Opinion

Send in clowns and be damned!

Published

5 years ago

2021/05/21

The Director-General of the Sri Lanka Tourism Develop Authority has given the thumbs up sign to the Director General of Health and IGP to allow foreign tourists to travel across districts/provinces in Sri Lanka through ‘bubble tourism’. This is despite the fact that Sri Lanka’s Immunology and Molecular Medicine authorities have now identified six new Covid-19 variants in Sri Lanka. These include variants from Denmark, Europe, Middle East, Nigeria and South Africa, including the deadly Indian B.1.617.

A golden wand of protection seems to attend the path of these foreign visitors across the island, while the public is prohibited from venturing into or through such areas to prevent the spread of the virus. It is an irrefutable fact that when foreign tourists are ferried across the Island and allowed to visit the provinces, there is an entourage of locals to assist them at their accommodation, in transport and at places of tourist interest. One of the first Covid-19 patients in Sri Lanka was a Tour Guide! The policy of ‘back to business as usual’, sporadic restrictions, onus of self-protection and ‘never mind the consequences’ has hitherto yielded horrendous results.

The cost of opening the country’s borders to foreign tourists from January 2021, with some short-term gains to hoteliers, has boomeranged on the nation’s production, manufacture and general socio economic well- being. Each new morning new widows and infants howl and mourn the deaths of loved ones. Death Rate and total Covid cases in Sri Lanka have now reached phenomenal levels. Hospitals cannot cope with the rising numbers of patients, who are being accommodated in makeshift sheds and warehouses, or asked to remain in their homes sans medical attention!

Who is really calling the shots in controlling the pandemic that has now reached crisis proportions in Sri Lanka? Does the Minister of Tourism, Prasanna Ranatunga, have special qualifications and abilities in the medical field, to warrant such decisions and directives to be given across the board by his petty minions and willing sycophants in the government bureaucracy? Is he not aware that the practice of bubble tourism is between countries that have relatively small incidence of Covid, as in the case of Australia and New Zealand, holding strong track records of implementing consistently rigorous anti-covid restrictions and regulations? Is not the Director General of Tourism, Ms. Kirmali Fernando, whose husband owns and runs Tourist Hotels, properly advised on the practices around the world? Or is short term pecuniary gain more important than ordinary human lives? In Sri Lanka ” a land like no other” when Ukraine was in a lockdown situation, their tourists were hosted in Sri Lanka.

According to the WHO, the coronavirus variant was first identified in India last year and was classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily and is increasingly classified as a variant of concern at a global level. WHO statistics reveal a sharp linear rise in the new Covid cases in India commencing from March 2021, even while our ‘Health Experts’ in the Tourism Ministry were encouraging and further promoting Bubble Tourism Agreements with India until late April 20, 2021

The recent fiasco in Piliyandala saw the local MOH up in arms over the blatant idiotic interference by the Minister Lokuge, in giving counter orders against the Ministry of Health and opening up Covid-19 areas, possibly due to requests of business cronies among his constituents. The subsequent death rate due to Covid in Piliyandala bears ample testimony to the demented exertions of this politico.

Blustering, blundering politicians apart, what of the high-powered Committees, consisting of retired senior government servants, expert medical personnel, deciding to administer the First Dose of anti-Covid-19 AstraZeneca Vaccine to approx. 9 lakhs of the population, while only retaining 03 lakhs for the Second Dose! Surely it is common sense to spread the vaccine in a manner that ensures that both doses are given during the prescribed period of at least 10 weeks! The logic of entering into a signed contract for supply of AstraZeneca to be given for the second dose, and opening a letter of credit, does not seem to have entered into the calculations of those charged with such responsibilities, who perhaps have reached the age of Dementia or careless indifference!

There was enough time to secure the required stock of AstraZeneca from January 2021, if not for political will considering that the Budget of December 2020 had no provision for anti-covid vaccines! Leaving the approx 600,000 of people particularly in the over 60 age group in dire straits, after their first dose of AstraZeneca, which cannot be mixed with other vaccines now available in the market, is tantamount to criminal negligence, breach of trust and inequitable governance. Even in the midst of such severe bungling, there are some politicos trying to pour down Vaccine Cocktails, hitherto never tried or tasted in other parts of the developed world, down the throats of these unfortunate victims.

The cronyism and nepotism rampant in the numerous and now commonplace accounts of people with ‘influential connections’’ getting the vaccine over others, shows a moral impoverishment of the country. It is a fact that today there are those who work in the front line of infection in their respective workplaces, who have not been given priority in the administration of the vaccine. However, Notables, VIPs and Politicians and their allies are given pride of place in getting the scarce second dose of the AstraZeneca, irrespective of the fact that this is considered more appropriate for senior citizens above the age of 55 or 60.

It is a time that the Public has seen through the lies, sheer hypocritical terminology and slanted data that might have hitherto lulled them towards the so-called resurgence of the virus in the “Avurudu Pokura”. Some amusing but insidious half-truths, and concealments are worth mentioning. The media gave the impression for a long time that the deaths were due to underlying conditions of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure when the causative agent was Covid 19. The undeniable truth is that had it not been for the Covid-19 virus, those with underlying diseases might have lived to a ripe old age with the medications! It is only now, with the escalating deaths and ensuring chaos in the health sector, that the real causative agent of those afflicted with Covid-19 is being acknowledged as Covid pneumonia! The crass negligence of garment factory owners in the Brandix cluster, and resultant probe into criminal negligence is without any progress and lies hidden and dormant. The reluctance to admit that there was a community wide transmission across the island, and the continued lies that this is confined in the main to the Western Province, and that every case could be traced back to the Brandix or Peliyagoda Fish Market clusters is now a sad laughing matter!

Those of us who watched the TV news in the time leading up to the present crisis are privy to the spectacle of the representatives of the people (Politicians), at the pinnacle of power, neglecting to follow simple guidelines such as wearing a mask, avoiding crowded meetings, etc. The subtle interplay of attributing a particular age group to the Covid-19 casualty, the balancing of numbers of positive cases and deaths with limited PCR, and the relative lack of a Geographical Information System by which selective and targeted lockdowns could be imposed in severely affected areas, have contributed to maintaining a fog index over the actual situation prevailing in the country.

A nation that has seen its own Minister of Health and other politicians expound the virtues of a fake decoction called “Dhammika Peniya” as a possible Covid-19 preventive, cannot be too surprised thereafter to witness any worse inanities and tragic bungles!

In conclusion, a nation that with renewed hope changes its political pillow for a new government be it, SLFP, Yahapalanaya, alias SJB, Podujana Peramuna, appears to be doomed to certain abject disillusionment. The truth is plain to see. Any apolitical citizen can now realise that whether there be bond scams, major bribery and corruption charges, criminal negligence on terrorist massacres, the policy of no real remedial action, talk only and a series of commission reports, parading on remand, will be the final product. Except for some sprats down the line, the kingpin will continue their rampage. It is said that there is a certain camaraderie and wheeler dealing even amongst those who represent the people on either side of the divide in Parliaments. Where there is neither honour, principle nor true love of country and its people, in a system that is replete with sycophant”public” servants and moribund self-serving intelligentsia, the dark prescription still is “Send in the Clowns and be damned”.

SONALI WIJERATNE

Kotte

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Opinion

Shutting roof top solar panels – a crime

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/20

Thilina Walpola

The Island newspaper’s lead news item on the 12th of April 2026 was on the CEB request to shut down rooftop solar power during the low demand periods. Their argument is that rooftop solar panels produce about 300 MW power during the day and there is no procedure to balance the grid with such a load.

We as well as a large academic and industrial consortium members have been trying to promote solar energy as a viable and sustainable power source since the early 1990’s. We formed the Solar Energy Society and made representations to Government politicians about the need to have solar power generation. This continuous promotional work contributed to the rapid increase in PV solar companies from three in the early 1990’s to over 650 active PV solar companies established today in the country. These companies have created tens of thousands of high-quality jobs, as well as moving in the right direction for sustainable development.

However, all these efforts appear to have been in vain since the CEB policy makers have continuously rejected solar energy as a viable alternative. Their power generation plans at that time did not include solar energy at all but only relied on imported coal power plants and diesel power generation. Even at the meetings where CEB senior staff were present, we emphasised the importance of installation of battery storage facilities and grid balancing for which they have done nothing at all over the past three decades. Now they have grudgingly accepted the need to include solar energy, which was an election promise of the present government. The government policy is that Sri Lanka should go for renewables to satisfy 70% of its energy needs by 2030 and soon move towards the green hydrogen technology by using solar and wind energy.

The question is why the diesel generators and hydropower stations cannot be shut off one by one to accommodate the solar power generated during the daytime. Unlike a coal-fired plant, diesel generators and hydro power plants can be shut off in a relatively shorter period of time. Norochchalai Lakvijaya power plant produces around 900 MW of power while the total country requirement is 2500 MW on a daily basis. The remainder is provided by diesel generators, hydro and other renewable energy sources.

The need for work to achieve this goal of grid balancing should be the primary responsibility of the CEB. Modern grid balancing systems are in operation in countries such as Germany where around 56% of its energy come from renewable sources. They also plan to increase this to reach 80% of the energy required through renewables by 2030. Our CEB is hell bent on diesel power plants. Who benefits from such emergency power purchases is anybody’s guess?

The Government and the CEB should realise that all roof top solar plants are privately financed through personal funds or bank loans with no financial burden on the Government. It is a crime to request them not to operate these solar panels and get the necessary credits for the power transmitted to the national grid. It appears that the results of CEB’s lack of grid balancing experience and unwillingness to learn over three decades have now passed to the privately-funded rooftop solar panel owners. It is unfortunate that the Government is not considering the contributions of ordinary individuals who provide clean power to the national grid at no cost to the Government. Over 150,000 rooftop solar panels owners are severely affected by these ruthless decisions by the CEB, and this will lead to the un-popularity of this new government in the end.

by Professors Oliver Ileperuma and I M Dharmadasa

Opinion

Nilanthi Jayasinghe – An Appreciation

Published

1 day ago

2026/04/19

Thilina Walpola

It was with shock that I realized that the article in the Sunday Island of April 5 about the winsome graduate gazing serenely at her surroundings was, in fact, an obituary about Nilanthi Jayasinghe, a former colleague who I had held in high esteem. I had lost touch with Nilanthi since my retirement and this news that she had passed away, saddened me deeply

I knew and had worked with Nilanthi – Mrs Jayasinghe as we used to call her – at the Open University of Sri Lanka in the 1990s. As Director, Operations, she was a figure that we as heads of academic departments, relied on; a central bastion of the complex structure that underpinned academic activities at Sri Lanka’s major distance education provider. Few people realize what it takes to provide distance education in an environment not geared to this form of teaching/learning – the volume of Information that has to be created, printed and delivered; the variety of timetables that have to be scheduled; the massive amount of continuous assessment assignments and tests that have to be prepared and sent out; the organization of a multitude of face-to face teaching sessions; the complex scheduling of examinations and tests – all this needed to be attended to for a student population of more than 20,000 and for 23 centres of study dotted across Sri Lanka.

It was an unenviable task but Nilanthi Jayasinghe with her flair for organization, handled it all with aplomb and a deep sense of commitment. If there were delays and inconclusive action on our part, she never reprimanded but would work with us to sort things out. Her work as Director, Operations brought her into contact with staff across the spectrum-from the Vice-Chancellor to the apprentice in the Open University’s Printing Press. Nilanthi treated everyone with dignity and as a result, was respected by all at the university. She was sensitive, kind-hearted, a good friend who would readily share problems and help to solve them. The year NIlanthi retired, I was out of the island. When I came back to the Open University, I felt bereft without the steadfast support of her stalwart presence .

The article in the ‘Sunday Island’ describes her life after retirement, looking after family members and enjoying the presence of a granddaughter.

After a lifetime of commitment to others, Nilanthi Jayasinghe truly deserved this happiness.

May she be blessed with peace.

Ryhana Raheem

Professor Emeritus
Open University of Sri Lanka.

Opinion

James Selvanathan Mather

Published

1 day ago

2026/04/19

Thilina Walpola

James Mather (Selvan to all of us) who passed away recently at the age of 95 was one of the leading Chartered Accountants in the country. He was the senior partner of Ernst and Young for long years, and the mentor for a generation of chartered accountants. He was confidante and adviser to many of the leading businessmen of his time. His career spanned over six decades. A man who never sought the limelight, he was very influential in Ceylon/Sri Lanka’s business world.

Selvan Mather was born in 1930 to a well-known Christian family in Jaffna. His father, Rev. James Mather was Head of the Methodist Church in Ceylon. Selvan was educated at Trinity College Kandy, and he had a life-long connection with the school. He entered the University of Ceylon in the late 1940s, at a time when Ivor Jennings was Vice-Chancellor.

He read economics and passed out with an honours degree. For short periods he was in the Department of Income Tax and with the newly established Central Bank of Ceylon. The Central Bank facilitated him to go to England to qualify as a chartered accountant. His two referees, when seeking admission to an accountancy firm in the U.K. were M.D.H. Jayawardena, then Minister of Finance and the Auditor General of Ceylon, L.A. Weerasinghe. Being a chartered accountant was a rare event those days.

On his return from England, his career was with Ernst and Young where he became senior partner. He was close advisor and confidante to many of the leading businessmen. He was admitted to its Hall of Fame by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

To strike a personal note, I got to know him 50 years ago when he applied for a fellowship given by the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) in Tokyo. I was in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs at the time, and the Ministry was handling APO affairs in Colombo. He told me later that he enjoyed his time in Tokyo. From that time, we kept up a friendship with him and Nelun, which lasted 50 years.

My wife, Rukmal, and I lived in Windsor England, for about 25 years. During that time, Nelun and Selvan were regular visitors to England. I remember taking him for long walks in Windsor Great Park, and on the grounds of Eton College which were nearby. We went on long car tours in England covering the Cotswolds, the Peak districts and the Potteries. I remember celebrating Selvan’s 70th birthday in London at a Greek restaurant, along with his great friends, Nihal and Doreen Vitarana. Memories remain, although Selvan is no more.

In the last decades of his life we saw Nelun and him often. A few of us, Manik de Silva, Nihal and Srima Seneviratne and a few others met regulsrly for lunch. We will all miss Selvan who was mine of his life and times very much.

Selvan leaves his wife Nelun and three children and their husbands – Rohan, Shyamala and Indi, and Rehana and Akram. It was a close-knit family and they will miss him.

Leelananda De Silva.