Lanka Business Online
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In the first four months of April China had committed 293.5 million US dollars with 190 million US dollars for an airport in Sri Lanka's south and 102 million US dollars for rolling stock for Sri Lanka railways.
Russia's 300 million US dollars is a credit line. Media reports have said earlier the Russian loan was for military hardware and repairs.
The World Bank had committed 179 million US dollars for rural roads and rehabilitation of former war torn areas, the finance ministry report said.
Iran had also committed 111 million US dollars to expand power distribution.
Among actual disbursements, Japan again led the list with 121.5 million US dollars of which 6.5 million US dollars were grants.
China gave 110.9 million US dollars. The Asian Development Bank gave 74.7 million US dollars of which 9.4 million US dollars were grants.
The World Bank disbursed 41.0 million US dollars of which 4.7 million were grants. The European Commission gave 3.7 million US dollars in grants and UN agencies 1.5 million.
The Netherlands disbursed 24.1 million US dollars and France 19.5 million US dollars.
© Lanka Business Online
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Sri Lanka donor list headed by Japan, Russia, China
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Sri Lanka: National Trade Union Centre slams govt budget
The Island
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It said prices of several essential items had been jacked up before the budget thereby heaping a heavy burden on the working class and what the government had presented on Tuesday was only an expenditure report for the next six months of the year.
The working class would not tolerate that kind of approach, the NTUC said.
The NTUC said nothing had been said in the Budget about the Rs. 2,500 salary hike which was mostly expected by those who had voted for the
President and the Government. "It was those people who had voted for the President and the Government and they were cheated, the NTUC said.
The statement signed by NTUC President former JVP MP Lal Kantha urged the working class to be ready for trade union action.
© The Island
Thursday, July 01, 2010
UN on alert over minister's threat
Daily Mirror Online
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When asked by a journalist from Innercitypress at a press briefing at the UN in New York a short while ago to respond to the comments made by Weerawansa as appearing on Daily Mirror online today, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN had contacted the Sri Lankan government over the article and the government has assured the UN that the comments made by Weerawansa was his “individual opinion”.
“Our security officials are aware of these remarks and they will check if this official was quoted correctly and what he meant by that. The government of Sri Lanka has assured us that this was an individual’s opinion and not their policy,” the UN spokesman said.
The UN spokesman also said that New York had contacted the UN office in Colombo to verify the report and added that at the moment there was no immediate threat as a result of the comments made by the government Minister.
He however noted that in general the UN does not condone or accept threats made on UN staff anywhere be it by officials or anyone else.
© Daily Mirror
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Sri Lanka could lose trade concessions in EU spat
By Bate Felix | Reuters
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For more than a year Sri Lanka has defied Western pressure over accountability for potential war crimes and human rights violations in the last stages of its quarter-century war with the separatist Tamil Tigers, which it won in May 2009.
"The Commission would be grateful to receive from your government, by July 1, a letter containing a firm undertaking to address by the end of the year, the principle outstanding issues," said the letter, seen by Reuters.
"Over the longer term, the European Commission looks forward to addressing the full range of human rights issues with the government of Sri Lanka," it said.
The letter, signed by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, had urged Sri Lanka to lift wartime emergency laws that grant the government wide powers of arrest.
Sri Lankan officials rejected the request from the 27-nation EU, saying demands for accountability were fuelled by supporters of the Tamil Tigers.
"To suggest that any decision by the EU in respect of GSP+ (trade concessions) and Sri Lanka is politically motivated and to link it to the elections of this year is entirely false," said John Clancy, the European Commission's trade spokesman.
"The government of Sri Lanka is very well aware that this is a legal process that began several years ago and to suggest otherwise is simply misleading," he said.
DEADLINE LOOMS
As the July 1 reply deadline looms, the European Union has warned that Sri Lanka risks losing access from Aug. 15 to its biggest export market if it fails to comply.
In February, EU states said they would temporarily withdraw preferential tariff benefits to Sri Lanka under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme because of concerns about Sri Lanka's human rights record.
The potential loss, worth about 100 million euros ($122 million) annually in exports, would be a blow to Sri Lanka as the country is focused on resurrecting its $42 billion economy.
"We were not prepared to obtain these concessions at any cost. That's not the attitude of a self-respecting government," Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said.
Peiris had said Colombo would not reply to the EU's letter.
© Reuters
Thursday, July 01, 2010
UN defends Sri Lankan civil war panel
By James Reinl | The National
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This month, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, made a long-awaited decision to appoint experts to advise him on “accountability issues” relating to abuses committed last year during the violent end to almost three decades of conflict.
Sri Lankan nationalists protested the move noisily this week, while government officials in Colombo rejected the UN’s “unwarranted and uncalled for” intervention and said they will refuse the experts visas to enter the South Asian island.
Speaking with The National, Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the UN chief, rejected claims that the world body was trespassing on Sri Lankan sovereignty and insisted that Mr Ban was not exceeding his powers by creating the panel.
“The secretary general has all the authority he needs to name a panel of advisers,” Mr Haq said.
“Whereas commissions of inquiry have normally required a mandate, the panel of experts for Sri Lanka is an advisory panel limited to advise the secretary general.
“It is not a fact-finding or investigative body that would determine the facts or scope of the alleged violations in Sri Lanka, and nor is it intended to make visits to Sri Lanka that would require the consent of the government.”
The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in mid-May last year ended a conflict that claimed the lives of 100,000 people since rebels began fighting for an independent homeland in 1983. Rights groups are pressing for accountability for thousands of civilian deaths in the final months of the conflict, when government forces shelled a “no-fire zone” while encircling the rebel’s final stronghold on a sandy strip of north-eastern Sri Lanka.
The Tigers were accused of using child soldiers and human shields among myriad violations, but since their defeat by Sri Lankan security forces, allegations have centred on the military’s excessive use of force during the final offensive.
The UN has repeatedly urged Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to probe abuses but has also been criticised for failing to ratchet up enough pressure against his increasingly gloating and nationalistic government.
The president’s own probe – a Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation – was announced in May, but it is widely regarded as lacking legal powers. Even Mr Ban’s panel is seen as an attempt to increase political pressure on Mr Rajapaksa rather than uncover evidence of violations.
Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney general of Indonesia, will head the panel, supported Yasmin Sooka, who served on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Steven Ratner, a professor specialising in international law at the University of Michigan Law School. The panel is expected to wrap up its responsibilities within four months.
Members will examine the “modalities, applicable international standards and comparative experience with regard to accountability processes, taking into account the nature and scope of any alleged violations in Sri Lanka”, said a UN statement.
UN spokesman Mr Haq said this week investigators will focus on the final stages of the conflict, when abuse allegations centre on the government’s excessive military force causing the deaths of thousands of Tamil civilians.
“The conflict ran for decades, and during that period many atrocities took place,” said Mr Haq. “While there is a legitimate need for a through inquiry into the entire conflict, it was felt that as a first step it would be necessary and practical for the secretary general’s panel to focus on the final stages of the war.
“During that time, grave violations of humanitarian and human-rights law by both sides are alleged to have taken place despite strident appeals and warnings from the international community for the protection of civilians.”
© The National
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
"Surround the UN office and take Sri Lankan staff hostage " : Govt minister urges public
By Lakna Paranamanna | Daily Mirror
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Weerawansa told reporters today that the appointment of the three-member advisory panel by UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon is the primary step that would prompt the Sri Lankan leaders to be produced to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“This appointment should not be perceived upon as a simple act because the next step of UN would be to appoint an investigative committee to look into the possible violations of human rights and war crimes. This would eventually lead to the leaders and war heroes of Sri Lanka to be produced to the ICJ,” Weerawansa, who is also the leader of the National Freedom Front, said.
Weerawansa who also spoke of Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader Sarath Fonseka’s agreement to talk with the UN panel, described of it as a revolting move towards betraying the country’s sovereignty.
© Daily Mirror
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Q+A: Sri Lanka's 2010 budget finally lands
By C. Bryson Hull | Reuters
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The IMF released a delayed $408 million loan tranche right before the budget was presented, saying the spending plan would "significantly address past fiscal slippages" if executed.
Here are some questions and answers about the budget impact:
THE 2010 BUDGET DEFICIT FORECAST IS FOR 8 PERCENT OF GDP, AGAINST AN IMF TARGET OF 7 PERCENT. WILL THAT CAUSE SNAGS IN FUTURE DISBURSEMENTS OF THE LOAN?
Not really, as long as the government is acting in the spirit of the reforms pledged under the $2.6 billion loan. The global lender has been accommodating to Sri Lanka, as it views it as a success story since the end of the war.
Sri Lanka's government recognises that is has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the economy after nearly three decades of war, so it has greater incentive to act than nearly any other previous administration.
WHAT ABOUT GOVERNMENT BORROWING?
It's down 7.8 percent overall. Total domestic financing this year is forecast at 315.3 billion rupees, down from 392.5 in 2009, while foreign financing is estimated at 123.5 billion versus 83.9 billion last year.
Lower domestic financing means interest rates in Sri Lanka should remain low for the near term and help a nascent rebound in private sector credit growth. Foreign investors who want Sri Lankan government securities still face a 10 percent foreign holding limit that is all but topped out. [nSGE64H0F7]
WILL REFORMS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR BECOME A REALITY?
Like the IMF said, it is all about execution. The budget speech announced the creation of a new Ministry of Management Reforms to make the public sector a revenue generator.
The ministry faces a tall order in creating efficiency and accountability in a bloated, notoriously slow-moving public sector that remains a major source of patronage. Many are sceptical Rajapaksa will resist the temptation to dole it out.
WHAT ABOUT THE EXPECTED TAX REFORMS?
A number have been announced over the last month, so the budget had nothing new. But a presidential commission tasked with streamlining the tax structure is expected to announce its recommendations by August. Look for the panel to propose a simplified personal and corporate tax regime, replacing one that is a byzantine, costly mix of Sri Lanka's history as colonial trading outpost and a post-independence socialist state.
© Reuters
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
General Fonseka 'ready to talk' with UN panel
Gen Sarath Fonseka told BBC Sandeshaya that even President Mahinda Rajapaksa has agreed with the UN to investigate alleged human rights violations during the last phase of the war.
The UN secretary general has set up a panel to look into alleged human rights abuses during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009.
Ban Ki-moon's spokesman said the three-man panel would advise on how to deal with alleged perpetrators.
Rights groups accuse both sides of war crimes - a claim which has been denied.
"I think this committee is a result of that agreement with President Rajapaksa," Gen Fonseka told BBCSinhala.com.
He stressed that any country should take steps to resolve issues with the international community if there are any question marks over the conduct of the said country.
Rejecting the appointment of the panel, the government said the panel members will not be allowed to visit the country.
In an interview with Times of India newspaper, President Rajapaksa has dismissed the panel.
"We should not try to get involved in a conflict with the UN," Gen Fonseka said.
"As a citizen of Sri Lanka, if I get an opportunity to support such an inquiry, I think we shouldn't hesitate to do that."
The former military commander who is facing two military trials says that the conditions imposed by the European Union to extend the GSP+ facility are fair.
"I don't think it is an intervention in internal affairs," he said.
"The EU has demanded the release of political prisoners which includes me," Gen Fonseka added.
© BBC Sinhala
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
No pay hike this year, revenue proposals dropped
By Saman Indrajith | The Island
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Presenting the 2010 budget on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who holds the finance portfolio, Dr. Amunugama said in the post-LTTE era, priority would be given to combating crime, the underworld, narcotics trade and the illicit liquor trade.
Categorising yesterday’s presentation as a medium-term road map, which outlined the entire range of on-going government programmes, Minister Amunugama said that it would be the basis for completing all preparatory work and finalising action plans to be implemented beginning next month.
As speculated in political and financial circles, the government did not present revenue proposals prompting a section of the Opposition to stage a boisterous protest. Led by UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera, a group of MPs displayed placards targeting the government over rising cost of living and failure on the part the Rajapaksa administration to grant the promised Rs. 2,500 salary increase.
It was not clear how the MPs had managed to smuggle in placards into Parliament. Dr. Amunugama assured that the revenue proposals and other important issues, including a salary increase to the public sector, would be submitted in November 2010, when the government would present the 2011 budget.
The Opposition repeatedly interrupted Dr. Amunugama as he presented the budget speech.
© The Island
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tigers lurk in the shadows after 14 months of peace
By Mick O'Reilly | Gulf News
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A soldier with a whistle stops traffic on the A9 allowing visitors to cross the road.
Elephant Pass, 2.5 metres above sea level, as the sign on the A9 says, is now a tourist attraction.
Brightly painted Lanka Ashok Leyland buses are parked on a gravel parking lot which is replete with corrugated steel latrines for men and women. The latrines, however, are not sponsored by the Colonial Group of Colombo.
Sixteen months ago, this stretch of highway, a vital junction between north and south, and at a vital crossroads on the Jaffna Peninsula, was the scene of a bloody battle between LTTE forces and Sri Lankan army forces.
In May, President Mahinda Rajapakse unveiled a large monument here to commemorate that struggle. These words are carved into granite plinths at the base of the monument:
"Place where enormous strength, force, power and determination concentrated from four directions."
It continues: "With the objective of engarlanding the reconciled persons, the valiant, heroic and valorous troops of the 57th and 58th Divisions approached diligently, courageously with might and main and without a wink of sleep from the Southern direction and tranversed scrubs, impassable moats, quagmires and demolishing dreadful traps and the troops of the 53rd and 56th Divisions advanced from the Northern Direction, converged on this historical place of Elephant Pass and liberated the long path of brotherhood with a magnitude of force annihilating terrorism and social disparities on the 10th January 2009."
‘Important time'
It's also repeated in Sinhalese and Tamil, just in case there's any doubt.
For the majority of his 50 years, Bluda Awickermansanghe has lived with violence and war. A manager at a garment factory in Jaffna, Awickermansanghe is using this Friday afternoon holiday as an opportunity to visit the war memorials here and at nearby Kilinochchi and pay tribute to all who died in 37 years of civil war.
"It's an important time for us all now in Sri Lanka," he says, looking out over the flat landscape and joining roads from the new memorial raised 50 metres above the army checkpoint.
"We have all endured so much suffering from all sides and we have to learn to work together and rebuild Sri Lanka. It has great potential for tourism up here in Jaffna but now there is nothing — only landmines. You are the first foreigner visitor I have met in Jaffna in years," he tells me.
He also looks at his 20-year-old daughter, Tajan.
"I never want her to have to live what we have lived through. Thankfully the government managed to defeat the LTTE and now that is behind us. We must look to the future but we must never forget the terrible war we all suffered through."
Little Sanduni, 11, a friend's daughter, also accompanies them on this pilgrimage.
"She is our hope for the future," Awickermansanghe says.
On one side of the road, the hulk of a rusting armoured bulldozer sits on a plinth, flower garlands hanging off twisted wire and gaping blast holes. A plaque marks that a young Sri Lankan soldier was posthumously awarded with a medal of honour for stopping the LTTE bulldozer at it tried to take an army bunker. On the other side of the road, behind the army checkpoint sponsored by the Colonial Group of Colombo, a topless Prado sits on bricks, its bodywork riddled with bullet holes. This was Prabhakaran's car, and some senior LTTE leaders were killed in it as they tried to flee the battle here at Elephant Pass.
At Kilinochchi, flattened buildings hem the A9. A 20-metre wide and 100-metre tall concrete tower lies toppled in a twisted mess of rusting rebar and rocks. A platoon of young soldiers clamber into a tractor-drawn trailer, balancing awkwardly as it fires into life and pulls away.
After 14 months of peace, there is little sign of reconstruction in this small city that was the headquarters of the LTTE for nearly 20 years.
Instead, newly constructed sandbag emplacements are located every 100 metres down the main street, soldiers and armed police patrol the shops and stalls that are hawking vegetables, coconuts and dried fish and shrimp.
Every vehicle passing north to Jaffna or south to Maankulam on the A9 are stopped, identities checked, contents searched.
The only new construction visible so far as a peace dividend for the people of Kilinochchi is another new war memorial, opened by President Mahinda Rajapaske in May. It's a huge grey-painted concrete cube with a large crack running through it, dissected by a protruding brass shell. On top, a bronze lotus moves awkwardly in the wind. The monument is supposed to symbolise the struggle of all Sri Lankans in overcoming the LTTE terrorists. I can't help but think that with the size of the crack running through the concrete cube, it represents an island forever divided.
Further up the A9 near Chavakachcheri, the electricity company is planning to replace the concrete pylons along the road. The original ones are long since gone, blown up, knocked down, out of commission. The company has left the new concrete poles every 20 metres by the side of the road, waiting to be erected. The poles, however, won't be going up anytime soon, not until the land mines are gone.
All along this road, for kilometres on end, yellow tape is strung, written in Sinhalese, Tamil and English warning: MINES! More ominous red signs with skull and crossbones also warn of the landmine danger.
Hunt
I watch one young soldier move back gingerly from behind the yellow tape to the cleared roadside, wrestling with a large blast-proof shield as he does so. He pulls off a mask ever so much like that worn by a welder, only more Perspex than metal. He is covered in sweat — nerves not humidity. He sits and draws out a cigarette, a nicotine break well deserved.
It will be years before these paddy fields and palm groves are safe to use.
Demining programmes active on the Jaffna peninsula estimate that there are still some 25,000 antipersonnel mines to be located in this thin neck of land. Since they started demining programmes in earnest last year, the casualty rate has fallen to single digits per month.
Scrap metal recycling along this A9 is a risky business — the Sri Lankan army has organised one drop-off point. Mortar shell casings are in one pile, artillery shell casings in another, a third for bits of assorted shrapnel such as spent RPG rounds and rocket parts.
For all of this landscape scarred by nearly decades, there is every sign of the victor and none of the vanquished.
Every 150 metres along the A9, soldiers stand guard, with every village or town being home to a different battalion or detachment, welfare stores and rest stops being run by the military.
In Jaffna, a pokey and dirty bar sells beer in big bottles, cigarettes are stubbed underfoot, glasses are swirled in basins and arrak flows freely.
If you want to find LTTE fighters, this would be as good a place as any to start the hunt.
A wide-eyed off-duty police officer slurs his words; a driver hustles for fares, a jeweller smokes cigarettes too close to his yellowing fingers while a tall, quiet man with a steely stare listens a lot and says little.
I explain where I'm from, make small talk about different parts of the world, and try to explain what has taken me to this place where few foreigners venture.
"The LTTE are still here?" I ask quietly, out of earshot of the now drowsy and dosing off-duty policeman.
"Yes," the tall quiet one with the steely stare says. "We are. This is our home."
© Gulf News
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