Contents

• Satyagraha to force Governor's hand
• State bodies probed by COPE
• Power cuts delay drug supplies
• Administrative docs form branch union
• HR Award ceremony
• Repair of State buses queried
• LTTE begins political work in Trincomalee office
• Refurbished park opens
• Concern over corporal punishment in schools
• Special Reports & More News

He said this measure was being taken as a last resort as Governor K.B. Ratnayake was refusing to appoint the UNF member who commands the support of the majority of members of the CPC as the Chief Minister, as required by law. The crisis in the CPC began when the budget for 2002 presented by the PA-led council was defeated by a majority of eight votes.

The defeat of the budget meant that the staff of the CPC have been unable to draw their salaries before the New Year. Although the UNF members have gone to courts regarding the future of the council, the case has been postponed several times and will only be taken up on May 8.

Although the court action has prevented the dissolution of the council by the Governor, it has now become impossible to run its administration. Mr. Dissanayake said PA members were deliberately delaying court proceedings as well and hence the satyagraha and mass protest will be held shortly. "We want the Governor to respect the law and hand over power to us," the minister said.

State bodies probed by COPE
By Shelani Perera

Heads of key Government institutions were summoned before COPE last week to answer charges of irregularities and mismanagement in their organisations, while fifteen more institutions are to be probed next month, The Sunday Times learns.
The Rupavahini Corporation, Road Development Authority, National Housing Development Authority, Central Cultural Fund, JEDB, Mahaweli Authority, Samurdhi Authority and People's Bank were probed by COPE while the CEB head went before the Committee on Wednesday.

COPE went into the corporate budget plan, accounts, annual plan, and the number of Board meetings conducted within a specified period of each of the ten institutions. Following the investigation each institution was given a deadline to rectify problems in their organisations.
Most of the institutions had not followed the procedure of handing over the annual budget estimates to the Auditor General and getting approval from the respective Board for budgetary allocations.

The JEDB was identified as the most mismanaged institution. It was revealed that since 1993 it had not presented an annual report to Parliament. Questions were raised on the non-implementation of a work plan. The JEDB was ordered to furnish all reports within six months with legal action to follow for non-compliance. The Road Development Authority was given two weeks to answer certain questions on the proposed Colombo-Matara highway.

Officials of the Mahaweli Authority was questioned on a retrenchment plan initiated by it. It is learnt that a sum of Rs. three billion was spent on the program. However the following year the Authority was found to be over-staffed. The Samurdhi Authority was among the few institutions which had an overall satisfactory report. Rupavahini Corporation was given a deadline to furnish details after the management complained that the institution was running at a loss of around Rs. 300,000 per day. COPE is to call up heads of 15 more institutions in the first week of May, while the institutions which were probed last week are to be closely monitored.

Power cuts delay drug supplies
The present power cuts has resulted in delays in the supply of drugs from the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) of the Health Ministry with several services coming to a standstill. MSD sources say that the supply process had slowed down immensely during power cuts resulting in only one third of the supply being done.

The lack of a generator to operate all sections of the MSD has been a serious drawback. No generator is available, except for the cold room. "The store room is dark and the entire computer section comes to a halt, while the lift doesn't work," MSD sources said. At least two days' work is lost during a week as a result, with most hospitals and dispensaries not receiving the required supply on time. Further, those coming to collect drug supplies for health institutions in far off places are required to hang around a day or more.

Moreover, about 25 drugs are out of stock and local purchases are being made by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation to meet the demand. Some hospitals and dispensaries reported a shortage during the last two to three weeks. Patients at the Hulftsdorp dispensary said that though patients were seen and drugs prescribed, the dispensary has not been issuing drugs for the past three weeks. Patients going to the dispensary were reportedly told to buy drugs from pharmacies as the dispensary would not be issuing drugs at the counter.

Administrative docs form branch union
The Government Medical Officers Association has formed a branch union at the Health Ministry comprising all medical administrators, which is believed would help change the environment prevalent in the ministry and also be beneficial to the union. Media spokesman for the GMOA, Dr. Rukshan Bellana said that when the association wishes to resort to trade union action, the union could reach an agreement with the ministry's branch union where the medical administrators will go on strike while other members can continue to work.

"Usually, it is the patients who are affected when the GMOA decides to go on strike, but now where the medical administrators only go on strike, the doctors can continue to work at the hospitals," Dr. Bellana said. The establishment of the branch union in the ministry will also enable medical administrators to act independently and voice their concern against political interference.

At the union's inaugural meeting held last Wednesday, the members passed a resolution requesting the removal of the present Director General of Health Dr. A.M.L. Beligaswatte and stop any extension to him when he completes his term on April 30. Deputy Director General Dr. Terrence de Silva has been appointed president of the union, Deputy Director General Dr. Sunil Senanayake as secretary and Director, Tertiary Care Dr. T. Mahipala as treasurer.

HR Award ceremony
The Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka which conducts courses on human resource management will hold its award ceremony at 2.15 p.m on April 20 (Saturday) at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, presided over by Commercial Bank Chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya.

The Institute will also hold an exhibition of Human Resource Service Providers at the BMICH on May 17 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to coincide with the HR Management annual conference to be held during the same week. The exhibition is open to all training institutes, recruiting agencies, computer software vendors, management consultants, career counsellors, etc.

Repair of State buses queried
By Nilika de Silva
While allegations were made in Parliament by former Deputy Minister of Transport Kumara Welgama regarding state buses given to the Wesco company (LATEC) for repairs, twenty such repaired buses were handed over to the Ministry on Wednesday.
LATEC handed over 20 repaired and refurbished buses to the Transport Ministry at a ceremony held at the Ministry on Wednesday.

The buses were renovated at a cost of approximately Rs. 15 million. Last week in parliament, Mr. Welgama questioned the handing over to LATEC of buses to be repaired. "Buses in a fit condition are sent for repairs," Mr. Welgama charged. He said that repairs on a bus exceeded Rs. 1,800,000 while a new bus could be bought for Rs. 1,900,000.

Meanwhile, addressing a press briefing after the handing over ceremony at the Ministry, Minister Tilak Marapana said the Government had decided to hand over 4,000 damaged buses to LATEC, Ashok Leyland and DIMO to be repaired. State Transport Minister Upali Piyasoma said this measure was being resorted to because it was cost effective.

LTTE begins political work in Trincomalee office
By Sinniah Gurunathan, Trincomalee correspondent
The Norwegian head of the SLMM in Trincomalee district, Ms. Victoria Lund declared open the Trincomalee district political secretariat of the LTTE on Tuesday. Mr. Iynkaran, head of the Trincomalee District LTTE political secretariat and three other members arrived by sea from Mutur to carry out political work in Trincomalee, in terms of the MoU signed by the Prime Minister and the LTTE leader.

They left from Sampur, a Tamil village in Mutur east held by the LTTE and passed through the Army checkpoint at Kaddaiparichchan to arrive at Mutur and take ferry.
They were given a rousing welcome at the Trincomalee civilian jetty when they arrived by the passenger launch " Seruwila".

Later they were taken in a procession along Post Office Road and Powerhouse Road to the LTTE's office located at Green Road. Speaking at the office opening ceremony Mr. Iynkaran said " We are fighting for our rights and not for concessions. The present peaceful atmosphere has dawned because of our strength.

We would take all steps to resettle the displaced Tamil families in consultation with all concerned. Resettlement of displaced people would take place step by step". Ms Kaaronja, a member of the LTTE political wing based in Trincomalee said " We are not an enemy of peace. We are for an honourable peace."

Refurbished park opens
The Viharamahadevi Park which was re-vested with the Colombo Municipal Council on January 1 this year, reopened on Thursday with a number of renovations for the benefit of the public. The development work included the re-arranging of all inner roads and avenues in an attractive manner and turning the children's playground into a fully fledged one with all modern play equipment.

A boat service is to commence in the park's pool, while the newly constructed aquarium "Min Medura" and the bird park will soon be an added attraction.
A cafeteria is also to be provided for the convenience of visitors while facilities for parking vehicles will also be arranged.

The park was re-opened by a group of ministers led by former Colombo Mayor Karu Jayasuriya. The park was acquired by the Urban Development Authority last year, during the period when Urban Development Minister Mangala Samaraweera was replanning the city.

Concern over corporal punishment in schools
By Faraza Farook
In a society where the culture of violence is prevalent, physical punishment in schools has become a growing concern, as it teaches children that violence is a means to solve problems, a survey conducted by the Medical Faculty of the Colombo University has revealed.

A common problem in most schools is the use of physical punishment as a means of disciplining children while instances teachers resorting to violence because they couldn't control their tempers was also reported in several instances. However, the impact of administering physical punishment has received little attention in schools.

According to the survey, the use of physical violence in schools teaches children that violence is the solution to problems faced by society. As children mature into adults in such an environment, they practice violence on others and justify violence as the best means to tackle problems.

The immediate consequences were considered to be even more serious. Physical punishment leaves children depressed, sometimes prompting them to leave school with dropout rates rising to 10%. "In addition to the physical pain, children are humiliated and their self esteem drops. The emotional pain hurts them more and those who witness it see it as a danger sign," the survey reveals.

Research all over the world has proved that physical punishment is detrimental in the long term to the self esteem and development of the child's personality. Physical punishment was most common in boys' schools and mixed schools. Male students were found to be abused more frequently than female students.

The survey was conducted among O/L and A/L students in nine districts in 13 tuition classes where a questionnaire on the learning environment including physical punishment was distributed. Schools were avoided because of tedious administrative procedures involved in obtaining permission from the different authorities.

Accordingly, 976 students from 197 schools completed the questionnaire. The survey revealed that during the year 2000 70.5 % of students had witnessed physical punishment and over 50% had witnessed it in the four weeks preceding which the survey had been conducted. Those who experienced physical punishment during the same period amounted to 16% and 6.4 % respectively.

Interestingly, the survey revealed that one group justified physical punishment while the other condemned it. Physical punishment was administered in various ways- with the use of hands, a cane, sticks, broken chair legs, etc. It was also reported that some teachers used older students and sometimes prefects to control juniors or younger students.

"Teachers are very free with physical punishment," the report on the survey stated.
Meanwhile the National Child Protection Authority has begun a campaign against corporal punishment in order to reduce the incidence of physical abuse of children.