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| NSB
to capitalise dormant deposits Savers don't risk losing their money Amendments to the National Savings Bank Act to enable the capitalisation of more than a billion rupees of depositor funds lying in what the bank calls "dormant accounts'' is now nearing finalisation according to a senior official of the bank. "The proposed amendments are now in the final stages,'' the bank's general manager, Mr. N.B.S.B. Balalle said yesterday. According to its last published accounts, the NSB which was set up in 1972 as a fully state owned bank, is without any capital contribution by the government. The bank was created by amalgamating the then existing savings institutions - the Ceylon Savings Bank, the Post Office Savings Bank, the Savings Certificate Section of the Postmaster General's Department and the National Savings Movement. "The assets and liabilities of these organisations were taken over by the bank creating a capital reserve. You will observe in the liability side of the balance sheet that there was no capital contribution made by the government,'' a note to the NSB's 1997 accounts says. The report said that in order to create the necessary capital, an amendment to the original act was made in 1995 providing for an authorised capital of Rs. 1.2 billion divided into 120 million ordinary ten-rupee shares. The funds for this purpose were to be transferred from the NSB's dormant accounts. But this matter has not yet been finalised for what the GM called "technical and legal reasons''. He said that under the 1995 amendment, if there was a claim by depositor for funds placed in a dormant account, the bank could pay only the capital and not the interest. That was unsatisfactory. Under the proposed amendment, both the capital and interest on claims made on dormant accounts can be made, Balalle said. He said that transfer of funds to dormant accounts is partly done as a protection against frauds. When there have been no transactions on any account for a long period of time, it is considered dormant, he explained. Most of the funds lying in such accounts are relatively small sums that may never be claimed. According to NSB figures, there are over 12.1 million depositors in the bank. This means that two out of every three people in the country's population is the holder of an NSB account. "Sometimes people come to us saying `my grandfather had a Post Office Savings Bank account. I don't know where it was held nor do I have any passbook.' We can't help that kind of person but those with the proper documentation and information can be helped. There are people who have drawn Rs. 10 or 20,000 on accounts which had only a few hundred rupees in them and the interest has built up over many years,'' Balalle said. He said that people who have non-operational fixed deposits on automatic renewal terms for both capital and interest that may have been transferred as "dormant'' need not fear that their capital and interest will not be paid on demand. During the year ended Dec. 31, 1997, the NSB made a pre-tax profit of Rs. 493.8 million and an after tax profit of Rs. 254.5 million. The bank's chairman. Mr. L.D.C. Herath, has said in the annual report that they are adopting a commercially oriented approach in managing the NSB. He said that the Treasury decision to withdraw the interest subsidy previously paid to compensate the bank for lending to government at non-remunerative rates will act as an impetus towards the NSB taking a commercially oriented approach rather than being bureaucratic and departmentally oriented. |
| Peaceful
and fair elections? Human Rights body 'still trying' The Centre for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) or the University of Colombo "is still attempting'' to get the agreement of all the country's political parties for a Declaration on Peaceful and Fair Elections, Prof. Ravindra Fernando, Director of CSHR said last week. Speaking at UNP convened "Consultation on free and fair elections and de-politicisation of key institutions'' in Colombo last Monday, Prof. Fernando said that political parties which were in power and which are in power are responsible for the politicisation of key institutions that maintain democratic traditions and organise free and fair elections in this country. Saying that it was difficult to discuss the future of democracy in this country without referring to the past, however unpleasant, Fernando noted that the local government elections were postponed by the United Front government of the SLFP, LSSP and CP in the seventies. "They also postponed by parliamentary elections by two years,'' he noted. (By then the LSSP and CP were no longer in the government). Thereafter, the UNP/CWC government was responsible for not holding the parliamentary election due in 1983. A referendum was held instead and the elections were postponed. "Today, the present PA government of the SLFP, LSSP, CP, SLMC, CWC and DUNLF have postponed the provincial council elections more or less indefinitely,'' he said. An analysis of the results of these actions of the governments in power would show that they did not help either the country or those in government, he said. For example, the postponement of the 1975 elections ended in the worst ever electoral defeat for those concerned. |
| Big bucks
being made ending unwanted pregnancies FPA calls for legalised abortions The Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka (FPA) has called for the legalising of abortions in this country to protect the "reproductive health rights'' of Lankan women, Indian news reports said. FPA's executive director, Mr. Daya Abeywickrame, has told the United News of India news service that it should be the right of the woman to decide whether to undergo an abortion or not. Though the world had changed, abortion remained illegal in Sri Lanka "due to the perceived fear of religious opposition,'' Abeywickrame had said. But if there were a leader bold enough to take the issue to parliament, he was confident that a bill legalising abortion would go through. He has said that although Sri Lanka's majority comprised Sinhala Buddhists, it was the small but influential Catholic community which was strongly opposed to legalising abortion. UNI quoted medical circles here saying that the present abortion laws helped doctors and pharmacists to make a fortune by illegally terminating pregnancies. Abeywickrame had estimated that an average of 400 abortions are carried out daily in the country. UNI quoted him saying that "national estimates vary with all sorts of figures ranging from 500 to 1,000 a day'' being bruited around. But the FPA's estimate of 400 tallied with country's fertility rate which stood at 2.3 per thousand. "If not for abortions, our birth rate will be higher,'' he has said. Mrs. Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA representative here, says that according to one study, an average of 750 abortions were done per day in Sri Lanka. She quoted another study which said that 20% of the cases admitted to gynaecological and obstetrics wards of government hospitals were abortion related. The UNI report said that doctors performed abortions using hospital facilities and pocketed fees ranging from Rs. 3,000 to 10,000 besides hospital charges. This had become a big business with many private hospitals providing facilities. Asked whether UNFPA has recommended legalising of abortion to the government, Mrs. Mukherjee said that they did not play an advisory role. "But we are firmly against the use of abortion as a family planning method because of its adverse effect on the mother,'' she had said. Abeywickrame was quoted saying that few cases of deaths by abortion were reported nowadays because they were performed by qualified doctors. But side effects due to abortion continued to be high. The UNI report also said that some pharmacists make money selling abortion inducing tablets. It named two imported drugs which it said were available under the counter at many pharmacies in Colombo at two to four times the imported price of Rs. 60 a tablet. The report quoted a Colombo pharmacy owner saying that some doctors would prescribe these tablets for a Rs. 750 fee. The FPA has recently introduced an "emergency contraceptive pill'' to prevent pregnancy due to unprotected sex or contraceptive accidents. Abeywickrame had said that the distribution of the pill, Postinor-2, which had to be taken first within 72 hours of unprotected sex and again 12 hours later, did not violate any law relating to abortion. "The pill prevents pregnancy and is not abortive,'' he had said. |
| Talks with LTTE should
be on bipartisan basis says Avadhi Lanka Avadhi Lanka, the public interest organisation, yesterday called on both the UNP and the PA not to have any talks with the LTM on a party basis. Such talks should be conducted solely on a bipartisan basis, astatement signed by the organisation's secretary, Mr. R. M. B. Senanayake said. The statement which condemned any clandestine talks that the UNP "may be involved in with the L LTTE "noted that" similar clandestine talks were conducted by the SLFP prior to the last general election. " It also suggested that election campaigning be largely confined to the TV and the media, minimising the need for meetings which result in incidents. The following is the text of the statement: "Avadhi Lanka wishes to comment on two matters of public interest. First, the proposal to have talks with the LTTE. Avadhi Lanka condemns unreservedly any clandestine talks that the UNP may be involved in with the LTTE Such talks would be completely contrary to the norms of public morality and would be another example of the unprincipled politics of our political parties. Similar clandestine talks were conducted by the S.L.EP. prior to the last general election. Such talks are motivated by narrow political considerations and are aimed at gaining power at a future Presidential Election. They are typical of the unethical and unprincipled behaviour of our political parties and are anti-national and therefore need to be condemned. In view of the forthcoming Presidential Election, the temptation for the ruling party to conduct talks with the L.T.T.E. could be to Obtain the votes of the Tamil population for the purpose of obtaining a narrow political advantage rather than any genuine concern to solve the ethnic problem. Avadhi Lanka, therefore, calls upon both the P.A. and the U.N.P. to refrain from holding any talks with the L.T.T.E. on a party basis. Talks with the L.T.T.E. should be conducted solely on a bipartisan basis. A War Council drawn from both the major political parties and other national parties should be set up to monitor the war effort. Secondly, Avadhi Lanka considers it necessary to invite the attention of the people to the indefinite postponement of the Provincial Council Elections by the President on the ground that military personnel required to provide security at such an election cannot be spared from the war front since the war is at a critical stage. While we are in no position to evaluate this judgement, Avadhi Lanka wishes to point out that the need for the extensive deployment of armed personnel during an election is due to the violence that both main parties resort to in the runup to the election, - that is during the election campaign. The Government also lacks credibility having reneged on several promises to the' people including the promise to abolish the Executive Presidency by a date specified by the President herself. The franchise is a fundamental right enjoyed by the people for the last 70 years. It cannot be alienated and any postponement must be treated with caution. Accordingly alternative methods of campaigning peacefully must be explored by all political parties and the Government, such as via the T.V. and the media, reducing, thereby to minimum the need for mass public meetings. If the ruling party, the PA is to postpone elections further. Avadhi Lanka is of the view that a National Government should be formed. It was a National Government in Britain that postponed the General Election due in the war years during the Second World War. The two parties in Britain agreed to hold the General Election after the conclusion of the War. A national strategy is required for the successful conduct of the war as well as for the success of any negotiated settlement with the Tamil parties." |
| Religious nationalism
obstructs Tamil-Sinhala reconciliation says a Norwegian From Sisira Wijesinghe in Oslo In a feature article contributed to one of Norway's leading tabloids, 'Dagbladet', titled "Sri Lanka’s Religious Nationalism," to coincide with Anagarika Dharmapala’s birthday, the writer Brekke stated that strong influential Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka during past many decades have influenced politicians and the ordinary Sinhalese to profess a nationalistic Buddhism which advocates the Sinhalese nation as the only legitimate citizens of Sri Lanka. "Tamils are seen as intruders," Brekke stated. The feature article, illustrated with a large photograph of Buddhist monks, engaged in a Satyagraha at Colombo's Vihara Maha Devi Park, reminds of previous similar observations made by Dr. Gananath Obeyesekera whose books on Sri Lanka identified Sri Lankan Buddhism as "Protestant". Since Sri Lanka is one of major recipients of Norwegian development assistance, Norway should focus particularly on its contribution to the creation of peace and reconciliation between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamils. "55.000 people have been killed and over a half million Tamils have fled the country," the author said. "One of the principal elements that hinders any reconciliation between the two conflicting partners, is the mentality of many Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka," the writer underlined. "Though the government security forces have gained military success during past few years, there is no peace and reconciliation in sight. The prolonged war machine could have created some 400,000 jobs in the army, in private security services and in related business areas. The extra taxes being collected by the government contribute to a low inflation rate, but the war has become an organic part of day's life," stated the author. Anagarika Dharmapala whose birthday is celebrated on September 17th is one of the most important, radical figures among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka's modem history. His selfless contribution to the revival and restoration of Sri Lanka's mytho-historic literature meant that Buddhist monks should be encouraged to participate in politics and social activities in everyday life. So should be the laymen," the writer pointed out. "On the other hand, religious and ethnic idealism, propagated by Dharmapala resulted in founding the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress and Sinhala Maha Sabha as institutes which are the most important to the Sinhalese. After Bandaranaike came into power in 1956, the influence and strength of Buddhist monks grew steadily and Sinhala was made the official language in 1956. In response to the Sinhalese chauvinism, Chelvanayagam's Federal Party was formed with the intention of achieving a separate state for Tamils in the island," the feature article further noted. "By giving acertain share of self-administration to Tamils through Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam pact, this unfortunate ethnic conflict could have been averted, but the nationalist powers torpedoed this attempt as well. Organisations of Buddhist monks remain all the time opposite to any reconciliation to Tamil demands," stated the writer. "Sri Lanka’s religion and its function has taken a new role during the past century, and its new position has been taken for granted by both the Sinhalese and the western media," the article concluded. |
| n1 "Tea prices will pick up in next few weeks" by Walter Nanayakkara Addressing the planters he said that the drop in tea prices was due to internal problems of big buyers of Sri Lanka tea such as Russia. Russia is not buying tea due to the currently crisis in that country but she needs tea specially with the winter round the corner. The problem today is that the exporters of tea to Russia do not have money to buy stocks. The Tea Board, The Treasury and the Central Bank have now evolved a scheme to support the exporters with five banks, agreeing to give credit to Russian exporters, he said. The scheme would work with in a week exports would resume and prices rise, he said. Mr. Ratwatte opposed what he called grabbing of land belonging to plantation companies by Pradeshiya Sabha members for distribution among the landless. He thanked Minister of Public Administration, Home Affair and Plantation Industry, Ratnasiri Wickrema-nayake for agreeing to stop haphazard take over of plantation land. However he said the plantations have a duty to help solve the landlessness of communities living in their areas and in such cases, the plantation companies should have the sole right of deciding which part of their land should be given for village expansion programmes. On the question of privatising the Tea Research Institute Mr. Ratwatte said that the TRI was helping the tea plantation industry but the TRI was faced with a problem of funds. The 13 percent cess collected from sales of tea was not sufficient for the institution to run efficiently he said. He said, the TRI a private institution in the 1960s was brought under the Tea Board in 1975 and who funded from then onwards. Now it needs more funds. By privatising, more capital could be attracted to the TRI by selling shares to willing plantation companies, Ratwatte said. Mr. Ratwatte conceded that Sri Lanka should increase production of value added teas. "Pakistan is not buying our tea because we do not export value added tea. Value addition started with the introduction of CTC tea in the 1970's. The first factory set up in Hingula, in Mawanella to produce CTC tea, was subsidised to the tune of 80 percent of its costs of construction and equipment. But there was negligence with regard to the production of value added teas since 1977. Now 32 factories are being equipped to produce value added tea. Referring to the law prices obtained by local rubber he said some foreign companies, like Ansel Lanka were importing their latex from abroad. The present government cannot stop this because the previous government in the agreement signed with Ansel Lanka has permitted the import of latex to the company. "However we are having talk with Ansel Lanka with a view to disuading them to stop imports. He lamented the fragmentation of coconut land but added that the government is powerless to intervene because under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution land was a devolved subject. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake introduced certain measures in 1952 to stop fragmentation of tea lands he said. He urged the government to give land from the Mahaweli development zones for the planting of coconut, in order to meet the shortfall in coconut production resulting form the selling of coconut land for construction of houses. Mr. Ratwatte also revealed ruses adopted by some East Asian countries to buy our coconut oil and to export it back here as vegetable oil after changing its composition. New President of Ceylon Planters' Society, Nihal Algama in his address said it was the policy of the members of the society to maintain healthy cooperation with their employer. "This policy will continue during my tenure of office in such a way that it will not compromise the interest of the members of the society" he said. |
| Vessel
sinks in Colombo harbour A feeder vessel berthed at the Colombo harbour with 500 containers sank around 7 p.m. yesterday when an incoming ship crashed into it but no harm was caused to the crew, port sources said. The crew of about 20 on board the vessel "LEERORT" had got onto the pier before their vessel had sunk. The incoming ship was identified as "Zimpiraens" originating from Israel. Its last port of call was Hifa. The vessel that sank was from Germany. - (ZJ) |
| Non
participation at UNP sponsored All Party Conference Three Tamil parties contradict GL's statement By Zacki Jabbar Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris told Thursdays cabinet press briefing that the minority parties by boycotting the UNP consultation en masse had sent a clear message that the UNP was not a credible alternative to the PA. However Douglas Devananda of the EPDP, Suresh Premachandran of the EPRLF and S. Vinodalingam of the TELO told “The Island” that their parties were not only represented at the UNP consultations but put forward their proposals as well. The EPDP represented by S. Sivadasan MP, the EPRLF by A. Shanthan and K. Balanadraja and TELO by S. Vinodalingam, A. Chelvam and M. K. Abu Yusuf, while welcoming the consultations on free and fair elections had said that the ethnic issue should be resolved first. Douglas Devananda said that the EPDP submitted to the UNP consultations, its own set of proposals including riders to both the government and UNP’s proposals on constitutional reform. The EPDP’s representative S. Sivadasan said he had welcomed the UNP’s initiative to get a cross section of the people involved in the consultations. “The first step is most welcome but I also urged the APC to arrvive at a solution to the problems faced by the Tamils through discussion”. Leader of the EPRLF Suresh Premachandran said that his party representatives told the consultation that they should not only be concerned about democracy in the South but in the North-East as well because that is the region in which it is most needed. “We fully support the need to set up independent Public, Police and Election Commissions but priority needs to be given to resolving the ethnic issue first” he added. |
| MP Jayalath wants to visit Madhu again United National Party MP Jayalath Jayawardena in the midst of a controversy over his last visit to Madhu Church refugee camp in Vavuniya has requested the Defence authorities permission to visit the area once again to attend to the basic needs of the people. Jayawardena in a letter to the Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence M. S. Wickramarachchi says that he intends visiting Madhu from October 5 to 8 to reconstruct Madhu Church tank with his DCB funds so that refugees will have a sufficient supply of water. Jayawardena said that since his recent trip to Madhu which has caused much controversy accompanied by wide publicity leading to his being questioned by the CID he has also requested the Defence Ministry to assign two CID or NIB officers to accompany him during his visit to the area. A medical doctor by profession Jayawardena over the last few years has been a frequent visitor to refugee camps in the war torn areas of the North-East providing humanitarian assistance and also conducting free medical camps. "I have worked tirelessly for the innocent refugees irrespective of their ethnicity .There are about 30,000 refugees in the Madhu refugee camp who lack the basic necessities of life including water. So I have decided to allocate Rs. 400,000 from my DCB funds for the construction of the church tank which has the approval of the Wanni Electoral District Development Committee and the Ministry of Plan Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs", he said ( ZJ ) |
| Tourist Board picks official travel guide
publisher The Ceylon Tourist Board has awarded the publication rights of its official travel guide to Sri Lanka to Media Services (Private) Ltd., publishers of the Lanka Monthly Digest (LMD), a company news release said. The guide titled "Sri Lanka Travel Planner 1999" will be circulated at home and abroad by the Tourist Board and the Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka and will be retailed islandwide, it said. "With some 400,000 tourists expected in the coming year, Sri Lanka Travel Planner 1999 will be used as a vehicle to promote not just Sri Lanka as a tourist destination, but the Sri Lankan way of life - its people, industry, hospitality, business," the publishers said. LMD which is now in its fifth year of publications has invited Lakshman Ratnapala, the well known travel trade personality, to play a key role conceptualising the Travel Planner. Ratnapala, who served as head of the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) has wide experience in the travel promotion business both at home and abroad. He has worked for the Ministry of Shipping and Tourism in Colombo, been the Tourist Board's representative in New York, worked for PATA in San Francisco and headed its office in Singapore before returning to San Francisco as president of that prestigious organization. "He's already played a significant role in focusing LMD's attention to the changing needs of tomorrow's travellers," the publishers the new guide said. The full colour Travel Planner will have at least 120 pages and an initial print run of 10,000. The publication is due to be released in the first week of November 1998, in time for the World Travel Mart in London and the forthcoming winter season. |
| Protest meeting at ACBC All organisations opposed to the resumption of unconditional talks with the LTTE will hold a protest meeting at 3.30 p.m. tomorrow at the ACBC hall in Colombo 7. The meeting has been organised by the National Movement against Terrorism. |
| Hijackers assault auctioneer By Kalinga K. A. Weerakkody The auctioneer had been driving his car around 8.15 last Tuesday night when two men had forcibly got into the vehicle when it stopped near the Longdon Place traffic signals. The duo had forced him to drive towards Battaramulla and fearing for his life, the auctioneer had complied, Welikada OIC W. D. Rajapakse said. However, on the way the car had run off the road and one of the wheels had got stuck in a marsh. The enraged men had then assaulted the victim and escaped, OIC Rajapakse said. A complaint in this regard has been lodged at the Welikada police station, but no arrests have so far been made, police said. Investigations are continuing. |
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