Worshipping Mammon instead of man
The Earth Summit in Johannesburg should come up with legally-binding treaties against harming nature writes Neville de Silva

When the world's largest ever international conference opens in Johannesburg tomorrow there will be so much hot air that it would surely make a major contribution to global warming.

That indeed is the irony. For one of the vital concerns of this conference would be how to minimise, if not halt, the phenomenon of global warming that has placed the future of so many small, island states in jeopardy.

Some 65,000 delegates representing governments, civil society and business are expected to gather in Johannesburg for this two-week meeting attended by some 125 world leaders and 174 countries.

More importantly, it is expected to map out strategies to halt the trends which according to experts, will see mankind exhaust in this century the planet's capacity to support life.

Sustainable development, a phrase that gained international currency at the Rio Summit, is not only about ensuring the economic progress of the present generation but also ensuring that future generations will be able to improve on what has been achieved.

The conference has laudable aims. It hopes to find the means by which billions of poor people on earth will be able to improve their living standards while at the same time protecting the environment that has suffered irreparably as a result of ill-conceived and short-sighted economic development.

As though these aims were not ambitious enough, the recently announced Asian Brown Cloud (ABC) has cast its giant shadow over tomorrow's summit. This is a three kilometre thick cloud of pollution that is smothering most of South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia and causing droughts, changing rainfall patterns and damaging harvests.

Its presence was announced in London earlier this month by scientists working with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

The effects of the ABC, which was first spotted by military aircraft operating in the Indian Ocean area but was confirmed after intensive study by some 200 scientists over a five-year period, have still to be determined.

Initial findings indicate it could affect agriculture, rainfall and monsoon patterns and the health of the most highly populated continent in the world.

In an article on the Asian Brown Cloud in this newspaper last Sunday, Dr. W. L. Sumathipala of the Montreal Unit of the Ministry of Environment was quoted as saying that since the ABC is not directly over Sri Lanka, but over the ocean to the northwest of the country, Sri Lanka will not be as badly affected as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The fact that some other countries are worse affected than we are is no reason not to sound the alarm about the dangers that are inherent, if it has not already been done.

Those who are studying the environment must take the lead in warning the political leaders about the dangers ahead.

I spoke to Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan, one of the co-authors of the report, "The Asian Brown Cloud: Climate and Other Environmental Impacts" in London before breaking the news on the ABC three Sundays ago in this newspaper, ahead of the international media.

Professor Ramanathan said that the brown haze over South Asia came as a surprise to the scientific team and they have found there is pollution all the way from East Asia to Sri Lanka. Likewise, he said, the Sri Lanka condition can travel elsewhere. The whole region is interconnected.

Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP was even more explicit. "There are global implications, not least because a pollution parcel like this which stretches three kilometres high can travel half way round the globe in a week".

Our environmental scientists might hope that we have escaped the worst of the possible disaster because we are only on the periphery of the cloud. But Sri Lanka has already felt the impact of changed rainfall patterns for several years now with no monsoon rains during the months so faithfully stated in our geography books as permanent verities.

Equally importantly, as an island nation, do we have any idea what impact the ABC has on the ocean and marine life?

As Professor Ramanathan confessed, he and the other scientists who made this study have not even got round to assessing what impact this has on the ocean.

The danger in minimising, if not ignoring the effects of environment degeneration is that our ecosystems will continue to be destroyed in the name of economic development.

Privatisation and globalisation are the mantra that political leaders repeat like daily prayers as they kneel before the dictates of multilateral institutions and multinational corporations.

Those who preach such mantra are the first not only to renege on agreements such as the Kyoto treaty on climate change but are also the biggest polluters in the world.

In the name of economic development, the leaders of developing countries pay pooja to multinationals to invest in their countries proudly announcing that wages in their countries are the lowest.

But in pursuing such development neither the political leaders nor their development vanguard - the foreign companies - care about preserving the environment.

Preserving the environment for future generations and forsaking immediate economic development, does not bring politicians the votes they need to survive.

Why should they care about what happens 50 years hence when they will not be around anyway?

Why should multinational companies worry about the environment? After all their concern is Mammon not Man, profit not people.

While it is true that developing countries have contributed to environmental degradation through deforestation, over-exploitation of water resources and land, the economic mantras preached by multilateral organisations and multinational companies have brought tremendous harm to the developing world.

How much have the multinationals operating in Asia or elsewhere contributed to the huge haze that now hangs over us? No assessment is made of this. But since it is in Asia, the blame rests squarely with the developing nations of Asia.

If reducing poverty, providing food, clean water and sanitation, improved health and education to the billions in the poor world are to be achieved as set out in the Millennium programme, then democracy and good governance are not enough.

There must be corporate accountability. The multinationals must be made to pay for environmental damage and economic exploitation.

The scientific community and civil society have produced sufficient evidence to point the finger at a number of multinationals for their role in increasing poverty and causing environmental damage.

If political leaders can be produced before international tribunals for genocide and other crimes against humanity, why should not the titans of industry and commerce be held accountable too?

If the Johannesburg summit is not to be another occasion for world leaders to mouth pious platitudes, it should produce a legally binding treaty that ensures multinationals adhere to human rights conventions and acceptable environmental standards.

Priyanka Senadhira treks up Kilimanjaro to catch a glimpse of a glorious African sunrise

A walk among the clouds

Marangu, Mandara, Horombo, Kibo and Uhuru were words that twirled on my tongue and I liked the feeling as I uttered them like a mantra. I was beginning to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, and these were the places of rest on the trail to the summit. Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain in Africa. To me it was a mysterious mountain, and likewise the origins of its name are shrouded in mystery as the mountain itself is shrouded by clouds for most part of the year.

Permanently snowcapped Kilimanjaro, standing solidly amidst the vast open plains, is the proud heritage of Tanzania. It towers mightily above the otherwise flat landscape. It looked overpowering, almost forbidding.

This mountain can be divided into five distinct ecological zones. They are the lower slopes, forest, heath and moorland, highland desert and the summit. Each zone has its own characteristics governed by altitude, rainfall and temperature which in turn denote its plant and animal kingdoms.

Four of us along with two guides and six porters started our ascent through the park headquarters located at Marangu. Clad in trekking clothes we carried a small backpack as well as drinking water. The porters carried the luggage, food supplies and other essentials.

The first day's climb was four hours The walk was an easy one with a few steep bits on a relatively gentle slope. We walked through a swampy forest, muddy, wet and humid.

Tall trees canopied the sky out of sight. As we climbed higher, it thinned out and turned into alpine forest with pine trees and dry grass.

The first stop, Mandara, is at an altitude of 2700m. The huts accommodate four - six people each and there is a larger dining hut.

The trick to prevent altitude sickness is to climb up, then descend and sleep at a lower altitude. So, we trekked up to the Maundi crater 45 metres away to acclimatize ourselves.

Dinner was soup and a warm meal. We decided to add water purification tablets to the water to be on the safe side. As a result we had iodine flavoured coffee and Milo. It was very cold at night. Fortunately, our sleeping bags were warm.

Day two saw us walking from Mandara to Horombo (3720m). This took us six and a half hours. The vegetation turned from alpine forest to shrubs and moorland. Long grass and bushes covered the mountain with trees randomly dotting the landscape.

The climb was not difficult except for a few steep places of 30 - 40 degrees incline. I felt dizzy on and off, but was able to ward it off by slowing down. We had a half hour lunch break. The temperature went from cold in the morning, to warm while walking in the sun, to really cold as the mist began rolling in.

We spied the summit in the distance at several points when it was clear. It seemed far away. I was quite tired when we reached the huts. The routine was to arrive, have tea, coffee or Milo with biscuits and popcorn. Then a couple of hours break when we went for an acclimatization walk. This was followed by dinner around 6.30 p.m. We were in our huts and tucked up in our sleeping bags by 8 p.m.

Day three was the climb from Horombo to Kibo. The trail was very dusty. The vegetation turned from shrubs to desert. It was a kind of lunar landscape with rocks and pebbles. It took about seven hours.

There were no trees to act as wind breakers and so a freezing wind blew against us nipping at our faces and ears. We were all tired and wind whipped when we finally arrived at Kibo at 4703m height. I was exhausted and very, very cold. Kibo Hut is one big stone cabin and as cold inside as it is outside. Supper at 5 p.m. was welcome and we went straight to bed afterwards. I was feeling nauseous and had a headache - symptoms of altitude sickness. We were so tired and the oxygen was so thin that even the smallest movements were an effort. Movements were so slow it seemed like everything was in slow motion.

We were woken up at 11 p.m. to get ready for the final ascent. I had on six layers of clothes, gloves, hat and scarf. We began climbing at midnight. It was a steep slope and extremely tiring. It was a nearly full moon night so there was no need for torches.

Halfway up I accidentally poked my eye and lost a contact lens. By a one in a million chance, Simon our assistant guide, found it amidst the stones. But while trying to place it in my eye with my frozen fingers alas, I lost it again.

The climb was exhausting and almost torturous. At many points I kept falling asleep while walking. It was the strangest sensation to wake up and find that you had taken a step or two. It was sub-zero temperature. If we stopped, I started shivering. I could not feel my feet anymore. They were two blocks of ice. Our water bottles froze. Our energy came and went. Sometimes I was leading the group, at other times I was lagging behind. Thoughts of turning back were flitting across our minds. But we encouraged each other to move on.

Around 4 a.m., the moon disappeared behind the mountain. Through the pitch blackness of the night, I could see the starry African skies in all glory.

I kept on climbing with no end in sight but did not turn back as it seemed farther down than up. Weird logic to an oxygen deprived brain!

Finally, it was dawn and we viewed the splendour of the sunrise. The sun rays revived me. Somehow I pushed myself to the top of the crater - Gilman's Pit at an altitude of 5685m. The highest point is Uhuru Peak at 5895m on the other side of the crater, but I had no more energy for the one and a half hour walk around the crater.

The crater was an amazing sight, with permanent glaciers on one side. That day was also the first clear day from the start of our climb. From the summit we could see the reds and browns which constituted the plains of Africa below us. It was an amazing view. I felt like I was on top of the world. The struggle just hours before was banished from my mind. Standing up there at the top was worth every step.

After about 20 metres at the top I felt very ill. One of the guides took me down really fast.

We were practically running down the scree slope. The only cure for altitude sickness is to descend to a lower height. I slept for a couple of hours at Kibo and then had to walk back to Horombo.

It was a long and slow walk and the lack of oxygen was taking its toll. However, it remained clear all the way down, so gazing at the view below us made up for the discomfort of the walk.

Day five was extremely cold in the morning, but I had recovered! Breakfast was porridge... again! I shan't be having porridge again for a very long time. It took us about five and half hours to get back to the Gate. The descent was tough on the knees, the steep slopes quite painful to negotiate.

Finally, we arrived at the Gate and got our certificates. We were tired and grimy but felt a sense of achievement. As we drove off towards our hotel in Moshi I turned back to look. Mt. Kilimanjaro! It still looked grand and majestic but now much friendlier. After all the mountain had looked after us for five days.

Mahavamsa online
By Nilika de Silva
A young man studying in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania may have set out to obey an ancient command when he created an E-book located at http:/lakdiva.net/mahavamsa making Sri Lanka's history accessible to the world.

Sri Lankan Rhajiv Ratnatunga placed the Mahavamsa on the web on August 8, to make available a thousand years of the island's history, from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD, at the click of a button.

Known as the "Great Chronicle", the Mahavamsa is the recorded history of the island since the coming of Prince Vijaya in 543 BC to total capture by the British in 1815.

Could our ancient rulers ever have imagined that 2,500 years down the line their deeds would be read and re-read by billions on-line?

Young Rhajive simply states, "I felt it imperative that this national treasure be put on the Web, so beginning in July 2002, I began scanning the text of the Mahavamsa. Using OCR (optical character recognition) technology, I translated the text onto my computer."

According to the editor the process of scanning, editing, and writing the HTML for the first 37 chapters took him a total of three weeks.

I hope to put the complete Culavamsa online over the next two years I'm in high school, he adds.

The website is dedicated to the editor's great grandfather Mudliyar P.D. Ratnatunga, for many years Honorary Secretary of the Colombo Branch of the Pali Text Society and grandfather Deshamanya E.L. Senanayake who first introduced him to the history of Sri Lanka.

Accompanied by a list of sovereigns from Vijaya to Mahasena, an index of wars and battles, Pali words, and a genealogy of kings, the web edition of The Great Chronicle of Lanka will prove a boon to students and academics searching for information about Sri Lanka's past.

Rhajive invites comments and suggestions from readers regarding this website, while directing those interested in getting more information on Lankan history, to visit another E-book, 'A Short History of Lanka' written by H. W. Codrington, put on line by him in 2000.

The Mahavamsa comprises three parts, covering different epochs in the island's history. The portion already available on line is the first part, chapters 1-37, written in the 6th century AD by King Dhatusena's brother, the Venerable Mahanama Thera, and believed to be greatly influenced by the Dipavamsa written five centuries earlier.

"The second part of the Mahavamsa, more commonly known as the Culavamsa was written in the 13th century AD, and chronicles the time between the arrival of the Tooth Relic in the 4th century AD and the end of the reign of King Parakramabahu the Great.

The third and final part was written over many years, concluding in the year 1815, when the British occupied the whole of Lanka by military force," Rhajiv states.

The official translation of the Mahavamsa from Pali was completed by Wilhelm Geiger in 1912 and subsequently the Culavamsa in 1930, while the first English translation of the Mahavamsa from Mr. Geiger's native German was done by Mrs. Mabel Haynes Boder, he adds.

Back to Top

Back to Plus

Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Webmaster