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Former opposition MP and former Secretary-General of the Workers’ Party of Singapore, Mr JB Jeyaretnam died of heart failure early Tuesday, Sep 30th.

[Singapore's opposition stalwart J. B. Jeyaretnam]

A Sri Lankan descent, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was born in 1926, was raised partly in what is now Malaysia and received his law degree from University College in London in 1951.

On May 10, 2008, The New York Times Published the following profile of J. B. Jeyaretnam: Starting a Party, and Hoping to Crash Singapore’s Parliament Again

தமிழில்: ஜே.பி. ஜெயரட்னம்: சிங்கப்பூரின் முதுபெரும் அரசியல்வாதி

“General Fonseka’s opinions seem to be inconsistent even with the avowed policy of the present government, expressed most recently this week by the President at the U.N. General Assembly, that the war is against terrorism and the LTTE, and not the Tamil people; that the restoration of democracy and development in the North and East is a priority; and that a political solution must be evolved through the APRC which involves devolution, power-sharing, and a recognition that Sri Lanka belongs to all communities,” said The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), commenting on recent remarks by Sri Lanka Army Chief Sarath Fonseka In Canada’s National Post.

Full Text of CPA Statement:

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by and strongly disapproves of statements made by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, General Sarath Fonseka, in an interview with Stewart Bell of the National Post newspaper of Canada, published on 23rd September 2008.

In this interview, General Fonseka has made some disquieting observations of a highly political nature. Among other things, General Fonseka has stated that,

“I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people…We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country…We are also a strong nation … They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things.”

These sentiments, which General Fonseka has made public on several other occasions in interactions with local and international media, are cause for alarm in at least two respects. Firstly, the fact that the Commander of the Army feels free to represent his personal opinions and enter into public discussion about policy matters that are constitutionally the proper domain of the political executive, and indeed is allowed to do so repeatedly without any restraint by the political executive. Secondly, the highly contentious and insensitive nature of what is apparently an ideological perspective that is held by General Fonseka about the nature of the Sri Lankan polity, the political anatomy of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and the means of its resolution.

In regard to the first concern, it should be noted that while constitutional practice in Sri Lanka leaves much to be desired from the perspective of both democratic values and postulates of constitutional government, one cardinal principle of democratic government that has at least hitherto been adhered to is that of civilian control over the military. Thus policy-making and the political direction of any governmental programme involving the military are matters for elected officials of the executive, who are, moreover, responsible and accountable to Parliament and the people for both such policy and the conduct of the military within the framework of government policy, the law, and the Constitution. A necessary implication of this principle is that members of the armed forces desist from engaging in political debate through public expression of private opinions. The military is enjoined by legal duty and constitutional obligation to the direction and control of the civilian political executive; it is not their task either to make policy or to express preferences.

We recall that on the one occasion in this country in which the military attempted to overstep its role in 1962, that attempt was brought swiftly, firmly, and decisively under control by a democratically elected and legally constituted government led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which is also the principal party of the current governing coalition. For General Fonseka to be given the unbridled leeway to volunteer political opinions about the ethnic conflict is therefore not merely a clear violation of a fundamental principle of democratic government; it also suggests that the present government does not apprehend the chilling dangers of allowing military men to venture into the arena of political debate. It is because of the fact that Sri Lanka has succeeded in upholding the principle of civilian control over the military that we have escaped the unfortunate experiences of neighbouring countries such as Pakistan.

Quite apart from this departure from established principles about the proper boundaries of civil-military relations in a democracy are the contumelious political opinions of an ethnic-ideological nature that are evidently held, and abrasively articulated, by General Fonseka. By making politically uninformed statements about which community ‘owns’ Sri Lanka, General Fonseka demonstrates the discredited majoritarian mindset that views the Tamil and other minority communities with a lack of respect and dignity. It also displays his ignorance and utter insensitivity to the political aspirations of a people the government is claiming to liberate, aspirations based on equality and dignity. They also lend credence to the fundamental argument that military men necessarily do not have the competence to engage in public policy debates, especially about a matter as complex and fundamental in Sri Lankan politics as the resolution of the internal ethnic conflict in the context of ethnic and religious diversity.

General Fonseka’s opinions seem also to be inconsistent even with the avowed policy of the present government, expressed most recently this week by the President at the U.N. General Assembly, that the war is against terrorism and the LTTE, and not the Tamil people; that the restoration of democracy and development in the North and East is a priority; and that a political solution must be evolved through the APRC which involves devolution, power-sharing, and a recognition that Sri Lanka belongs to all communities.

For these reasons, we deplore and condemn in the strongest possible terms the abhorrent and unacceptable statements made by General Fonseka; call upon the President to take immediate action to prevent statements of this nature being made in the future; and to ensure that public confidence in the government’s commitment to and respect for the proper constitutional boundaries between the civil and military realms is restored.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) was formed in the firm belief that there is an urgent need to strengthen institution- and capacity-building for good governance and conflict transformation in Sri Lanka and that non-partisan civil society groups have an important and constructive contribution to make to this process. The primary role envisaged for the Centre in the field of public policy is a pro-active and interventionary one, aimed at the dissemination and advocacy of policy alternatives for non-violent conflict resolution and democratic governance. Accordingly, the work of the Centre involves a major research component through which the policy alternatives advocated are identified and developed.

For more information, please visit http://www.cpalanka.org

The Government Agent of Jaffna has taken measures to ensure Navarathri festive supplies are available sufficiently in the Jaffna peninsula this year, according to Colombo Tamil daily Thinakkural.

Government Agent (GA) of Jaffna, K. Ganesh has requested priority for container ships carrying festive supplies, Thinakkural added. Items arriving are to be distributed through Multipurpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) outlets across the peninsula.

Navarathri festival begins on Sep 30th and continues for nine days.

[Savouries served at a Navarathri festival – file pic HA]

Thinakkural of Sep 26th, said people of the peninsula paid substantially higher prices in recent years for Groundnuts (Kadalai), Black gram (uzhunthu), Mung bean (payaru), Jaggery (sakkarai), rice flakes (aval), candied sugar (katkanndu), Raw Rice (pachchai arisi), raisins (munthirikai vaththal) and other Navarathri festive spiritual items for pooja and prayers due to shortages, regularly and particularly during Navarathri.

Situation of finding adequate supplies of Navarathri items in Vanni is further grim than the peninsula, according to media reports.

Convoys carrying essential items into Vanni for the displaced civilians have been facing delays and denials for several weeks, at the Sri Lanka military check point in Omanthai.

On Friday Sep 26th, a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report said, the first convoy of food supplies since 16 September will travel under the UN flag to areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north in the next few days, according to Neil Buhne, the UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka.

One civilian killed, four babies among the injured in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aerial bombing, North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), said in an emailed statement today.

The statement further said:

A father was killed and his wife and two young children were among the eight civilians badly injured in an aerial bombing carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force at 12.10pm on 27 September. Among the injured are two more babies.

The bombing took place in Raththinapuram just 300 meters from the Kilinochchi town center and the smoke rising from the bombing site could be seen from the town center. Kilinochchi town that includes Raththinapuram is densely populated with 25,000 people.

A Hindu temple is among the 14 buildings badly damaged by the bombing. The remaining 13 buildings affected were private homes. Two of the 13 homes were reduced rubbles.

The ICRC, the only international agency left in Kilinochchi had recently shifted its office to Raththinapuram following heavy shelling of its old site on A9 road. The bomb site is less than 200 meters from its new office.

Full Text of Dept. of State Briefing by Richard Boucher on Sri Lanka

Leaders outline humanitarian concerns

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(New York, New York)
September 24, 2008

ON-THE-RECORD BRIEFING

Assistant Secretary of State for
South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher
On Sri Lanka

Waldorf Astoria
New York, New York

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: We had a meeting of the Sri Lanka Co-Chairs today. That’s the United States, Norway, the European Union, and Japan. We meet regularly on the subject of Sri Lanka, and we had a meeting today in New York because, for many of us, it was convenient to be here and others, like our Japanese colleagues, were willing to fly in.

We had a very thorough discussion for about two hours of the whole situation and outlook in Sri Lanka. I think it’s characterized, first and foremost, by a notable convergence of views, both on the short-term needs and the long-term. But we wanted to say that one of the areas that all of us emphasized were the immediate humanitarian concerns, and that involves several issues. The fighting has been expanding, heading towards the north. We’re placing a lot of emphasis right now on the protection of human rights for civilians who are caught in the fighting, and the democratic government’s responsibility for extending – for respecting and extending human rights protection to the people in the areas that they take over.

The second is humanitarian access for – to care for the needs of those who are displaced and affected by the fighting, where both sides need to make sure that they’re not catching civilians in the crossfire, that they’re letting people go to places where they can be safe, and that humanitarian deliveries can take place for these populations that are affected by the fighting.

And the third is sort of a corollary to that, and that’s our very strong support for United Nations organizations and humanitarian actors who are trying to take care of the displaced people and people affected by the fighting, working in government areas, working with the government. But we think they themselves play a very important role.

We’re all having meetings in New York with representatives of the Sri Lankan Government. Some of the parties are in touch with the Tamil Tigers during the course of their activities, and we are making these points – each of us, I think – to the parties that we speak to, and particularly this week in New York, to the representatives of the Sri Lankan Government who are here. And our ambassadors, envoys in Colombo, are making them as well.

So we wanted to get out on the record from the Co-Chairs that we did have a meeting, but also to emphasize the humanitarian concerns at this particular moment.

QUESTION: I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying close enough attention at the very beginning. Who were you meeting with? (Laughter.)

QUESTION: It’s about Sri Lanka.

MODERATOR: I’m glad we’ve got that on the record. (Laughter.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Am I supposed to use the name in the response?

QUESTION: Yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: We were meeting with the Co-Chairs, as they’re called, that – who work on Sri Lanka, and they were Co-Chairs of the meeting. I can’t remember –

QUESTION: 2003?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: 2003. But it’s the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway. That’s actually kind of in reverse order, because Norway is the most frequent.

QUESTION: You don’t call it the Quad?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, we don’t. There’s too much confusion over words like that.

QUESTION: Okay. And then there was someone from the Sri Lankan Government who was there, too?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, this is a meeting of the foreigners who are involved in the process. But we each are meeting with representatives of the Sri Lankan Government. I met yesterday with President Rajapaksa. Other delegations are meeting with other representatives.

QUESTION: So you are concerned about government activities? That’s what you’re –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, we’re – well, we’ve talked before about the human rights situation there and the government’s responsibility. But I think at this moment it’s just protection of human rights. It’s recognition the that the government, especially as a democratic government, as it moves forward militarily, needs to pay special attention to the protection of human rights for the citizens in the areas that they take over, special attention as they proceed with the fighting to respect the civilian population, and also to work with the international organizations, the United Nations especially, to make sure that the humanitarian assistance that these people need is provided in a smooth fashion.

QUESTION: Who’s in touch with the Tamil Tigers? The Norwegians?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Yeah, some of the other members of the Co-Chair have various contacts.

QUESTION: But you haven’t had direct contact?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Not the United States, no.

QUESTION: Who others besides the Norwegians have contacts with the Tamil Tigers? Is it all the others? I don’t –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, it’s – the Japanese have had contacts in the past. I think you’d have to check with each one sort of where their current contacts stand. But one of the reasons for making the humanitarian concerns public is so that the Tigers get the message, as well as the people on the government side.

QUESTION: Do you have any statistics on the number of displaced people sort of recently by this conflict, how many people have recently been killed, why you’re making this statement now?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: There’s an estimate of about 200,000 displaced people. And frankly, I don’t know if that’s kind of the official UN estimate or if that’s just kind of the ballpark figure that we’re working with these days. But as the fighting continues, which it looks like it will, I think there’s concern there’ll be more and more.

QUESTION: And the death toll – do you have any –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, I don’t.

QUESTION: Civilians?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No.

QUESTION: Okay.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Okay?

QUESTION: When was the last time that you guys had one of these meetings?

QUESTION: 2000.

QUESTION: Last year?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, it was this year, wasn’t it? No, no, we do this periodically. Six to nine months ago. I can’t –

QUESTION: It was this year?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Might have been late last year.

QUESTION: Might have been last calendar year. I can see that that is a real burning issue. (Laughter.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, it’s just we – you know, we don’t necessarily use the meetings –

STAFF: You were just there visiting to take this up in August, weren’t you, Assistant Secretary Boucher?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Yeah. No, I was just out there earlier this year. It might have been December. It might have been January, frankly.

QUESTION: So that was today. And these were the foreign ministers of – the Japanese Foreign Minister is not here.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, this is not foreign ministers. This is the Co-Chairs. So for the United States it was myself, Richard Boucher –

QUESTION: And your equivalents?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Well, for the EU, Commissioner Ferraro-Waldner was there part of the time. For the Norwegians, Minister Erik Solheim was there.

QUESTION: He’s their Foreign Minister?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: No, he’s the Minister for Development. He was there for, again, most of the time. And then for the Japanese, it’s Yasushi Akashi, who is their senior diplomat representative, and many of you know of his many achievements in other areas.

QUESTION: You mean like the Cambodian (inaudible)?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I’ll ignore the comment.

(end transcript)

Source: US Dept. of State

Gherkins and peppers from Ampara soon to be enjoyed by McDonalds and Heinz customers in Europe, New Zealand and Japan

Colombo, September 22, 2008: Sri Lanka’s Hayleys Group and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have successfully completed a six month pilot project linking 160 farmers in conflict affected Eastern Province to global agricultural supply chains. Together, they have cultivated 20 acres of gherkins, 10 acres of jalapeno peppers, and 20 acres of pineapples, which will soon be appreciated globally by customers of McDonalds, Burger King, Unilever, Subway, Hungry Jack, Loteria, Sanyo and Heinz.

The Hayleys Group is the sole exporter of gherkins from Sri Lanka, processing more than 8,000 tons a year, which makes it the second largest exporter in Asia. Sri Lankan gherkins supply well-known international brands such as McDonalds, Burger King, Unilever and Heinz

The objective of the project has been to motivate farmers in poorer areas of Ampara and Moneragala to embrace modern agricultural practices and to empower them to improve their incomes substantially from agriculture by switching to cash crops that are in demand. Mr. Bandula, a farmer of Ruhunugama, Ampara made a Rs 22,000 net profit from cultivating 40 perches of gherkins for two months. “This is a great help for me and my family as it will help me settle some of my defaulted loans,” he said. Another farmer, Mr. Selvathurai from Central Camp was happy about the project as he received inputs on credit, was able to plant and knew he had a buyer for his produce.

USAID and Hayleys have enabled 160 farmers to produce new varieties which meet higher quality standards. Since the launch of the project in April 2008, these traditional paddy farming families have earned a substantial additional income. Their relationship with Hayleys provides a direct link between the producers and the buyers without having to utilize intermediaries. “Hayleys’ direct links to export markets offers tremendous opportunities for Sri Lankan farmers to make the transition from subsistence to commercial farming. I believe this partnership has demonstrated that we together can build a value chain that will bring sustainable economic growth to Eastern Sri Lanka,” USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn said at the closing ceremony for the pilot project.

The partnership with USAID has provided an incentive for Hayleys to expand its supply network in Ampara and Moneragala and develop a new relationship with farmers in the East. This has proven a win-win for both sides, and Hayleys will now replicate and expand this successful model. Mr. Anil Wickramanayake, Managing Director of Hayleys/Sunfrost, has told his partners that: “in view of the success of this pilot project, we are now planning to grow 500 acres of high value vegetables involving 2,000 farmer out-growers in Ampara and Moneragala districts to supply export markets covering 28 countries.”