08th, September 1996

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Minister said some officials in various ministries, employers who were ill treating their workers, certain trade bodies and some sections of the business community were carrying out a vicious campaign against the Charter and him.

By Shyamal Collure

Q: What was the outcome of your reason visit to South Korea in the context of jobs for Sri Lankans?

A: President Chandrika Kumaratunga had discussions with the South Korean President. He had said that about 30,000 vacancies would be available in south Korea for Lankans this year. Unfortunately, most of the workers we sent have already deserted the places where they were assigned to work. Therefore there is no great demand from the Korean employers for Sri Lankans. However, we managed to get about 1500 job opportunities this year and we hope the number will increase soon. This is a continuing process. Of the 1500 vacancies offered to us by Korea last year, about 1350 had been made use of. This was mainly because of a delay in getting visas.

Q: Isn't there any way to get this whole process expedited?

A: It depends on the people their. I mean, the employers. They must request the government for workers. It is only then we come into the picture. We have already sent names to Korean Small Industrialist federation.

Q: How many job opportunities had been made available in the Gulf for Sri Lankans during the past two years ?

A: I think nearly 300,000, of which nearly 90 per cent were for housemaids.

Q: The new employment contract which workers going abroad are supposed to sign has caused some controversy over the Arabic translation. Particularly, as the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) was dealing with the Gulf. Shouldn't they have been more careful? How are you going to rectify this ?

A: The FEB chief told me he had got it translated by the best person available. Now we are getting it done again by an Arab lawyer in Jordan.

Q: A state agency has been set up to carryout overseas recruitment, indicating that it would be competing with local job agents. What was the necessity of setting up such an agency. ?

A: I got cabinet approval to set up a government-owned agency for recruitment of people for foreign employment. I feel the FEB must be relieved of this added burden and it should be left to handle the welfare of the workers. So hereafter, recruiting will be done by this state agency. This idea came from the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA).

Q: What will be the benefits to the people, particularly when this state agency is compared to private agencies ?

A: It is a government-owned agency and thus the government will have some obligation over the people who will be sent abroad through it. Efforts will be made to make new facilities available. This will invariably lead to a competition with private agencies and generally conditions will improve as a result, not to mention the nominal charges.

Q: What will be the other functions of this agency ?

A: To plan, canvass and secure more foreign jobs for Sri Lankans. At present, most of the jobs come our way are for housemaids. This has caused a major problem when males are concerned. So we need more jobs for men. The state agency will try to find such jobs in countries like South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore apart from the Gulf.

Q: What are the prospects in their?

A: I am optimistic.. For instance there is a big demand for nurses now. Our plans are targeted for skilled jobs.

Q: Regarding the Workers' Charter we know that it is a non-starter. Do you still think such a charter is necessary?

A: Firstly the charter was for industrial peace. There were 144 strikes during our first year in government. It was a demand of the workers of this country. Workers' Charter is not a direct idea. The need for such a charter has been felt since 1968. It was also one of our promises in the election manifesto. People voted for it too. We had to honor that. Otherwise we must go.

Despite several constitutional guarantees some of the employers still do not recognize trade unions and worker's rights. Further, there are about 42 ordinances or Acts that cover labour laws. The charter embodies the labour policy of the government.

Q: Do you say that there weren't sufficient labour laws when the PA government took over?

A: Not in some cases. As I have said some employers did not recognize trade unions and workers' rights. People are working for about 10 years as casual or temporary hands. Some are apprentices for their life time. We can't allow that.

Q: Will the charter be implemented?

A: We have already published the charter, but it does not have any legal force at the moment. That was why I wanted to present it to the Cabinet and go before parliament to make it law.

Q: What delays its implementation?

A: Some employers, business circles and officials in various ministries are against the implementation of it and they are carrying out a vicious campaign against me and the charter. So the President is heading a Cabinet sub committee to review the matter.

Q: If the Workers' Charter is not implemented, will it affect workers ?

A: Workers were very much affected earlier and that was why the Charter was introduced. Some employers were not paying the EPF, ETF and overtime payments. There are factory owners who get innocent girls to work after 10 pm without legal sanction. they and others who are violating labour laws are the ones who are opposing the Workers' Charter.

A code of conduct for workers is also included in the charter. The Employers Federation was requested to draft a code and submit it That can still be done. What we want is industrial peace and harmony.

Q: Some of the PA members and Government officials have criticized you for introducing the charter saying that it has created a fear psychosis and prevented foreign investors from coming to the country. Your comments?

A: I don't agree. Some MPs who are representing the business class are criticizing the charter for their survival. Their opposition is not because that they have any concern for the workers or for the unemployed youth. Then there are government officials who have failed in their duties during the past two years. They are trying to cover up their inefficiency and failures. So they are saying the Workers' Charter is preventing foreign investments.

Attorney S. L. Gunasekera launched his book, 'Tiger and Pandora's Package' at a ceremony held at the YMBA on Tuesday.

He dedicated his book to ASP Ivan Boteju characteristically saying he was dedicating the book to "the memory of a man I never knew."

Mr. Gunesekera says:

"Ivan Boteju was serving as Assistant Superintendent of Police, Kalmunai on the 11th June 1990 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), while supposedly engaged in 'peace talks' with the Government, suddenly surrounded and attacked all police stations in the Batticaloa and Ampara Districts. Kalmunai was one of them.

"Ivan Boteju refused to heed the demands of the Tigers to surrender arms and vacate the Station. The Tigers attacked with Rocket Propelled Grenades, Mortars and automatic weapons. Though outnumbered and possessed of no similar weaponry but only of two Light Machine Guns, twenty T56 and other rifles and shot guns, the police officers of Kalmunai led by Ivan Boteju defended their station valiantly.

"Repeated appeals made by Ivan Boteju for air and artillery support fell on the deaf ears of the Government which - ordered them to surrender instead - and surrender they did.

The Tigers who had, before the surrender, promised to give these police officers safe conduct to and release at Ampara, took them, together with other Sinhalese and Muslim Police Officers from other police stations in the Ampara District to the jungles of Thirukkovil, blind-folded and with their hands tied behind their backs.

"There, they were made to lie down, and murdered in captivity with spray upon spray of automatic fire. The total number of Sinhalese and Muslim police officers so murdered in captivity in the East by the LTTE on that occasion was over 600. They all paid with their lives for the trust reposed by the Government in the LTTE.

"I dedicate this book to the memory of Ivan Boteju because he symbolizes not only those police officers, over 600 in number, but also all those soldiers, sailors and airmen of all ranks, and humble civilians, who were as brave as they are unknown and uncommemorated by the Government or the Nation, and paid with their lives and their limbs for the incredible folly of successive governments repeatedly reposing trust in the LTTE.

"May that monstrous folly never ever be repeated."

Meanwhile, Mr. Gunasekera has sent the Editor the following letter in response to a news item published last week in 'The Sunday Times' under the heading "SL calls for Sinhala Buddhist force" which he says contains a highly inaccurate report of his speech at the meeting organized by the National Joint Committee and chaired by Mr. R.S. Wanasundera which was held at the Y.M.B.A. Borella on Friday, 30 August 1996.

Mr. Gunasekera states:

"The article states that I called for the formation of a third force composed of Sinhala Buddhists with a view to safeguarding their interests to which the UNP and the PA have turned a blind eye and said that all governments since independence had betrayed the Sinhalese by sacrificing their interests for narrow political gains.

"This is incorrect. Throughout my speech I never used the word 'Buddhist', nor did I accuse all governments since independence, of betraying the Sinhalese. What I did say is that the PA and the UNP with their limitless lust for power are betraying the Sinhalese by bowing down to the dictates of racist Tamil parties in order to gain the 'minority vote', and that in the circumstances it is essential to form a third force to protect the rights of the Sinhalese. It is pertinent to add in this connection that I am not a Buddhist.

"The article states that I said that many Tamils who were rendered destitute due to ongoing terrorist activities have either directly or indirectly assisted and supported the LTTE.

"This is incorrect. What I did say is that many of the Tamils rendered destitute by the war, have supported or assisted the LTTE either voluntarily or through compulsion.

"The article states that I said that about 20 smaller Sinhala villages in Kebitigollawa had been destroyed by the LTTE and that as a result around 2500 Sinhalese live in refugee camps each of which is a little bigger than a writing table.

"This is incorrect. What I did say was that consequent to the LTTE attacking some Sinhalese villages that bordered the Kebitigollawa - Padaviya main road such as Herath Halmillawa and Tammannawa in the vicinity of Kebitigollawa and murdering about 30 civilians and destroying several houses, the residents of about 20 purana villages in the area, about 2500 in all, have abandoned their villages and flocked to the refugee camp because of inadequate security in their villages; that they live in squalid conditions in huts that are a little bigger than the table that was on the stage at the meeting, and that the houses and crops of these villagers are now being destroyed by elephants.

"The article states that I said that the only doctor at the Kebitigollawa hospital works only till 1 p.m. when he leaves for Padaviya for fear of LTTE attacks.

"This is both incorrect and most unfair by that doctor who, I am personally aware, resides in his quarters at the hospital premises at Kebitigollawa. What I did say was that though there was a hospital with three wards at Sampath Nuwara in Weli Oya to cater to the needs of the 1600 odd families resident therein, there was no resident medical officer for that hospital, in that the sole medical officer attached thereto who is an A.M.P. lives in Padaviya and works at the hospital only till 12.00 - 1.00 p.m. when he returns to Padaviya."

By Mervyn de Silva

Well ahead of his rival in the opinion polls, President Bill Clinton did not really need to order missile strikes on targets in Iraq, where the average American voter's comic book super-villain, Saddam Hussein is still the boss. The world, and perhaps the large American electorate, (the Jewish constituency an exception) would have been far more impressed if he had intervened in the current Israeli crisis. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process, after all, is a historic American achievement; truly American in that

President Clinton finished what his Republican predecessor, President George Bush had started soon after Egypt and many an Arab state had joined the US-led operation DESERT STORM. It was also the huge price that President Saddam Hussein had to pay for his land-grab exercise in neighboring Kuwait.

President Saddam Hussein's military intervention in the Kurdish conflict does not really call for any American military intervention, even for a brief exhibition of American muscle. What does claim immediate American involvement, if only diplomatic pressure, is the crisis in Israel, and that is a strictly political problem. The US-sponsored (and supervised) peace process - a splendid job that only the Americans could have undertaken - is in jeopardy. The mischief-maker is quite easily identifiable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

No less a person than the Israeli President Ezer Weizman responded to Mr. Arafat's "distress call" and told the Israeli media and the Jerusalem-based foreign press corps that he would invite Mr. Arafat to his home. He went a step further. He met the press in the company of Prime Minister Netanyahu and shared with the large media corps in Jerusalem his anxieties over the fast-moving events. Mr. Arafat has two groups of critics - Israeli and Palestinian. The first, he thinks, is easier to handle. The Israeli 'hawks' are in fact sabotaging the peace process.

Their views are as extreme as those Islamic militants who accuse Arafat of a "sell-out" i.e. a deal on Palestinian autonomy which in their view "amounts to no more than a municipality". Some of his radical critics say that Arafat's P.L.O. will only receive what the native Africans got from the apartheid regime in white South Africa i.e. Bantustan. A more dispassionate view was offered by a leading Israeli academic, Mark Heller of Tel Aviv University: "Arafat feared becoming the target of popular (Palestinian) protest if he did not start taking a lead. Lack of progress on peace would benefit the Islamist Hamas movement which opposes Mr. Arafat's deals with Israel".

Likud deceit

In short the PLO Chairman was trapped in the middle between the violent, extremist Islamic radicals and the Israeli government. Things moved, if somewhat slowly, when Labour was in office since Shimon Peres, the authentic party leader, had taken a leading role in the 'secret" negotiations with the PLO, held in Oslo. The Oslo accords were to be the basis of the final settlement. When Peres co-opted General Yitzhak Rabin, the war hero, and made him party leader, many Israeli voters, anxious about "security" in their country, if the Palestinians had their own mini-state. They were persuaded however that their dark fears over national security were greatly exaggerated. General (Prime Minister) Rabin did win over many "Undecided" voters. His assassination by an ultra-nationalist Israeli changed the whole political scene. And yet the margin of victory of the right-wing LIKUD and its hawkish leader Benjamin Netanyahu, was surprisingly small. As a result, Likud's capacity to meet Palestinian demands is limited.

And this in turn, guarantees the Palestinians get very little. And now Netanyahu and his hawkish security advisers are trying to cheat on even that. In the process of implementation, the Palestinian Authority will receive even less. So "President" Yasser Arafat (the inverted commas are placed advisedly) must protest, must demonstrate his authority, must show Israel and the world, that the P.L.O. is not ready to accept anything that Mr. Natanyahu thinks is good enough for a start. No, Sir, No Bantustan, boss, says Chairman Arafat ready to do what he knows best the intifada, the uprising.

Arafat called a strike, and paralyzed the West Bank and Gaza. How serious is it? How long can he sustain the intifada? Mark Heller of Tel Aviv University, an authority on the P.L.0. told Ilene Prusher, a British correspondent: "Mr. Arafat feared becoming the target of popular protest if he did not start taking the lead. Lack of progress on peace would benefit the Islamist movement which opposes Mr. Arafat's deals with Israel.

Peace prospects

The Likud administration has also responded, if rather belatedly, to another Arafat demand, quite a persistent demand - the release from Israeli police custody of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheel-chair-bound founder of HAMAS, the radical movement which is said to command an elite "secret" suicide squad. This PLO demand has been given the same priority as an Israeli withdrawal from Hebron and the West Bank. The Israeli troop presence is a clear violation of the truce. But the most blatant violation of the truce is the plan to construct 900 new flats in Kiryat Sefer, a Jewish settlement.

The rising anger of the Palestinians, provoked by the arrogance with which the newly elected LIKUD regime is responding to Palestinian protests, complaints and requests, does not raise hopes of a step-by-step settlement of outstanding problems, the approach of the Labour administration of Rabin-Peres. The PLO's call for a general strike was the least that "President" Arafat could do.

If there is any hope of a more settled and stable Israel, it lies in the hands of the next American President, since it is likely to be the same Democrat, Secretary of State Warren Christopher would probably be shuttling once more to Jerusalem, Cairo, Damascus, Amman and Beirut. Meanwhile, European experts on Russian foreign policy would surely be opening a new file on Russian reactions to the recent US. air strikes on Iraqi targets. Desert Storm Part 2, just before the November polls?