SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF (APRIL 2018) – Compiled by Victor Melder

SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF (APRIL 2018) – Compiled by Victor Melder

Victor Meldor - eLanka

                                                           

The wreck of one of the famous ships of Her Majesty’s Naval Service – ‘SS Sagaing’, which sank in the Trincomalee harbour during the World War II, has been refloated after 75 years by a team of divers of the Sri Lanka Navy, making a landmark turning point in the field of diving and salvage. This 138m long Passenger cum Cargo Ship launched in December 24, 1924 was hit by Japanese carrier aircraft bomber attacks, whilst at anchorage in the Trincomalee harbour on April 9, 1942. the vessel was subsequently abandoned due to a raging fire onboard. On August 24, 1943, the damaged ship had been sunk to be used as a pier for naval ships. Sri Lanka Navy resorted to refloat the wreck, which was fully submerged 35 feet under the sea, in order to make sea room for expanding berthing facilities in the harbour. The task of salvaging and removing the ship wreck was assigned to Eastern Naval Command and it was undertaken by the Eastern Command Diving Unit headed by the Command Diving Officer (E), Captain (CDO) Krishantha Athukorala on September 11, 2017. Then a comprehensive salvage plan made by CDO (E) was launched by a team of divers supervised by CPO (DIV) ALNSS Liyanage through patching up all damages and strengthening up the deteriorated ship’s structural parts by erecting an artificial ship side into the sunken wreck for dewatering the ship’s internal volume to recover lost buoyancy. After a series of dedicated endeavours made during a period of five months, on March 22 the wreck started to ascent to the surface proving the professionalism and instinct of SLN divers. The operation was assisted by LCdr Sathishka Pathirana and LCdr Shiran Buddhika along with 98 diving sailors permanently deployed to the project. Timely support by the Operations, Logistics, Engineering, Electrical, Shipwright and Medical Departments and the continuous advice received from Director-General Operations were useful inputs in this successful endeavour. The entire proceedings of the wreck refloating effort were orchestrated under the guidance of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe. This project would not have been completed as scheduled without the unstinted support extended by the Tokyo Cement Company by way of providing a Crane Barge almost throughout the period with a full-time operator. (Sunday Island 1.4.2018)

Security Force Headquarters – Jaffna (SFHQ-J), which has launched an initiative to renovate 100 Hindu temples in the Jaffna District, completed the 20th shrine with the renovation of the Thelippalai Muththumari Amman Hindu Temple. A special ‘Pooja’ at the Army-renovated above Kovil was attended by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake, together with the Security Forces Commander – Jaffna last Friday(30). The renovation work of this temple, sponsored by Parthy Kumaraswamy, a Hindu devotee and philanthropist, residing in the UK, was entrusted to the SFHQ-J a few months ago after expressing his full confidence in the capacity and professional expertise of the army, subsequent to a meeting the donor had with Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi. The project for renovation of those religious places of worship began three months ago after it was observed that many of those temples were badly in need of repairs. Since then army teams, attached to separate battalions in the District have been carrying out renovations under the guidance of Kurukkals (priests).  (Daily Island 4.4.2018)

The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, for his alleged involvement in treasury bond scams and failure to act promptly to contain ethnic violence in Ampara and Kandy, was defeated in Parliament yesterday with a majority of 46 votes. At the end of a full day debate from 10 am to 9.30 pm Speaker Karu Jayasuriya moved the House for a vote. The motion against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe received 76 votes in favour and 122 votes against while 26 MPs were absent at the division taken by name. Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake read out the names of 224 MPs (Speaker Jayasuriya not included), and each of them present was asked to state ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Voting started at 9.30 pm and ended around 10 pm.  The UNF en bloc voted against the motion. But, UNF MP Ven. Rathana Thera was absent. Dissident UNF MP Wijayadasa Rajapaksa voted against the no-faith motion. The minority parties led by Ministers Rauf Hakeem (SLMC), Rishad Bathiudeen (ACMC), Mano Ganesan and P Digambaram (TPA), and the TNA voted against the motion. The six members of the JVP voted in favour of the motion along with the Joint Opposition MPs. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal voted for the motion. The former President did not enter the main chamber of Parliament during the entire debate. CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman was also a notable absentee. Government rank SLFP members absent were Mahinda Amaraweera, Sarath Amunugama, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Duminda Dissanayake, Faizer Mustapha, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Wijith Wijyamuni Zoysa, Piyasasena Gamage, Mohan Lal Grero, Sriyani Wijewickrama, MALM Hisbullah, AHM Fowzie, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Manusha Nanayakkara, Nishantha Mutuhettigama, Indika Bandaranayake and Weerakumara Dissanayake. The UPFA MPs, representing the SLFP, who voted in favour of the motion, were Susil Premajayantha, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Dilan Perera, John Seneviratne, Lakshman Wasantha Perera, Dr Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Tharanath Basnayake, Susantha Punchinilame, Anura Yapa, S B Dissanayake, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Chandima Weerakkody, Anuradha Jayaratne, T. B. Ekanayake and Sumedha Jayasena. SLFP Ministers who voted against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told a press conference yesterday evening that the head of the government was President Sirisena and, therefor they would remain in the government. “It is the President who would decide whether we should hold ministerial posts or not. Not the UNP,” Minister SB Dissanayake told the media at the Parliament complex, while the debate on the motion was in progress. Ministers SB Dissanayake, Dayasiri Jayasekera, John Seneviratne, Lakshman Wasantha Perera, Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Tharanath Basnayake, Dilan Perera, Susantha Punchinilame, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Chanmdima Weerakkody, Sumedha G Jayasena and Anuradha Jayaratne were present at the media briefing. Opposition Leader R Sampanthan, participating in the debate, on the motion said: “With regard to the Central Bank bond scam, consequent to investigations two persons are in custody and a warrant has been issued against a third person and investigations are in progress. The investigations should be completed as soon as possible and the rule of law should be implemented irrespective of who they are. “The motion of no confidence seeks to implicate the prime minister with the bond scam. Statements of actions of a general nature are thought to be used in an attempt to implicate the prime minister with the bond scam. The wording of the motion and the timing of the motion are indicative of a pursuit of a political agenda through the motion rather than fixing responsibility with regard to the bond scam. The question must be raised as to why the wording is so weak and lacking in any specific charge against the prime minister pertaining to the bond scam per se. Why should this motion be brought now? This is a plan to bring down, totally and completely, the present government.”Chief Opposition Whip JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake: “This is a politically motivated no-confidence motion. Our position on this motion’s vote is being questioned by many. (Daily Island 5.4.2018.

The number of visitors to Sri Lanka from Australia and New Zealand has surged following SriLankan Airlines’ commencement of daily direct services between Melbourne and Colombo, the latest statistics compiled by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority show. Australia is now firmly among the top ten source markets for visitors to Sri Lanka. SriLankan launched its services between Melbourne, one of Australia’s largest cities, and Sri Lanka’s capital in October 2017. In December SriLankan provided further convenience for travelers from most other major Australian cities by expanding its codeshare agreement with Qantas to link Melbourne with Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, and also New Zealand’s largest city Auckland. Visitor arrivals from Australia jumped 60.2% in March 2018 and 40.6% from New Zealand in comparison with the same month last year. These growth rates are far above the 24.1% growth of total visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka from all countries during March 2018. Growth rates for January 2018 were 16.5% from Australia and 21.8% New Zealand; while growth in February was 27.0% from Australia and 38.8% from New Zealand. The direct flights provide a high level of convenience for all travelers, including tourists, Sri Lankan students studying in Australia, and the large community of ethnic Sri Lankans living throughout Australia and New Zealand. Passengers enjoy the comforts of the airline’s modern Airbus A330 aircraft, with flatbeds in Business Class, sophisticated in-flight entertainment and world class service provided by SriLankan’s award winning cabin crew. SriLankan has been extending its route network throughout Asia and provides Australian travelers excellent options in connectivity, with one-stop journeys to the most popular destinations via Colombo. SriLankan also operates one-stop twice-daily services between Sri Lanka and Australia with its codeshare partners Qantas and Malaysia Airlines. SriLankan Airlines operates a route network of 105 cities in 47 countries from its hub in Colombo, with a fleet of modern aircraft. As a member of the prestigious oneworld global airline alliance, SriLankan also connects its passengers to over 1,000 cities in 160 countries around the globe through its oneworld partner airlines. (Daily Island 11.4.2018)

Although Sri Lanka performs well in most health indicators, child nutrition is still a major challenge. Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012 revealed that poor nutrition is the chief cause of multidimensional poverty, accounting for 30% of the multidimensionally poor (based on 10 indicators representing health, education, and living conditions). Well-nourished people are healthier, better learners, and more productive in life. Recognising the importance of improving the nutritional levels, National Nutritional Policy (NNP) was initiated in 2010. However, recent nutritional estimates of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2016/17 do not paint a positive picture about the current status of Sri Lanka. Despite countless initiatives to alleviate malnutrition, child nutritional levels have not improved considerably over the years. Also, these numbers worsen when it comes to certain population groups, such as the estate sector, where prevalence of malnutrition is more severe irrespective of how malnutrition is measured. For example, 30% of children under 5 years of age (U5) are underweight while 25% babies have low birth weight. In such deprived regions, there are deep rooted socio-economic factors which affect health and wellbeing of communities. As revealed in the “Socio-Economic Determinants and Inequalities in Child Malnutrition in Sri Lanka”, Socio-Economically poor are more likely to be malnourished. Recent DHS-2016/17 data reveals, a child of the “socio-economically poorest” quintile is twice as likely to be underweight than a child in the socio-economically richest quintile; among the poorest, 27.6% of under 5 year olds are underweight, while among the richest, only 12.5% of the under 5 year olds are underweight. This means that those who are socio-economically better off, are less likely to be underweight or malnourished. A main reason for malnourishment in the estate sector is because they are socio-economically poorer. Although in the recent years poverty levels in the estate sector have reduced nearly fourfold, from 32% in 2006/07 to 8.8% in 2016/17, this sector is still lagging behind compared to the other parts of Sri Lanka. As reported in the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016/17, 64.6% of the estate sector households are among the poorest 40% households of the country. Also, the HIES 2016/17 reveals that the mean monthly per capita income for estate sector is remarkably low at around Rs. 8,566, when compared to the national average of Rs. 16,377. It shows that, while the estate sector is just pushing out of poverty, low income may still hinder their food security.  (Daily Island,  11.4.2018)

Economically inactive Sri Lankan population in Sri Lanka was about 7.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to information on Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), announced by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) recently. Out of this economically inactive population, 25.1 percent were males and 74.9 percent were females. Meanwhile, the estimated economically active population was about 8.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, of which 63.6 percent were males and 36.4 percent were females. According to LFPR, male participation in the labour force has consistently recorded higher than that of females since year 2013 The distribution of labour force participation rate by age group and by gender shows high male participation compared to females in all age groups. The highest participation rate for males was reported from age group 35—39 years (96.5%), while that for females was reported from 45—49 age group (51.4%). During fourth quarter of 2017, the total number of employed persons was estimated at 8.3 million. Of which, about 44.7 percent engaged in the service sector, 28.3 percent in the industries sector and 27.0 percent in agriculture sector. Majority of the workforce belonged to the private sector, followed by own account workers. Highest employment share was in the service sector and this was true for both male and female, while the lowest shares were for agriculture sector. Among employed females, 29.7percent was in agriculture sector while this share was 25.5 percent for males. The number of unemployed persons was estimated as 342,210 during 4Q 2017. The unemployment rate for the period surveyed was 4.0 percent. Overall unemployment rate reported for females was 5.6 percent and it was 3.0 percent for males. Youth unemployment rate (age 15-24 years) in 4Q 2017 was 17.3 percent and that was the highest reported unemployment rate among all age groups. Rates for both males and females were 14.7 and 22.0 percent respectively for age group 15-24. The survey results further revealed that unemployment among females was higher than that of males in all age groups. Thus youth and female unemployment contribute more to the overall unemployment of the country. The highest unemployment rate was reported from the G.C.E (A/L) and above group, which was about 7.9 percent. Corresponding percentages were 5.3 percent and 10.4 percent for males and females respectively. Female unemployment rates were higher than those of males in all levels of education. This further shows that the problem of unemployment is more acute in the case of educated females than educated males, which was observed consistently from the results of previous survey rounds too. (Daily Island 17.4.2018)

The year-on-year National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) headline inflation has declined to 2.8% in March, lowest since April 2016, from 3.2% in February 2018, the Central Bank said. It said the headline Inflation, as measured by the change in the NCPI, which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), continued to follow the declining trend exhibited since November 2017.

 The NCPI Core inflation, which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, continued its declining trend observed since September 2017 and decreased to 1.9% in March from 2.0% in February, on year-on-year basis. Annual average NCPI Core inflation declined to 3.6% in March from 4.1% in February. The monthly decline in food prices in March was supported by the favourable supply conditions attributed to this sharp decline in year-on-year inflation in March. The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis decreased from 7.2% in February to 6.7% in March.When monthly change is considered, the NCPI declined from 123.7 index points in February to 122.8 index points in March, mainly due to the decline in prices of the items in the food category, particularly that of vegetables, big onions, rice and red onions.The Central Bank also said marginal price increases were observed in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, transport, and miscellaneous goods and services sub-categories. (Daily Financial Times 25.4.2018)

Sri Lanka Coast Guard lifeguards reached another important milestone in their lifesaving activities passing the 1,000 mark in rescued lives when lifesavers attached to the Hikkaduwa lifesaving station rescued three local youth from being swept away to sea. The three youth, aged between 19-21 years are residents of the Gampaha District and were saved by Coast Guard lifeguards on duty at the popular southern beach in Hikkaduwa last week (17 April). This is a significant achievement for the Coast Guard lifesaving activities which began in 2009 with a small lifesaving team deployed at the popular Mirissa beach in the Southern coast. Since rescuing a Korean national in December 2009 at Mirissa, the SLCG lifeguards have been able to save more than 1,000 lives including 405 foreign nationals from France, China, Australia, Thailand, Nepal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Netherland, England, Russia and Germany, up to date, the Ministry of Defence said. As an island nation, Sri Lanka is blessed with pristine seas and golden beaches that entice thousands of foreign tourists to visit the country daily. In addition the beaches are also patronised by a large number of locals especially during the holiday season. Realising the importance of having lifesaving points in beaches, the SLCG has established a number of lifesaving stations in popular beaches around the country. So far SLCG operates 13 such lifesaving stations manned by well-trained life guards. These personnel are provided internationally recognised training at the SLCG Life Saving School at Balapitiya. Lifesaving personnel are also stationed at other location on special occasions such as during the annual St. Anthony’s feast at the Kachchativu islet, Kataragama festival season, etc.The SLCG also conducts lifesaving educational awareness and training programs for school children, tri services personnel, university students and public and private sector employees. The beaches have become much safer with Coast Guard lifesavers keeping vigilant watch over the beaches. (Daily Financial Times 28.4.2018)

Sri Lanka’s economy grew at the slowest pace in 16 years to record a  worse than expected 3.1 percent GDP expansion last year, according to the central bank. The economy had been expected to grow at about 5.0 percent in 2017, but a drought and floods affected agriculture and industry had dragged down overall growth. “Adverse weather conditions and their spill over effects continued to affect economic activity and the economy surprised to the downside by recording a growth of 3.1 percent,” the bank said in its annual review of 2017. The previous low was a negative 1.5 percent in 2001 when Tamil Tiger guerrillas launched an audacious attack on the country’s international airport and destroyed six parked aircraft, a move that crippled the tourism industry that year. However, the industry has fully recovered since the end of the decades-long Tamil separatist war in May 2009. Construction too has expanded rapidly with a building boom across the nation of 21 million people. Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said he expected better weather this year and hoped GDP growth to reach about 5.0 percent, slightly more optimistic than the island’s international lenders. Coomaraswamy said Sri Lanka attract a record $1.37 billion in the foreign direct investment last year and also amassed foreign reserves to an all time high of nearly $10 billion. Sri Lanka had secured a $1.5 billion 36-month bailout from the International Monetary Fund in June 2016 following a balance of payments (BOP) crisis. The IMF has released $760 million of that loan up to the end of last year. The BOP has improved since the bailout and last year the country recorded a surplus of $2.1 billion in its overall balance of payments after running deficits for two straight years, according to central bank figures. Despite the surplus and record foreign exchange reserves, the local rupee had come under pressure in the past week. The US dollar which sold at 157 rupees last week had gone up to 159 on Thursday sparking fears of inflation which is currently running at 4.2 percent. (Sunday Island 29.4.2018)

Excavations, conducted near the 28th Mile Post of the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa Road by the Department of Archaeology, yielded ruins of an ancient stupa, an image house, two Buddha statues, an image of a bodhisatva and many other antique items. Among the antiques were a moonstone, Carvings of dwarves (Wamana) and balustrades (Koawakgal), Director General of Archaeology, Prof PB Mandawala said. The remains of ruins give credence to the hypothesis that there had been a monastery, but no conclusion could be reached as excavations were in progress, he said. None of the Buddha statues had their siraspatha (a feature over head of the Buddha statue), the professor said. As per the ruins found from the site, the height of the Pratima Grha (image house) should have been at least 10-15 feet. Prof. Mandawala said that the excavators believe that the ruins were of a monastery that had been in existence during the Polonnaruwa Period. “Excavations will continue. There is a need for more delicate excavations. The site would be conserved thereafter,” the Archaeology Director General said. The 28th Mile Post Archaeological reserve is situated on the Eastern side of the Polonnaruwa Athulu Nuwara archaeological complex and the surrounding area had dwelling places and a cemetery. People say that there had been many instances where they found pieces of stone pillars during their surface diggings in the area. (Daily Island, 30.4.2018)

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