunami, as people went home—even if the homes in question were destroyed or damaged—and were taken off the books then. At first, an estimated 169,000 people living in schools and tents were mainly transferred to transitional shelters/camps—designed to serve as a stopgap between emergency housing and permanent homes. This transitional shelter was only supplied to affected households in the buffer zone.
By late August 2005, The Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN) estimated that 52,383 transitional shelters, accommodating an estimated 250,000 tsunami-affected people, had been completed since February 2005 at 492 sites. Those transitional housing programme shelters were expected to be completed with 55,000 by the end of September 2005. This goal seems more than achievable. I did not find evidence to show that it has been achieved.
I did my field research in Ampara district with support from UNDP Colombo, the Department for Research Cooperation, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation.
My research shows that the tsunami affected families in Muslim settlements along the East Coast had a severe housing problem for two reasons.
• First, the GoSL has declared that land within 65 meters of the sea is unsafe for living due to possible seismic effects, and people are thus prohibited from engaging in any construction in that beach area. This land strip is the traditional living area of the Muslims, particularly the fisher folk. Families living along the narrow beach strip have not been offered alternative land or adequate compensation to buy land outside the 65-metre zone.
• Second, the LTTE has prohibited Muslims from building houses on land purchased for them by outside agencies on the pretext that it belongs to the Tamils.
The GoSL established several institutions as a response strategy for post-tsunami recovery after the failure of P-TOMS. The Task Force for Rebuilding the Nation (TAFREN), the Task Force for Relief (TAFOR), and the Tsunami Housing Reconstruction Unit (THRU) were the lead agencies created through processes involving private and public sector participation. In November 2005, following the election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA)was set up. This became an authority with executive powers following the parliamentary ratification of the RADA Act in 2006. RADA’s mandate was to accelerate reconstruction and development activities in the affected areas, functionally replacing all the tsunami organizations and a significant part of the former RRR Ministry. According to RADA, the total number of houses built so far (as of May 2006) in Ampara is 629, while the total housing units pledged is 6,169. At the time of the research (March to June 2006), no housing projects were completed in a predominantly Muslim area.
Compensation for damaged houses was not based on a consistent scheme. As a result, some families received large sums, while others did not get any money. In some instances, those who collected compensation were not the affected families. The Auditor General, S.C. Mayadunne, noted that Payment of an excessive amount, even for minor damages, is due to the payments being made without assessing the cost of restoring the houses to normal condition. (For example, Rs. 100,000 had been paid for minor damages of Rs. 10,000) … Payments made without identifying the value of the damaged houses, thus resulting in heavy expenditure by the government (For example, a sum of Rs. 250,000 had been paid for the destruction of a temporary house valued at Rs. 10,000) (Mayadunne, 2005, p. 8). That compensation was not paid according to an acceptable scheme, which led to agitation among the affected people and provided an opportunity for political manipulation. The LTTE and the TRO requested direct aid for reconstruction work in LTTE-controlled areas. The poor response of the GoSL to this demand was interpreted as indifference on its part towards ethnic minorities in Ampara. Meanwhile, the GoSL provided direct support for tsunami-affected communities in southern Sri Lanka, where the majority were Sinhalese, strengthening this allegation.
Land scarcity in tsunami-affected Ampara and disputes over landownership in the area were the main reasons for not completing the housing programmes. The LTTE contended that the land identified for building houses by the GoSL or purchased by civil society organisations for constructing such houses belongs to the Tamils, an ideology based on a myth of their own, a Tamil hereditary Homeland—paarampariyamaana taayakam’ (Peebles, 1990, p. 41). Consequently, housing programmes could not be implemented at that time.
The land question in the Eastern Province has a history that dates back to 1951 when the Gal Oya Colonisation scheme was established. According to the minority version of this history, in a report submitted by Dr. Hasbullah and his colleagues, it shows that the colonists were selected overwhelmingly from among the Sinhalese rather than the Muslims and Tamils, who were a majority in Ampara at that time, and, as a result, the ethnic balance of Ampara District was disrupted. However, conversely, B.H. Farmer reported in 1957 that Tamils, especially Jaffna Tamils, were ‘chary’ and did not have a ‘tradition of migration,’ which was the apparent reason for less Tamil representation among the colonists of Gal Oya. According to Farmer, up to December 31, 1953, between five and 16 percent of the colonists were chosen from the Districts of Batticaloa, Jaffna and Trincomalee, predominantly Tamil. Contradictory evidence (with a political coloring following the recent rise of ethnicity in this discourse) reports by Dr. Hasbullah that 100,000 acres of agricultural land in the East have been ‘illegally transferred from Muslims to the Tamils’ since the 1990s. The Tamils, however, believe that the land in the Eastern Province is part and parcel of the Tamil Homeland. This new political ideology of landownership that emerged at that time in the ethnopolitical context of the Eastern Province has intensified land (re)claiming in Ampara by Muslims and Tamils.
According to Tamil discourse, the increase in the value of land in Ampara over the past two decades has led to rich Muslims purchasing land belonging to poor Tamils, resulting in ethnic homogenization in the coastal areas of the District in favor of the Muslims. ‘Violence against Tamils was also used in some areas to push out the numerically small Tamil service caste communities’ as Hasbullah says. In a situation with an ideological history of land disputes, finding new land for the construction of houses for Muslim communities affected by the tsunami posed a challenge at that time.
In the face of this challenge, Muslims in Ampara sought assistance from Muslim politicians and organisations that willingly came forward to assist them. The efforts made by these politicians and civil society organisations to erect houses for tsunami-affected Muslim families were forcibly curtailed by the LTTE. Consequently, a proposed housing program for Muslims in Kinnayady Kiramam in Kaththankudi was abandoned in 2005. Development of the four acres of land bought by the Memon Sangam in Colombo for tsunami victims of Makbooliya in Marathamunai was prohibited in 2005. Similar occurrences have been reported in Marathamunai Medduvedday. Mrs. Ferial Ashraff, at that time Minister of Housing and Common Amenities, wanted to build houses in Marathamunai, Periyaneelavanai DS division (Addaippallam), the Pandirippu Muslim area, and in Oluvil–Palamunai, but the LTTE proscribed all such initiatives.
The Islamabad housing scheme in Kalmunai Muslim DS division and the construction of houses by Muslim individuals in Karaithivu were banned, and threats were issued by the LTTE and a Tamil military organisation called Ellai Padai (Boundary Forces). Because the GoSL and the intervening agencies could not resolve the housing problem, the affected communities became disillusioned and lost confidence in the GoSL departments, aid agencies, and international NGOs. Much effort and resources were wasted in finding land and designing housing programmes that have not materialised. Some funds pledged by external agencies failed to materialise, causing harm to low-income families. Efforts to provide housing for tsunami-affected people in the Ampara District at that time highlighted their vulnerability to LTTE threats and the power politics of participating agencies. Regarding housing and land issues, the Muslim people of Ampara adopted two approaches to address their challenges. First, in some cases, they reached a compromise with the LTTE, agreeing that upon completion of a housing project, a portion of the houses would be allocated to the Tamil community under LTTE supervision.
For instance, this approach proved successful in the Islamabad housing programme, which was halfway complete as of the time of the research (March–June 2006). Similarly, a housing scheme in Ninthavur followed a comparable compromise with the LTTE. According to Mohamed Mansoor, the then President of the Centre for East Lanka Social Service, 22 of the 100 houses were to be allocated to the Tamil community upon completion. This allocation was deemed reasonable because Muslims owned 80 percent of the land in the area, while Tamils owned 20 percent. At the time of the author’s fieldwork, approximately 30 houses had been completed at this site. I don’t know what happened afterward.
The second approach adopted by the people was to build houses in the areas they had lived in before the tsunami, despite construction being prohibited within 65 meters of the sea. Muslims in Marathamunai knew they would not be allocated any land for housing and sought funds from organisations such as the Eastern Human Economic Development to construct homes on their original plots. The affected individuals have made efforts to urge their leaders to engage with the TRO and the LTTE to reclaim the funds borrowed by Muslim people and organisations to purchase land. The four-acre plot that the Memon Society had acquired for housing development was sold to a Tamil organisation for Rs. 1,000,000 (roughly USD 10,000) and was one such land in question.
The national political forces operating in Ampara have deprived the poor (Muslim) fisher folk of their right to land and build houses in their villages. These communities have resorted to non-violent strategies involving accepting the status quo without questioning it and fighting for their rights. The passivity among the poor affected families is a result of them not having representation in the civil society organisations in the area. These bodies are run by elites who do not wish to contest the GoSL rule of a 65-metre buffer zone or LTTE land claims. The tsunami not only washed away the houses and took the land of the poor communities that lived by the sea, but it also made them even poorer, more marginalised, and more ethnically segregated.
Here, 20 years later, it is time that justice was done to the Muslim families in the Ampara district who were severely hit by the tsunami. It is also a significant and timely commitment made by President Dissanayake to offer 500 houses to the Muslim tsunami victims. Such a promise is overdue and essential, as these marginalised communities have desperately needed a voice and action in their favour for over 20 years. Delivery of such homes to the victims would be an important step in restoring social harmony and the dignity and livelihoods of those affected by the tragic incident.
Prof. O. A. Ileperuma
The Cabinet has recently decided to review the state-owned, non-commercial institutions, many of which are redundant or are of no use. The government manages 86 departments, 25 District Secretariats, 339 Divisional Secretariats, 340 state-owned enterprises and 115 non-commercial state statutory institutions. The national budget allocates Rs. 140 billion to manage these institutions.
We have inherited a large number of redundant Corporations, Boards and Authorities causing a huge drain on our financial resources. These institutions were basically created by previous governments to give jobs to defeated candidates and friends of government politicians. For instance, we have the State Pharmaceutical corporation and the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing corporation. They can be merged. Then, we have the Coconut Development authority and the Coconut Cultivation Board, which is redundant. Decades ago, coconut cultivation came under the coconut research institute (CRI). An extension section of the CRI can easily undertake the functions of these two institutions. Another example is the still existing Ceylon Cement corporation which earlier ran two cement mills at Puttalam and Kankesanthurai. Now, the Kankasenthurai factory does not exist and the Puttalam factory is under the private sector. Still this Ceylon Cement Corporation exists and the only activity they are doing is to lease the lands for mining which earlier belonged to them. There is a chairman appointed by the minister in charge based on political connections and a general manager and a skeleton staff of about ten workers. This corporation can be easily dissolved and the Ministry Secretary can take up any functions of this corporation.
In the field of sciences, the National Science Foundation was created in 1968 to promote science and technology and to provide funding for researchers. Then a former president created two other institutions, National Science and Technology Commission (NASTEC) and National research Council (NRC). While NASTEC is tasked with science policy and NRC provides research grants; both these tasks were earlier carried out by the National Science Foundation. In the field of education, curriculum revisions, etc., were carried out earlier by the Department of Education, and later the National Institute of Education was created, and for educational policy, the National Education Commission was created. The latter was created to provide a top position for an academic who supported the then government in power.
There is a Water Supply and Drainage Board and also a separate Water Resources Board, and they can easily be amalgamated. There is also the Cashew corporation serving no useful purpose and its duties can be taken over by an institution such as the Department of Minor Crops. There is also the State Development & Construction Corporation and the State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka which appear to be doing similar jobs.
We still have Paranthan Chemicals Ltd., which is the successor to the Paranthan Chemicals Corporation involved in manufacturing caustic soda and chlorine. Their factory was destroyed during the war nearly 20 years ago, but it exists and its only function is to import chlorine and sell it to the Water Board for the water purification process. Why can’t the Water Board import chlorine directly?
I am aware that my views on this subject are likely to draw criticism but such redundancies are a severe drain on the Treasury, which faces the difficult task of allocating funds.
Prathibha Liyanaarchchi, Miss Intercontinental Sri Lanka 2024, is back in town after participating in the 52nd edition of Miss Intercontinental held at the Sunrise Remal Resort, Sharm El-Sheik, in Egypt.
There were nearly two weeks of activities, connected with this event, and Prathibha says she enjoyed every minute of it.
“It was wonderful being in the company of over 52 beautiful girls from around the world and we became great friends.
“My roommate was Miss Greece. She was simply awesome and I even taught her a few Sinhala words.
“Most of the contestants were familiar with Ceylon Tea but didn’t quite know much about Sri Lanka.”
However, having won a special award at Miss Intercontinental 2024 – Queen of Tourism – Prathibha says she is seriously thinking of working on a campaign to show the world that Sri Lanka is a paradise island and that tourists would love to experience our scene.
Although our queen was not in the final list, she made it into the Top 22 and was quite a drawcard wherever she went.
“I guess it was my tan complexion and my height 5 ft. 10 inches.”
She even impressed an international audience with her singing voice; the organisers were keen to have a contestant from the Asia Oceania group showcase her talent, as a singer, and Prathibha was selected.
She sang Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’ and was roundly applauded.
Even in the traditional costume section, her Batik Osariya and the traditional seven-piece necklace impressed many.
With her new buddies…at the beauty pageant
The grand finale was held on 6th December with Miss Puerto Rico being crowned Miss Intercontinental 2024.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this journey. I’m honoured to have been named a Top 22 Finalist at Miss Intercontinental 2024 and awarded the Special title of Miss Tourism Queen. It was a challenging yet unforgettable experience competing in Egypt. Preparing, in just three weeks, and performing, was no easy feat, but I’m so proud of what I accomplished.”
For the record, Prathibha, who celebrated her birthday on Christmas Day (25), is a technical designer at MAS holdings, visiting lecturer, model, and a graduate from the University of Moratuwa.
Unlike most beauty queens who return after an international event and hardly think of getting involved in any community work, Prathibha says she plans to continue serving her community by expanding her brand – Hoop The Label – and using it as a platform to create a positive change for the underprivileged community.
“At the same time, I am committed to furthering my education in fashion design and technology, aiming to combine creativity with innovation to contribute to the evolving fashion industry. By blending these passions, I hope to make a lasting impact, both in my community, and in the world of fashion.”
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Manmohan Singh, Indian ex-PM and architect of economic reform, dies at 92
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