Navy chief says convoys continue despite attacks
Lanka Muditha in Trinco with over 100 civiliansby Shamindra Ferdinando
Navy Commander Vice Admiral Cecil Tissera yesterday said that movement of both armed forces and civilians to and from the Jaffna peninsula was continuing despite sporadic Sea Tiger attacks on convoys.The Kankesanthurai-Trincomalee remains the Main Supply Route [MSR] for both the armed forces and almost 500,000 who live in the peninsula and the islands.
'We have not stopped convoys' he told The Island revealing that navy escorted merchant vessel, Lanka Muditha carrying approximately 1100 civilians to Trincomalee harbour yesterday morning.
Tissera denied claims, speculation and reports that the LTTE had been able to block the sea route following the October 30th destruction of a locally built Fast Attack Craft [FAC] deployed to protect Lanka Muditha.
He said that over 2000 servicemen and civilians were ferried from Jaffna to Trincomalee even after the last month's suicide attack.One sailor was killed and 17 reported missing in action after an explosive packed boat operated by two Black Sea Tigers rammed the FAC during the battle off the Mullaithivu coast.The ill-fated FAC had been sent from Trincomalee to provide cover for Lanka Muditha coming from Kankesanthurai [KKS].
Muditha in her second journey from KKS after the October 30th incident, reached Trincomalee yesterday morning after leaving Kankesanthurai approximately 18 hours ago. Many university students and a large number of people stranded in Jaffna due to the ban on Palaly-Ratmalana flights were among the 1067 people who arrived in Trincomalee yesterday.
Tissera said that Lanka Muditha carrying approximately 500 servicemen and equal number of civilians was on its way to Trincomalee from KKS when the FAC was engaged and destroyed. 'We had no alternative but to recall the vessel to KKS' he said.
Tissera revealed that Lanka Muditha ferried over 1000 servicemen and civilians from KKS to Trincomalee several days after the October 30th attack. 'It went back again carrying a large number of people before returning yesterday with 1067 people to Trincomalee' he added.
The navy chief said that there had been a couple of confrontations between his boats and Sea Tigers off the Mullaithivu coast. There were clashes in the past two weeks, he said insisting naval movements were taking place despite threats posed by the Sea Tigers. He said that during a recent confrontation approximately 20 miles off the Mullaithivu coast, one enemy craft was completely destroyed and three others damaged. The navy, he said was doing everything possible to continue with the north-east sea movements.
In another incident SLAF's Mi-24 helicopters joined the navy to engage an enemy sea movement off the Mullaithivu coast.
At the moment Lanka Muditha remains the only merchant vessel used to transport armed forces and civilans between Jaffna and Trincomalee.
The government banned civilian flights between Palaly-Jaffna after LTTE shot down an Lionair flight 602 carrying over 50 civilians in the last week of September. Former Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Major General Lionel Balagalle recently told this correspondent that the situation in the peninsula will further improve when Palaly-Ratmalana flights were restored. Since the shooting down of Lionair flight 602 there had been no civilian flights to and from the peninsula.
However SLAF continued to move a limited number of service personnel to and from Palaly and Ratmalana.The SLAF had lost several of its transport aircraft in enemy attacks and accidents since April 1995. But replacements had not been acquired thus resulting in a shortage of aircraft to ferry service personnel to and from the peninsula.
Military sources said the government has not given the green light to private airlines to resume operations in view of the threat posed by the LTTE. 'When terrorists shot down civilian aircraft some politicians blame both the government and the armed forces for that' an authoritative military official said. 'These so called saviours of the Tamil community had not said a thing about LTTE shooting down the Lionair flight' he said.Instead they blame the government for not providing transport for the people, he added.
Lionair used to transport approximately 1800 passangers a week. Monara air too used to ferry several hundred people a week.
The ongoing Wanni offensive, Jayasikuru was aimed at restoring the overland MSR from Vavuniya to Jaffna.
Will govt pull out of commercial banking?
by Sumadhu Weerawarne
Top international financial sources said that the government in time to come would have to move out of the commercial banking sector altogether.The source who declined to be identified said that the there was no strict time frame set for such an ease out, but added that this was a vital factor in the restructuring of the banking sector.
The performance standard set for banks in terms of the agreements entered into a few months ago with the government may serve as assessment reports for the privatisation of the country's two premier state banks.
The boards of management of the People's Bank and the Bank of Ceylon entered into agreements with the treasury on measures which were identified as being 'protectionist measures to ward of undue interference from the government'. The performance contracts entered into with two state banks a few months ago will be assessed in April next year.
The purpose of such assessment is to give the government luggage over the banks. Sources said that such a review may serve as the first step towards the privatisation of the two state banking institutions.
The agreements prescribe the information to be provided to the Central Bank. It is an enhancement on what is provided currently and is more detailed in terms of the quality of the loan portfolio of the banks.
The banks in terms of the agreements will have to base their decisions purely on commercial grounds. In the case of loans, the source said by way of example this is to end the governmental practice of providing low interest loans on political motivations.
The banks have been set performance targets that are necessarily measures to reduce administrative costs and limit overheads.
The banks have also given undertakings to improve profitability via the recovery of existing volumes of non-performing loans and through the closure of loss making branches.
What this translates into, is retrenching, and the closure of branches largely in rural areas. A number of branches are expected to be shut down before the end of the year.
For want of quorum House adjourns abruptly
By Our Parliamentary Correspondents
For want of a quorum yesterday Ñ the fourth day of the debate on the Appropriation Bill 1999, Parliament had to be adjourned two hours before the schedule time.On the previous day House sittings were suspended twice, first amid an uproar following the Opposition UNP's protest poster campaign within the House and thereafter following a surprise move by a group of government back-benchers forcibly pulling out the posters.
Yesterday's adjournment came after UNP's National List MP and Opposition Deputy Whip A. H. M. Azwer rising to a Point of Order announced there was no quorum in the House.
UNP's Nuwara Eliya district MP, Renuka Herath had just finished her speech. Deputy Chairman of Committees Rauff Hakeem was in the Chair and Wanni district's DPLF MP A. Adaikkalanathan, the next MP to speak on the Budget was on his feet.
Rauff Hakeem ordered the ringing of the Quorum bell. While the quorum bell was ringing A. H. M Azwer and the few UNP parliamentarians present in the House too walked out.
The Quorum bell rang for five minutes and the government MPs present within the parliamentary complex returned to their seats. A final count by the Deputy Chairman of Committees found that the number present was still below the required quorum.
Acting under Standing Orders he then announced the adjournment of the sittings till 9.30 am on Monday November 16.
After the adjournment was announced the Opposition MPs who were standing outside the chamber returned.
Speaking to pressmen after the adjournment United National Party's Badulla district MP W. J. M. Lokubandara said yesterday's adjournment of the House proceedings where the country's annual budget was being debated was something happening for the first time in the history in this country.
He said that the government proved its inconsistency when it withdrew two of its revenue proposals in next year's budget. Now they have also proved that they have no control over its own parliamentarians.
DUNLF National List MP Kesaralal Gunasekera told reporters that it was the duty of all Members of Parliament present within the Parliamentary Complex to answer the quorum bell when it rings. It was not a responsibility of the government side he said.
A. H. M. Azwer who raised the point of no-quorum told the House before leaving it the government MPs were not obeying the orders of their President. 'I would now report to the President' he added.
Cholera patients detected in Colombo
By Indira Perera
Twenty two more diarrhoea patients were admitted to the Colombo National Hospital yesterday bringing the tally to 45, out of which nine have proved to be positive according to Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipality Dr. Tissa Seneviratne.All these patients are from the Fort and Pettah areas.
Commuters at the Fort and Maradana railway stations are told to refrain from consuming food in these areas by announcements made over Public Address systems.
Dr. Seneviratne said the Public Health Inspectors are distributing Tetracycline to all suspected contacts as a preventive measure. In the meantime food inspectors are deployed to check food available for sale in the Fort and Pettah areas.
Health information useful tool for quality health care
Information has become one of the most useful tools that health professionals depend on in providing quality health care. The field of Medical Informatics deal with the collection, validation, processing, storage and organizing of information. The information has to be organized in a meaningful manner if one is to base any reliable decisions on them. The rapid development of computer applications in health, electronic patient record systems, the internet and the development of multimedia have given a boost to medical informatics, a communique of the Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka states.
The Sri Lanka Medical Association formed a subcommittee on medical informatics two years ago to sensitize the membership to this rapidly advancing field. This subcommittee conducted many workshops, lectures, hands-on session to popularize the use of computers among medical practitioners and to create an awareness of the medically related information on the World Wide Web.
The new Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka will broad base these objectives by involving other health care workers and by providing a common forum for (Contd on page 2)
cchealth professionals and Information Technology (IT) professionals to exchange views. The membership is open to all health care workers (doctors, dental surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists) registered with the Sri Lanka Medical Council, all teachers of medical and dental faculties, medical librarians and for IT professionals engaged in health related applications.
Objectives of the society are (a) to improve the efficiency of health care delivery by promoting use of IT (b) to promote awareness in the use of computerised patient record keeping and communication (c) to facilitate research in health informatics (d) provide a forum for IT and health professionals to exchange ideas and (e) to foster collaboration with other regional and international associations of Health Informatics.
The inauguration is at 10.00 a.m. on Sunday, 15th November at the Sri Lanka Medical Association, Wijerama House, 6 Wijerama Road, Colombo 7. The convenors invite all interested persons to attend and become founder members of the society. Further details can be obtained from Dr. Shyam Fernando, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8 or by sending an e-mail to shyam@srilanka.net
Another forces officer appointed N-E Governor
by Shamindra Ferdinando
The government yesterday appointed Major General Asoka K. Jayewardene as the Governor of the North-East province. Jayewardene, previously was scheduled to take over the post of Security Forces Commander, Jaffna, retired on Wednesday[12] to take over the appointment, military sources said.Jayewardene yesterday afternoon took oaths before the President at a simple ceremony at the Temple Trees.
He replaces actor turned politician, Gamini Fonseka who resigned last month reportedly over differences with the President.
At the time of his retirement, Jayewardene who joined the army 35 years ago was holding the post of the Deputy Chief of Staff. Sandhurst trained Jayewardene had been with one of Sri Lanka's oldest regiments, the Ceylon Light Infantry [CLI].
As the Overall Operations Commander [OCC], he commanded the ongoing Wanni offensive, Jayasikuru before being replaced by Major General Srilal Weerasooriya.
Government sources said the appointment was a part of the measures taken to bring the North-East provincial council and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Authority of the North [RRAN] together with a view to speeding up development work in the region.
The RRAN functions under the Presidential Secretariat.
The new Governor is expected to be based at Trincomalee. 'He will be able to work with the armed forces and civilian authorities in areas affected by terrorism,' government sources said.
The government was expected to promote him to the rank of Lieutenant General.
The appointment comes in the wake of terrorist efforts to cripple civil
administration in the Jaffna peninsula,
Batticaloa and other districts. The LTTE had been engaged in a campaign of death and destruction aimed at blocking government efforts to restore facilities in the war-torn region. Terrorists killed two Jaffna Mayors and scores of other government officials to cripple efforts to improve and expand civilian administration, sources said.
Jayewardene was the second armed forces officer to hold the post of the Governor, North-East province. The first had been Lieutenant General Nalin Silva.
Rail fare hike withdrawal Rs. 300 m. from miscellaneous expenses to bridge gap
Our Parliamentary Reporters
Government will freeze Rs. 300 million out of a sum of Rs. 450 million provided for miscellaneous expenses of the Department of National Budget in order to meet the shortfall resulting from the withdrawal of a proposal to collect Rs. 300 million by increasing the rail fares by 25 percent. Minister of Justice, Constitution Affairs Ethnic Affairs and national integration and Deputy Minister of Finance Prof. G. L. Peiris, announced in Parliament yesterday. Prof. Peiris also said that the budget proposal to restrict the Passenger Baggage Allowance was meant to assist local industries.But the Passenger Baggage Allowance will now continue to remain enforce and a separate mechanism will be formulated to assist the local industry, Prof. Peiris told Parliament.
The decision to retain the allowance has been taken following representations made to the government, he said.
The full text of the minister's statement is as follows:
'The original budget out-turn was based on additional revenue of Rs. 300 million from the fare increases on railway services. Therefore, total additional revenue was estimated at Rs. 7,900 million. However, in view of the hardships to the people, the Government decided not to increase railway fares and find an alternative arrangement to meet this shortfall. Hence, revenue increase will be Rs. 7,600 million only. Having considered all options the Government has now decided to freeze Rs. 300 million out of a provision of Rs. 450 million made in the draft estimates (Head 371, Programme 3, Project 1, Object Code 1709 (ii) for miscellaneous expenses of the Department of national Budget. As a result, ministries and departments are required to manage their operational activities within the budgeted provision and should refrain from making requests from the Treasury for miscellaneous expenses. Consequently total savings will increase from Rs. 3,895 million to Rs. 4,195 million.
The budget out-turn in economic format will not change as the reduction in miscellaneous recurrent expenditure by Rs. 300 million will off-set the increased loss in railway operation by Rs. 300 million which is classified under recurrent expenditure
MP raises query on 'Divaina' report
Mr. Sarath Goonawardane MP Friday raised an oral question in Parliament on a news report appearing on Page 3 of the 'Divaina' newspaper of 7th August 1998, by reporter Bandula Dinapurna about some Police Officers.
Mr. Goonaward-ane directed, the question to Minister of Irrigation and Power and Deputy Minister of Defence who was not present in the House.
Minister of Education and Higher Education Richard Pathirana representing the absent Minister requested two weeks time to answer the question.
Mr. Goonawar-dane requested that the House be informed as to whether attention had been focused to the said news report and whether the report was true.
The MP also asked whether the Minister would disclose to the House names, private addresses and official addresses of the relevant Police Officers.
'Presentation of budget biggest joke of the year'
The United National Party is extremely happy that the government had to yield to pressure brought by them in withdrawing the government's earlier proposal to do away with duty free allowance given to the migrant workers. We will equally oppose any move by the government if there is any attempt to manipulate the NRFC accounts to bridge the budget deficit that has resulted due to the withdrawal of some of their major revenue proposals.' Said Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku on Friday speaking at a Yowun Peramuna meeting held at Malabe.
The meeting was organized to educate the youth on the implications of the PA budget on the economy.
Speaking further he said that the opposition members have reliably come to know through many sources that the finance minister in a desperate bid to bridge the budget deficit there is a possibility of imposing a tax on the NRFC holdings, abolish the convertibility of the foreign exchange reserves and to make them rupee accounts. The Government feels that they could do this easily as most of the NRFC accounts are held with the two state banks therefore the interferance is possible. 'When this matter was raised in Parliament yesterday by Monaragala district MP Former Agriculture Minister Dharmadasa Banda a clarification was sort from Prof. G. L. Pieris, surprisingly he maintained a silence. According to our information this suggestion had been made by some senior official in the Central Bank,' Mr. Kodith-uwakku said.
'This reminds me the demonetization of Rs. 100 notes during earlier SLFP regime where some of the people did commit suicide realizing their savings are lost. Referring to the earlier decision of the government to abolish the duty free allowance of the Sri Lanka migrant workers, the Colombo district MP said that the government should be ashamed even to think of such a move which deprives a small privilege enjoyed by the migrant workers on whose earnings the country depend on. There are nearly 700,000 workers who sweat out under trying conditions to earn a living. Compared to the concessions granted by this government to the privileged class it is nothing but insanity which makes one to think of such a proposal to withdraw a legitimate right of the poor workers, he said. Speaking further he reminded that it was the United National Party with its open door policy that paved the way for Sri Lankan to seek foreign employment. Prior to 1997 under he SLFP restrictive regime people were deprived of any foreign travel even for medical treatment. One need not be surprised at the Finance Minister resorting any means to make good of the budget deficit which is over Rs. 300 million, he will be compelled to do to prevent the government crashing. He is under severe pressure from his own ranks, and the majority of the government MPs have shown their disapproval for this budget by not attending the conference summoned by President Kumarathunga to discuss the arrangements for the budget debate. One could say that the presentation of the budget was the biggest joke of the year.
