• Shyam, a crying shame
• Novel funding for fight against child abuse 
• Zoo horror as youth gives himself to lions
• Pregnant women stand and wait
• Budget deficit on target despite shocks
• Reactions to US election stalemate
• NEWS
• CMC gets tough on bite breeders
• J'pura undergrads pin hopes on ICs
• HNB dispute: enjoining order not extended
• New security measures hit business
• Fort now a fortress
• Flower Road after school: a parent's nightmare
• President's house in the marsh
• White elephant to get an extension
• Death fast to save raggers
• Hope amidst black bands and fiery words
• H'pathana: winning polls the PA way
• A monk for and of our times
• Beastly acts of the Sinhabahu parapura
• German lessons to correct flawed system

Shyam, a crying shame

Guardian turns alleged tormentor

By Chris Kamalendran and Nilika de Silva

A twelve-year-old boy with more than hundred injuries on his body is being treated under police protection at the Kalubowila hospital, while a hunt is on for a foreign guardian who allegedly assaulted and enslaved him.

We met the severely injured P. Shyam Santhar in hospital and heard his horror story. Shyam lost his father early in life and in 1993 when his mother went to Britain on business, the boy, was sent to Trincolmalee to live with his uncle. Later he was brought to Colombo and then sent to India for studies where he was taken charge of by a woman who is identified as the mistress of his mother's business partner in Britain.

Early this year the Indian woman had brought the boy back to Sri Lanka because she had launched a BOI project here.

They moved into a house at Terrence Avenue in Mt Lavinia and the boy was admitted to an international school this year.

Shyam alleged that the ill treatment began in August.

"She started hitting me and caning me," Shyam said pointing to the scars on his arms and legs. His hand was swollen and there were bruises and swellings on his back. On his shaven head were also marks corresponding with multiple injuries he had received.

Shyam said he was unable to take it any longer and ran away from home last Sunday, and gave himself up at the Wellawatte Police Station because he was afraid to go to the Mt Lavinia Police as his tormentor might have been able to trace him there. 

Meanwhile, the guardian turned alleged tormentor is now reported missing.

The boy's uncle Rajkumar and his wife were contacted by the police and rushed from Trincomalee to Colombo to rescue the boy.

Officials at the school at which Shyam is studying said the suspect had sent a letter some weeks ago asking that no relative of the child be allowed to see him as there was some family dispute. Shyam said that even when he received phone calls from his mother, uncles or aunts the suspect did not allow them to speak to him freely.

Child Care and Probation Commissioner, S. Ranugge said he had told the police to arrest the suspect and prevent her from leaving the country.

Novel funding for fight against child abuse 

By Faraza Farook

The Arabian American Express Company (ARAMEX) in coordination with UNICEF has called upon the public and private sector to contribute a share of their profit towards child welfare. 

ARAMEX dealing in express and freight services signed a bond with UNICEF last Monday to initiate a fund whereby they can channel their contributions to fight against child abuse. 

The new initiative to be launched on December 1 is the first step in exploring the possibilities of bringing a litttle sunshine to domestic child labour victims through a joint effort, ARAMEX Country Manager Hussein Hachem said.

The company will be contributing US$ 1 or equivalent in Sri Lankan rupees from every transaction or shipment of ARAMEX, Mr. Hachem said. "Therefore anyone shipping through ARAMEX will be indirectly contributing towards this worthy cause," he said.

He also requested that people send their letters and parcels through ARAMEX, so that their contribution towards the fund will increase. "The more business that comes to us the more we can channel towards children," Mr. Hachem said.

He said that both the private and public sector would be informed within the week about the programme to encourage their participation. Posters will come up in public places and leaflets will be distributed and made available in supermarkets and other public movement areas. 

UNICEF Information and Communication Officer M. Nizar said that it has been decided to use the funds to combat domestic child labour, which is a long-standing problem in our country. "The private sector should play an active role in this regard as they make a profit from society and therefore should give back a fraction of their profit to the welfare of society," he said.

ARAMEX and UNICEF will monitor the progress of this new programme during December and thereafter decide on continuing with it.

Zoo horror as youth gives himself to lions

By Hiranthi Fernando

To survive mauling by three lions in their cage is indeed amazing. Sarath Gamini Rajakaruna a 21-year-old youth from Balangoda jumped into a den of three lions at the Dehiwela zoo last Sunday. He was rescued by the timely action of the zoo employees and rushed to Kalubowila Hospital. After treatment at the Intensive Care Unit, the youth is now out of danger and recovering.

Zoo Director Senerath Gunasena said he had rushed to the zoo when he was told about the incident but by then the victim had been rushed to the hospital.

Soon after the incident, Mr. Gunasena said, there was panic among the visitors. "People tend to rush around and go into restricted areas in their panic, causing more problems," he said. "We managed to control the situation so that there was no further harm to visitors or animals nor damage to property."

Assistant Curator Padmalal Perera was the Supervisor for that section last Sunday. "About 10 a.m., I came from the office to the main road in the Zoo. I saw a crowd gathered by a lions' cage and some commotion. I got a call on my walkie-talkie that somebody had jumped or fallen into a cage. I immediately ran to the cage. I saw a youth inside the cage with the three lions hovering over him. All I could see was a portion of the bare spine. I feared the person was dead and it was a most horrible sight.

"I shouted loudly at the lions. Their behaviour changed and they got upset. Some visitors who had gathered there also started shouting. By then several keepers had also come to the scene. They threw empty plastic dustbins and brooms into the cage to make a noise because noise frightens the lions. I ran behind to the back of the cage, calling the Assistant Director and the Curator on the walkie-talkie as I ran. Together with the keeper Sarath Pieris, who had the keys, we opened the door of one of the dens at the back of the cage. This is where the lions are confined for the night. 

"I then saw the lions had dragged the man near the door of the den. It all happened within three minutes. While the keepers in front of the cage threw objects in to distract and frighten the lions, we opened one den, called the lions into it and shut them in. We then went into the cage through the other den and took the injured man out."

Mr. Padmalal said that all through this incident, there was not a murmur from the injured man, not even when the lions were attacking him. There was blood pouring from a wound on his head. There were wounds along the spine. He was immediately rushed to Kalubowila Hospital in a zoo vehicle.

"It was a most horrible sight to see the lions mauling a man," said keeper Sarath Pieris. "My hands were shaking, I could scarcely find the correct key. Because we all got together, we were able to take him out in time".

K. Amithchandana, a keeper who had been at the Zoo for 15 years, said all three lions in the cage had been born in the Zoo. One was 12 years old and he was the father of the other two who were also males. Mr. Amithchandana recalled an incident in 1987, where a woman fully dressed in a sari had left her slippers outside the cage and jumped in. On that occasion, they were able to distract the lion by throwing plastic bins and rescue the woman who survived. 

Mr. Gunasena said that when the man was rescued he was dressed only in his underpants. The workers had found his clothes later. Among his clothes they found an identity card, a counterfoil of the Zoo entrance ticket and a bus ticket.There was also a small note written in Sinhala to the Zoo Director of the Zoo, saying he was giving an almsgiving and asking them not to get disturbed about it. He wrote that it was a happy day for him. The note, which was written in a childish hand, was unsigned, the Director said. It has been handed over to the Police. 

The doctors who attended on the youth said he had been bitten in the front and back of the chest, had lacerations on the scalp and a wound on the thigh. He had lost a lot of blood. They transfused blood and operated on him. Thirteen units of blood and plasma had been given. He had told the doctors on recovery that it was a suicide attempt. He said he wanted to be eaten by lions.
Pregnant women waiting outside the maternity home Pic. by Gemunu Wellage 

Pregnant women stand and wait

With the waiting room at the Castle Street hospital at Borella under renovation, pregnant mothers are compelled to wait on the pavement outside during clinic hours.

Mothers were seen standing with the person accompanying them, either on the pavement or by the side of the road since renovation began at the waiting room of the hospital.

Hospital Director Dr. K.G.W. Karandagoda said that renovations were being done to improve facilities in the waiting room and in view of the 50th anniversary of the hospital.

Once the renovations are over, the waiting room will have seating facilities to accommodate 400 mothers and in the waiting space outside, 100 mothers and 100 others accompanying them can be accommodated.

Dr. Karandagoda said the waiting room needed repairs and until renovations are over by the end of this month, mothers will have queue up along the pavement.

Budget deficit on target despite shocks

The budget deficit was on target at 8.5 percent of gross domestic product this year, despite external shocks, increased domestic borrowing and high interest rates, a top Treasury official said.

Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundara told a group of CEOs the government was committed to fiscal discipline in spite of rising world oil prices.

Central Bank officials have said higher oil prices and a rise in defence expenditure will push the overall balance of payments to around US$ 500 million this year up from US$ 263 million last year. 

Reflecting the rising fiscal and external pressures, Central Bank last Wednesday raised the Repurchase Rate (repo-rate) and the Reverse Repurchase Rate (reverse repo-rate) by 200 basis points to 15% and 18% respectively.

The upward revision of these key benchmark rates is being made in the backdrop of rising government borrowings and increasing downward pressure on the external value of the rupee due to demand for the US dollar. 

Analysts now expect that overnight call money rates to rise over 19% from the 16-17% range. This would however, take some pressure off the rupee, as exporters who are holding their foreign currency earnings, would find its expensive to fund working capital through local money market borrowings. Not surprisingly, the yield on treasury bonds and treasury bills continued its upward trajectory thisweek. 

Thursday's two year bond auction for Rs. 1.5 bn saw the weighted average yield rise sharply to 18.64%, up from 17.52% at the previous auction. The three year bond auction for Rs. 1.5 bn saw the weighted average touch 18.71% compared to 17.30% in the previous auction.

On Wednesday the benchmark twelve-month treasury bills also rose further to a four year high of 16.40%. Treasury yield have risen nearly 600 basis points since April this year, and debt market players are unwilling to predict where the figures would touch by the end of this year. In the forex market the Central Bank caved in and raised the trading band after the rupee continued to test the upper limit of the US dollar.

The previous week the Bank set the upper limit at Rs.80.14 up from Rs.79.47 against US dollar effectively devaluing the rupee by 1%.

Dealers predict the Bank's new exchange rate management system of a fixed trading band would result in the upper limit being tested from time to time. The fixed band is also an irresistible target for currency dealers. However, some dealers believe a return to daily rate announcement would pave the way for a gradual adjustment of rates.

Since the beginning of the year, Sri Lanka's reserves have continued to fall, and the trade deficit has almost doubled, despite strong export performance.(See also Business Section for weekly Money report).

Reactions to US election stalemate

With no final results announced yet in the US Presidential elections,with talks of double punching of the ballot paper etc, jokes being heard regarding the US elections are many.

Some say that one or two of our polls rigging experts must have flown to Florida and given Jeb Bush and Al Gore campaign managers some hint of what they did at the recently concluded general election in Sri Lanka. JVP spokesperson Wimal Weerawansa said that at the outset the party was wondering whether a Sri Lankan delegation was sent to Florida. On a more serious note he added that it is because America has a stable economy that the country's democracy is also strong.

"This alone shows that America has got everything. They have money, peace, a stable economy and practices democracy to the fullest, whereas we have nothing. We have only the ugly politics of government politicians and their thugs" he said. UNP MP Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku said that democracy is prevailing. The final outcome is that there might be 200,000 more votes for Al Gore after the recount.

He also said that Sri Lanka has a long way to go to establish democracy. "If you look at US history it is obvious that they give both parties a chance. The system established two centuries ago by the founding fathers of the US is still holding".

NUA Minister Rauf Hakeem said that he could see no parallel to the Sri Lankan situation.

Mr. Hakeem who appeared in an angry mood further said that the American system was very complicated and he was not fully acquainted with it. 

Minister of Highways, A.H.M Fowzie quipped, "They're not better than Sri Lanka." 

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake said "There is a similarity, but in the US there is no interfering by the politicians. It is a healthy system. There it is a completely bureaucratic exercise rather than a political manoeuvring", Mr. Karunanayake said, adding, "Here they would say it is manoeuvring by somebody." 

A senior Cabinet Minister who did not wish to be named said that it would have been nice if we could have sent some rigging experts from Sri Lanka.

 

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