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 11th October1998 |
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Dateline WashingtonReporting from White House
If Fisheries Minister Mahinda Rajapakse earned that title for a job which he strongly denies he did - passing information to the media - Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar has earned it for another reason. In Washington early this week, Mr. Kadirgamar visited the Newseum at The Freedom Forum World Centre headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The centre is founded by an endowment worth more than $ 800 million from the founders of Gannet Corporation, a leading newspaper publishing group which, among others, publishes the USA Today. As a routine chore, visitors are subjected to play the role of a TV presenter. This time, it was one of them at the White House who was called upon to do a 30 second on camera stand up. "This is Lakshman Kadirgamar reporting live from the White House. President Bill Clinton was given a standing ovation, the likes of which were unprecedented, after his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This showed the goodwill for the president despite the present plight he and his Government was in. President Clinton was…… ……. (Cut, cut, cut came the voice in the News Room. the thirty second time was up.) As he walked away, Mr. Kadirgamar was presented with two video tapes. When he called on acting Secretary of State, Strobe Talbot (Madeleine Albright was away in West Asia), he presented one of the tapes which featured himself "reporting live from the White House," held a round of talks and returned to his hotel. The next morning, he received a telephone call from Mr. Talbot. He had watched the tape at home and rung to congratulate the Minister on what he said. "More than the sense of humour, the theme underscored warmth and friendship," Mr. Talbot told Mr. Kadirgamar. That day Mr. Kadirgamar also attended the tenth anniversary holy mass for Peace, Understanding and Unity in Sri Lanka at St Jude's Church in Maryland. In a speech Mr. Kadirgamar listed a catalogue of events where peace was breached by Tiger guerrillas, attack on civilian targets and the need for religious tolerance. "To those who fight against the State give them the gift of reason, the perception that reasoned dialogue, not the pursuit of armed conflict, is the path that leads to peace. Intransigence is the enemy of peace. Douse the flames of passion, of hatred, the misunderstanding, the suspicion that has clouded out land for so long," he said.
Limping GL blasts Ranil
Dr. Peiris who had been advised to use crutches opted not to use them. Instead, his ankle has been heavily bandaged and the minister is having to walk with a limp. Dr. Peiris has been attending the Commonwealth Finance Minister's Conference, the World Bank-IMF sessions and meeting US State Department and other officials in recent days. He is expected to get further medical attention for his sprained ankle in London where he is scheduled to stop en-route back to Sri Lanka. Speaking at the Centre for strategic and International Studies (CSIS) where former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Teresita Schaffer is Director, Prof.Peiris slammed UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe criticising him for having told the US Govt. during his visit last week about his support for direct negotiations with the LTTE. Prof.Peiris termed the UNP stand as "Vacuous" with no merit and irrelevant." That it was a position taken by Mr.Wickremesinghe to woo the Tamil vote. He blamed the opposition for not co-operating on devolution and that the UNP was not interested in reviving the "Fox initiative." The overall reaction of the CSIS audience was that this was a harsh attack on the UNP and opposition leader.
Released paedophile returns to prey on boysBy Shelani de SilvaA Swiss paeodophile ring leader who got away with a light sentence in Sri Lanka for offences committed two years ago has been arrested again for sexually abusing children. The suspect who has earned notoriety under the name Armin known to be suffering from venereal disease, had been convicted for sexual abuse of two youth from the South and was sentenced to two years jail. But he was released early and soon after he is alleged to have contacted the same two boys. Child rights activist Maureen Seneviratne said the suspect Armin had been arrested and convicted under the old Penal code provisions and although he got a two year sentence he was released early. She pointed out that with the laws now being strengthened, paedophiles would get the jail term of between seven and twenty years The police on Wednesday arrested the suspect in the company of the two youths at Piliyandala. Senior Superintendent Nimal Karunaratne told The Sunday Times they acted on information given by the Presidential Task Force on Child Protection. "When we visited the house at Piliyandala he was in the company of the same two boys now aged 17 years and a domestic. He has again been charged with sexual abuse. Two years ago he was arrested together with his partners who fled the country. The SSP said the suspect had as a cover married a Tamil lady. "We gathered he is suffering from a venereal disease. It is quite possible that the youth have also been infected. We will send the boys for a medical check up," he said. Presidential Task Force chairman Harendra de Silva told The Sunday Times suspicion had arisen when the two youth were reported missing from the remand prison. "I informed the police to keep a close tab on the man. He has another case against him of assault in Matara where he had allegedly assaulted hotel staff for providing information to the police. This man is known to be the organiser of a paedophile ring in Sri Lanka," Dr. de Silva said.
Help save her life
The cost of the treatment is estimated to be around Rs. 200,000. The family earns only a small income and any assistance for this life saving operation would be appreciated. The family lives at 121-A, Kimbulwilawatte, Dompe and well wishers are kindly requested to make any donations to Account No. 10426, People's Bank, Dompe
LTTE talks: No objection says JVPBy Roshan PeirisThe JVP has no objection to a dialogue with the LTTE but it must be based on specific issues, the party spokesman said. Wimal Weerawansa, spokesman for the radical youth movement said the ethnic conflict was ruining the country but talks would be meaningful only if there was a substantial programme. On economic issues he blasted the PA Government as a capitalist outfit, as evident in the latest GST which was driving thousands more below the poverty line. He called on the Government to hold the scheduled provincial council elections as soon as possible and said the JVP was even prepared for a snap presidential election.
Wildlife activists up in armsWildlife activists have protested vehemently over last week's proposal by Agriculture Minister D.M. Jayaratne, to set up a gun factory here and sell weapons to farmers 'to protect their crop'. "You may be aware that farmers engage in killing animals with the guns issued to them for protection," said Ravi Algama, Chairman of the Environment Foundation Limited in a letter to the Minister. "More than 150 elephants and thousands of other wild animals are killed every year.," Mr. Algama has stated. On a stronger note, Charles Santiapillai member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group and Jayantha Jayawardena of Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust have condemned the proposal as "ill-conceived, ill timed and insane. Minister Jayaratne said last week that he had submitted a Cabinet memorandum proposing the setting up of a firearms factory in Sri Lanka, primarily to arm farmers against wild animals and other dangers.
'Epa' campaign in EppawalaBy Shelani de Silva.More than 30,000 villagers in Eppawala have signed a pledge refusing to give way to the mining of phosphate in the area. The campaign, which is spearheaded by the Chief Priest of the Galkanda Purana Viaharaya Ven. Maham-ankadala Piyarathane Thera, who is also the head of the Committee for the Preservation of Eppawala Phosphate Deposit will get the signatures of the villagers, forward it to the President next week. Ven. Piyarathane told The Sunday Times that already they have got the signatures of all villagers. "We will send the petition to the President and all Diplomatic missions informing them of the plight of the villagers. We are determined not to allow mining because our village will be destroyed," said the Thera.
No evidence found: businessmen freedBusinessmen Ranjith Dahanayaka, Farook Sally and Rajan Vairavanathan who were charged with attempting to purchase a Mi 24 helicopter gunship in an irregular manner have been dicharged by a court after it was informed there was no evidence against them. The CID told Fort magistrate and Additional District Judge Mervyn Gamini Wijetunga that the Attorney General had advised there was no evidence to frame charges against the business- men who had been taken into custody one year ago. Accordingly the CID asked that the suspects be released. The three had been taken into custody on July 14, 1997 and kept in the CID's fourth floor till August 8. They were then produced before the Magistrate at his residence and remanded at the Kalutara prison for a forthnight. The three suspects were then produced again before a Magistrate on August 20, 1997 and released on September 10 on cash bail of Rs. 1 million each. On appeal to the High Court the bail was reduced to Rs. 100,000. However their passports were impounded. They were further remanded until September 10 and released on Rs 1 million bail with two sureties. The Judge also ordered the release of the passports of the three businessmen.
Rain will go awayThe current weather pattern will end tomorrow, Met Department forecaster S. Premalal said. There will be occasional showers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, South and Central provinces, and thunderstorms in the rest of the country. Mr. Premalal said the rain was due to upper air disturbances, especially in the Bay of Bengal, and it was usual at the end of monsoons.
Mortar mystery man gets bailRajan Mylvaganam, a Colombo businessman who was in remand for more than eight months in connection with the mystery over the consignment of mortars from Zimbabwe has been released on bail. Additional District Judge Mervyn Gamini Wijetunga granted him bail of Rs. 25,000. The Court directed the suspect to report to the police every Sunday and to surrender his passport. Mr. Mylvaganam was arrested after the CID investigated events that led to the disappearance of a ship carrying 32,400 mortars from Zimbabwe to Sri Lanka In a series of exposures The Sunday Times revealed how the mortar consignment ordered from the state owned Zimbabwe Defence industries went missing. The Government order requesting the CID to conduct an investigation came after these revelations. Meanwhile a Fundamental rights application has been filed regarding the alleged wrongful arrest and detention of Mr.Mylvaganam
The right to reply'I was perturbed, surprised' says Nimal WeerakkodyNimal Weerakkody, Attorney-at-Law has written to the Editor stating that he was "highly perturbed and surprised" by the news item that appeared in The Sunday Times of August 27 under the heading, ''BASL Seeks Commission to Probe Arrest'' wherein his name appears as one of those who supported a resolution and/or an intended resolution for the removal of the Attorney-General. Mr. Weerakkody categorically denies supporting ''any such resolution.'' Our Legal Correspondent says: The story concerned stated inter-alia, that Mr. Hemantha Warnakulasuriya told the Bar Council that he was giving notice of a resolution calling for the removal of the Attorney-General and for the BASL to boycott all functions like ceremonial sittings at which the AG participates. The story went on to state that Mr. Warnakulasuriya detailed the contradictions contained in the AG's interviews with newspapers and the CID Director's notes filed in Court regarding the arrest of High Court Judge, Mahanama Tillekeratne. The story thus said that Mr. Warnakulasuriya was supported by Mr. Weerakkody, among others. I have had the benefit of listening to the tape recording of the Bar Council meeting and while there is no reference to Mr. Weerakkody supporting Mr. Warnakulasuriya's intended resolution calling for the removal of the AG (did we say so specifically?), Mr. Weerakkody certainly spoke about the discrepancy in the Police notes filed in Courts and the AG's position published in the newspapers. Mr. Weerakkody has gone further to question the justification of the AG to employ "the same CID gang who was deployed to capture and kill Chistopher Barry who was a known IRC who has committed 14 murders," to arrest the Judge. Mr. Weerakkody has infact ended his speech with an adapted Shakespearean quotation of Mark Antony and said, ''I love the Bar and integrity and respect for the Bar, than the Attorney-General.''
Kumar regrets CBK's lack of sympathyAll Ceylon Tamil Congress leader G.G. Ponnambalam has expressed regrets about what he described as indifferent attitude by President Kumaratunga towards the 48 LionAir plane victims. Mr. Ponnambalam, in a letter to the President questioned the silence of the President regarding the LionAir tragedy and said "at least this will open the eyes of those miserable Tamils who, you say, voted for you in 1994 and who you say support your hidden 'devolution package". "If your silence on this matter does not open the eyes of these Tamils, I will be constrained to tell those Tamils, 'serves you right', and have the last laugh'. "I will not believe that none of your officials did not tell you about the LionAir plane. You did not want to utter a word of sympathy. Perhaps this is your idea of 'one people, one nation ?'' Mr. Ponnambalam said. LionAir tragedyNo insurance has been claimed yetBy S.S.SelvanayagamThough all passengers aboard the ill-fated Lion Air plane which went missing two weeks ago have been insured fully for US $ 5,000 (about 330,000 rupees) a person, no claims have been made so far, a leading insurance company has said. National Insurance Corporation Chairman Jagath Wickremasinghe told The Sunday Times that neither the airline nor any family member of a victim had made any claims so far. "We have not even received a formal letter in this regard," Dr. Wickremasinghe said. "I'm not certain about the aircraft but the passengers have definitely been insured by the airline." Dr. Wickremesinghe said that once a claim was made the NIC would conduct its own investigation and look into the cause and clarify any doubts before paying compensation to the families of the victims. Although bodies claimed to be of passengers of the Lionair flight 602 have been found in Mannar, so far no Lion Air official has identified the bodies as being those of the passengers. Family members on the other hand, are left with little or no information about their relatives or about compensation.By S.S.Selvanayagam Meanwhile, investigations by experts from Ukraine into the crash have been suspended due to security reasons, sources said. Officals of Master Divers, which has been called to assist the investigations by salvaging the wreckage said though they had sought the help of the ICRC and Lionair to begin their operations. "The Defence Ministry has given us permission to go ahead with investigations but we cannot proceed without Lionair or ICRC cooperation," a Master Divers official said. According to some sources, the ICRC and Lionair are awaiting approval from the LTTE to begin the operation.
July strikers: no report, no moneyBy Shelani de Silva.The Joint Organisation of July Strikers has once again threatened to take trade union action after a discussion last week with the Labour Minister to finalise compensation next week was called off. The discussion scheduled for Wednesday was postponed by the Minister John Seneviratne. But the Union sees the cancellation as another excuse for delaying the payment of compensation. Secretary of the Joint Organisation Of July Strikers P Amaradivakara told The Sunday Times that they were told Wednesday's meeting was to give them the final decision on the government's decision on the payment of compensation. "After the president intervened we knew we will be paid. We were sure that we will be given a positive answer on Wednesday but it looks like we are being taken for a ride. We have decided to take a decision regarding trade union action when the Committee meets on November 9th and have a fast unto death campaign the following day' he said. Last month President Chandrika Kumaratunga requested Minister Maithripala Sirisena to submit a detailed report on the July strikers in a bid to pay compensation. The Minister at a previous discussion with the Union had assured that the money will be paid in a few months. He had also informed the Union that the report will be handed over to the president within a week and then called for a dialogue between the Labour Minister and Union officials. Meanwhile Minister Seneviratne told The Sunday Times he had to called off the meeting because he did not get the final report from Minister Sirisena. "Without knowing the outcome of the meeting and the proposals I cannot brief the Union. I promised them a definite word only after I get the report. Since I did not receive it I decided to call off the meeting.But I am open for discussion and I will have a meeting once I get the report," he said.
FMM tells one story, Lucian anotherSri Lanka's main body of independent journalists and one of its former front- liners are trading charges over alleged irregularities regarding a donation of US dollars 5900. The Free Media Movement(FMM) recently sacked the well- known writer for alleged irregularities in obtaining the donation from an American organisation, but he has hit back at the media body accusing it of taking action without giving him a chance of defending himself. The FMM said it was removing Mr. Rajakarunanyake on a decision taken by its Working Committee over a financial irregularity. It alleged that he had requested for US dollars 5900 from the International Freedom of Expression Exchange [IFEX] for an organistaion known as Prajathanthra which is not affiliated to the FMM. FMM Secretary Sunanda Deshapriya, editor of the Yukthiya newspaper told The Sunday Times they removed Mr. Rajakarunanayke for not informing the FMM that he had submitted a proposal to the IFEX and for not crediting money received to the account of the FMM as agreed by him with the American group. "He had also nominated himself as the FMM representative without the approval of the Working Committee for the IFEX annual general meeting in Paris. We got to know that he had requested for money through the Annual report of the IFEX. They had named four organisations which had received funding and the FMM was also named. Later we informed the IFEX that we did not ask for money. Then the story came out," Mr. Deshapriya said. He said Mr. Rajakarunanayke was given an opportunity to give his side of the story on two occasions. "I have it in writing so he cannot say we did not give him a chance," Mr. Deshapriya said. But Mr. Rajakarunanyake told The Sunday Times he had already returned the money of US dollars 5,900 to the IFEX. " The FMM has gone against its constitution by not giving me a chance to explain my position before making it public. I did not ask the money for Prajathanthra claiming it to be affiliated to the FMM. It is the IFEX that had made the mistake by connecting the two," he said. Mr. Rajakarunanayake said he was not officially informed of his removal from the FMM but instead received a statement which was issued to all media organisations. Responding to this Mr. Deshapriya said the Working Committee decided to inform Mr. Rajakarunanayke first and then make it public. "We have always had contact by e mail so I first informed him by e mail and then sent a letter," he said.
Passengers hit by IA flight delayAn Indian Airlines flight scheduled to leave on October 6 from Madras to Colombo, was delayed by one day, causing much inconvenience to passengers. The flight IC537 although scheduled to leave Madras at 11.30 a.m on October 6, had actually left at 11.30 a.m on October 7. One of the passengers said he had an important business matter to attend to, which was upset due to the rescheduling of the flight. He said that on October 6 the airline had called him and three of his friends and told them that the flight would be delayed till 4 p.m, and to come at that time to the airport to confirm their tickets. When they had gone to the airport, they had been told that the flight would again be delayed until 7 p.m, and asked to call and check the time before coming to the airport again. Numerous calls had resulted in no success, as either no one answered the call or they could not confirm the time of the flight. Finally, the passenger said, late in the night, they had been told that they would have to take the next available flight at 11.30 a.m. on October 7. 'I had a very important document to sign on October 6 at 4 p.m., which got upset because of this. I managed to stay there one more day, because I had sufficient money with me. But I don't know what the other passengers who may have had important appointments would have done, and those who had to catch connecting flights to other countries would have been greatly inconvenienced', he said. Country Manager of Indian Airlines in Sri Lanka, Dinesh Kumar, said the delay was due to the non-availability of aircraft in Madras. 'Sometimes, when aircraft are grounded in some other country for some reason, the whole flight schedule gets upset due to this', he said. 'But we ensure that the inconvenienced passengers are given every possible comfort. We set them up in hotels, and help them in every possible way to book an alternative flight from some other airline'.
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Cabinet
ministers in Sri Lanka have in recent years earned the dubious title of
reporters.
Justice
Minister Prof. G.L.Peiris has sprained his ankle and had to obtain medical
attention while air-dashing throughout North America this week.
Shanti
Sriyalatha, a mother of two, is suffering from a hole-in-the-heart and
has been advised by specialists to undergo immediate cardiac surgery to
save her life.