News
A training exercise that ended a life
“Mata godak amarui, hisa pelenna wage.”
Teachers and principals protesting the lack of accountability surrounding the death, in Hambanthota. Pic by Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi
Those were the final words, “I’m in a lot of agony, my head feels as if it will burst”, that Thilakaratne Abeysinghe heard from his beloved Sudu Hamine.
It was around 7.45 on the night of February 17 and when he saw her next, she was dead.
His Sudu Hamine was 52-year-old Rohini Kumari Atapattu, the mother of his four daughters and the Principal of the Tzu Chi National School in Hambantota. (The school takes its name from a foreign organization which had helped rebuild it after the 2004 tsunami.)
Rohini was buried on Monday and the family, caught unaware by this sudden tragedy, is struggling to come to grips with her death.
While an open verdict has been returned on her death and the inquest will be taken up again on March 8, the Police and also the Education Ministry are conducting two separate investigations, the Sunday Times learns.
“Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has ordered a prompt probe into the incident and suspended the Leadership Training Programme until the investigation is completed,” said the Media Secretary of the Education Ministry, Kalpa Gunarathna.
When the Sunday Times asked several crucial questions such as how the organisation, the Sri Lanka Outdoor Adventure School based in Mirigama, which trained this group of Principals was chosen; why Principals need dangerous adventure training; what safety measures to break a fall were in place; and whether there are any medical tests before Principals have to undergo such training, Mr. Gunarathna requested that an official of the ministry’s Human Resources Department should be contacted.
Several calls to this official’s mobile were not answered and when finally the official did so, he said he was not responsible for the arrangements and suggested that other officials should be contacted. With passing the buck seeming to be the practice, the Sunday Times was not able to get answers to these vital questions at the time of going to press.
How did Rohini meet with an untimely death? On Friday, it is from Rohini’s husband, Thilak that we attempt to gather exactly what had happened, even though he too has no clear idea of the details of that fateful evening of February 17, six days earlier.
Having received a letter from the Education Ministry that National School Principals have to undergo a mandatory Team-building and Leadership Programme, Rohini packed her bag with the stipulated stuff including a track suit and canvas shoes and bid goodbye to her family on February 16 and left for the Wayamba Training Centre in Wariyapola.
According to the letter, the programme was to be conducted by the Sri Lanka Outdoor Adventure School based in Mirigama, Thilak said.
The family was not unduly worried as Rohini had already undergone two other training programmes, two years ago and one year ago respectively. Those programmes were conducted “vidimathva” by the army, the first at Rantambe and the other at Kuda Oya in Moneragala. After the first programme she had secured the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Throughout her journey to Wariyapola, she was in touch with them and the next day (17th) even though Thilak tried to call her all morning there was no answer. She, however, called back around 2.45 p.m. and told him that she had just had her lunch and would be having a heavy schedule from 3 p.m. until about 10.30 in the night. She had also spoken to their daughters, while requesting Thilak to meet her at Embilipitiya the next evening as she was returning then.
It was around 7.30 that night (17th) that Thilak got a call from a male, gently urging him not to get “kalabala” (upset) and that his “nona” had been in an accident. He was requested to call another mobile. Frantically, he tried his wife’s mobile, but there was no answer. In a panic, he called the mobile number given to him. It was answered by another Principal who said “baya wenna epa, podi anathurak wela” and explained that his wife was in hospital and she was by her side. On his anxious plea, she had handed over the mobile to his wife who told him that she was in much pain.
Up to that time no one else, not the organisers of the programme nor the Education Ministry, had informed him that his wife had been injured during the training programme, says Thilak.
From here and there, Thilak gathered the terrible details – the incident had occurred just after 6 p.m. Rohini had been taken to the Wariyapola Hospital and was then transferred to the Kurunegala Hospital where a CT Scan had been done, and then she had been transferred to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL).
From what the family gathered, Rohini was admitted to the NHSL at about 11 p.m. and died soon after, while Thilak was still in Tangalle, having quickly arranged transport and leaving Hambantota in a rush. He was able to come to the NHSL around 1.30 a.m. on the 18th, only to be barred, despite his tearful pleas, by the NHSL security personnel from entering the NHSL and seeing his wife’s body.
At the NHSL were several Education Ministry officials. Devastated and in tears, Thilak was told by the officials to accompany them to the home of an official in Kottawa.
It was only around 10.30 a.m. on the 18th during the police investigation at the NHSL mortuary that Thilak was asked to identify his wife’s body. “She was in a blue T-shirt that had been given by the organisers for the activities,” says distraught Thilak.
Attempting to piece together the final hours of his wife, he has spoken to many and been told that she along with several others climbed a hill to shimmy down a rope. The Judicial Medical Officer at the inquest had said that she had fallen from a height of about 5-6 feet.
As the family strives to deal with their loss and grief, there is an urgent need to find out what happened that evening at the Wayamba Training Centre.
| Standards to follow | |
| By Oshani Alwis
‘Sri Lankan Standard – Adventure Tourism – Safety Management Requirements’ came into being in July 2017, said the Acting Director-General of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Nayana Satharasinghe. Explaining that standards are not compulsory but meant to be used voluntarily, she said that regulatory bodies, however, can use these standards as their criteria. The SLS 21101 published in July 2017 states: “Adventure Tourism Activities involve an accepted, inherent element of risk and challenge. Taking risks brings reward but also brings dangers. In order to maximise the rewards, adventure tourism activity providers need to operate as safely as practicable. “International standards of ISO/TR 21102 and ISO 21103 provide for adventure tourism activity providers to plan, communicate about, and deliver adventure tourism activity as safely as practicable.” Purpose of International Standards: To set out the minimum requirements for a safety management system for adventure tourism activity providers; safety management system provides a framework for the delivery of safe adventure tourism activities; and to analyse their adventure tourism activities, understand participants’ requirements, define the process that ensures safety and keep the process under control. Requirements: A provider can use this international standard for the following – to enhance safety performance; to meet expectations of participants and staff safety; to demonstrate safe practice; and to support compliance with the applicable legal requirements. Risk treatment: Process to modify risks – avoiding the risk by deciding not to start or continue with the activity that gives risk to the risk; removing the risk source; and retaining the risk by informed decisions. Safety: The state in which the risk of harm or damage is limited to an acceptable level. Adventure activity for tourism purposes that involves a degree of instruction or leadership and a deliberate accepted element of risk. Adventure tourism activity provider: Individual or organisation having overall responsibility for all aspects of the provision of adventure tourism activities. Actions to address risks and opportunities: Ensure the Adventure Tourism Standard Management System can achieve its intended outcome and prevent or reduce undesired effects. |
| A shortage of answers | |
“No,” seems to be the resounding answer to the following questions which the Sunday Times attempted to clarify:
When asked by the Sunday Times, the Director-General of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Dr. Champika Amarasinghe said that regulations should be mandatory to ensure the safety of people who participate in such programmes. There should be guidelines not only on personal protection, but also other protective measures are needed when carrying out these programmes. The participants should be screened to ensure that they are medically fit and have no non-communicable diseases which could result in heart attacks etc during strenuous activity. The gear such as ropes and safety equipment should be checked regularly, she pointed out. Meanwhile, Marketing Advisor Cyril de Silva of the Outward Bound Trust of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Business Development Centre which conduct “adventure as a training medium to develop skills” told the Sunday Times that they are registered under the Company Registration Act and also the Trust Ordinance. Every two years, Outward Bound International based in the United Kingdom carries out a safety and quality review of their activities. He was of the view that in recent times many adventure activity companies have mushroomed in Sri Lanka, easily more than 25, and no one knew who was checking their activities. There is no licensing scheme for adventure activity companies in Sri Lanka as far as he knew, Mr. de Silva said. According to Mr. de Silva, a week before the Outward Bound Trust of Sri Lanka holds a programme, its team checks every detailed application submitted by the participants which would include their medical history. They would group the participants so that before the training programme they can advise those who are medically-unfit not to engage in the more strenuous activities. “Outward-bound training is a management training programme for trust-and-team building inclusive of group games, with no classroom activities and everything being done outdoors,” he said, explaining that there is a demonstration by their staff before any activity is launched. Mr. de Silva said that the safety precautions are stringent – the participants have to wear a helmet, harness and a carabiner or karabiner which is a specialised type of shackle. The instructors meticulously check whether the helmet and other equipment are strapped securely, while there are also safety ropes and safety lines. Citing the example of abseiling, he added that around eight of their instructors would be at the top where the participant would start his/her descent, with four more at the bottom. There would also be a doctor and a Safety Auditor. |