Rajpal's Column

Will Prabhakaran do the cocktail circuit?

The Sri Lankan press corps likes to keep the political establishment close at hand. Prabhakaran's war is now over, say the prognosticators. If he extends the ceasefire for the n'th time, peace talks will not be necessary because the government of Sri Lanka cannot fight a war without an enemy. 

The Sri Lankan press was found to be wanting by most Swedish journalism gurus, who told us Sri Lankan newspaper persons a few months back in Stockholm that "participating in cocktail parties hosted by politicians is an unacceptable identification with the political establishment.'' 

But, on that score, the Sri Lankans rebelled, and the Swedish knew soon that cocktail is religion in Colombo. The Sri Lankan press corps likes to "internalize'' politicians, and I have to ask my friend Lakshman Goonasekera from the Observer whether I used the correct word. 

Some in this context predict that Prabhakaran will be "internalised'' soon, which will of course mean tough questions like a) Who will have more access to him? b) Will he be hosted at the foreign Press Association bash? c) To whom will he tell all: C. A. Chandraprema, Rohan Guneratne or Sabaratnam? d) Will he be brought to the parliamentary committee rooms, and if so, by which group of journalists convening under which banner? 

At least the Swedish will be aghast, but these things generally past muster in Colombo, because scribes here subscribe to what is referred to as "the British journalistic tradition'' as opposed to "the Scandinavian.'' The Swedish argument is that participating in the cocktail circuit compromises journalistic credibility, because you the reader will eventually learn that "these journalists'' party with the politicians, and are therefore part of the same political establishment. 

We Sri Lankans would have none of that. I for one told the Swedish expert in journalistic ethics that the tradition here is to "drink their wine, eat their lobster, and come back and insult them in the papers the next day.'' 

The Swedish think that will not happen, but it will be difficult for even the Scandinavians to want the Sri Lankan scribes to pass up an opportunity to get the story from Prabhakaran over brandy and fried fish. There is a certain cohabitation here, which is difficult for those who have not grown up in the cauldron in Colombo to understand. 

Professor G. L. Peiris himself, who wants us journalists to learn something from the Swedes, will frown on a journalistic tradition in which we scribes decline his invitation to be wined and dined at the Sausiripaya. If he thinks cohabitation is collaboration, will he compromise all his visions about good journalism and ask us scribes to come over for cocktails? There are ways to get over the Swedish argument of course, which is that the journalists will say which cocktail they went to, and divulge all the gossip in their columns the next day. 

But, the only quid pro quo is that we shall not ask for immunity from criminal defamation; it will be especially difficult to ask Professor Peiris for that. So, if you dear reader feels left out of any of this, take no heed, because the whole exercise is in the spirit of the "final internalisation.'' 

When Prabhakaran comes, he will be "internalised'' and then when the journalists give the prawn to prawn commentary in the papers, make no mistake, you will be internalised. Come to think of it, the Swedish and the Norwegians themselves will, we are sure, not desist from inviting Prabhakaran for cocktails, his "coming out party'' as it were. 

It will be very rude of us journalists to spurn an invitation for that, even though we are just back from Stockholm and have these Scandinavian admonitions ringing in our ears. 

Besides journalists go for parties other than cocktails, and these were not mentioned by the Swedish. For instance, I have for a few years running now been to the Indian republic day celebrations, where no liquor is served, even though there is plenty by way of soft drinks and Tandoori. Curious of course that the only Editor I see there these days, is actually an ex-Editor who now runs the toughest little book-shop in town. It's not fair for the Indians. Our friends scuttle the whole show from down under, by having a party the same night, and unfortunately for the Indians there was no Ghandhi in Australian politics who believed in prohibition. 

Right of reply

Regarding prices, you mentioned that these were set in an "anarchic manner and with impunity and disregard for the terms of contract between the State and the said multi-national concern."

During the 5-year exclusive period (which ended on 8th December 2000), SGLL was governed by the pricing formula contained in the Privatisation Agreement between Shell and the Government of Sri Lanka. There was no anarchy or impunity or disregard for terms of the contract when we set gas prices during this period. In fact, there were numerous instances when we were constrained by the Government from implementing price adjustments in accordance with the formula and international price trends, and were forced to either temper or delay increases. These had serious financial implications to our operations.

Since we acquired the business in 1995, domestic cylinder prices increased by 104%. But international LPG prices - in Rupee terms - increased by 195%. Diesel prices rose from Rs.12.40 per litre in 1995 to Rs. 24 today, almost 100% increase. Kerosene prices have also doubled over the same period. All around the world, domestic fuel prices have risen dramatically and Sri Lanka is no exception. Clearly, the escalation in global prices of crude and petroleum products, compounded by the Rupee devaluation, has been the main reason for this trend.

We understand the anger and frustration with the price increases of recent years, not only of LPG but of petroleum products in general. And whilst it is convenient to direct this on local suppliers of these imported products like SGLL and CPC, your readers must be aware that crude production cuts by the OPEC cartel have had a direct impact on the prices of domestic LPG, diesel and kerosene. As recently as last week, OPEC members were again planning to reduce output to try to keep crude prices high. 

Finally, if we look at the LPG business today, what is plain to see is that gas is freely available in the market with more users than ever before. There is no shortage of cylinders or LPG. Shell has invested heavily in Sri Lanka in infrastructure and cylinders to bring this situation to reality. Not only have we made LPG readily and abundantly available to our consumers, but we have improved safety and quality standards in addition to the services we continuously offer.

I hope that this clears up any misconceptions you have had on how gas prices are determined and about Shell Gas in general, and trust you will give due consideration to this letter.
Steven Bartholomeusz Manager, External Affairs and Brand Communications Our rejoinder

While respecting Shell Gas Lanka Ltd's right to reply, and while appreciating the company's insistence on maintaining that all price adjustments were done according to the terms of the contract with the Sri Lanka Government, we for our part quite specifically ask - didn't Shell Gas Lanka Ltd., violate the terms of contract with regard to pricing?.

The price agreement for instance, was circumvented by Shell Gas when the quantity of gas in a canister was reduced, ostensibly for "safety reasons.'' No corresponding adjustment was made on the price. Sri Lanka Standards Institute officials maintained that "there was no safety requirement that necessitated the reduction of the quantity of gas in a canister.'' In fact, such a reduction was an unannounced attempt at circumventing the 10 percent price increase allowed in the contract, and violated the terms of contract, if not in letter , clearly in spirit.

Also, the terms of privatisation envisaged that gas be given to the consumer at a "reasonable price.'' Though the gas shortage that prevailed was redressed, it is clear that this first goal was not achieved, and has still not been achieved. Shell Gas today effectively maintains a de facto monopoly, because the only LPG storage facility is owned by Shell Gas. Besides, there is no regulatory mechanism or regulatory authority to ensure that gas is sold at a reasonable price, even if other companies come in as distributors. In this regard, The Sunday Times spoke to Thushari De Soysa, an Institute of Policy Studies researcher who has studied the issue of the privatisation of the industrial and domestic gas enterprise. She told this newspaper that " providing gas to the consumer at a reasonable price, which was one of the goals of privatisation, has not been achieved.''

We remind Shell that our editorial was in the above context, and the context of the state's inability to regulate and keep untrammeled effects of privatisation in check, and not a criticism of SGLL per se.

Also, with regard to the general increase in the OPEC cartels prices, we would like to point out that the parent company of Shell Gas made 118 percent profits last year, and that the company has interests in oil prospecting facilities in numerous locations worldwide. The parent company also agreed to reduce oil prices substantially in Argentina for instance, under pressure from the Fernando de La Rua government. In this context, Shell's insistence that serial price increases of domestic gas prices last year were necessitated purely due to "global imperatives'' to say the least, does not sound as credible as SGLL would make it out to be. 

The Special Assignment

Editorial/ Opinion Contents