Columns

 (Top) The walkout; (Bottom) the solitary Sri Lankan diplomat attending

The Sri Lanka delegation to the UN General Assembly seems to have been caught this week between a ‘rock and a hard place’, as the saying goes. Sri Lanka reiterated its support for a state of Palestine but also has been coy about criticising Israel by name for the genocide being committed in Gaza by Israel.

When the vast majority of the delegates from member states walked out in protest as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the rostrum to speak, nobody was still sure if the Sri Lankan delegation joined in the walkout or just stayed out of the chamber. The UN TV cameras don’t clearly show how the Sri Lankan delegation reacted. However, later footage showed a single diplomat attached to the Sri Lankan Mission to the UN seated behind the Sri Lanka board as PM Netanyahu addressed an almost empty chamber.

IMF working paper sheds insight into challenges ahead

Despite the government painting a rosy picture of the ‘quick’ economic recovery while taking forward the same IMF package negotiated by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government, an IMF working paper co-authored by a one-time Sri Lanka mission chief sheds some insight into the crisis and challenges ahead.

The IMF working paper titled “Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Lessons from Complex Processes” is co-authored by former IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Peter Breuer, Sandesh Dhungana, and Mike Li.

The paper noted that the government’s international bonds issued in the 2010s contributed to a rapid accumulation of external debt and associated future repayment pressures. “Ultimately, a combination of lax fiscal policies and a series of shocks culminated in Sri Lanka defaulting for the first time on its external debt obligations in April 2022, prompting the initiation of a sovereign debt restructuring process.”

Stressing the need to safeguard hard-earned debt sustainability, which requires ongoing prudent macroeconomic policies and strengthened public debt management, the working paper observed that “financing conditions remain challenging in the near term, and swift normalisation is critical for managing refinancing risks and reducing gross financing needs going forward. Aligning new borrowing programmes with programme objectives is important for mitigating debt vulnerabilities, maintaining fiscal discipline, and regaining market access to fund development needs as a middle-income country.”

Big boost for LGBTIQ tourism

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam has endorsed a project initiated by the EQUAL GROUND organisation to promote and develop LGBTIQ tourism in the country.

“We recognise the potential of this project to diversify our tourism markets and position Sri Lanka as a safe, inclusive, and welcoming destination for all travellers,” Mr. Hewawasam said in response to a letter addressed to him by EQUAL GROUND Executive Director Rosanna Flamer-Caldera.

Sri Lanka Tourism has also granted EQUAL GROUND authority to liaise with key stakeholders in the industry, including tour operators, hotels, training institutes, guides, and drivers, to carry out DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) training and awareness initiatives and welcomed EQUAL GROUND’s willingness to present the programme to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath.

The letter stated that the initiative aligns with Sri Lanka’s strategic objective of expanding its global tourism footprint.

Crash site becomes selfie spot

The site of the terrible accident in early September on the Ella–Wellawaya road has become a tourist attraction among locals. Visitors passing by often see people taking selfies at the spot where 15 lives were lost and many others injured.

Spotlight on Archchuna’s toilet query

Parliamentarian Dr Ramanathan Archchuna has been drawing attention in Parliament and outside for a range of reasons.

He has been one of the MPs who have been quick to raise points of order invoking standing orders in Parliament.

This week he took the Speaker by surprise when he raised a matter of ‘public importance’. He wanted to know as to why the public toilet in Parliament was being closed at 4.30 p.m.

The Speaker said he will look into it.

Thin line divides public and private segments of political tours

NPP MPs on Geneva study tour posing for a picture with Switzerland-based Lankans

Three NPP MPs—Deputy National Integration Minister Muneer Mulaffer and parliamentarians Samanmali Gunasingha and Nilanthi Kottahachchi—met with Swiss-based Sri Lankans in Geneva at a “friendly gathering and discussion’ as was reported in Café Spectator last week.

It has come to light that the MPs were travelling to Switzerland as part of a parliamentary delegation on a study tour of the country’s political system. It was organised by the Swiss-Sri Lankan Parliamentary Friendship Association to coincide with 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

For a party that is quick to question members of other political parties for using official tours for private engagements, the NPP seems to be doing it better than most other political parties.

Lanka becoming major hub for banned exotic pet trade

In recent days, there seems to be a spike in smuggling efforts at airports, with gold, phones, and jewellery being the items. In addition to that, wildlife trafficking, particularly the illegal pet trade, is also on the rise.

Last Sunday, customs officials nabbed a 41-year-old woman at Jaffna International Airport while attempting to smuggle gold into the country.

The suspect, a resident of Colombo 12, had arrived from Chennai and was found concealing two capsules containing a substance suspected to be gold, weighing 1,002.2 grams, without declaring them to the Customs.

The golden capsule

Following investigations, Customs officials were taken aback when they learned that the same woman had been caught just two weeks ago at Bandaranaike International Airport while trying to smuggle six live exotic snakes into the country.

Officers attached to the Narcotic Control Unit, in collaboration with the Biodiversity, Cultural and National Heritage Protection Unit, tracked the woman who had arrived from Bangkok via Chennai on IndiGo Airlines flight 6E1173 on September 12, with the reptiles concealed in her checked-in luggage.

The seized snakes included the speckled kingsnake, yellow anaconda, Honduran milk snake, and ball python. All of them are listed under CITES Appendix II, which outlines strict measures to restrict the exotic pet trade.

The country has become a major hub for illegal narcotics in the region in recent times, and it would be the same for the pet trade as well, considering the recent rise in transnational wildlife trafficking incidents if authorities fail to take stern action.

Speaker in soup over Parliament canteen’s cockroaches and rats

MP Prasad Siriwardena on an inspection tour of the Parliament canteen

After the recent claim by Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne that there are marks indicating the presence of cockroaches and mice inside the parliament kitchen, both members of the staff and MPs have become concerned.

SJB MP Prasad Siriwardena took it upon himself to visit the canteen and inspect the place this week to see if there is any truth to the claims.

“Inspected the Parliamentary kitchen yesterday (24 Sep.) Found no evidence of rodents or unhygienic conditions as alleged. Staff is committed & hardworking. Urge authorities to address urgent facility shortages without delay,” he said in an X post.

Alarmed staff members, particularly those in the Housekeeping Department, have been shocked by the Speaker’s comments, and they swear that the proper levels of hygiene and standards are maintained.

SLPP’s ‘unofficial president’ under fire

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) member Tissa Kuttiarachchi has been cautioned by the party’s general secretary, Sagara Kariyawasam, for his recent remarks to the media.

Mr. Kuttiarchchi had claimed that he would be the “unofficial president” after Namal Rajapaksa came to power.

Mr Kariyawasam said, “What is said might be a statement to the gallery to rouse the people, but it could be interpreted differently in social media and be portrayed in a manner damaging to the party and its leaders.”

The general secretary pointed out such claims could be used in different contexts by other parties, including the ruling party, to attack the SLPP. Members should be mindful of the words they utter, as they could be used as ammunition to attack their party, he said.

Mr Kariyawasam was correct—already the NPP members have picked up the statement and gone on to ridicule the SLPP member, if not the party.

Question over Bimal’s exam allowance

Students sitting the G.C.E. (Advanced Level) are in for an entertainment allowance if Minister Bimal Rathnayake’s proposal comes through.

The minister told Parliament this week that he had informed Prime Minister and Education Minister Harini Amarasuriya that the allowance should be given to Advanced Level students regardless of whether they pass or fail the exam, so they could go to the beach and enjoy movies, dramas, or cricket or soccer matches.

Is this suggestion being made with an eye on the next elections, notwithstanding the availability of finances in the next budget? asked a wag.

Asset declaration comes in many forms

With the keen public interest in asset declarations by politicians, at least one tuition master is making use of it to advertise himself.

The advertisement starts off saying the tuition master too has declared his assets.

But assets are different from those of the politicians.

The assets are named as producing the island’s best student in 2021, writing 15 books on political science, creating the most sophisticated YouTube channel, and creating 20 groups of Advanced Level students within 20 years.

The advertisement also mentioned the places that the classes are held, the time and the contact number of the tuition teacher.