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Sri Lanka nosedives into abyss of despair

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BY FARAZ SHAUKETALY

Sri Lanka became the world’s first and only all-organic farming nation albeit for a short while. This came about when President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned the importation of all pesticides and chemical fertilisers overnight. That Presidential proclamation would mark the definitive end of South Asia’s most powerful political dynasty, the Rajapaksas from Medamulana, Sri Lanka. The family has produced a Deputy Speaker, several Members of Parliament all elected – save one who was initially an appointed Member later elected directly – a Speaker of Parliament, a Prime Minister who served two terms, and two Presidents. Since 2005 the family has ruled Sri Lanka for approximately 13 years and counting. At one point it was estimated that Members of the Rajapaksa dynasty controlled around 70% of Sri Lanka’s budget spend.

Sri Lanka is headed towards a major food security challenge according to no less a person than Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The problem is that the new Premier does not seem to be doing enough to address the present ‘dollar crisis’. He is apparently relying on the goodwill of nations sympathetic to Sri Lanka’s economic plight.

Manufacturers warn that the toughest of times are yet to come. They point to the several letters of credit are yet to be opened by various banks including state banking institutions for the import of raw materials.

Sri Lanka needs approximately USD 500 million every month to fund consumption requirements and appears unable to present a coherent plan to sustain previous debt. Government debt is estimated at USD 32,200 million whilst private sector debt is approximated at USD 18,000 million.

Lack of visionary thinking has resulted in Sri Lanka underutilising its assets. Thousands of hotel rooms of various classes are idling. A beach resort area in Negombo Beach area is almost deserted, says a hotel owner, whose loans are on hold thanks to a moratorium but banks are making noises, mindful of the impact of non-performing advances on their own balance sheets.

Efforts are being made to prevent the banking system from collapsing. Trillions of rupees have been lost due to poorly managed state-owned enterprises including the national airline. Fancy projects from the past have become part of the under-utilised state-owned asset list producing only costs with little or no earnings.

These problems do not seem to have affected majority population in rural areas—not just yet—but they are troubling the farming community: the effects of the use of organic fertiliser has seen severely depleted harvests threatening to also affect the country’s prized export, Ceylon Tea.

The latest moves by the government to increase remittances to the national exchequer with the redrawing of income limits for personal and corporate taxation have affected the urban middle classes.

In spite of these significant problems the government of the day appears to be focusing on the so-called political crisis and have launched plans to make the 21st Amendment to the Constitution the matter of immediate concern. An industrialist told this writer, ‘The real crisis is the dollar crisis, the political crisis is a crisis of political power plays’ and the people’s frustration will only lead to much more frustration leading to more and more of the population taking to the streets to draw attention to their plight.

Large sections of the media have overtly pandered to the government of the day in what appears a misguided reading of the peoples’ distress. Those institutions too were roundly criticised by the thousands of peaceful protesters who have been at it for over 60 straight days braving torrential rains and scorching heat.

The bottom line is clear: Sri Lanka, which voted for a security centric President, has been let down badly by the very family that appeared to enjoy majoritarian support. The fact is that even the majority Sinhala people are going through a period of utter hopelessness engineered by a President they voted for in what is now the mistaken belief that security will prevail. Sadly, and ironically, it is not the type of security alluded to by the Rajapaksa dynasty but their inability to ensure food security that will see Sri Lanka nosedive into an abyss of despair and helplessness with no seemingly easy way out.

(Faraz Shauketaly is the host of Newsline Live TV1 – farazcolombo@gmail.com)



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Opinion

Aviation and doctors on Strike

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Crash in Sioux city. Image courtesy Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archies.

On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 departed Denver, Colorado for Chicago, Illinois. The forecast weather was fine. Unfortunately, engine no. 2 – the middle engine in the tail of the three-engined McDonnell Douglas DC 10 – suffered an explosive failure of the fan disk, resulting in all three hydraulic system lines to the aircraft’s control surfaces being severed. This rendered the DC-10 uncontrollable except by the highly unorthodox use of differential thrust on the remaining two serviceable engines mounted on the wings.

Consequently, the aircraft was forced to divert to Sioux City, Iowa to attempt an emergency crash landing. But the crew lost control at the last moment and the airplane crashed. Out of a total of 296 passengers and crew, 185 survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) declared after an investigation that besides the skill of the operating crew, one significant factor in the survival rate was that hospitals in proximity to the airport were experiencing a change of shifts and therefore able to co-opt the outgoing and incoming shift workers to take over the additional workload of attending to crash victims.

One wonders what would have happened if an overflying aircraft diverted to MRIA-Mattala, BIA-Colombo, Colombo International Airport Ratmalana (CIAR) or Palaly Airport, KKS during the doctors’ strike in the 24 hours starting March 12, 2025? Would the authorities have been able to cope? International airlines (over a hundred a day) are paying in dollars to overfly and file Sri Lankan airports as en route alternates (diversion airports).

Doctors in hospitals in the vicinity of the above-named international airports cannot be allowed to go on strike, and their services deemed essential. Even scheduled flights to those airports could be involved in an accident, with injured passengers at risk of not receiving prompt medical attention.

The civil aviation regulator in this country seems to be sitting fat, dumb, and happy, as we say in aviation.

Guwan Seeya

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Opinion

HW Cave saw Nanu Oya – Nuwara rail track as “exquisite”

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Plans to resurrect the Nanu Oya – Nuwara Eliya rail track are welcome. The magnificent views from the train have been described by H W Cave in his book The Ceylon Government Railway (1910):

‘The pass by which Nuwara Eliya is reached is one of the most exquisite things in Ceylon. In traversing its length, the line makes a further ascent of one thousand feet in six miles. The curves and windings necessary to accomplish this are the most intricate on the whole railway and frequently have a radius of only eighty feet. On the right side of the deep mountain gorge we ascend amongst the tea bushes of the Edinburgh estate, and at length emerge upon a road, which the line shares with the cart traffic for about a mile. In the depths of the defile flows the Nanuoya river, foaming amongst huge boulders of rock that have descended from the sides of the mountains, and bordered by tree ferns, innumerable and brilliant trees of the primeval forest which clothe the face of the heights. In this land of no seasons their stages of growth are denoted by the varying tints of scarlet, gold, crimson, sallow green, and most strikingly of all, a rich claret colour, the chief glory of the Keena tree’.

However, as in colonial times, the railway should be available for both tourists and locals so that splendid vista can be enjoyed by all.

Dr R P Fernando
Epsom,
UK

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Opinion

LG polls, what a waste of money!

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If the people of this country were asked whether they want elections to the local government, majority of them would say no! How many years have elapsed since the local councils became defunct? And did not the country function without these councils that were labelled as ‘white elephants’?

If the present government’s wish is to do the will of the people, they should reconsider having local government elections. This way the government will not only save a considerable amount of money on holding elections, but also save even a greater amount by not having to maintain these local councils, which have become a bane on the country’s economy.

One would hope that the country will be able to get rid of these local councils and revert back to the days of having competent Government Agents and a team of dedicated government officials been tasked with the responsibility of attending to the needs of the people in those areas.

M. Joseph A. Nihal Perera

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