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People and Events
The absurdity of recent happenings

by Nan
Sri Lanka is going mad. Judge my statement against four recent headlines in the Daily News. Wayamba in fear of brutal UNP terror (January 2); UNPers create havoc in NWP (January 5); UNP in bid to scare Wayamba voters (January 11) and the UNP doing a Susanthika in Wayamba, whatever that means. It surely can't be that the UNP is accusing the sports high ups in Wayamba of sexual harassment. And in contrast the PA is totally concerned about Wayamba - giving graduates teaching jobs, I believe, repairing roads at a rate and Government spends Rs 100m for two more rice mills in Wayamba and NCP (DN January 8).

Insanity elsewhere too
But isn't there madness in the outer world too? The madness of Starr and the witlessness of Clinton allowing a silly creature to lead him to such trouble. Witch hunts in Britain have downed three in Prime Minister Blair's inner circle and Cabinet. Now Foreign Secretary Robin Cook is again going to be scandal focused. His ex wife, Margaret Cook has written a book in which she alleges Cook had a string of affairs during their 28 years of married life and was a heavy drinker. The Sunday Times (UK) published extracts of the book. She says she was dumped by her husband at Heathrow just before they left on holiday when Cook's Press Secretary told him that the story of his affair with his secretary, Gaynor Regan, was about to be splashed in the tabloids.

Targeted: Doctors and Researchers
The madness has hit rock bottom, or rather, reached madder heights, in the United States where doctors who perform abortions are assassinated by right-to-life activists. They do not pause to find out whether the abortion was carried out to save the life of the woman or to abort a deformed fetus, or conception was the result of rape. The terrorists, that's what they are, stalk the doctors and shoot them in the belief they are saving a life. They sacrifice a useful life to save an unborn fetus which is really not wanted and to be aborted.

A similar madness rages in Britain where animal rights activists are aiming at those who experiment on animals, never mind that the experiments are for the greater good of humanity. To the activists, the life of a rat or monkey is greater than all the lives that could be saved by the medical techniques or vaccines that certainly result from the experiments carried out on animals.

True, they are all living creatures and to each his life is most precious. But a hierarchy or scale of importance is inevitably in place; the worth and value of one is measured against that of the other. In each and every comparison the human being emerges top, of prime importance, able to do most good. Thus how can one understand, leave alone condone, those who wield guns, bombs and hand grenades in defence of ''an animal brother or sister''.

Take for example Dr. Colin Blakemore's predicament. He is Professor of Physiology at Oxford and director of the university's Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. He directs tests on animals and so through his research and experiments has helped restore vision to infants and children. This is just one success of this work, for which he has won many awards. His life is in danger, has been for the last so many years. Groups such as Animal Liberation Front, Animals Betrayed Coalition and Animal Rights Militia (sic) have threatened to kill him and his family.

Five years ago his teenaged daughter received a Christmas gift which fortuitously the police opened to find explosives sufficient to blow up the entire house. So now his family lives guarded, the police protection given him being modelled on that afforded to Britons on IRA hit lists of the 1980s.

Britain has been famous (notorious?) for its love of animals and fight for their welfare. Isn't fox hunting banned or is it still being debated? The first animal welfare group in the world was founded in England in 1824. At present there are 3000 such organisations and the animals protected include bats, frogs and even insects. The zeal of the protectors of animals has progressed to murder - kill a man with a life span of 90 years say, possessing degrees and doctorates and much humane work to his credit to save a short lived (useless?) frog or pestiferous rat.

Madness!
Experimentation and probable killing of animals is done as a last resort. Computer programmes are in use and being enhanced to eliminate the need for testing on animals. But animals are still used on research benches in attempts to save human lives. The number of animal experiments in Britain has declined in the past 25 years from 7 million an year to 2.6 million; this in the face of increased medical and scientific researchers and research. All animal testing in connection with cosmetics, tobacco products and alcohol have been banned.

Yet the fanatics are around. One madman, Barry Horne, 46, a former garbage collector turned animal activist, serving an 18 year prison sentence for attacking shopping centres in defence of animals, recently went on a hunger strike to twist the arm of the government. He wanted a committee set up to decide the end of animal experimentation. The government refused to be blackmailed and like he did twice previously, Horne abandoned his fast after 60 days. Dr. Blakemore was willing to discuss matters with Horne's group, but to no purpose. They prefer the gun to get their mad way.

Toads killed but lives saved
A memory of the past comes to mind. A nephew of mine would shout to the servant boy on Sundays to get him a toad. Poor Jayasena had to scout around and scramble up the hill behind their house to catch and bottle a hapless frog who was dissected the next day. Sin aney, the dissector's sister said. But it is not a karma-creating act since Jayasena was obeying an order and my nephew, with distaste was killing and cutting up the animal to pass his university entrance exam. There was no lust for killing the poor creature. This same nephew is a medical specialist now, saving lives and bringing so much solace to patients and their relatives.

If you load the two arms of a scale with animals killed by researchers and lives saved by them or through their work, the scales will tip over, so unbalanced would be the two sides. Now that is my madness, stating the obvious and labouring the point!

Our Gava Rakaganno, Gava Mithuro and wild life lovers wish to and work towards saving animal lives from slaughter and preserving them and their habitats in a wise way, with not the slightest trace of madness. In fact one wishes they turned more rabid. They advocate vegetarianism on the one hand and mercy killing on the other. The wildlife people wish to preserve ecosystems with benefit to man too. So at least that insanity is absent in this land of ours.

Calendar Pin-Ups
Which bring to mind another madness - a new year madness. Getting yourself on a horse and then on a calendar so that you are gazed upon right through the year. The question is - with admiration, derision, disgust or anger? Marylin Monroe in her Norma Jeanne days posed nude on a calendar and so do others, clad or unclad. Beauties in calendars is the usual, but now, reportedly we have a very high military man on a day and month marker.

Let him and the producers of that infamous calendar have a look at the one put out by the Commercial Bank. Six pictures celebrating Sri Lanka are on it, four of them with trees. The January-February picture particularly is wonderful, so, peace imbuing, so serene to look at. Gazing at it one is prideful of our country and resolute that we do our bit to save our fauna and flora. That is how we should start the day or plan our dates: not furious at broken promises of peace and continued dying and maiming of our youth.

Love letters of the great

by Kirthie Abeyesekera
It was a wholly satisfactory love affair. I could have met her at any time, but I did not wish to complicate such a delightful intercourse."

That of course, was the irrepressible Bernard Shaw, referring to the many love-letters he wrote to the actress, Ellen Terry. Gifted with a profuse vocabulary, the Irish wit is perhaps, the best known proponent of the love-letter. In today's rapid age of technology and electronic mail, the love letter is almost a dead letter. Instant communication and instant love-making have taken the place of the ancient art of love-letter-writing which was an inherent part of the love process.

'Making love,' in today's jargon, crudely means hopping into bed. That's what prompted the female coffee pod to say to the male coffee pod: "Hey, none of that instant stuff let's have the good old grind." In days gone by love making meant courting in its many romantic forms - dining, wining, soft music and dim lights. Love-letters were an essential ingredient of love, not only in the wooing stage but also in the years of married life.

I was in my teens when I 'penned' my first love-letter. I smuggled it in Florence Barclay's 'The Rosary'. The 'book' was carried by the recipient's kid brother in presumed ignorance of its contents. The reply came in Barclay's sequel, 'The Mistress of Shenstone'. But that's a closed chapter in my book of life.

I wrote with a 'relief' nib dipped in 'Quink, a popular brand of ink. Letters were written on blue parchment paper for preservation.....

'Some letters tied in blue,
A photograph or two;
I see a rose from you
Among my souvenirs.'

Ah, memories of that fond refrain bring back the days of my wandering youth. A blotting paper had to be used to prevent the ink from smudging. Even though we did have manual typewriters, it was not considered romantic, in those days, to use them for such a sacrosanct ritual as a love-letter. It had to be hand-written for that personal touch.

The 'relief' nib was later replaced by a 'platignum' or 'Swan' fountain pen which had to be manually ink-filled. Subsequently. I graduated to a self-filling 'Parker 51'-a status writing instrument of the times. I lost one in a drunken brawl. The fast-writing ball point was a latter-day invention.

"The ideal love-affair," Shaw said, "is one conducted by post'. He's said to have penned a quarter of a million love-letters during his ninety-four-year life span. And, they say, women always appealed far more to his imagination than to his flesh'. Of the one woman Shaw eventually married - Charlotte Payne-Townshend - his lover, Ellen Terry wrote to him: "Oh, I see you two walking in the damp and lovely mist, a trail of light from your footsteps, and I don't think it's envy, but I know my eyes are quite wet, and I long to be one of you...." History's great love-affairs abound in love-letters.

Napoleon who spent most of his life fighting wars for France was another prolific writer of love-letters. He cut short his honeymoon with his beloved Josephine to be at the battle front. From there, he wrote to 'Citizeness Bonaparte;'

"Every moment takes me further from you my adorable one, and at every moment, I find less strength to be parted from you. You are the constant object of my thoughts, and my imagination exhausts itself in wondering what you are doing." Historians recorded his love-letters as 'Honeymoon Letters' and 'Letters of Delirium.'

"My incomparable Josephine, away from you there is no happiness. Away from you the world is a desert you have taken more than my soul...." And then, there's that memorable line from the man who was more warrior than lover: "Not tonight, Josephine."

Prince Albaert, on the day of his engagement to Queen Victoria wrote: "How is it that I have deserved so much love, so much affection." He signed the letter: "In body and soul, ever your slave, your loyal Albert."

The secret love-affair between Jawaharlal Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Lord Louis, the great-grandson of Queen Victoria, is now world history. In one of Nehru's letters to her, he said, "The Gods, or some good fairies gave you beauty and high intelligence, and grace and charm and vitality....."

Winston Churchill was another great letter-writer. His marriage to Clementine Hozier was one long love-affair in which they exchanged love-notes. A female admirer, after a disagreement with him, wrote: "If I were your wife, I'd poison your coffee." Never at a loss for words, he responded: "And, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.'

Lord Nelson, during his intense love-affair with Lady Hamilton, wife of Sir William, wrote to her: "I have not a thought, except of you and the French fleet. And I will embrace both so close where I can lay hold of either one or the other that the Devil himself should not separate us.. My life, my soul, God in heaven bless you." Before his famous, yet fatal Battle of Trafalgar, he wrote to her "My dearest beloved Emma, the dear friend of my bosom."

Edith Bolling, the devoted wife of Woodrow Wilson, was known as 'the first woman President of the United States.' In one of her endearing letters to him during his troubled years, she wrote: "I will stand by you, not for duty, not for pity, not for honour, but for love... no matter whether the wine be bitter or sweet, we shall share it together and find happiness...." She signed the letter, "Your Own Edith."

Oscar Wilde, better known for his homosexual love, wrote to his wife, Constance: "Dear and beloved. Here I am and you at the Antipodes. O execrable facts that keep our lips from kissing, though our souls are one... I feel your fingers in my hair, and your cheek brushing mine. The air is full of the music of your cries. My soul and body seem no longer mine, but mingled in some exquisite ecstasy with yours. I feel incomplete without you." Today's hectic pace of life leaves no time for the magic woven through the love-letter. Through the Ages of Time the love-letter has brought so much joy to the hearts of men and women longing to love and be loved.

Biopiracy is flourishing

by Feizal Samath
Colombo: Long before the arrival of Western drugs, indigenous doctors pounded and prepared medicine from wild plants and flowers gathered from Sri Lanka's thick tropical forests to treat a variety of illnesses.

The ancient formulations of the ayurveda system of medicine were zealously guarded and passed on from one generation to the next in families that could trace back their ancestry for many centuries.

In the north-central town of Polonnaruwa, an indigenous doctor treats patients with heart problems who would otherwise require bypass surgery for a fraction of the cost of surgery which is at least $4,500 in hospitals in the country.

Now giant pharmaceutical drug companies, aware of the therapeutical qualities of medicinal plants, are virtually stealing this ancient wisdom by extracting chemicals from local plants and patenting them abroad, particularly in the United States.

Upali Pilapitiya, director of the Bandaranaike Memorial Ayurveda Research Institute, says that the tremendous interest in the West about natural ayurvedic remedies, has led to a growing interest in Asia's indigenous plant life. Studies have revealed that more than 40% of Western pharmaceutical products contain Asian plant extracts but these Asian countries including Sri Lanka have earned very little in return.

Export of medicinal plants or their extracts is teamed in Sri Lanka. However, biopiracy is flourishing, quite often with the assistance of Sri Lankans who have no qualms about selling indigenous knowledge and innovation.

In September 1998, a university professor and another wealthy Sri Lankan, wife is a social activist, were detained for biopiracy by security personnel.

'Loopholes in existing laws and other legal snags are robbing the country of millions of dollars that is rightfully ours,' asserts Sirimal Premakumara, a scientist at the Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research.

He said that the country does not have the hi-tech scientific equipment to analyse chemical components of indigenous plants or the capacity to pay the international patent fee of $60,000, and wealthy countries are taking advantage of this.

For instance, Salacil Reticulata, the scientific name for the locally grown Kothalahimbutu plant, has been recognised abroad for its ability to control diabetes. Ayurveda physicians in Sri Lanka have always advised patients to drink water left overnight in a hand-carved Kothalahimbutu mug or jug, whose production has become a cottage industry on the island.

Newspapers here report that a Japanese drug company patented a product based on this herb through the American Chemical Society in 1997.

Many other patents, like from the plant Weniwalgeta - used effectively as a herbal remedy for fever, coughs and colds - have been registered by Japanese, European and US pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardene says, 'Although the law requires that a patent can be obtained only if it is an economically valuable invention created through a methodology, most multinationals have somehow obtained patents for products used in our country for thousands of years.'

Scientists say that the normal ruse adopted by drug transnationals is to befriend an indigenous doctor, learn the curative properties of plants and sometimes offer him a trip abroad. The process of extraction of the chemical and export of the product which is often in the form of a powder, chemical solvent or the bark of trees, follows.

The two recent cases of biopiracy involving a university botanist and a wealthy Sri Lankan got wide publicity and led to a sudden interest in the issue by environmentalists and scientists here.

'The botanist was intercepted by customs at Colombo airport trying to smuggle out some plant extracts in his suitcase. In the same month customs officials discovered a container-load of Kothalahimbutu - 1,512 cups weighing some 4 tonnes - being shipped to Japan through a firm owned by the wealthy Sri Lankan.

Gunawardene feels that the laws should be strengthened to prevent the smuggling of Sri Lanka's indigenous plants and ayurvedic knowledge.

Normally, product patents are given only if they fulfil the criteria of being new, specify the process and must necessarily 'have commercial value. If there are discrepancies in this process, the patent can be contested in court, as in the case of the US patent for turmeric, which was successfully challenged by India on the grounds that its medicinal properties have been well-known since ancient times.

However, because India has no worthwhile law to protect its rich biodiversity of intellectual property rights, another US company earlier in 1998 took out patents on long-grain basmati rice, grown for centuries by farmers in India and Pakistan.

Developing countries, rich in indigenous resources, need to tighten biodiversity laws to stop the usurpation of the resources and knowledge' of their people, Sri Lankan scientists say.

Third World Network Features/IPS

Success of planned development and cost of ill-informed objections

E Carlo Fernando
(Former Power Development Consultant to CEB)

This refers to the lengthy narration made by Mr. Ronnie de Mel at the 1999 Budget discussion on national development, during the past 4 years of the PA government. He has painted a miserable picture, reciting a litany of projects done by the UNP and projects not done by the PA. It is good he came out with these findings. Of course, there is truth in these serious setbacks to development. This calls for an analysis to find out where things have gone wrong. In this connection, my presentation has no political basis, but is set out as a professional engineer, who has been engaged in national development for a very long time.

Mahaweli Scheme
Now let me state how the development process of the Mahaweli Project took place. The UNP got the United States Operation Mission (USOM) to prepare a study report for the Mahaweli Ganga. It presented only the Polgolla diversion to the Kala Oya region. When the SLFP led coalition assumed power 1970, they got the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to prepare a comprehensive water resources development plan extending as far as Killinochchi. About 30 foreign experts and about 300 local personnel were engaged on the task which took 3 years.

In 1977 when the UNP came into power they got hold of this very valuable document and speedily executed the projects at an unprecedented pace. It was because of the high quality of the plan, repeat the high quality of the plan, that funds from donor countries were readily obtainable to execute these projects.

Southern Development
The PA government has been very keen to develop the South East Dry Zone (SEDZ). It got a massive mandate from the South to do this job. The Southern Development Authority with a highly paid staff was established for this purpose. They struggled for 4 years and produced nothing, as the President herself says. Why is this? The reason is clear. There was no proper plan available, he had been prepared for the development of the Mahaweli Ganga.

In the 17 years of rule, the UNP unfortunately failed to get any worthwhile development plans prepared. They concentrated on Gam Udawa festivals. The projects earmarked for development by the PA were all inherited from the UNP. They were only projects with impressive names - Expressway Colombo/Matara, Expressway Matara/Kataragama, International Airport, Galle habour development, Hambantota harbour development, Ruhunupura, Uma Oya diversion, Menik Ganga diversion and so on. Sadly all these are misfits for actual Sothern development. What is needed above all is WATER and POWER. The Mahaweli Scheme became a success story because it had a perfect water resources plan providing water and power, the essential infrastructure for any positive development.

Water
Tippetts, Abbott, McCarthy, Stratton (TAMS) New York, made a comprehensive water resources (Kalu Ganga) diversion plan, funded by the World Bank to provide water to the SEDZ. This fine plan sadly got sabotaged by the introduction of the Kukule hydro power plant, which Mr. de Mel says the UNP had organised. It is from Kukule, a tributary of the Kalu Ganga, that diversion of water to the dry South has to start. Instead of this, now the Kukule hydro power plant will only be able to produce a little unimportant power, as it is an run-of-river plant without a reservoir, and then all that vast amount of water will be sent waste to the sea. This clearly negates Parakrama Bahu's valuable dictum of using every drop of water.

Thus, because of the implementation of this inappropriate plan, the SEDZ will be deprived of the much needed water human settlements, farm requirements, industrialisation, urban developments.

The Menik Ganga diversion is a foolish proposition as there is no water in this river for use even in its own basin. The Uma Oya diversion project to the South will only be robbing the water, which is brightfully meant to feed the arid Eastern Province, as planned in the UNDP Mahaweli Report. Having gone through all these absurd propositions, now the plan a very expensive one, is to resort to desalination plants i.e. to convert salt water into fresh water by means of valuable electricity, as if Sri Lanka is a desert country.

Power
As hydro power in general is meant for peaking stations and the power plants in the Accelerated Mahaweli have been designed as such, it was necessary to have a large thermal addition to meet base load requirements in order to make best use of the hydro power plants. Therefore to provide the thermal requirements it was decided to set up a coal power plant at Trincomalee, to make use of the deep water harbour there, to bring in coal ships.

The studies revealed that the best location for this large power plant is at Snug Cove in the Trincomalee harbour. In this Cove, the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) had an oyster culture farm. To set up the power plant the oyster had to be moved out. The then NARA chairman, Dr. Hiran Jayewardene, nephew of President J. R. Jayewardene refused to move the farm out. It is here the trouble started. He set up the foreign funded environmentalists, whom the Indians all eco-terrorists, to carry out island-wide protests against coal power. Newspapers then carried out the most destructive propaganda presenting coal power, the most widespread source of power in the world, to be falsely likened to a deadly nuclear bomb - a hell on earth.

As this power plant is sited by the coast, the Coast Conservation Department had to give the permit for its construction. But on instructions from the UNP high command, the permit was refused, based entirely on rubbish. The poison introduced at this time, got properly imbedded in the minds of the common people. Then when the project was shifted to Mawella in the South, the same destructive protests continued, which made President Premadasa stop all work at Mawella.

It was the UNP misdirected by the CEB diesel lobby which pushed the coal power plant out of Dungalpitiya/Negombo, the site preferred in the JCI (Japanese) study to unsuitable Kalpitiya, a site most dangerous security-wise. This move was based on ridiculous environmental grounds. Now wherever the coal power plant is to be set up, the same shameless destructive attitude continues. Mr. Ronnie de Mel who was the UNP Finance Minister should be aware of all these obstructive doings.

Here I have given the historical facts on the sucesses and failures in our development process. First good plans for the Mahaweli Projects were successfully executed. Second, good plans for the Kalu Ganga diversion and coal power generation were sabotaged and instead ill-conceived propositions were taken up, leading to miserable failures.

Now in this crisis those who do not understand basic engineering terms, do not know the difference between simple things like MWs and Kwh units, do not know what peak load and base load is, consider reservoirs and local power to be old methods. Instead they advocate desalination plants for water and wind mills, solar power and diesel sets for power generation as the modern technologies to be adopted.

It is logical to note here that the Indian economy is steadily forging ahead with reservoirs and coal power, whereas our economy remains stagnant, our plans for industrialisation fail to take off and our massive unemployment problem continues to grow.

Results
With the destruction of coal power generation in Sri Lanka, water resources development suffered severe setbacks. Samanalawewa was introduced for power when it has no place in the power system after the peaking power plants in the Mahaweli Scheme were constructed. The Samamalaweva Project cost some Rs. 20 billion and now another Rs. 2.8 billion is being spent to plug a leak. According to some reports this repair too is not satisfactory.

I have referred to the folly of going in for the Kukule hydro power plant and the ill conceived propositions of the Uma Oya and the Menik Ganga diversions.

Mr. Ronnie de Mel has asked why Moragahakanda was not implemented. This is in the UNDP plan and it is from this reservoir that the North Central Province (NCP) Canal to Vavuniya, Killinochchi has to start. In the Accelerated UNP plan this project was left out. At one seminar on the Mahaweli I pointed this out. Then Minister Gamini Dissanayake who was the Chief Guest said that he would attend to the project. Within a week he contacted the Japanese Ambassador to get the work done. While he was on this job, was removed from the Mahaweli Ministry by President Premadasa. All work in this respect then came to a halt.

Next Mr. de Mel has questioned the failure to implement the Upper Kotmale hydro power project. This is entirely due to obstruction by foreign funded environmentalists Ð eco terrorists. Their protests against reservoirs forced the planners to cancel the main Caldedonia reservoir of this project. Then it became a run-of-river ineffective power project. Later in the search for water, beautiful waterfalls were tapped, and this is now facing strong protests. These water falls were not tapped in the UNDP Mahaweli Plan.

It was during the UNP rule that environmental laws were introduced and these foreign funded environmentalists were allowed to act as if they were some super beings. Those who are sincere about the development of this country should ponder over what I have written here, and act sensibly to save Sri Lanka from economic disaster due to these obstructive strategies and destructive elements.

North/South patient transfer

Twenty years ago, when the General Hospital in Jaffna became a Teaching Hospital (JTH), it had more than its ample quota of highly qualified consultants and specialists (35) along with the requisite supporting staff, who undoubtedly contributed to its smooth and efficient functioning.

With the rapidly changing situation in the peninsula and the onset of the fighting, events took a dramatic turn. The year 1990 for instance, saw the reversal of the conditions that prevailed 10 years earlier for the people of Jaffna, as far as facilities were concerned, and in particular the health services.

Transport suffered badly, affecting greatly the flow of supplies to the peninsula. The rapidly deteriorating civilian security situation and adverse conditions resulted in many an executive, or government servant, seeking less turbulent pastures in the south. The health and medical services were the most affected having the highest numbers leaving the peninsula.

1990 also saw the advent of the ICRC to Jaffna. The humanitarian needs of the people was their focus, with health warranting immediate action. The conflict situation had resulted in an increase of maladies and diseases and the number of specialists serving in JTH had dwindled to a meagre 6. The drug supply was parlous or minimal. Urgently needed medical equipment barely left the medical stores in Colombo. Few doctore were available to even man the clinics at JTH.

The ICRC, with agreement of the government, and also having obtained security guarantees from the LTTE, introduced a ship service whereby it was possible for the seriously sick patients, in need of further treatment, surgery and therapy to be transferred to Colombo. Patients were transferred to Trincomalee via ICRC vessel and thereon to Colombo overland. The patients were selected by the Director of JTH, on the recommendations of the specialist, and arrangements were made with the health authorities, and Ministry of Defence to effect the necessary clearance for travel. Ever since the inauguration of this service, a minimum of 4 voyages were conducted monthly for the needy patients of Jaffna. On an average, 30 patients (and 'bystanders') were sent to Colombo for treatment and brought back after treatment, on each voyage.

Year No of Patients
1994 718
1995 (Displaced) 311
1996 314
1997 688
1998 566

In addition, the ICRC vessel also transported the much needed drugs for the JTH along with equipment for the health dept., and at times, even stationery.

"Patients are generally selected on the basis of the urgency of the treatment, such as cancer patients for radio and chemo therapy, cardiology patients for urgently needed surgery, neurology patients for CT scan/MRI scan, patients for laser treatment, angiogram, lithotripsy, review of treatment, et al.... If we could get specialists to visit JTH at least once a month, the necessity for 20-30 patients to travel to Colombo once a month can be averted when such patients are old and feeble, they would need a bystander/accompanist there by denying a place to 5-10 on the waiting list" pointed out Dr. Ms Kanagaratnam, present Director of JTH. As for suggestions for improvement she said that especially the older people had difficulty in using the toilets on the ship". The presence of an ICRC delegate at the time of admittance to the various hospitals would be very useful, whereby the situation could be reviewed and some sort of relief brought about," she added.

Let us see some of the patients on board the vessel 'Java Gulf' ( voyage 37/98 of 28.11.1998.)

P T. 62 yrs. (male) retd. public servant complains of gall bladder 3 yrs ago. No surgery performed. Admitted to JTH 3 months ago and now recommended for laser treatment. Waiting list for 2 months.

P N. 30 yrs. (female), works as a colonisation offcer in DS office Sandilipay... had complained of nose bleed 6 months ago. Was operated in July, but difficulty in breathing. Colombo biopsy report tested for Carcinoma in the nose. 4 months on the waiting list. Accompanied by her mother.

Mrs. T. S. 60 yrs. stones in the kidney operated twice. Recommended for laser treatment in Colombo found difficult to make up mind to go to Colombo owing to family responsibilities. Accompanied by husband.

KN. 17 yrs, (male) Consequent to panic and fear during the frequent fighting, had a problem of fear of loud noises.

The 726 ton 'JAVA GULF', has a capacity for 800 tons of cargo, and has 11 crew members, including the Captain. Each voyage takes approx. 45 passengers (30 patients, 15 VIP ( including important govt. offcials).

For travel both ways, clearance from the Ministry of Defence must be obtained. Passengers booked for the voyage from KKS to Trincomalee meet at the ICRC Delegation in Jaffna in the afternoon, and then leave by convoy to KKS. Travel time from KKS to Trincomalee is approx. 12 hrs (depending on the seas!!) . From Trincomalee to Colombo by land convoy it takes a further 6 hours, with a short stop in Habarana. The patients returning to Jaffna, leave the ICRC Delegation in Colombo at 6.30 am. A JTH doctor accompanies the patients both ways, and is authorised to use the emergency medical kit on board, when necessary. An ICRC Convoying Officer is present on every voyage. Passengers are served with all 3 meals and tea on board. 'JAVA GULF' costs the ICRC $3500 USD per day, and if presently on a 6 month charter.

Yet another service by this vessel, has been the conveyance of mail between Jaffna and Colombo, free of charge. In the words of the Chief Post Master, Jaffna, thanks to the goodwill of the ICRC, enormous quantities of mail are being exchanged with minimum delay.... this valuable service is most welcome at a time when other avenues of transport are extinct, and greatly appreciated by people from all walks of life."

"As medical personnel, on behalf of the people of Jaffna, we are grateful for the magnanimous service rendered by the ICRC to the Health Services,.... and special mention must be made of the kind and considerate crew of 'JAVA GULF',''said the Director of JTH, in conclusion.

(ICRC)

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