Wanted - magic wand to revive ailing economy
The government last week once again made a plea to the business community and the public to "bear with us" as efforts to resuscitate a sagging economy drag on slowly.

With economic growth contracting last year and a huge debt left by the previous regime, the United National Front government is at its wit's end to find revenue to feed a hungry cabinet of ministers who like Oliver Twist ask for more to fund their respective projects.

The cost of governing is rising by the day although this is balanced to some extent by across the board cost cutting in keeping with IMF targets. But while some projects by cabinet ministers are worthy of implementation because of their immediate and long-term benefits, others are mere public relations exercises aimed at gaining popularity and not development. This is where the government needs to be alert, particularly at a time when funds are in short supply.

Rural Economy Minister Bandula Gunawardene told a meeting of the Joint Business Forum last week that the government was facing its worst-ever financial crisis with debt servicing at Rs. 327 billion exceeding revenues at Rs. 278 billion. He blamed the previous administration for mismanaging the economy.

The message by R. Paskaralingam, economic advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and a former super bureaucrat under the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, at the same meeting was that the debt repayment burden is "unprecedented" and that the financial crisis is holding up possible relief measures to the public.

Both urged the private sector to invest in the economy and requested the public to invest hitherto undeclared, accumulated wealth in government bonds with no questions being asked from the Tax Department.

The message is clear - there is a serious financial crisis. Most people acknowledge this but shouldn't the new regime's honeymoon period be over? Six months is enough time for a government to settle down and get down to serious business.
No doubt the peace process is taking up a lot of the time and attention of the prime minister and his cabinet but can the private sector and the public wait any longer while the cost of living rises, corruption slowly seeps in and there is no change in the law and order situation. The initial euphoria about the UNF victory is over and excuses trotted out soon after of an economic crisis are no longer credible.

Production costs have risen sharply with costs of fuel, electricity, water and transportation rising. Increases in bus and rail fares - expected in coming weeks - will add to the public burden. There is no relief to the people as costs rise and the government, while acknowledging this, says there is little it can do. Vegetable prices are rising by the day while the rupee is sliding and adding to import costs.

The government expects the private sector and the public to make sacrifices but can the same be said about the cabinet? Last week, our sister newspaper the Daily Mirror in a story headlined "Cabinet around the world", said the president, prime minister and 12 cabinet ministers were abroad without proper acting appointments being made.

Is there a need for so many cabinet ministers to be away at the same time and at such cost? There were others who would have accompanied the ministers at state expense, including their wives. During the April New Year season too several ministers were away, leaving the affairs of government in the hands of a few. No one in government has responded to this criticism so far.

Not many in the private sector and the public are going to buy the "tighten your belts ... times are hard" argument which was also trotted out earlier this year. Take a cue from Karu Jayasuriya. Deliver or quit!

With delays in the implementation of VAT, the accepted government revenues are unlikely to materialise in the near term. Economists say this would put more pressure on the government with the next three months going to be a very tough period.

National Conference on education and beyond
Education should not be left to the market place. Nor should the reform of the island's education system be left to a pressure group masquerading as 'civil society' in the recent national conference on education organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, argues Dr. G. Usvattearatchi in this article.

With leaders of criminal gangs finding their way to Parliament, in a community-based education system, it is reasonable to expect that the Chancellor of one of the universities may be the leading criminal in the locality.

The national conference on education organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in May brought together policy makers, teachers, academics, students, parents and employers on a single platform. Such a discourse has been required for many years. However, in matters of national policy of great importance, it is essential to subject all proposals to intense scrutiny.

Schools and civil society missing
First, according to the statement issued by the organisers, the conference focused on university education and covered school education only a little. There are some four million students in school compared to some 40,000 in universities.

Many would argue that the basic problem in education in the country is in schools and not in universities. I very much hope that someone organises a conference dealing with school education because it is what happens in schools more than in universities that is likely to decide our future.

Second, this conference was a much-desired attempt to consult civil society. That does raise questions about the composition of civil society. I have no evidence that the English speaking population of this country comprises its civil society. They are influential and powerful groups in civil society but civil society neither begins nor ends there.

The members of that elite group held leadership positions in this society for the first thirty years after 1948 and do so to this day, although to a lesser extent. The evidence is compelling that the English speaking elite, at best, did no good to this society, and may actually have harmed it.

Then, did this conference consist of civil society or a pressure group? Hence the need for a Commission on Education which will truly examine public opinion and deliver some sensible recommendations. Any such Commission should take adequate cognisance of the opinions expressed by the chamber of commerce.
Contradicting principles

It was rightly recognised
that the driving principle in education policy had been the need to ensure that 'the choice of education will be open to all and not a limited few'. The last major effort in this direction was to open schools to the population in plantations who had been long denied education in the privately owned enterprises. That policy objective surely must ensure that students with merit, as measured by standard examinations, succeeded in school and university. There are two valid arguments against this. First, that the examinations conducted do not test merit. That argument must be presented and affirmed before one can conclude that the present system of education does not reward merit. I have not seen that evidence. Secondly, true merit is not rewarded because children of affluent parents 'acquire merit' by buying tuition outside schools.

There are two responses to this. First, that in Japan and Korea where the tuition disease is far more widespread and intense than in Sri Lanka, no harm seems to have been done to the emergence of merit. Second, opening up the school system to the private sector would make that anomaly even worse! In fact, privatising the education system would ensure that it would not be on merit but rather be dominated by 'discerning and affluent urban families'.

Government and education
In support of the argument for private sector participation in education, it was argued that the socialist model of state owned and state controlled economic management and education has failed the world over. I will not argue about state economic management here. However, that 'state-owned and managed education has failed the world over' is manifestly untrue. In France, the school education system is owned and managed by the state as in Germany.

In the United States, more than 90 percent of school children are in state-owned and managed schools; more than 75 percent of college students are in state-owned and managed institutions. Total expenditure on college education in the US was $175 billion in 1997. Of that, $109 billion was spent on public universities. The false belief that the education system in US is privately owned and managed has been nurtured by the stellar quality of a few dozen private sector universities; it is nevertheless a false belief.

There is no argument that education enterprises must be open to the private sector. The principal concern must be about their quality as is evident from India, the Philippines, Japan and the United States. Look at the incentive structure for private universities. To keep going they need students and profits, at least no losses.
Their professors will need to justify their pay by attracting more and more students. They cannot afford to establish a reputation for toughness and high failure rates because students will then not spend large sums of money to be turned out without a degree. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Swarthmore are not instructive here.

The endowment of Harvard University at current stock market prices exceeds $10 billion. It was built up in entirely different circumstances. It is the history of hundreds of little private colleges that is relevant and they warn you to be very wary of the experiment. I hope nobody will argue even after Enron, Arthur Anderson, Global Crossings, Peregrine and scores of other scandals that the market knows best!
It is not necessary to ask whether there should be profit making private sector schools and universities because they are thick on the ground in Sri Lanka. As noted earlier, there are some 100 schools in the private sector. Besides, there are hundreds of tutories teaching schoolchildren. There are half a dozen institutions teaching students for degrees in local and foreign universities. Then, is not the relevant question how to integrate these into the national policy?

Notorious mismatch
I have shown elsewhere the fallacy of the assertion of a 'mismatch between the output of universities and employment opportunities'. In support of this assertion, it was pointed out at the conference that there were vacancies for 15,000 nurses in Sri Lanka and that Apollo Hospital had contracted for the import of 200 nurses from India for its hospital.

A few comments are worthwhile here. First, who would employ these 15,000 nurses when the government has no funds to create new employment? It is hard to believe that private sector hospitals will recruit even 1,000 nurses in a year. Secondly, when Apollo Hospital decided to recruit 200 nurses from India many factors must have been considered. Wages are lower in India than in Sri Lanka. Immigrant labour with no freedom of movement in the economy is far more docile than local labour; they would be unlikely to form or join a trade union.

Therefore, this example provides only weak support for the proposition. The supply of labour to a particular industry depends on many factors other than the effective demand for them: wages, conditions of work and the esteem in which the community holds that activity.

Decentralisation
The centralised system of education in Sri Lanka was seen as a problem and decentralisation as its solution. First, it is essential to remember that decentralisation may be a problem in countries with huge populations and enormous land masses e.g. India, Russia, USA, and China. It is inappropriate to talk of decentralisation in Kiribati, Vanuatu, Grenada, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

In a land where a Zonal Education Office is no more than a few hours journey away, and no part of the land is more than five hours journey away from its capital, one must think carefully about the need for decentralisation in education. In a thesis which Dr. Nimal Herat of Sri Jayawardenepura University submitted in 2001 to the University of Colombo for the award of the Ph.D. degree, he demonstrated that in the North Western Province during the first ten years of decentralisation in education, there were no visible gains from that process.

The education system in France is highly centralised with teachers, government employees and high school students sitting for the national baccalaureate examination each year.

Community based education
These two objectives are self-contradictory. To community base your education system is to politicise it. This is not to argue that it would be bad but one cannot have an education system that is both de-politicised and community based. The community will want to decide what will be taught, who will teach and who will be taught. The community will be entitled to decide whether to read Amarasekere's Karummakarayo or Wickremasinghe's Gam Peraliya. They will decide criteria for admission to schools in their community. Since leaders of criminal gangs find their way to Parliament, it is reasonable to expect that the Chancellor of one of the universities may be the leading criminal in the locality. Contrary to the arguments that education must be left to the market, there is substance in the argument by the American Association of University Professors in 1997, that "...a university is not a corporation, it should be an oasis from the marketplace...".

During the last few years, the Presidential Task Force on Education has done some extremely useful work on education. The National Institute of Education did convene several productive seminars. The Education Research and Study Group, a private outfit (of which I am a member), has called for a very different set of priorities for the reform of university education. It is evident that the education system needs reform. No one set of individuals has all the right answers.

The 'right answers' must command the respect and commitment of the vast majorityf the public for quite some time to come. The way to arrive at that set of right answers is to appoint a National Education Commission which, after extensive public hearings, will filter in 'the right answers'.

Need for proper packaging
By Sashi Dhanatunge
The cost of living and price hikes are on everyone's minds these days. One aspect of this problem that has not received proper attention is the fact that a staggering 40-60 percent of perishable produce such as fruits and vegetables are destroyed before they get to the consumer because of poor methods of packaging.

The entire process whereby perishables produced in the country reach the market/sellers must receive more attention if we are to arrest price hikes and also to have an idea of actual production, demand and consumption in our country.
The processes include plucking, cleaning, sorting/storing, packing (at the point of loading), handling, transport, handling (again at the point of unloading),

orting/storing (again), handling (at the point of distribution), and transport to destinations from central points (i.e. Kandy, Dambulla and Pettah).
During these 10 key processes much of the produce perishes due to poor understanding of the quantum of wastage and the simple methods which could be introduced and implemented to avoid such waste.

In this article I will touch only on one aspect of the whole process, one which will have an impact at many points of the process which could contribute substantially to avoiding the unnecessary wastage of our valuable produce, that is 'packaging' and not just 'packing'.

First of all, let me differentiate between the two words, "packaging" and "packing", in the simplest manner I can. Packaging is a unique process, which is carried out with the intention of presenting or providing a product to the user safely, satisfactorily and stylishly or in one word, scientifically.

Packing is a common way of handling and forwarding products, which need not include the same objectives as in the case of packaging. In other words, it is just loading an item from one container to another.

The packaging is done in gunny bags, cane baskets or wooden boxes. In general, it is obvious that these materials will not provide the necessary safety and protection to the perishables. Further, these items once packed will be stacked one on top of the other to squeeze in as much as possible and to load more into the vehicles for transportation. Sometime, it is shocking to note that most of the wooden boxes do not have lids, which aggravates the damage to the produce stacked in them. The amount of damage that might be caused to the produce, packed, stacked and transported in rattan baskets and gunny bags need not be discussed since this will be quite obvious.

Occasionally when we travel outstation, we come across trucks and other vehicles, which transport perishables from the hills to other areas of the country to market them. It is interesting to note that usually two or three men sleep on these gunny bags loaded with perishables without even being conscious of the fact that every single item inside them has a value and that it takes an immense amount of man hours, research, fertiliser and soil life to produce a marketable product which ultimately adds to the cost of living. Apart from the above, one must not forget that these are transported on roads that are not in the best condition.

Considering the above factors, there are a few improvements that can be introduced to remove these weaknesses without any major changes to the current practices, thereby saving our produce, safeguarding our resources and reducing costs.
The immediate steps that have to be implemented to achieve these objectives are as follows: -
1. Set up a 'Think Tank' comprising of:
(i) An agriculture expert.
(ii) A packing expert.
(iii) A project/business analyst.
(iv) A senior police officer from the Traffic Department.
(v) A senior member from the Department of Motor Traffic.
(vi) A vendor or an exporter of perishables (a representative from a leading firm).
(vii) Any others who are deemed fit to serve in the committee for fact-finding and problem-solving (preferably with a marketing, management and research background).

2. The 'Think Tank' comprising of up to 10 members should be chaired by the Secretary to the Ministry of Food and Marketing or a person of similar position and influence.

3. Senior members representing the Ministries of Finance, Planning and Plan Implementation and Agriculture should assist the Chairman. This unit can be designated as the 'Task Force' or the 'Policy Body'.

4. Trade/Commercial counsellors of Embassies/High Commissions can be co-opted/invited to serve in the 'Think Tank' for an appropriate period.
In conclusion, it is appropriate to mention that further delay in moving on this issue will not only affect the cost of living which is rapidly going up, but will also affect our lives, the signs of which are already in the news.
This is despite the fact that our country is well endowed with natural resources, compared to any other country of a similar size or even within a similar space. Herein lies the tragedy.
Action plan

1) A special licence/number plate for the vehicles transporting perishables. (This will assist the national security system while reducing overloading).
2) Concessions on the annual registration fee and the annual insurance certificate as an incentive.
3) The handling labourers to be trained and an incentive scheme to be introduced apart from setting a minimum wage limit, which will then motivate them and give them a sense of commitment to the job.
4) The supporting industries i.e. packaging, fertiliser, cold rooms and warehousing to be encouraged through the provision of tax and/or duty concessions for a limited period, until such time the objectives are achieved and the industries become feasible.

5) To tap and channel local and foreign funds/grants available for projects which have a direct bearing on the population and to reduce the cost of living.
Indirect benefits
1) This will create new employment for graduates/diploma holders in agriculture and unskilled labour as well as for semi-skilled labour in support industries.
2) Potential export income.
3) Clean and more hygienic products to the consumers (less health problems).
4) Better consumer/seller relationship.
5) Less garbage in urban areas thus preventing/reducing pollution.
From the initial observations made on the poor standards practised when packaging and transporting perishables, it may be important to identify the probable reasons, restrictions (if any) and remedies for it.
1) The reasons for this can be one or more of the following:
(i) Lack of understanding on the wastage.
(ii) Non-availability of proper training, monitoring and advice.
(iii) Loading and stacking more into a truck to save on the high costs of transport
(iv) The belief that the lesser the cost of packaging, the bigger the saving.
(v) Saving more space in trucks to transport dry rations, commodities and other material on the way back
(vi) Inadequate storage and cold room facilities at important towns.
2) The restrictions can be:
(i) Non-availability of optional material in the local market.
(ii) High cost of transport and maintenance.
(iii) Lack of proper storage/cold room facilities.
3) The remedies can be:
(i) Carry out public awareness campaigns on the high percentage of waste of our produce.
(ii) Conduct regular training and monitoring schemes in key areas/cities.
(iii) Provide optional materials and improved techniques.
(iv) Encourage the above through the introduction of monetary benefits.
(v) Design and supply packaging material especially for the transport of perishables, which could satisfy all the needs at a concessionary rate.
The writer is a qualified professional packaging specialist and has served as a senior manager in several multinational companies. He was instrumental in introducing a special packaging service for a worldwide courier service and is currently the Director Administration of a leading Sri Lankan organisation.

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