By Shanie | The Island
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How grave the faces have become!
Why are the streets and squares rapidly emptying, and why is everyone going home so lost in thought?
Because it is night and the barbarians have not come.
And some men have arrived from the frontiers and they say that barbarians don’t exist any longer.
And, now, what will become of us without barbarians?
They were a kind of solution."
Constantine Cavafy, the Greek poet, wrote Waiting for the Barbarians in 1904. Seventy five years later, it inspired the South African novelist J M Coetzee, to write a novel by the same title, for which he won the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature. The word ’, in its Greek root, is said to suggest an unidentified enemy, anyone who does not speak your language or share your ideals. A literary analyst has commented that Cavafy’s ‘poem is an internal dialogue, reflecting the sense of unreality we all feel as we watch our own national political rituals. Reading the poem, we become like the child in "The Emperor’s New Clothes," seeing clearly what the rituals of power and the ideology of fear seek to hide from us. But the poem’s conclusion should make us ask the question that remains unspoken throughout the poem: Who are the real barbarians here? Who fails to understand what really motivates their actions?
Every empire needs enemies to justify its existence: when one enemy is defeated or simply disappears, it is necessary to create new figures of terror with which to threaten the population. The anxiety that sweeps through the city at the end of the poem suggests this realization; there is no sense of relief that they will not be conquered by the barbarians, only the terror of finding themselves suddenly alone, with no enemy to embody – or solve – their problems. Like Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, the poem reveals the ways in which we depend upon our self-deceptions to protect us from having to take responsibility for ourselves.’
The shrill cacophony that is being orchestrated now in Sri Lanka now is not just tilting at windmills but meant to create new enemies for the public to hate – the international community, United Nations, non-governmental organizations, anybody who is not us’. A cabinet minister wants to surround the UN compound and keep the UN staff as hostages. Chandima Withanarachchi, who editor of the critical Lanka News Web site and who has been living in UK for the last ten Years, now finds himself facing charges and allegedly reported to the Interpol. Prageeth Ekneligoda, another journalist from another web site, disappeared soon after the Presidential Election and has now been missing for over five months and a pro-government journalist suggests that he is actually in hiding! The Defence Secretary wants the former Army Commander and Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka hanged if he gives evidence against the government. Cavafy’s poem seems to ring so true. The LTTE is defeated and new threats and new enemies have now to be created to find a fear-substitute.
United Nations Panel
We are now on a collision course with the United Nations over the Secretary General’s appointment of a three-member panel on possible violations of international law by the parties involved in the recently concluded civil war. There have been reports that there was a massive loss of civilian lives. The government has denied that its security forces targeted or killed civilians. If that is the position, surely there is nothing to hide and a probe should be welcomed to lay any allegations to rest. It has also been stated that such an investigation is an infringement on our sovereignty. All member-states have not only abide by the UN Charter but also the relevant international conventions to which they are signatories. That is why our Ambassador Palitha Kohona is heading a panel to investigate possible violations by Israel of these conventions. The Israeli Government is also unhappy with that investigation. But such investigations only promote better governance in each country and a better world. No doubt, there would be situations in a civil war where some violations would take place, unintended and sometimes even inevitable. But these would be the exception. Any investigative panel would differentiate between such exceptions and the deliberate killing of non-combatants as has happened in other countries. We should not, as Wimal Weerawansa has done, go hysterical in denouncing the appointment of a UN panel.
Sarath Fonseka has stated that he is prepared to testify before the UN panel if he is allowed to do so. He was the Army Commander at that time and his evidence will be vital. He had stated earlier that he takes full responsibility for the actions of security forces under his command and that he would stand by his men. He has proved to be a man of his word and we have no reason to believe that, despite his fall-out with the President and his brothers, he will bring disrepute to the Army that he commanded.
Indemnity for illegal actions
A study of history is useful for those who take a hysterical stand in matters where the rule of law is challenged or sought to be upheld. Most students of our political history will be familiar with the Bracegirdle Affair that shook the colonial government in the late nineteen thirties. Bracegirdle was a young British/Australian planter who had communist leanings and moved freely with the plantation workers, upsetting the British Raj. The Governor issued an Order to deport him but the newly founded LSSP took up his case and Supreme Court ruled that his deportation order was illegal. The then Governor then wanted the British Government to enact an Order-in-Council indemnifying him from any action for damages. The British Cabinet rejected this request based on the opinion of the Legal Adviser to the Colonial Office: "The present Constitution of Ceylon is, subject to certain safeguards, a form of self-government…To use that power (the safeguards or reserved powers) in defiance of the will of the Legislature in Ceylon, to deprive an individual of his civil rights seems to be unconstitutional and not a proper exercise of the power. Further, I know of no reason why an individual who has suffered a wrong should be deprived of any remedy which he may have in a court of law….To my mind, the spectacle of a Governor or the Chief of Police being made subject to the consequences of an illegal action is more likely to enhance the impartiality and integrity of British rule."
A similar situation arose in the United States over a Presidential Order placing ethnic Japanese in detention camps during the Second World War. This was challenged in the Supreme Court. The Supreme held, by a six-to-three majority, that the Presidential Order was constitutional. Justice Robert Jackson, one of the dissenting judges, had this to say in his judgment: "Judicial construction of the due process clause (of the US Constitution) that will sustain this order is a far more subtle blow to liberty than the promulgation of the order itself. A military order, however unconstitutional, is not apt to last longer than the military emergency…. But once a judicial opinion rationalizes such an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution, or rather rationalizes the Constitution to show that the Constitution sanctions such an order, the Court for all time has validated the principle of racial discrimination in criminal procedure…..I should hold that a civil court cannot be made to enforce an order which violates constitutional limitations even if it is a reasonable exercise of military authority. The Courts can exercise only the judicial power, can apply only law, and must abide by the Constitution, or they cease to be civil courts and become instruments of military policy." Jackson may have been in a minority of three then but his stand has received the vindication of history. The Japanese detainees (or their descendants) were, nearly forty years later, given compensation for the deprivation of their life and liberty.
It is perhaps appropriate to end with a quotation from the writings of Rosa Luxembourg, a leading Marxist intellectual assassinated by state forces in Germany in 1919: "Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for members of one party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently. (It is) not because of any fanatical concept of ‘justice’ but because all that is instructive, wholesome and purifying in political freedom depends on this essential characteristic, and its effectiveness vanishes when ‘freedom’ becomes a special privilege."
© The Island
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Self-deception and waiting for an unidentified enemy
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Rights groups eye Sri Lanka
By Feizal Samath | The National
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Adding to Colombo’s woes, an EU deadline for the government to provide written guidelines to implement conditions for the extension of zero-duty imports into Europe ended on Thursday.
“It was missiles raining all over,” said a senior economist working at a local think-tank who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The external affairs minister, G L Peiris, had rejected the call for a “written undertaking” from the EU and denounced the UN panel as unwarranted.
The EU ambassador in Colombo, Bernard Savage, said on Thursday that the July 1 date on the written guidelines was flexible. “Even if the government responds by Monday [July 5] we are prepared to accept it,” he said by telephone.
The government has yet to respond to the US decision on workers’ rights, which involves whether Sri Lanka has met the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility criteria related to workers’ rights.
The preference system is designed to promote economic growth in the developing world.
Dayan Jayatilleka, a former Sri Lankan ambassador and permanent representative at the UN in Geneva, said of the AFL-CIO, the US organisation that filed the petition, that it “traditionally exercises a huge influence on the Democratic Party, its senators and congressmen.
“If we lose our access to the important US market, on top of losing the EU market, our economy and more importantly our working people and their living standards will be badly affected,” he said in an e-mail.
The US Embassy in Colombo said in a statement that a public hearing is likely to be held next month to discuss the workers’ rights issues raised in the petition, adding that the Sri Lankan government will be invited to participate in the hearing.
The UN Panel on Human Rights appointed last week triggered a furore in Colombo with Wimal Weerawansa, a cabinet minister who represents one of the coalition partners in the government, cajoling the public to surround the UN office in Colombo as a protest against the appointment of the panel. He made the call at a press conference on Wednesday, which drew a response the following day from the government – in a statement – that Mr Weerawansa’s view was his own and did not reflect that of the government.
Also on Thursday, Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, issued a statement welcoming the UN Panel and urging the government to fully co-operate.
JC Weliamuna, a human-rights lawyer and executive director at the Colombo office of Transparency International, lamented the lack of diplomacy in Sri Lanka’s dealing with the international community.
“We need to display a sense of diplomacy and tact in our response,” he said. “We need to save both trade pacts with the EU and the US, and we can do it. Unfortunately the president is ill-advised by a set of incompetent advisers and politically motivated persons, and is going by this advise,” he said, declining to name the individuals.
“I am sure if the president gets good advice he can win over the international community like winning the war.”
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s armed forces crushed the Tamil rebels in May last year, ending a 30-year-long battle by rebels to set up an independent homeland for minority Tamils.
Since then, Mr Rajapaksa has come under intense pressure from the West to respond to allegations that there were large-scale civilian casualties during the last stages of the conflict. He has repeatedly denied the claims and rejected any attempt by the international community to launch a war-crimes probe.
© The National
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Sri Lanka hit by trade suspension
By Toby Vogel | European Voice
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The suspension, which takes effect on 15 August, is expected to cost Sri Lanka's exporters – primarily in the textile sector – more than €100 million annually in higher import duties. In 2008, Sri Lanka exported goods worth €1.24 billion to the EU under the preferential trade regime known as GSP+.
The economic impact of the suspension will be significant but not crippling, according to sources familiar with the situation. Sri Lanka's industrial exports grew by 0.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010. Overall economic growth was 3.5% in 2009 and is projected to be double that figure this year.
The Sri Lankan government says that many of the improvements demanded by the Commission are being undertaken but that others are “unacceptably intrusive”.
On 17 June, Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, and Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, wrote to the Sri Lankan government with a list of demands, around half of them relating to implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The letter suggested that a written commitment by the government to meeting these conditions would prompt the Commission to propose that the trade preferences be maintained.
Strong-arm tactics
The EU's human-rights concerns increased after the government's crushing of Tamil rebels last year, a refugee crisis it triggered, and strong-arm tactics by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in elections in January and April. However, the government relaxed its emergency rule in May and has accelerated the resettlement of Tamil civilians who were displaced in last year's fighting.
In an interview in the Times of India on Monday (28 June), Rajapaksa said that he was “not bothered” by the suspension, calling it “politically motivated”. About the GSP+ status, he said: “If the EU does not want to give it, let them keep it. I do not want it.”
A spokesperson for De Gucht rejected the accusation. “To suggest that any decision by the EU is politically motivated and to link it to the elections of this year is entirely false,” he said.
Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the EU, said the Commission had been “rather clumsy” in dealing with the matter. “It is disappointing and unfortunate because there was a vibrant process of engagement” between the two sides that has now been cut short by the Commission's ultimatum, he said.
The GSP+ gives 16 developing countries access to EU markets with preferential conditions in return for implementing international conventions on human rights, labour standards, sustainable development and good governance.
© European Voice
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Sri Lanka: East feels left behind as agencies move north
Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
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"There are no jobs here. I have to support my family with what I earn here," said Ravidranathan Valarmadhu, 18, from Pillumallai Village of Batticaloa District.
Her father is unable to work, her mother does odd jobs around the village and her younger brother is still in school, leaving Valarmadhu to work six days a week as a milk collector earning about US$17 a month.
After clearing separatist Tamil Tigers from the east three years ago, government forces moved into the Tiger stronghold in Northern Province, finally defeating them in May last year. Almost 300,000 people were displaced by the conflict in Northern Province, which has been the focal point of assistance.
Closing shop
Several international agencies working in the east have closed shop in the past year, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, which moved out after a government request, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is closing its office in eastern Batticaloa District, where it has been since 2002. The agency will continue its eastern operations from Trincomalee.
"Our work there [Batticaloa] has been shrinking. This was a planned phasing-out," said Jennifer Pagonis, UNHCR deputy country representative in Sri Lanka. "Our office in Trincomalee will oversee this work. There will be no reduction of activity or closing down of any other offices."
Vinyagamourthi Muralitharan, deputy minister for resettlement, said UNHCR on 30 June discussed with him the closure of the Batticaloa office and continuation of UNHCR's work in the district.
"Most of the work that came under the UNHCR is now ending in Batticaloa. Their main workload now is in the north," Muralitharan told IRIN.
Almost all the displaced in Batticaloa have been resettled, according to UNHCR. Only 90 families - 433 individuals - are awaiting the completion of demining activities in their villages before resettling in the next few months.
UNHCR will maintain a small presence to the end of the year to provide non-food items and a 25,000-rupee ($212) cash grant to each returning family.
"There are other agencies that can look after the wellbeing of the people in the east," Muralitharan said. "We need the agencies like UNHCR that help the displaced to focus on the north right now."
Housing needs
"We need to build 346 new houses to replace those destroyed or damaged by the war," said Arumugam Balkrishnan, a government official in Pillumallai.
Vaharai, a village of 22,500 people about 90km northeast of Pillumallai, suffered massively in the 2004 tsunami, but rebuilding was halted when violence erupted in 2007, said Rasanayagam Rahulanayani, the top government official in the area.
"We were building at least 1,700 new houses when everything had to be stopped," she said, adding that now "we need to build at least 2,000 houses destroyed or badly damaged by the war".
More than 22,000 civilians displaced by the war have since resettled in Vaharai, according to the Divisional Secretariat.
Some NGOs working in the east are struggling to get funding for projects.
"We have made requests, but we are not sure whether we will get the funds," said Pon Sundarajan, deputy director of the North East Housing Reconstruction Programme.
"We have been able to complete only 13 percent of 22,000 new houses for the displaced in the district," he said. "There is no sign whether we will be able to complete the full quota."
© IRIN
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Court blow for Lanka row author
By Aniqa Haider | Gulf Daily News
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Sarah Malanie Perera is facing charges over her book From Darkness to Light, which described her conversion to Islam but was deemed offensive to Buddha.
The 38-year-old was detained on March 20 after being accused of "anti-state" activities and having links to Islamic militants.
She was released last month after paying a bail of 50,000 Sri Lankan rupees (BD166).
But during the latest hearing at the Colombo Magistrates Court the case adjourned until November 27.
Ms Perera, who first came to Bahrain in 1985, was arrested for allegedly distributing anti-state and anti-government information across the border.
However, she claims she was simply trying to send copies of her books to Bahrain and has denied having links to extremists.
The defendant has been charged under two sections of a law that makes it illegal to insult the religion of others.
The first carries a maximum 12-month jail sentence, while the second up to two years in prison and a fine.
Ms Perera's sister Mariam yesterday told the GDN the family was still in a state of shock following the court case.
"We were all hoping for good news, but it turned out to be a really bad," she said.
"We didn't expect the court to adjourn the case until the end of this year.
"When I spoke to her yesterday, she was really down.
"She told me that the only question judge asked her was if she is guilty of writing these books and insulting Buddhism or not.
"She agreed to writing the books but not insulting the religion and that was it.
"No other question was asked and no lawyer was allowed to talk in the session."
Bahraini MP Shaikh Adel Al Ma'awda met with India-based Dr Zakir Naik, a Muslim public speaker and writer on Islam and other religions in May, and has raised the issue with politicians and human rights activists in the hope of securing her freedom.
Ms Perera said 13 Buddhist priests, who were asked to check her book's authenticity, converted to Islam after reading it.
Her lawyer Lakshan Dias previously argued the author had no intention of insulting the Buddhist faith and there were no grounds for a criminal case.
However, prosecutors claimed the book was offensive to Buddhists.
The author's family blames global courier firm Aramex for her arrest, believing one of its workers in Sri Lanka reported her to police.
However, the company has denied responsibility saying it had no choice but to forward the materials to Sri Lankan authorities since as mandated by law.
© Gulf Daily News
Friday, July 02, 2010
Sri Lanka: Killing beggars under the pretext of eliminating terrorists?
Asian Human Rights Commission
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This week a disabled person who moved on a wheelchair was found dead in Colombo with severe head injuries. Five other similar killings of beggars have been reported recently.
Is this the way intelligence units carrying out the Premiers instructions to be "constantly vigilant?"
What was the need for the Premier to make such a statement? Has there been such overwhelming information about terrorism by beggars? If not, why does he place such information before parliament?
On the occasion of the IIFA also, the government created propaganda about beautifying the city by removing beggars.
It is difficult not to link such statements and the sudden occurrence of a series of killings of beggars in Colombo.
It is not necessary for any thief to kill a disabled man in a wheelchair in order to steal whatever he may be possessing. Regarding the other five killings of beggars, it is hard to imagine anybody wanting to steal anything from beggars as, by their very nature, they are the ones who have the least. As no accidental circumstances have surfaced, these killings are not accidents. Besides, the injury on the heads of the disabled lottery ticket seller was a severe injury, most probably caused by hitting with a heavy stone. The circumstances suggest deliberate intention to kill.
It was not long ago that those who were alleged to be criminals were killed at police stations. That, too, was a program. The Sri Lankan society seems to have gotten used to the idea of killings as the solution to everything.
When the Prime Minister of the country himself creates the psychological impetus for intelligence agencies to act against the poorest sections of society, the beggars, is there any point in calling for inquiries and crying out for justice? When the government itself creates the climate for killing, where is the possibility for inquiries and justice?
© Asian Human Rights Commission
Friday, July 02, 2010
'Sri Lanka is South Asia's most liberal economy' says President Rajapaksa
By Editor | Asian Tribune
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President Rajapaksa, on a three-day tour of Ukraine, expressed this view while attending the Sri Lanka, Ukraine business forum which was held to strengthen the longstanding economic ties both countries had developed.
The President went on to say that Sri Lanka had also been rated as one of the world's best performing financial markets.
Addressing the forum yesterday, the head of state further said that with the elimination of terrorism from Sri Lanka, there was security and stability in every part of the country.
He added that attention had been focused on transforming Sri Lanka into a major center of shipping, trade, air, energy and knowledge.
Following is the full text of the speech made by Sri lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa the Sri Lanka-Ukraine Business Forum:
Let me at the outset thank President Yanukovich for your words of introduction.
I am pleased to speak a few words on this occasion which convenes the Ukraine –Sri Lanka Business Forum.
In my view this Forum is one of special significance to the relations between Sri Lanka and Ukraine, as its objective is to widen the scope of our bilateral relations beyond official contacts between our two governments, and to stimulate direct interaction between the private sector and the business communities through the promotion of economic and trade cooperation.
In today’s globalized and integrated world, participation in the global economy is necessary to generate national wealth and create employment in domestic economies. It is my intention to transform Sri Lanka into a major centre of naval, trade, air, energy and knowledge.
We have encouraged the private sector to take a leading role in this process. In the future too we will follow the same policy. It is for this reason that I have invited a delegation of key members of the private sector of Sri Lanka to accompany me in this visit.
Our vision for Sri Lanka`s development is apparent. It integrates the positive attributes of market economic policies and economic growth with our own domestic aspirations for social justice and human development. I believe that this has much in common with your Excellency President Yanukovich’s own stated agenda for Ukraine.
I am pleased to inform you that we have succeeded in establishing stability in the country and ensuring investment protection. The Economist Magazine stated a year ago that Sri Lanka is among the few countries with the speediest economic growth. Furthermore, with the elimination of terrorism there is security and stability in every part of the country.
Sri Lanka has today reached the status of a middle-income developing country with free market liberalized economic policies. Today, Sri Lanka is ranked as the most liberalized economy in South Asia. With the post-conflict stimulus, our economy is expected to grow at a rate of 7% this year, and Sri Lanka was rated one of the world’s best performing financial markets in 2009 as investor confidence grew.
One of Sri Lanka’s greatest assets is our highly skilled and educated labour force. The policy of free universal education and international schools has further strengthened this highly skilled Human Resource base.
Sri Lanka and Ukraine are geographically situated in strategically important locations in the world. Strategically located at the cross roads of both East and West sea routes and as the point of entry to South Asia, Sri Lanka since ancient times is an important centre in the trading routes.
Any visitor to Sri Lanka would see that the country is ready for a giant leap in the sectors of port, transport, energy, commercial and knowledge. At present, a port in South Colombo is being built. The Hambantota Port is also being built in the South of Sri Lanka.
Everyone agrees that Sri Lanka is becoming the Wonder of Asia. Sri Lanka is not far away from the day of becoming a major logistical hub offering advanced support services.
Sri Lanka is in the midst of revolutionizing the road network. Networks of modern highways and railway services are being constructed speedily. This network will instantly link all parts of the country. We are ready to provide surface electricity with the construction of massive electricity generation plants at Norochcholai and Upper Kothmale. These projects are undertaken in collaboration with international partners. With all these developments we are not surprised that Sri Lanka is ranked with the best countries in world for foreign investments.
All this gives much scope for expansion of economic relations between Sri Lanka and Ukraine. I hope that the Business Forum will provide an opportunity to exchange information about each others markets, business climate, and opportunities. I hope it will also enable you to make the initial contacts with each other.
Let me conclude by extending an invitation to you to visit Sri Lanka in the near future together with a business delegation from Ukraine!
© Asian Tribune
Friday, July 02, 2010
Sri Lanka drills for oil
By Siddharth Srivastava | Asia Sentinel
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In one of the latest moves, Cairn Lanka, a subsidiary of the Edinburg-based Cairn Energy PLC, will begin a three-well drilling campaign off the Mannar Basin, located between southwestern Sri Lanka and the Indian coastline in the first quarter of next year, according to the British High Commission in Colombo.
This will mark the onset of petroleum exploration in the island country after a gap of 25 years. Cairn Lanka already has 3D seismic survey data on 1,750 square kilometers in the basin. The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) section of the British High Commission in Colombo, has been advising British players about exploration opportunities in Sri Lanka.
The revelation of large oil and gas reserves is welcome news to an economy long crippled by strife and outdated unfortunate economic planning. Inward remittances from Sri Lankans working overseas form too much of GDP. Government spending for public administration and defense has remained high because of the now-concluded hostilities. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reversed a policy of selling off state-owned enterprises. Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election bid in January and has since been seeking to reinvigorate the Lankan economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism to earn foreign exchange. Tourism, given the country’s magnificent beaches and pleasant climate, is expected to recover with the war concluded.
Colombo has been looking to tap resources commercially that were largely inaccessible during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels. The conflict ended following a huge offensive in May last year that resulted in the killing of the Tiger chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.
Gulf of Mannar
The Mannar Basin is a frontier petroleum province that has been virtually unexplored. Preliminary estimates indicate the presence of 1 billion barrels of oil in areas that had been under the LTTE’s control during the decades of conflict.
If proven, the reserves would provide a sizeable boost to Sri Lanka, which produces no oil and imported nearly US$3.5 billion worth in 2008.
Hopes of striking oil have risen with India’s success on the other side of the maritime boundary. Colombo holds eight oil and gas exploration blocks in Mannar, two of which have been granted to the governments of China and India, which backed Colombo’s war against the rebels.
Russia, another ally, has also been invited by Colombo to explore the oil & gas sector. Cairn India has one block for which it has set aside US$100 million for the first three years of exploration.
Colombo decided to allow foreign and private investors access to its offshore oil and gas fields as long ago as 2003. However, progress has been possible only now with the end of the ethnic violence.
India's Role
India believes that as an overall strategy, China, with the help of Pakistan, is keen to check India’s influence in the Indian Ocean. India has thus been unhappy about a deep-water port in Hambantota on Sri Lanka’s south coast that is being built with the help of the Chinese.
After being bested in Burma by the Chinese, who have largely tied up Burmese energy exports despite a concerted campaign by India to win concessions, New Delhi is also wary that Chinese energy firms are going to make a dash for the Mannar Basin oil and gas reserves that have been offered by Colombo for exploration.
Colombo recently sounded out India about its intentions in the Gulf of Mannar which might extend to the waters of both across their maritime boundary. The matter was discussed during the visit in June to India by Rajapaksa with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A joint statement reads: “Sri Lanka proposed discussions on establishing a joint information mechanism on the possibility of oil and gas fields straddling the India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary. The matter will be discussed further between the two sides.”
No Privatization in Lanka
Colombo reiterated that it will not allow privatization of its oil sector, highlighting that the government will keep close control over its natural resources, royalties, pricing and regulation.
A cabinet statement recently said, “The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to stop privatizations and we will use every opportunity to buy back sold assets.”
In this context, Colombo has decided to buy back the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company. The state currently owns 49 percent of Shell Gas Lanka, the island’s largest retailer of liquefied petroleum gas. Shell bought the Colombo Gas Company for US$37 million 15 years ago. Privatization of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has also been stopped.
Cairn in Asia
Cairn Energy is one of Europe's biggest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange with assets in India, Greenland, Bangladesh and now, Sri Lanka.
In India, the company recently raised crude oil reserves estimates at its Barmer fields located in the Thar Desert north western Rajasthan by 37 percent. It is on course to contribute one-fifth of India’s current oil production and bring down the oil import bill by nearly US$10 billion.
“The new estimates are at 2,40,000 barrels per day (bpd) which translates into equaling production from Mumbai High fields (India’s largest oilfield and run by state run ONGC),” Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir told local media. “Based on our review, we estimate that the potential resource in the (Rajasthan) block is now estimated to be 6.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).”
The lone offshore Sangu gas field in Bangladesh was discovered by Cairn in 1996 and production started in 1998. The company supplies 35 million cubic feet gas per day. The field stands almost depleted now and is expected to last till 2011.
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Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.
© Asia Sentinel
Friday, July 02, 2010
UK team exploring investment opportunities in Sri Lanka's North
Colombo Page
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During their 4-day visit from June 28 to July 1, the team will be exploring the investment opportunities in the region. They will visit the Northern cities including Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, and Kilinochchi to observe the economic development, investment opportunities, and humanitarian requirements in the area.
The group will also meet key government, military, political and religious figures in the area, as well as commercial and local and international humanitarian organizations, the High Commission reported.
According to a High Commission press release the DFID has allocated £13.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka between September 2008 and July 2009, in response to needs on the ground arising from the final stages of the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE, and its immediate aftermath.
According to statistics from the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, UK companies comprise a 10.2% share of FDI in Sri Lanka - the second largest - with investments totaling approximately $300 million at the end of 2009.
The Acting High Commissioner is accompanied on his visit by Malcolm Lewis (1st Secretary - Migration), David Ashley (1st Secretary - Regional Advisor), Jane Barham (1st Secretary - Development), Michael Jefferson (Commercial Attaché) and Neil Barry of the Department for International Development (DFID), London.
© Colombo Page
Friday, July 02, 2010
GSP plus: some misunderstandings and understandings
By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan | Perambara.org
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By mid-2005 the EC introduced a new GSP plus (GSP+) to contribute to poverty reduction, promote ‘sustainable development’ and ‘good governance’ in low and middle-income countries, which afforded duty free access for circa 6,400 goods to the EU markets (see the regulation European Council No.980/2005 of June 27, 2005). The least developed countries were afforded duty free access for 7,200 goods. In 2008 there were fourteen GSP+ beneficiary countries. The GSP+ scheme is renewable every three years.
Three core objectives of the GSP+ are poverty reduction, promotion of ‘sustainable development’ and ‘good governance’ in beneficiary countries. Though what ‘good governance’ specifically means is defined clearly (ratification and effective implementation of 16 core conventions on human and labour rights and ratification and implementation of 11 conventions on good governance and environment), what constitutes ‘sustainable development’ is defined loosely as meeting the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 and the Johannesburg declaration of 2002.
Fundamentally, the GSP+ scheme is an incentive scheme and NOT a conditionality to get access to the markets of the member countries of the EU. Unfortunately, some people mistakenly argue that the eligibility criteria set for the GSP+ scheme by the EC are conditionalities and therefore non-tariff barriers. The EC has not violated any WTO rules of trade by setting eligibility criteria for the GSP+ scheme. The issue is not access to markets but DUTY FREE access to markets, which is a privilege and NOT a right and entirely a prerogative of the EC. Thus, countries cannot demand the privileges of GSP+ scheme, but could make a request through an application process which includes an undertaking to fulfill the eligibility criteria.
There are several countries queuing-up to get into the GSP+ scheme and thereby gain duty free access to their exports to the EU markets. Therefore, the EC is duty bound to enforce the eligibility criteria in order to be fair by all applicants. Suppose one (or more) country is exempted from certain eligibility criterion/criteria, then there could be demands from other countries those do not fulfill the eligibility criteria (such as China), in which case the objectives of the GSP+ scheme would be lost. In certain instances the United States and the EU have had trade deals with countries like China without any non-trade or non-economic conditions (like labour/human rights and governance) because of reciprocity (i.e. those are bilateral trade concessions). That is, such trade deals are reciprocal whereby both trading partners agree on preferential access to each other’s markets. However, the GSP+ scheme is non-reciprocal (i.e. beneficiary countries need not provide duty free access to goods from EU countries in return for duty free access to their goods in EU markets) and therefore EC has the moral and legal right to lay down eligibility criteria to make avail of this one-sided concession (unilateral trade concession).
Further, GSP+ scheme did result in loss of market for same or similar products produced by member countries of the EU. Loss of market for locally produced goods also means loss of employment to the nationals of EU countries. In fact, there is a strong lobby against the schemes such as the GSP+ by the European trade unions because of the loss of jobs resulting from import of cheap goods from the developing world. Therefore, the EC should be 2 able to justify to its citizens that granting of duty free access under the GSP+ scheme to developing countries would be beneficial to the citizens of the beneficiary countries, especially the marginalized labour and the poor, and therefore worth the losses incurred by the domestic labour.
Moreover, the eligibility criteria of the GSP+ scheme are meant to benefit the citizens of the beneficiary countries and not the citizens of the EU. Therefore, how come a democratic government object to the eligibility criteria of the GSP+ scheme that are meant to benefit its own citizens? Every game in sports has rules and all the teams that participate in different games agree to abide by the respective rules. Any team or member/s of the team violating any rules of the game could be expelled from the game. Therefore, no team or member of a team could morally or legally argue that it has been unfairly treated by the game referee because of its expulsion due to violation of the rule/s of the game.
Similarly, markets do have rules and regulations in order to foster fair play (perfect competition) and prevent anti-competitive and unfair practices. Under preferential and free trade agreements there is a conditionality called “rules of origin”. There is usually a requirement that at least a certain proportion of the value added of any product should accrue from the country of origin. That is, any product that is exported from one country to another should have a minimum value addition in the country of origin in order to be eligible to get concessional (preferential) duty or duty free access to its partner country. No country could cry foul if its goods have been barred from obtaining the privilege of concessional duty or duty free access to foreign market/s due to violation of the rules of origin conditionality.
The same analogy applies to the GSP+ scheme as well. In fact, currently the biggest threat to Sri Lanka’s exports is not the suspension or withdrawal of the duty free access to the EU markets under the GSP+ scheme. Deliberate or intentional overvaluation of the rupee due to the myopic exchange rate management policy of the Central Bank is the biggest threat facing exports from Sri Lanka. In pursuit of building up the foreign exchange reserve of the country the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has resorted to wanton short-term international private capital market borrowings in the past few years (since 2006). In order to keep the amount of repayment of these short-term loans low, the rupee is prevented from depreciating (according to the market forces) through purchase of foreign currency by the Central Bank in the open market. Instead of correcting its own policy mistakes it has become a national sport for the present Sri Lankan government to evoke the bogey of foreign conspiracy against Sri Lanka on issues of critical importance to its citizens.
This note of clarification should not be misconstrued as batting for the European Commission; rather the author is batting for the hapless citizens of Sri Lanka who are misled by various interest groups.
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