• Chinese hit back at power plant criticisms

    Aug 22
    The Chinese engineers who constructed the faltering Norochcholai power plant have struck back at criticism of the plant, stating the Sri Lankans have not been following proper maintenance practice.

    Zhao Wenxue, from the Northwest Electric Design Institute that designed the plant labelled the accusations as unfair, stating,
    "The Norochcholai coal power plant is not as bad as one makes it look. It is just overused, tired and needs a break to rest like any other equipment does."

    "The plant was forced to work beyond its required limits and keep supplying electricity to the whole country.”

    "Questioning the quality of the equipment used in the project and pointing fingers at China Machinery Engineering Corporation is without basis.”

    "According to normal practice in China, a thermal plant should undergo a one month maintenance period annually… Only then can the unit be more reliable and efficient and expected to perform well."

    "The Norochcholai coal power plant had past all the performance tests and it was in operation continuously from February 2012 till end of July 2012"

    "With the lack of rain and in an attempt to avoid burdening the public with power cuts the Ceylon Electricity Board had meanwhile decided to postpone the annual maintenance of the Norochcholai coal power plant."
    Wenxue also stated that following a request from Sri Lanka, Chinese engineers had world to complete the building one year ahed of schedule, commenting,
    "We agreed and mobilized our teams including a skilled workforce for early completion of the project ahead of the scheduled date".
    The plant was built using a USD $455 million loan from China's EXIM bank, with construction having been carried out by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.
  • Sri Lanka to receive over $1 billion in loans from China

    The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved proposals by the government to obtain loans from China totalling over $1 billion.

    Minister of Finance and Planning Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also President, Minister of Defence, Minister of Ports and Aviation, and Minister of Highways and Road Development, forwarded the proposals to the cabinet.

    The loans, financed by China’s Exim Bank, will be used to fund the second phase of the Hambantota Harbour project in Rajapakse’s home town, and the southern rail line expansion project.

    See here who benefits from Chinese loans to Sri Lanka.

    Another Chinese project launched (18 Aug 2012)

  • Sri Lanka’s ‘glorious’ revival

    Delivering the keynote address at a university symposium, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa claimed that Sri Lanka was experiencing a “national revival that will restore it to its rightful place on the world stage” and that the government’s challenge was to “facilitate this resurgence”.

    Of course, the Defence Secretary need not have worried. With the government’s capacity to protect and foster Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, Sri Lanka will ensure its rightful place on the receiving end of international criticism.

    Asserting that “several international agencies, Non Governmental Organisations, diplomats, media personnel, lawyers, and family members of the beneficiaries were given free and unfettered access to the rehabilitation centres," he added, “people in the North no longer have any reason to feel isolated or disfavoured.”

    A bold statement to make. Perhaps the deaths of two Tamil political prisoners whilst in custody, with no moves to prosecute those responsible, is just one example to the contrary.

    Gotabhaya added,

    “It is our duty as Sri Lankans to put the past behind us and build a bright future for our nation. In this regard, it is essential that there is no longer any suspicion of discrimination or unequal treatment that might encourage people to follow an undemocratic path and bring back the divisions of the past.”

  • Indian fishermen – ‘Government has let us down’
    The South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association has lamented the lack of action by the Indian government, after 6 more Indian fishermen alleged that they were attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday.

    K.Bharathi, President, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association told India Today,
    "This government has let us down.  Look at the behavior of  the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  When Sikhs were killed in a shootout in the US he immediately took action.  But here even after the repeated atrocities nothing had been done.  He is a PM for all of us, then why he behaves like that?"
    The further incident of assault occurred after both Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK president M Karunanidhi wrote to the Indian government, urging them to do more to halt such attacks by Sri Lanka.

  • UN - ‘Significant unmet humanitarian needs in North’
    Marking World Humanitarian Day, the United Nations has stated that there is still much more that needs to be done in the North, at a ceremony in Sri Lanka.

    UN Humanitarian Resident Coordinator Subinay Nandy told an audience,
    “There remain significant unmet humanitarian needs among communities in the north.

    These range from basic assistance such as clean water, shelter and food security in resettled areas to more sophisticated issues such as sustainable assistance to obtain livelihoods, rights and return to more normal life as part of durable solutions on par with international standards”.
    Acknowledging that Sri Lanka received more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance from 2006, and $89.9 million from the UN in 2011, Nandy said that contributions were now beginning to dwindle and called for more.

    However, simply throwing money at the problem will not make it disappear.

    See our comment from Dec 2010: '    The state is the main obstacle to developing Tamil areas'

    Also see: Sri Lanka disrupts Tamil recovery (28 December 2010)
  • Government shuts down universities

    The Sri Lankan government has shut down most universities on the island, after an ongoing row over government interference saw widespread strikes by teachers.

    The Minister for Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake announced the decision after consultation with university officials not involved in the trade union action and accused the FUTA (Federation of University Teachers Association) of trying to provoke a political crisis in order to get regime change.

    He said the government had already met five of FUTA’s six demands, but their spokesman denied this.

    Mahim Mendis told the BBC that the "politicisation and militarisation" of universities must end and said that ministers were appointing their own loyalists to top university posts.

    "To suggest we want regime change is frivolous. You need to understand, Futa [the union] includes academics from all political parties,"

    Universities closed until further notice – Government News Portal of Sri Lanka (22 Aug 12)

  • Claiming the moral high ground

    The actions of the French tourists posing with a statue of the Buddha, have led to much outcry.

    The police spokesperson, Ajith Rohana told AFP:

    "If we had not arrested them and prosecuted them, they would have taken the pictures abroad, published them and gloated."

    "They had not only broken Sri Lankan law, but they have also violated universally accepted norms of respecting religious symbols of others. We condemn this and urge tourists not to make religious offence."

    Udaya Gammanpila, the spokesperson of the National Heritage Party, a constituent party of the ruling coalition, told AFP:

    "Sri Lankans consider this statue to be sacred. They desecrated it. This is uncivilised behaviour,"

    "We condemn this action of the three French tourists and urge Westerners to please respect our culture and act decently."

  • GL Peiris briefs Japan on the ‘reconciliation’ process

    The representative of the Japanese government for peace building, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, held discussions with External Affairs minister, GL Peiris, to review the progress of the reconciliation process and other issues related to the conflict.

    Peiris briefed Akashi on the measures taken by the government on the reconciliation process, including the launch of the trilingual language capability initiative, the appointment of an all part Parliamentary select committee to address issues, the resettlement of internally displaced persons, the infrastructure development in the north and the addressing of land disputes.

    The effects of these ‘steps towards reconciliation’ are clearly evident, with the recent exclusion of the elected political party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), from development discussions, and the continued appropriation of land.

    Minister Peiris’ virtuous claims of steps towards reconciliation come as the UN reiterated today, that there were ‘significant unmet humanitarian needs in the North’.

  • Tourists convicted for insulting Buddhism
    Three French tourists have been handed down suspended jail terms for taking allegedly insulting photographs with a Buddha statue.

    Police were alerted after a photographic laboratory in Galle discovered photos of the tourists offensively posing with the statues, including imitating the pose of the Buddha and pretending to kiss one of them.

    A magistrate sentenced two women and a man to six months in prison with hard labour, suspended for five years, and also levied a fine. The conviction came under a section which outlaws the intention to wound or insult “the religious feelings of any class or persons” in, upon or near sacred objects or places of worship.

    However, exposing oneself in front of mosques and stealing statues from Hindu temples are apparently not deemed as offences under this section.

    It seems also that prosecution for 'assaulting' inanimate objects is a more pressing issue than prosecutions for rape in Sri Lanka.

    In 2010, R&B singer Akon was refused a visa to enter Sri Lanka and sparked violent protests in Colombo after a music video of his was also deemed offensive to Buddhism.

    Also see our earlier post: A disrespect to Buddhism (14 January 2012)

  • Over 1,000 asylum seekers arrested by Navy this year

    Sri Lanka arrested 69 asylum seekers on Tuesday, pushing the total number of people arrested by the navy this year to over 1,000.

    The latest arrests took place off the town of Negombo, with those on board being handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

    Out of the 69 arrested on the fishing trawler, 48 were Tamils.

    See our earlier post: Undeterred and still looking to escape (19 August 2012)


  • 12 breakdowns since power plant opening

    The faulty Norochcholai power plant has allegedly broken down 12 times, since its opening in March last year.

    A document tabled by Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka revealed the extent of the issues plaguing the Chinese-built plant, blamed on “quality issues” earlier this month.

    A special team of Chinese engineers had to be flown into the island, in order to help try and solve the failures, which have led to extensive power cuts across the country.


  • No 3rd party intervention on internal matters' - SL

    The Sri Lankan government will not accept any "third party intervention" on "internal matters" the External Affairs Ministry's secretary, Karunathilaka Amunugama said on Monday.

    Quoting the defiant words of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Amunugama said:

    "The government of Sri Lanka will not accept any mediator or facilitator roles by foreign governments or organisations in finding solutions to its internal problems."

    "President Mahinda Rajapaksa's position was very clear in this regard right from the beginning of his office as the President."

    "The President's position is that we will be open and be positive to receive and share insights and knowledge of other countries to be constructive in structuring solutions to our problems, be they political or otherwise."

    Commenting on how Sri Lanka had snubbed the offer by South Africa's offer of a mediatory role, Amunugama denied the incident had ever occurred.

    "There was no such offer or request on his [South African minister Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim] part to play a facilitator role as such to engage the TNA in talks."

    "Although Sri Lanka is open to potential cooperation with foreign nations for knowledge sharing, it will not have any third party intervention in its internal matters. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made his position clear on this aspect."

  • GL Peiris - 'no justification' for FCO update

    The External Affairs minister GL Peiris met with the British High Commissioner on Monday, protesting against the FCO's recent travel advisory update.

    According to the Daily Mirror, a government source said,

    “The minister asked that the travel advisory be amended in keeping with the developments in the North."

    "We mentioned that there was no justification for such a travel advisory because there is stability and security in the country."


    See related articles:

    SL minister can't understand UK FCO travel update (19 Aug 2012)

    Foreign Office warns of ‘upsurge in nationalism’ in Sri Lanka (16 Aug 2012)

  • EROS office in Batticaloa attacked

    The office of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) in Batticaloa was attacked by a group of unidentified people on Sunday morning, reported the Colombo Page.

    The police confirmed that severe damage had been caused to the office, and there has been an attempt to set the EROS leader, R. Prabhakaran's van on fire.

  • SL plans for Mullivaikal to be transformed as a tourism hot spot

    Plans are underway to transform Mullivaikal, Mullaitheevu into tourism hot spot, reports the Uthayan.

    According to Uthayan, 22km of coastal line, stretching from Nayaru to Alampil is being prepared for the establishment of tourism resorts. The stretch of land encompasses Ampalavan Pokkanai, West Mullivaikal, East Mullivaikal, Palaya Mathalan, Puthumathalan, Valainarmadam and Vadduvakal.

    Two meetings have already been taken place at the Mullaitheevu Political Headquarters, headed by Mullaitheevu GA, Nogalingam Vethanayakam. Discussions included deciding what portion of the land in this area is government owned.

    Meanwhile many of the people of Mullivaikal remain forcibly displaced and prohibited from returning to their homes. 

    Whilst the UN Panel of Experts stated that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians died in Mullivaikal during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, at least 160,000 unaccounted for.

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