Situation Report

Sandagiri’s Nelsonian eye on Navy shuffle
A crisis situation was developing in the Sri Lanka Navy whilst its Commander, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, who is also Chief of Defence Staff, was away in Britain taking part in celebrations to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Lord Nelson.

Concerned by these developments, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga directed that he be asked to return to Colombo. Instead of arriving tomorrow, he was due yesterday after having boarded the first available flight.

The immediate cause for this situation is the non implementation of a decision taken by President Kumaratunga as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. This is mainly in respect of the creation of a new post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and a new Commander for Eastern Naval Area to be posted to Trincomalee. Her directive has been transmitted to Navy Headquarters by the Ministry of Defence.

Acting on this, the Navy Headquarters in Colombo sent out a signal (Navy General 260857) on June 26 to all naval establishments. Accordingly the following changes were announced:

1. Rear Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda to be posted as Commander, Eastern Naval Area and Co-ordinator in Chief of Security Forces and Police in the Trincomalee district. He was required to move in there last Friday as designate and formally assume office tomorrow (July 4).

2. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and Director General – Services at Navy Headquarters. He was required to formally relinquish office tomorrow (July 4) and take over the new posts on Wednesday (July 6).

3. Rear Admiral Upali Ranaweera as Commander Southern Naval Area based in Boosa, Galle. He was required to move in to the new post on Wednesday (July 6) and formally assume office on Friday (July 8).

4. Commander R.U. Siriwardena as acting Commander, North Central Naval Area (SLNS Pandukabaya). He was required to move in to the new post last Tuesday (June 28) and formally assume office last Friday (July1).

5. Commander D. Samarawickrema, SLNS Parakrama to Navy Headquarters on the Staff of Director - General Services. The appointment is to take effect from July 8.

But Rear Admiral Karannagoda did not move in to Eastern Naval Area Headquarters in Trincomalee as listed in the June 26 signal sent out by Navy Headquarters (NHQ). Instead he sent NHQ a reply from his COMNORCEN (Commander, North Central) office in Poonewa. His signal (282005) asked NHQ to inform Rear Admiral Weerasekera, the following: “Navy General 260857. Intend handing over Command on 30th June 2005 and await at NHQ (Navy Headquarters) until the arrival Commander for instructions prior to taking up appointment in East.”

Rear Admiral Karannagoda had wanted to act only on one part of the message from Navy Headquarters – to relinquish office at the COMNORCEN in Poonewa (between Medawachchiya and Vavuniya) and hand over to Rear Admiral R. U. Siriwardena. As for assuming duties as Commander, Eastern Naval Area and Co-ordinator in Chief of Security Forces and Police in the Trincomalee district, he chose not to assume office though the move was decided by the President and the Commander in Chief. It was conveyed through the Ministry of Defence to NHQ.

Instead of taking up duties in Trincomalee today, Rear Admiral Karannagoda had wanted to return to Navy Headquarters and remain there until he clarified some matters. Though the act seemed a serious breach of discipline, right or wrong, he had a reason. He was not sure what his duties and responsibilities were as “Co-ordinator in Chief of Security Forces and Police” in the Trincomalee district.

When he received the signal from Navy Headquarters, he is learnt to have telephoned Vice Admiral Sandagiri in Britain on his international roaming number to ask him a series of questions – his chain of command, what responsibilities of the Army in this strategic district would come under his charge, what specific functions would he be called upon to handle, to name a few. There was also the question whether senior officers of the Army, Air Force and Police in the Trincomalee had been told of this new appointment and how the new “Co-ordinator in Chief’’ would function.

Rear Admiral Karannagoda had concerned about another factor – complaints from influential quarters in the Army, both in Colombo and in the Trincomalee district that a smaller Navy was engulfing some of their key roles. This was particularly in the backdrop of the appointment of a Navy Commander, for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, as the Chief of Defence Staff – the apex position in the country’s security establishment.
But there was very little Vice Admiral Sandagiri could do from the City of Portsmouth in Britain, except to ask Rear Admiral Karannagoda to wait. That meant remaining as Commander, North Central Naval Area until yesterday though the President and Commander in Chief decreed he should leave that appointment.

On a delightful summer day, Vice Admiral Sandagiri was taking part in celebrations to mark the 200th year of the Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Lord Nelson. Two centuries ago, matched against the combined naval strength of Spain and France, he prevented the invasion of Great Britain.
His hosts, the Royal Navy, had asked him to come to the City of Portsmouth to promote “friendship and encourage camaraderie amongst seafarers from around the World.” Travel costs, one economy class ticket (for an officer) and two Business Class tickets (one for a family member) amounted to over half a million rupees, or Rs, 564,810 to be precise and had to be borne by the Sri Lanka Navy. The trip is at a time when there were and still are growing security concerns, particularly in the East. This is notwithstanding President Kumaratunga’s decision to sign the Joint Mechanism (or P-TOMS) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a move which many expected would lead to a de-escalation of violence.
On Thursday Tiger guerrillas shot dead three members of the Army’s Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI). This, intelligence sources say, is in retaliation for an abortive attack on a convoy carrying LTTE Ampara political leader and 39 others who came in for a claymore mine attack at Welikande. They were travelling from Kilinochchi to Ampara when the incident occurred. One guerrilla cadre sustained minor injuries. The LTTE has accused the DMI of being involved in the incident – a charge which they deny.

According to same sources LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is reported to be annoyed over what he suspects are incidents triggered off by the DMI. Hence, he had asked his Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan to lodge a strong protest with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
This he did last Thursday during a meeting with the Head of SLMM, Hagrup Haukland. Also present on the occasion was Odvar Laegrid, acting Norwegian ambassador in Sri Lanka. Speaking to the media after this meeting, Mr. Thamilselvan used some strong words, prompting a mixed response in Colombo. Some sections of the Government thought it was rhetoric whilst the others argued his remarks could not be simply dismissed. The latter was particularly since it came after President Kumaratunga had conceded the Joint Mechanism or the P-TOMS.
Mr. Thamilselvan was quoted by the Tamilnet website, accurate on matters relating to the LTTE, as saying that the guerrillas would resume their own armed escort if the Government fails to provide satisfactory response within two weeks. “If the LTTE decides to use its own armed escort, the Ceasefire Agreement will likely collapse, and LTTE should not be held responsible for breaking the ceasefire,” Tamilnet quoted Mr. Thamilselvan as saying.

According to other reports from Kilinochchi, a journalist from a Tamil newspaper asked Mr. Thamilselvan whether his statement amounted to a threat to abrogate the ceasefire, he replied “you can take it that way too.” Even if this is rhetoric, here was the LTTE arming itself with an early warning reminiscent of how the ceasefire was broken in April 1995.
This hilarious if not tragic episode at the highest levels of the security establishment characterises their dilemma over the years, both during war and in peace. It has been allowed to drift with little or no control by those who matter at the highest levels. Those in the upper echelons of the security establishment are free to travel business or first class at taxpayer’s expense irrespective of domestic compulsions or threats to national security.

Similarly, military procurements are still haphazard.
Despite the uneasy calm of a ceasefire, there is still no unified tri services mechanism of serving officers to determine defence needs. It hinges very much on individual preferences that are not always guided by suitability or the need of the armed forces. Last week The Sunday Times highlighted how the Navy had recommended to the Government the purchase of a British Landing craft, Sir Gallahad at a colossal price of ten million sterling pounds or over Rs 18 billion – enough money to feed every Sri Lankan (including infants) a kilo of samba rice weekly for three months.

Vice Admiral Sandagiri is easily one of the most widely travelled armed forces commanders in Sri Lanka. In his tenure both as Commander of the Navy and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), he has so far undertaken 17 overseas trips. They are India (thrice), Bangladesh, Malaysia, China, United States (four times), Japan, Isreal, Thailand, Singapore and Britain (thrice). The last two trips undertaken by him were to Singapore from May 16 to 21 (for a defence exhibition) and from 5th to 11th June to India on a goodwill visit. This has taken over a third of a year or 125 days.

His predecessor Vice Admiral Cecil Tissera, during his four year stint visited only Pakistan and India. Vice Admiral Mohan Samarasekera, who relinquished command to pave the way for Rear Admiral Tissera to become Navy Commander, visited only China thoughhe served for more than four years. Former Army Commander and Chief of Defence Staff, General Lionel Balagalle visited only India (twice), South Korea, USA (Hawaii) and Singapore during his near four year tenure.

Last month Vice Admiral Sandagiri nominated his own name for a four-day senior executive course sponsored by the Asia Pacific Institute for Strategic Studies (APCSS) in Hawaii, United States. This came about when the Ministry of Defence which received an invitation from the Defence Attache’s Office in the United States Embassy in Colombo and asked him to nominate a senior officer. The MoD rejected Vice Admiral Sandagiri’s self nomination and instead recommended the name of the Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema. He will now attend this 12th APCSS course in Hawaii from August 24 to 26.

With his return to Colombo yesterday, he is expected to confer with Defence Secretary, Maj. Gen. (retd.) Asoka Jayawardena over the enforcement of directives given by President Kumaratunga, the Commander in Chief.

The change of command of naval top brass in the Trincomalee district is the result of matters relating to the controversy over the placing of a statue of Lord Buddha in the Trincomalee town.
Rear Admiral Weerasekera, according to a report from a state intelligence agency, had addressed a gathering of three wheeler scooter taxi drivers who are known to be responsible for placing the statue.

As exclusively revealed in The Sunday Times (Situation Report – June 19), Vice Admiral Sandagiri ordered his transfer to Colombo as Western Naval Area Commander with effect from June 30. His position as Eastern Naval Area Commander was to be taken by Rear Admiral Sarath Rathnakeerthi, who is currently the Western Naval Area Commander. These transfer orders were overruled by President Kumaratunga.

She directed that Rear Admiral Weerasekera be posted to Navy Headquarters as Deputy Chief of Staff. In addition he is also to be Director General – Services. She also directed that Rear Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda be posted as Eastern Naval Area Commander and Co-ordinator in Chief of Security Forces and Police in the Trincomalee district.
The absence of Vice Admiral Sandagiri had delayed the directive issued by President Kumaratunga. Naturally, he would have to explain why a 200-year celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson took precedence over a Presidential directive.

After all, he is the highest ranking security forces official – an office that carries the utmost trust, confidence and above all demands a very high degree of efficiency.

Vice Admiral Sandagiri is due to retire as Commander of the Navy from August 31, this year. In terms of seniority, the next in line is Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema followed by Rear Admiral Wasantha arannagoda, Surgeon Rear Admiral Gamini Atulugama, Rear Admiral Sarath Rathnakeerthi, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Rear Admiral Nandalal Thuduwewatte and Rear Admiral Dayananda Dharmapriya.

With Tiger guerrillas flexing their muscles, despite a Joint Mechanism or P-TOMS being granted to them, the situation calls for a well prepared Navy. For this, much more than promoting friendship and encouraging camaraderie among sea farers around the world, there is a crying need to ensure greater preparedness by the Navy or for that matter the security forces, to meet any threat to national security. That is a commitment top brass in the security establishment owe the citizens of Sri Lanka.

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