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Women's groups threaten street protests over PRSP By a Staff
Correspondent Now women's
organisations on the island are taking up the challenge and threatening
to take to the streets if the World Bank or the government doesn't
listen to their concerns and revise the programme. "We will
get more and more into debt by accepting more loans from the World
Bank. The policies in the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper)
will lead to increased poverty in this country; not reduce it,"
noted Padma Pushpakanthi, coordinator of a federation of women called
Savisthri (Women for Alternative Development) representing 200 women's
organisations. Her concerns were endorsed by Gloria de Silva of the Centre for Family Services, which works with women and children. "These proposals will strengthen the hand of big business and attract foreign investment at the cost of the poor," she said during a discussion with women's groups, farmer organizations and the media, last week. Last month -
a few days after Fernando pleaded without success with Washington
officials - the World Bank approved a four-year assistance programme
for Sri Lanka which includes implementation of the PRSP. The programme
is aimed at reducing poverty through growth-related strategies.
But opponents argue that these World Bank-led policies of selling
state assets, privatising health services, introducing labour reforms
with hire and fire policies to encourage foreign investors and selling
water to farmers, have failed in other countries. When a delegation of women led by Pushpakanthi met World Bank Sri Lanka director Peter Harold earlier this month to ask for a full review of the PRSP and to hand over a petition which lists all their concerns, they accused the bank of preparing the document without consultation with civil society groups. But Harold denied the charge saying the poverty reduction policies were drafted by the government over a three-year period of consultations with all interested groups. It was only after that, that the bank approved the strategy, he was quoted as saying. Fernando, head of the Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) rejected the government's consultation process on the PRSP. "We were given a list of 300 organisations that had been summoned for a UNDP conference to discuss this paper in October 2001. Only 40 were NGOs while the rest were government officials and business organisations. The NGOs raised many concerns but were told that the paper had already been prepared." De Silva, who was also present at the World Bank discussion, said Harold had said that the gap between the rich and the poor was much wider here than in any of the 10 countries including parts of Africa that he had earlier worked in. The country's rice farmers, representing at least a million families, are unaware of the PRSP and its impact, according to farmers across the country. Women are in
the forefront of the campaign against the PRSP because it affects
them mostly. Women account
for 51 percent of Sri Lanka's population. "Women face the brunt
of the reforms as workers, housewives or mothers. Labour reforms
permit hire and fire rules; when schools are shut down, it affects
us; when state assets are sold to the private sector, it affects
us," added Sister Christine Fernando who works for a rural
women's group. Women also
play a much bigger role than men in the economy with large numbers
employed in the garments industry and plantations or as migrant
workers, which are the three main sectors that earn foreign exchange. Harold urged
the women's groups to put pressure on the government to listen to
their concerns and offered to provide them some space during future
World Bank-government consultations. The petition
to the World Bank signed by organisations which represents at least
half a million people says that tax reforms in the PRSP are aimed
at providing concessions to encourage private sector investment
which would further burden the poor because the tax burden then
shifts to the poor. The reduction
in the number of employees in government departments would rob the
poor of employment who rely on these jobs. On the other hand new land policies would encourage farmers to sell off their uneconomic plots and migrate to urban cities where the lack of jobs would aggravate their plight. Labour reforms, the petition noted, helps employers to hire and fire workers and makes it easier to shut down factories, increasing unemployment. The PRSP says
labour reforms would be initiated only through a dialogue between
the government, employers, employees and trade unions. But trade
unions said last month that already the dialogue has collapsed after
the government unilaterally introduced a series of laws on labour
reforms to parliament which are now being implemented. Water pricing
is a key element in the PRSP which social activists say puts more
burdens once again on the poor. The petition points out that the government plans to spend some 50 billion rupees of the taxpayers' money on water infrastructure and hand it over to private companies to manage. "They will only come to make profits, selling our water to us while also using the infrastructure already paid for by the people of Sri Lanka," it said. While the government and donor agencies consider water as a commodity, women's groups see water as life and not for profit. FCCISL appeals for help in relief effort The Federation
of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the
apex body of the country's trade chambers and associations, has
appealed to its member chambers, related associations and individuals
to contribute towards the speedy reconstruction and rehabilitation
of flood affected areas. A chamber statement
said that a special relief fund under the Director General Fiscal
Policy and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance has been
established and the account is: "DST'S Special Relief Fund
Account, No. 074-708-0000-4492" of the Bank of Ceylon Taprobane
branch. Donations to
the above account will be entitled to 100% tax exception. The FCCISL
has also launched a special campaign to bring relief (collection
of clothing, dry rations, pharmaceutical items, shoes, tableware,
etc.) to those who have been displaced and affected by the floods Donors could hand over the items to the Special Flood Relief Assistance Centre established at the Ministry of Social Welfare at Setsiripaya, Battaramulla. Tel. 01 883525/877124/887349/887350 and Department of Social Services, 76 1/1 Duminda Building, Galle Road, Colombo 4. Tel. 01-506677 or to the FCCISL headquarters at Level 3, 53 Vauxhall Lane, Colombo 2 or contact Lakshman Edirisinghe, Coordinating Secretary on 075 335962 / 01 304254. Travel Mart attracts buyers and sellers By Quintus
Perera Other than
Bangladesh and Bhutan all other countries of the SAARC region were
represented at the Travel Mart. K.C. Yam, Officer
Corporate Services, Nepal Tourism Board, representing his country
at the Travel Mart said, "This is one of the best things that
have been done for the tourism industry and everything here is well
managed." They invited the Ceylon Tourist Board to promote
Nepal. He said the response from those who visited the Mart was
excellent - "They loved and liked Nepal - the most venerable
place for Buddhists - Lumbini is in Nepal." He said that there
would be an increase in Sri Lankan travellers to Nepal if there
were direct flights as travelling to Nepal now is expensive. The
Nepal stall was full of promotional material and visitors to the
stall received brochures, bags and even CDs. An official
from the Pakistan High Commission who was manning the Pakistan stall
said that it was a very good thing to get new customers. This is
the first time a tourism official had come from the Pakistan Tourism
Development Corporation. He said that a lot of people showed their
willingness to travel to Pakistan as the visitors learned that there
are a lot of places of Buddhist interest. There were
a large number of stalls occupied by Indian Tourism Organizations
representing various parts of India. K.S. Vikraman, Managing Director,
Jayasree Travel and Tours, Kerala, India said that they were promoting
in-bound tourism to Kerala. He said that many were interested in
establishing links with them, including major tour operators. Most of the
local exhibitors have contracted business with buyers and trade
representatives. The Travel
Mart was able to highlight the huge potential for domestic tourism
and specially tourism in the Wayamba (North Western) and Southern
Provinces who were represented at the Travel Mart. K.A.D. Jinadasa,
Head of Department, Ministry of Tourism, Southern Provincial Council
and Dr. Cecil Tikiri Bandara Senaratna, Director General, Wayamba
Development Authority were at hand to provide information at the
Mart. The Wayamba
Province stall provided attractive brochures highlighting all the
places of interest. In the case of the Southern Province the beaches
were given much publicity . All the sectors involved in the travel trade were represented at the Mart. Ms. Malkanthi Perera, Senior Sales Executive, Galadari Hotel managing the Hotel stall at the Mart said, "During the first three days delegations from Far Eastern countries made more than 30 reservations at our hotel." New Exco for Sri Lanka Forex Association The Sri Lanka
Forex Association (SLFA) elected the following office bearers for
2003/2004 at its annual general meeting held recently: President - Ashan Dassanayake, Managing Director/CEO, First Capital Money Brokers Ltd. 1st Vice President - Wije Dambawinne, Chief Dealer, Sampath Bank. 2nd Vice President - Kenneth de Zilwa, Head of Treasury Sales, HSBC. Secretary - Ms. Manohari Gunawardene, Treasurer, NDB. Asst. Secretary - Sarath Jayasuriya, Senior dealer, Bank of Ceylon. Treasurer - Nirupan Wijeyenathan, Assistant Manager, Overseas Market Operations, Piggot Chapman and Co. Asst. Treasurer - Chitral Wijesinha, Country Treasurer, Citi Bank. Committee members - Palitha Narangoda, Chief Manager, Treasury, Commercial Bank and Rukshan Dias, Head of Corporate Sales, Standard Chartered Bank. The new exco hopes to foster regional cooperation among SAARC nations through increased interaction with the forex associations of these countries apart from the association's usual activities. It also plans to facilitate holding the ACI examination locally for financial sector professionals in the current year. Business is like a game of chess Being a chess
player and a commerce lover, I agree with most of the contents of
the article published in the recent "Business at Home"
feature in The Sunday Times FT. In day-to-day business the decision
makers would have to make moves, sacrifices and also attack rivals
with limited resources to achieve a particular objective like in
a game of chess. The person who has the advantage in terms of resources
and position will win the game. It is also
true that a stakeholder analysis as in the article published is
very important in managing a business and guiding it towards success.
However, it is easily said than done. The practicality is not quite
easy as expressed. If a person lacks knowledge in this area he would
not succeed as anticipated. The first two
paragraphs of the article, where it brings to light a kid's preliminary
business skills, in my view are not business skills. Rational persons
would try and maximize satisfaction with what they get irrespective
of their ages. This does not
necessarily mean that a person is reflecting business skills. It
can be argued that kids are also engineers since they make sand
castles and buildings using building blocks. It is obvious that
these activities are neither business nor engineering but rationality
coming into play. A person buying
goods from a boutique involves business but the degree of business
skills required is really low. So it could be said that there are
many levels of commerce. However, a person with more patience, endurance
and skill would succeed in this game. Dinesh Ranasinghe,
University Of Colombo, John Keells Head Office Automation recognizes top performers John Keells
Office Automation (Pvt) Ltd, (JKOA), sole distributor for Toshiba
products in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, held its annual dealer convention
recently in Colombo with dealers from all provinces and the Maldives
attending. Philip Wu,
country manager from Toshiba Singapore, said he appreciated the
sales and marketing efforts of JKOA and also for creating a name
in the office automation market for the superior 261 1 + 1 service
concept, which has become the benchmark in this industry. Five most outstanding
awards were given to K.T. Office Automation - North Western, 0.S.
Office Automation - Southern province, AI Madhena Tele Shop - Negombo
District, Damiens - Badulla District and Copier Repair from Maldives
for the period 2002- 2003. Copier Repair also received the best performance award for the last financial year and its managing director Hassen Muneer was in Colombo to receive this award. Millennium Register of eminent Lankans The Millennium
Register of Sri Lankan Personalities, due to be released in late
2003, will be a concise collection of eminent Sri Lankans who have
helped placed the country firmly on the world map, an official statement
said. It would present
pen-portraits of a kaleidoscope of key personalities from all spheres
and walks of life - a comprehensive reference manual of Sri Lankans
that will pay tribute to the motherland’s sons and daughters,
here and abroad. This "Who’s Who" of Sri Lanka is presented by Key Research and Information Ltd, a Ceylinco group company. SLAITO to represent inbound tour industry The Sri Lanka
Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) said last week it
had been recognized by the Ministry of Tourism and the Sri Lanka
Tourist Board as the sole apex body representing the inbound tourist
industry in Sri Lanka. The association
represents all destination management companies in Sri Lanka (travel
companies handling tourists). A statement
said the association was ready to be involved in the implementation
of the new Tourism Law and setting up of the Tourism Marketing Bureau.
The committee of the association has now been expanded to be truly
and fairly representative of the industry. The new committee
of the association effective April 30 is as follows. Gehan M. Perera - President (Aitken Spence Travels - Managing Director), Dirk Grigson - Vice President (Hemtours - Director/General Manager), Bobby J. Hansen - Hony. Secretary (Columbus Tours - Managing Director), Ms. F.C. Farook - Hony. Treasurer (Lanka Vacations - Director Finance), and members - Nilmin Nanayakkara - Car Travels and Tours - Managing Director, - Ms. Shiromal Cooray - Jetwing Travels and Tours - Managing Director, Chandra Wickremasinghe - Connaissance de Ceylon - Chairman, Afgar Mohideen - United Holidays - Chairman, Jayantha de Silva - Travelanka - General Manager, Tony Mantara - Gemini Tours and Travels - Chairman, Gulam Abdulhussein - Pan Lanka Travels and Tours - Chairman, Tilak Weerasinghe - Lanka Sportreizen - Managing Director, Dharni Soza - Ace Travels and Conventions - Director and Mahen Kariyawasam - Andrews Travel - Managing Director. Vasantha Leelananda - Walkers Tours - Managing Director, is the immediate past president.
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