Columns

• Tourist guest houses suddenly shut down and visitors sent back; contact tracing disrupted as COVID patient misleads officials
• SJB rebels enable Govt. to get controversial amendment passed with two-thirds majority; tough action urged against rebel MPs
• All Govt. MPs sign petition, calling on President Rajapaksa to pardon Duminda Silva

 

The main entrance to the Yala National Park at Palatupana. Pic by Rahul Samantha Httiarachchi

This town forms the main gateway to the Ruhuna National Park better known as Yala, just 65 kilometres away. As usual, it was not closed for drought in September this year due to rains. Tourist resorts that dot the outer fringes of the park where wild animals roam, shut down for months due to the lockdown after the outbreak of Covid–19, are open again. Guests are trickling in and bookings showed a marked increase. Most resort operators felt they could at least break even if not make profits. That would have helped thousands of their employees and prevent their ventures going into rack and ruin.

On the road to Kirinda where the turn off to Yala begins, rows of converted double cabs, with decked seats, are parked one behind the other. They are a rare display that there are no customers. Their agents stop vehicles to ask whether one is needed to tour the park. One day last week, there were only four such vehicles that carried visitors into the national park. Opposite the Wildlife Conservation Department’s Palatupana office, which would usually see rows of SUVs, Jeeps and Land Rovers waiting for tickets, the spaces are empty. Yet, there was a trickle of double cabs.

All this changed last Wednesday night. At the main resorts which are within the park perimeters, guests were rudely woken up just two hours before midnight. They were politely told that they should leave the next morning. Staff telephoned those who had made advance bookings asking them not to come. The tourist resorts were all empty by Thursday morning. There was no business for them. The queue of converted double cabs became longer at the Yala junction. Most guests hurried home to Colombo through the Magampura-Kottawa expressway that has made this historic district closer to Colombo. Given the 100 kmph speed limit, the journey is just two hours and ten minutes.

The reason — Covid-19 invaded the deep south. A fixer attached to a tented resort in the jungle (name withheld) had contacted the deadly coronavirus. He was at this resort helping guests to arrange tours to Yala through vehicle operators. Tissamaharama’s Supervising Public Health Inspector Anurasiri Wijemuni related the sad tale to the Sunday Times, “ On October 13 (Tuesday), the 35-year-old male, Kumudu (not his real name) contacted us. He is a resident of a housing scheme near Tissamaharama.  He was showing signs of Covid-19. He was admitted to the Tissamaharama Base Hospital, where a PCR test was carried out. On Wednesday October 14, the report said he was positive. He was transferred to the Hambantota hospital. As a result, 66 employees were put on self-quarantine at the resort. A further 37 associates were also placed on self-quarantine.

“The youth has been serving as a guide and coordinates the resort guests visiting Yala to purchase tickets. He admitted that his last assignment before affliction was to escort guests from a western embassy to Yala from October 7 to 12. On October 10, he had visited Yala with them. This is wrong. We have found that he had been showing signs of Covid-19 since October 5. We have found out that he had seen a doctor on October 6 and thereafter on October 11. We are still trying to confirm how he contracted the disease. We are worried we have still not been able to determine how he contacted the deadly disease.”

Dr Prabath Liyanarachchi, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) of Tissamaharama, told the Sunday Times, “The patient says he never went to Minuwangoda and denied that he attended a party there. His family members too back this claim. Still we have not found out how the patient contracted the disease. We are investigating. We have planned to conduct random PCR tests in T1ssamaharama bus station, shops, and other crowded areas. We do not want to take chances. So far more than 400 tests have been carried out.”

The Sunday Times learnt the health authorities here were told that Kumudu contacted the coronavirus when he attended a wedding in Minuwangoda. Kumudu had shared liquor with the guests from the same glass at two different functions. When he returned to Tissamaharama, he had visited a fair which is usually attended by more than 2,000 people in the area. Contact tracing is under way with Navy personnel from their Kirinda base helping in the task.

CMOH Liyanarachchi said, “We (health officials) don’t believe the claims of the patient. There are records that he has shown COVID-19 symptoms before the arrival of the group of diplomats. We identified them. They have been subjected PCR tests. Their test reports are negative. Another version we have heard is that some residents from Minuwangoda have arrived at the resort before the diplomatic group. We also found out the virus load found in the resort employee was lesser than the other people who contracted Covid–19 from Minuwangoda. The cluster has high virus load, which is similar to the Covid-19 viruses found in India.”

It is abundantly clear, nomenclatures like “community spread” notwithstanding, that the Covid-19 has spread to the deep south. One strong possibility is from Minuwangoda. Another is the likelihood of contact with seagoing fishermen. It remains a mystery why Kumudu is not telling the truth to the health officials so any spread could be stopped. It would be sufficient to say somebody somewhere bungled. It is no secret that the explosion of Covid-19 at Brandix later spread to other surrounding areas resulting in lockdowns and curfews. Whoever was responsible for this grossly callous disregard for health guidelines helped in the proliferation of the deadly disease, now to even the deep south. This week has shown it erupting in different areas of the country. In Hambantota district, health officials are deeply worried about the fear of more cases. What has happened here is all the more reason why the government should conduct a detailed probe and punish those who have placed the lives of the people of this country in peril. Their power and influence should not be allowed to stand in the way. They have defeated President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s continued efforts to keep figures of Covid–19 victims low. They are now breaking out in different parts of the country. That it has stymied his efforts is to say it mildly.

The bad news came when the government is focused on an ambitious plan to increase room capacity to accommodate tourists visiting Yala. Just next to the Cinnamon Wild Yala, a popular 13-acre property in the jungle with chalets owned by John Keells, a blue-chip company, work is afoot day and night near the beachfront for a super luxury Hilton. High spending tourists could fly to Mattala and chopper down to the resort said to be a $ 1000 dollar a night luxury unit. This and other projects will create 240 more rooms. All this with the Yala national park in mind.

However, it is still a sad story at the country’s premier national park. It shows signs of an ecological disaster of sorts. This year, the park was not closed for the drought period in mid-September due to substantial rainfall. It is now over and drought has come in. This has led to tanks like Buttuwa and Gonagala going completely dry, Surrounding Buttuwa, vast tracts of trees and plants are dying. In this tank, earlier water remained throughout year. Bunds have been breached. Roads have been washed out. Earth moving equipment and pumps are being utilised to pump water but the poor maintenance of the park is clearly visible to anyone discerning. There appears to be poor management with ticket collections going straight to government coffers. If action is not taken to avert the deterioration, filling the resorts with tourists will be of no use.

That Covid-19 has spread far and wide after the Brandix explosion is public knowledge notwithstanding many a distraction. In Colombo, both the Peliyagoda fish market, which provides the fish requirements for Greater Colombo area, and the Manning Market, the wholesale vegetable centre in Pettah, have been shut down. On Friday, the fisheries harbour in Beruwala was closed and this coastal town was brought under a lockdown. Thereafter, the Galle Fisheries harbour too has been shut down. That the deadly virus is threatening different areas here is cause for serious public concern. Adjoining area of Payagala, Beruwala and Alutgama have also been brought under curfew.

Added to this were the areas of Mulleriya and Gothathatuwa. After a Covid-19 victim was identified at Colombo Hilton, their premises were disinfected. Health authorities urged hotels in Colombo district not to host functions.

In the Matugama Divisional Secretary’s division, the villages of Ovitigala, Badugama and Badugama-new colony have been declared as isolated areas on Sunday, October 18. A “quarantine curfew,” as officials now call it, was imposed on the Kuliyapaitiya, Pannala, Giriulla, Narammala and Dummalasuriya police areas on Tuesday, October 20. The Fort police station was temporarily closed after an officer tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday October 21.  A few hours later, the station began functioning after disinfectants were used to clear the place.

A “Quarantine curfew” was imposed in the entire Gampaha district from 10.00 pm Wednesday, October 21. (The curfew will remain until 5.00 am Monday, October 26 ). Gorakgoda, Beragama, Dabligoda, Kekulandala- North Grama Niladari areas in Agalawatte DS area and Bellana in Palindanuwara DS area were declared as “isolated areas” on Wednesday, October 21. A curfew was imposed in Mattakkuliya, Modara, Wellampitiya, Bloemendhal and Grand pass areas on Thursday October 22. A curfew was also imposed in Kotahena the same day. Now Maradana and Dematagoda have also come under a lockdown.

20A: President neutralises opposition

The spurt in Covid-19 cases came as the Government’s priority attention was focused on the passage of the 20th Amendment this week. Within the alliance itself there were doubts about its passage. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met among others Ministers Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Udaya Gammanpila to discuss their demand that provisions relating to debarring a dual citizen from contesting an election should remain, as entrenched in 19A, and not dropped from 20A.

They later held a news conference. Minister Weerawansa said, “We know the dual citizenship holders being banned from contesting elections came with evil intentions. We do have an academic interest in the matter since we do not want a dual citizen ruling the country.” He said that a group – Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Udaya Gammanpila, Tissa Vitharana, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Asanka Navaratne, Gevindu Kumaratunga and I  met the President last Wednesday (October 21). We had earlier decided that we would vote in favour of 20A except for the clause dealing with dual citizens. However, President Rajapaksa told us “that the clause restricting dual citizens from contesting elections would be incorporated in the new Constitution. “ He added “therefore believing that the President is a leader who would act according to his word, we decided collectively to vote for 20A.”

Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said the dual citizen issue was the one that was not addressed earlier. President Rajapaksa told us that a clause restricting those holding dual citizenship from contesting elections would be introduced in the new constitution to be presented in 2021. “We have placed our trust in the President. We decided therefore to vote for 20A in its entirety,” he said.

Two different aspects that transpire as a result of the dissenting views of this group are of interest. One is the fact that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leadership went on the basis that their votes may not be available. Thus, they successfully worked out for more numbers from the opposition to support 20A. The other — despite their campaign together with the clergy, they failed to have the clause (in 19A) banning dual citizens from contesting inserted in 20A. This was a clear victory for SLPP strategist and ideologue Basil Rajapaksa. He will not only enter Parliament but will also be the Minister responsible for economic affairs. Jayantha Ketagoda, a National List MP will resign to make way for him once Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena places his assent on 20A. There are also the prospects of a few other senior members being sworn in. Though the ceiling on the number of ministers is 30, there are only 25 at present.

Ahead of the 20A discussion in Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday, there were two meetings of some significance. One was the government parliamentary group on Tuesday (October 20). President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not present and it was chaired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He called upon Justice Minister Ali Sabry to explain the decisions made by the Cabinet to move changes to three different provisions on 20A. One was to ensure a provision that 30 Ministers of the Cabinet and 40 State Ministers and deputies would not be changed. The second was to ensure that only matters of importance to national security and natural disasters should be moved as “urgent bills.” The third was to ensure no changes are made to the Audit Commission and its functions.

A diversion at the meeting came when the Chief Government Whip’s office staff circulated a petition for MPs signature. It was up to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to urge that former MP, Duminda Silva, now serving a sentence for murder, be released from jail. The High Court found Silva and four of his associates guilty of the killing of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others. This was during the local election campaign of 2011. The decision of the three-judge High Court Trial-at-Bar was divided with Judges Padmini Ranawake and Charith Morais deciding on a guilty verdict on five of the suspects and Judge Shiran Gooneratne acquitting all suspects of all charges. Premachandra was the father of Hirunika Premachandra, the Colombo district’s former MP.

The fact that the Chief Government Whip’s office staff circulated the petition and almost all MPs who attended the group meeting placed their signatures makes clear the exercise had official blessings. When the petition goes to President Rajapaksa, the release of Duminda Silva is thus a strong likelihood. When President Maithripala Sirisena was in office, he pardoned Jude Shramantha Jayamaha, the murderer of Yvonne Jonsson, a 19-year-old Swedish girl living in Sri Lanka.

A more significant meeting at the (Committee Room 1) of Parliamentary complex was that of MPs of the SLPP on Wednesday. The meeting was under way when Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived. He joined Ministers Dinesh Gunawardena, Johnston Fernando and SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam at the podium.

Minister G.L. Peiris made a presentation. At one point, it became necessary both for Justice Minister Ali Sabry and State Minister Susil Premjayantha to prompt him on different aspects of 20A. He was missing the point. One MP stood up to complain that some of his colleagues were making media statements that were damaging to the Government. He charged that they were trying to destroy the Government. Gevindu Kumaratunga (who represents Yuthukama) rose to declare that the accusation was not fair.

He said he was only making his viewpoint known and there was nothing wrong in it. S.B. Dissanayake said that “we have agreed on many things.” State Minister Sarath Weerasekera said 20A was intended to empower the President. Charitha Herath noted that those making public statements should be careful. Others who spoke were Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Susil Premjayantha. An important feature at this meeting was the call for each SLPP MP to sign a declaration that they would vote for 20A. All those present placed their signatures.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was passed on Thursday night (22), with 156 votes in favour and 65 against. With eight MPs from the Opposition also voting for the Bill, the Government achieved the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment.

Seven of the opposition MPs who voted for the Bill were Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) members including its Assistant Secretary and National List MP Diana Gamage.  The eighth member was Puttalam District MP Ali Sabri Raheem who contested under the Muslim National Alliance also affiliated to the ACMC-led by Rishad Bathiudeen.

The six others were Anuradhapura District SJB MP Ishak Rahuman affiliated to the ACMC, SLMC affiliated Digamadulla District MPs Mohamed Harees and Faizal Cassim,  Trincomalee District MP M.S. Thowfeek,  Batticaloa District MP Nazeer Ahamed, and  Tamil Progressive Alliance affiliated  Badulla District MP Aravindh Kumar.

The only absentee from the Government side was former President and Polonnaruwa District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Maithripala Sirisena, one of the main proponents of 19A. He is learnt to have written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that it was against his conscience to support 20A since he was responsible for 19A. That seemed an about turn since the SLFP had formally decided to support 20A just days ahead of it being debated in Parliament.

ACMC Leader Rishad Bathiudeen, who is currently in remand, was brought to Parliament wearing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) after Parliament’s Serjeant-at-Arms wrote to the Health Ministry Secretary, asking him to make arrangements to enable the MP to attend Parliament sessions. Bathiudeen was seated in a special seat in a corner of the Chamber in line with social distancing guidelines. He voted against the amendment. Whilst in Parliament, he rang some of his party stalwarts and sought their views on current developments.

A separate vote was taken on the clause removing restrictions on dual citizens to enter Parliament. This too was passed with 157 votes in favour and 64 against. ACMC Digamadulla District parliamentarian S.M.M. Muszhaaraff, who voted against 20A, however, voted with the Government in favour of the removing dual citizenship clause allowing holders to contest elections.

During the third reading of the Bill (Committee Stage), the Government introduced several amendments in accordance with the determination given by the Supreme Court, and several more amendments decided by the Cabinet of Ministers.  The third reading too, was passed with 156 votes in favour and 65 against.

SJB MPs call for tough action against rebels

The voting pattern laid bare the first crack within the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) led by Sajith Premadasa. He was outraged by Anuradhapura parliamentarian Ishak Rahman, who came first in the Anuradhapura district, at the August parliamentary elections. “Ombawa mama Anuradhapurata avilla dana gassanawa or I will come to Anuradhapura and make you kneel,” he warned angrily. He charged that he had crossed the red line. Rahman hit back by saying “I am not a member of your party. You did not even help me when I was contesting.”

After Parliament voted, Premadasa met his MPs. One man who was debarred from the meeting was Digamadulla District All Ceylon Makkal Congress member S.M.M. Muszhaaraff.  When the vote to enable dual citizens to contest elections came up at the Committee stage, he had voted in favour bringing the vote to 157. He had claimed it was a mistake. The Muslim MPs who supported had given their consent to support many weeks earlier. In addition, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem met the group of MPs from his party and the ACMC in the Parliament complex. It then became clear again that they were backing 20A. ACMC leader Rishad Bathiuddin, the Sunday Times learnt, made overtures to SLPP leaders with little success. That made further clear that he was not a party to arrangements by MPs from his own party to support 20A. Thus, there was no deal between him and the government leaders.

The worst shock for Premadasa came when Diana Gamage, whom he named to Parliament on the SJB National List, supported 20A. Contrary to earlier claims that those backing the amendments would not receive any portfolios, she is being tipped to be a State Minister. It was her party Apey Jana Balavegaya with the telephone symbol which Premadasa and his backers obtained. It was renamed Samagi Jana Balavegaya though the symbol remained the same. Two other SJB parliamentarians who chose to vote for 20A – Harsha Vithanage and Chaminda Wijesiri – changed their mind after a brief meeting with Premadasa.

On Friday, SJB members signed a petition urging their leader Premadasa to praise SLMC’s Hakeem and ACMC’s Bathiuddin for voting against the 20A in Parliament. However, they have urged the sacking of other MPs from the two parties. If the two leaders do not heed their plea, the MPs have said that the two parties should be removed from the SJB. This is whilst Mano Ganesan has already expelled Aravindh Kumar from the Tamil Progressive Alliance.

SJB  General Secretary Ranjit Madduma Bandara issued a statement after a meeting chaired by Premadasa on Friday. It said, “The MPs of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) held a special meeting on October 23, 2020. The meeting was held at Committee room 02 in Parliament. In the meeting following decisions were taken. The Samgi Jana Balavegaya Parliamentary MPs unanimously decided to vote against the 20th Amendment. This decision was taken according to three line whip notice (unchangeable decision) therefore at the meeting the SJB parliamentary group decided to take special disciplinary action against the MPs who acted against the decision taken by the parliamentary group by voting in favour of the 20th Amendment.

“As the first step of the disciplinary action the group of MPs who voted in favour of the 20th Amendment would be expelled from the parliamentary group. The parliamentary group also decided to take disciplinary actions against the MPs according to the law.

“It was also decided to request the Speaker to make a separate seat allocation for the members who voted in favour of the 20th Amendment. They also decided to request the Speaker to allocate those seats away from the SJB group. It was also decided that the party should carry out an island wide promotional programme as soon as the coronavirus threat comes to an end.

“It was also unanimously decided to implement the decisions taken during the meeting held on October 23 as soon as possible to make the Samagi Jana Balawegaya a strong people-oriented force.”

Now 20A is passed and will, within days, become part of the country’s Constitution. It has made President Gotabaya Rajapaksa more powerful than before. His immediate focus naturally will be on the sudden spurt of Covid-19 cases. He will have to ensure it does not reach uncontrollable proportions, a development which could plunge the country in a profound crisis. During the early stage of the outbreak he ensured that the numbers were kept low. It would be incumbent on him to discern whose inaction and ineptitude that led to the current situation.

For the main opposition SJB, its numbers will come down further with the removal of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (|SLMC) and the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC). Last Friday, senior SJB members protested over Premadasa taking decisions for the party without consulting others. The crisis for him will linger for some time. It is the two Muslim parties who beat their chests during the August election campaign about the Sri Lanka Nidhas Podujana Sandanaya (SLPNS) being against their community. They won votes and became MPs. This week, they proved to a nation that principles do not matter in politics. It is time that the government, now working on a new Constitution, bans all ethnic based political parties. That would bring an end to a few politicians playing on the sentiments of their followers and making it rich as their lordly saviors and godfathers.