Columns

When he was in New York for the UN General Assembly sessions last month, President Sirisena was apparently mindful of the stories in this column about the extravagant spending by successive delegations when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in New York.

No porno movies, no overseas calls (except to Geneva where Sri Lanka was negotiating a new resolution on accountability), and no room service at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York city, located not far from the UN and the Sri Lanka Mission.
Perhaps to keep the expenses low — and to ensure that the delegation was not marching on an empty stomach — there was room service, but mostly deliveries of rice and curry from a Sri Lankan restaurant, not from the expensive Hotel restaurant, essentially Western cuisine.

The final hotel bill may have been far, far less than the Rajapaksa delegation’s outrageous bill of more than $500,000.
As advertised in its website, the Sri Lanka Mission had hired a fleet of limousines — and as specified in the ad, they were all black limos.

The only colour not specified was for vans– perhaps leaving the door open for white vans — a relic of the notorious days of the Rajapaksa regime.The advertisement, which is still on the Sri Lanka mission website, reads: Luxury sedans (4 seater/black); Lincoln Sedans (4 seater/black); Benz Sedans (4 seater/black); SUVs Suburban (7 seater/black); Passenger Van (14 seater); Mini Vans (14 seater); Cargo trucks/Vans; Mini Buses (15 – 20 seater and 50 – 75 seater)

No-show Geetha’s next attraction
Galle District Parliamentarian Geetha Kumarasinghe, the one-time popular actress, does not shy away from the media. She is ever willing to face the cameras.
Her ‘no show’ at a live telecast by a private television channel one morning seems to have caused a stir.
The actress turned politician, one of the talk show hosts, said, had confirmed ten days earlier she would appear but even by the time the programme ended she had not shown up.
One irked presenter did not hide his displeasure. He went as far as to say she is “unfit to be an MP.”
That question of course will be decided by court this week. This is when a ruling is given on a petition where her election as an MP has been challenged on the basis she is a dual citizen (of Switzerland) and hence disqualified from being elected under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
Lady boss hits out at tamashas
The lady boss was not so happy about the so-called international victories and the tamashas that followed to welcome President Maithripala Sirisena back from his visit to the UN — mostly organised by his party stalwarts who had lost elections and were sent to Parliament by the President.
She told a minister from the south, who is known by a brave name, that all the brouhaha was “nonsense”.
What they were in fact celebrating were the fruits of what she had set in motion years ago. Otherwise, such merrymaking would not have been possible, she exhorted.

Boss screams ‘coop, coop’
A leading State venture’s chairman went ballistics when a director presented a Board Paper.
It was taken up for discussion on Friday. He was so angry he shouted, “This is a coop. This is a coop!!” What he meant to say was that it was a coup against him.
Then he declared he would go to the Supreme Court or tell the President. He was miffed that the Board Paper had not been forwarded through him.

A brewing proposal for tea
Declining tea prices have prompted Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake to come up with a new proposal.
He wants the Government to intervene at the tea auction and buy up stocks at the lower prices. He says that the stocks could be kept until prices increase and then released to the market.
Ministers at their weekly meeting on Wednesday discussed the proposal. No decision, however, has been reached.

Canada’s main parties woo the Tamils ahead of polls
For main contenders in Canada’s federal election on October 19, the Tamil community has become a decisive factor.
The Liberal Party and the ruling Conservative Party which are seeking a new mandate have given wide-ranging promises including key policy changes related to the country’s foreign policy if they are voted to power.A Conservative Party’s key candidate who is a current minister said a re-elected Conservative Government would expand the presence of Canada’s High Commission to Sri Lanka by opening a consulate in Jaffna. He was quoted by the Canadian media as saying that “Expanding our diplomatic reach to Jaffna will enable Canadian officials to bolster Canada’s deep commitment to Sri Lankan democracy and civil society in the difficult process ahead.”

Canada’s Liberal Party, welcoming the recent UNHRC report on Sri Lanka, said it would remain committed to working with the international community to ensure that Canada does its part “in seeking justice in Sri Lanka.”
This includes exercising the universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those perpetrators – who may be in Canada — of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The party also promised to implement a travel ban against those who might have been part of the chain of command within the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Bold and beautiful
The recent public debate over the re-implementation of the death penalty for those found guilty of serious crimes, especially against minors, resonated in many a forum in the past weeks.

One of them was the Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World pageant where one of the finalists was asked by the judges what she would do to prevent child abuse, murder and corruption.

The beauty spoke out strongly against those committing what she called horrendous crimes and was quick to endorse her support for the implementation of the death penalty. “Such people must be given the death penalty,” she exhorted.

Former PSD boss acts for IGP

Senior DIG S.M. Wickremesinghe, who once headed the Presidential Security Division (PSD), has been appointed to act for the Inspector General of Police.
The Police Chief is now on a five-day visit to China.

Old pensioners never say die
The Pensions Department organised a National Pensioners Day Symposium on Friday at the Sri Lanka Foundation. There was a panel discussion on the topic of “Towards National Pension Framework”.  The forum included research academics, a few CEOs in the business field and the Director General of the Pensions Department.

There were heated exchanges between the panellists and those from the audience. An angry pensioner questioned the research findings submitted by one of the panel members.  Former Auditor General Gamini Epa who was in the audience alleged that those in the panel who analysed data on the issue lacked understanding of the “ground reality” of the Sri Lankan labour market.
When the argument went on, half of the audience left. The moderator promised the rest that this was the start of such discussion and the debate would continue in the future.