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GMOF says campaign against milk food consumption a farce
The Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF) says the campaign against the milk food industry in Sri Lanka is nothing but absolute eyewash as there has never been a planned and sustained campaign against the trade if such efforts were to be considered genuine.
The milk powder industry has been targeted from time to time in an ad hoc manner and the lack of continuity on this score only points to the possibility of a ‘conspiracy’ against the milk food business in the country, the GMOF President, Dr. Rukshan Bellana said in a statement.
“There were two possible theories behind this campaign. The first was that some medical men who aspired to be politicians were merely orchestrating a spectacle to gain popularity in society. The other was that some players in the industry were behind the campaign to gain a competitive advantage”, it asserted.
One may recall the vociferous campaign against the milk food industry at one time, where the ‘target’ was products imported especially from New Zealand. The question that begs an answer was why a particular imported segment was taken to task if milk powder, as a whole, was described as “harmful for consumption”? Therefore, it was obvious that a ‘conspiracy’ was in place with a certain medical trade union handling the anti-marketing campaign, the statement claimed.
“The anti-milk food campaign is bound to resurface in a few months’ time. We, as a medical organization, suspect that the local milk powder industry, in a bid to increase their market share was probably behind the campaign against a milk powder brand imported from a particular country”, Dr. Bellana claimed.
Was it a case of trying to edge out ‘leaders’ so that ‘followers’ could take their place through sustained campaigning with the support of a trade union? How was it claimed that imported milk powder was ‘unsuitable’ for consumption when there was neither scientific research nor laboratory evidence to prove that milk powder was unhealthy or harmful to the human body?, he asked.
There are, apart from food scientists, academics and research fellows, recognized research institutions in the country but none of them has produced any evidence on so-called ‘harmful effects’ of imported milk powder on the health of the people. In addition, there are also internationally recognized laboratories but there has been no evidence so far to substantiate such a hypothesis, the statement further said.
It is also of interest that not a single professional medical association has commented on the subject. The Health Promotion Bureau of course promotes breast milk for children but that doesn’t mean it has adopted an anti-milk powder stand. It is now clear that the campaign was launched to mislead the public and discourage them from consuming milk food especially products imported from New Zealand, it said.
“As a medical trade union, we believe that funding such misinformation campaigns and thereby misleading the public is against the law. However, there was no action forthcoming on this score”, it outlined.
The GMOF statement added: “We also see a move to popularize drinking so-called ‘Kola Kenda’ through a trade similar to the milk powder industry, where processed ‘Kola Kenda’ packets are being produced under diverse native names. The move appears to be a bid to replace the milk-drinking habit of the population with ‘Kola Kenda’.
“It was like in the early 1970’s before the advent of the milk powder industry when there was a vibrant campaign to popularize drinking fresh milk. This later changed into packeted milk powder. ‘Kola Kenda’ has already come in packeted form. It is not the fresh, home-made healthy ‘Kola Kenda’ we have been used to for generations.
The most risky aspect of this proposition is giving school children packeted ‘Kola Kenda’ with preservatives and other chemicals added to the contents”, the trade union warned.
In terms of international guidelines we can be assured that the manufacturing process of milk food in New Zealand at least adhere to hygiene and highest quality standards, but the quality and safety of the locally manufactured packeted ‘Kola Kenda’ products are questionable, it said.
At this rate, ‘Kola Kenda’ products in packeted form will soon be a multi-million rupee business, the statement added.
“You and your families will be eliminated”
By Norman Palihawadane and Hemantha Randun
A full-scale investigation has been launched to track down an underworld character, ‘Navy Dinesh,’ a key accomplice of Ganemulle Sanjeewa, for issuing death threats over the phone to three police officers, including the Gampaha HQI, Crime Branch OIC, of the same police station, and others.
Navy Dinesh is believed to have fled the country.
According to police sources, threats were issued following the arrest of Navy Dinesh’s father and brother in connection with a drug trafficking case.
Phone analysis reports have confirmed that the calls originated from Dubai and France.
Following the murder of Ganemulle Sanjeewa, Navy Dinesh assumed leadership of the underworld gang he had previously been involved with.
Navy Dinesh contacted the Gampaha HQI, the OIC of the Crime Branch, and the investigating police constable, and threatened to kill them and their family members. “You and your families will be eliminated,” he said.
A special police team had been assigned to investigate the matter, and a report has been submitted to the courts, police sources said.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya highlighted the significant potential for strengthening the economic ties between Sri Lanka and Germany. Premier Amarasuriya underscored the country’s improving economy, resurgent tourism and policy reforms that have fostered an attractive environment for investment and business.
Premier Amarasuriya said so at the annual gathering of the German Asia-Pacific Association (OAV) in Hamburg, Germany. She declared Germany is both a role model and an important partner in the further development of vocational education in Sri Lanka.
German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Premier Amarasuriya attended the annual gathering of the German Asia-Pacific Association (OAV) as Guests of Honour.
Dr. Amarasuriya said: “For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, the results of the Parliamentary elections held last year reflected a collective and unified voice from people of all regions of the country” and highlighted that the new government is committed to taking tangible steps in the interest of further advancing national unity and reconciliation. She also highlighted that the current Parliament, which was formed after the election, is one of the most inclusive in Sri Lanka’s history, with a record number of women and representatives of different communities.
During her visit to Hamburg, the Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Premier Amarasuriya also attended the ‘German-Asian Forum on Vocational Education & Training’ organised by the OAV. In a keynote speech at this forum, she conveyed Sri Lanka’s appreciation to German government’s assistance to uplift the vocational education sector in Sri Lanka which date back to the establishment in 1959 of the Sri Lanka-German Technical Training Institute in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, one of the milestones of the bilateral relationship. She stated that Sri Lanka aims to transform vocational education into a modern, relevant field that will help us create a skilled workforce that meets the demands of the industry, and which offer the youth of Sri Lanka real career paths, both in Sri Lanka and abroad.
She also took part in a Business Roundtable with over 20 member companies of OAV and visited German research and technology hubs in the city including ITECH, a vocational school for IT, electrical, and chemical engineering; NXP Semiconductors, a leading global semiconductors company; and DESY, Germany’s largest accelerator centre.
OAV is active in Sri Lanka through the BMO Membership Organisation Partnership Programme in Jaffna, which is a collaboration between the OAV and the Northern Chamber of Industries (NCI), and the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) in Colombo. The programme aims to strengthen the competence and engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises in relation to public institutions and is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
In a 20-minute address German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a strong case for establishing future-oriented partnerships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Steinmeier, such action is urgently needed to reduce asymmetries and dependencies and mitigate the effects of increasing protectionism in world trade. To achieve this, it is important to better exploit the diverse opportunities in the dynamic region, Steinmeier said.
The remarks came during Steinmeier’s keynote speech during the traditional “East Asia friendship dinner” held in the ballroom of Hamburg City Hall. The event was hosted by the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV), which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
“Recently, we have been forced to witness how close friends and allies are turning away from the order they played such a crucial role in establishing, and are celebrating wilfulness as progress,” Steinmeier noted. “The 102nd East Asia friendship dinner and 125 years of the German Asia-Pacific Business Association stand for something that might seem old-fashioned at first glance in our time but is all the more important in a time of crisis: partnership.”
Within this partnership framework, Steinmeier highlighted the vast opportunities the Asian market presents for Germany. “We will continue to diversify our foreign trade, reduce our economic and security policy dependencies, and forge closer political contacts with a larger number of countries, including in the area of trade policy,” Steinmeier said.
Days ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lanka, Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources, Ramalingam Chandrasekar has said that goverment level talks on the fishing dispute between Sri Lanka and India would be held soon in the presence of fishermen, Times of India said yesterday (31).
Minister Chandrasekar issued the statement on Sunday after a delegation of fishermen from Rameswaram held a meeting with him in Jaffna on Saturday evening.
The delegation, led by fishermen’s leader R Sahayam, appealed to the Minister to initiate talks between fishermen of the two countries. The last ministerial level talks on the dispute were held in 2016. Calling for a lasting solution to the problem, the delegation pleaded with the Minister to secure the release of Indian fishermen and their fishing craft held in the island nation’s custody.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit Sri Lanka on April 4, and the fishermen’s row is likely to be one of the issues that will figure in his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart.
Meanwhile, the delegation from Rameswaram met fishermen lodged in Sri Lankan prisons, and took stock of the fishing craft confiscated by the authorities on charges of poaching in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
The fishermen’s leaders had met their counterparts at Vavuniya on March 26 and discussed the issue. The Indian side sought time to bring trawling to a halt, but the Sri Lankan fishermen made it clear that trawling won’t be accepted in their waters, though they are ready for an amicable solution.
Reiterating this stand, leaders of the Northern Province Fisher People Unity, an umbrella forum of fishermen associations of the northern provinces of Sri Lanka, told reporters on Sunday that Indian trawlers should stop coming to Sri Lankan waters.
Else, their country’s law should find its course to stop it. They are determined that their people should fish in their waters independently and leave the marine resources for future generations, said forum spokesperson Annarasa Annalingam.
Heavy rainfall of about 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Western, Southern and Uva provinces and in Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa districts
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