Financial Times - Departure of two eminent scientists

Try getting something done at a ministry or public institution and invariably it’s a-run-around-the-bend type of drama. Inefficiency, lethargy, incompetence – you name it, our public institutions have been sadly lacking in what they are supposed to do – serve the public.

However there are few institutions that have shone amidst all this brouhaha and the Tea Research Institute (TRI) and the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) rank very high among this small group of public institutions.

Much of the credit for the efficient management of these two research institutions must go to the dedicated staff and research officers who have gone beyond the norm to perform set tasks unlike most government departments.

It is in this light that the tea and rubber industries’ must with some sadness see the departure of the heads of the TRI and the RRI – one who retires in line with age requirements and the other over the now-famous but unfortunate victimization issue.

Talk to any source in the tea or rubber industry and there is nothing but praise for Dr Keerthi Tillekeratne, director of the RRI who retired, and Dr Ziyard Mohamed, director of the TRI who quit on a matter of conflict-of-interest; he has filed a fundamental rights case against the government over his arbitrary arrest, temporary jail and sacking.

Dr Tillekeratne has been described as an honest officer with plenty of integrity who, when he ultimately, left the service was receiving a salary that any experienced clerk, junior executive or secretary in the private sector would be drawing with more perks. Money didn’t worry him too much. Industry sources said he had offers overseas with handsome salaries but chose to remain in Sri Lanka.

He single-handedly took up cudgels with the government and the private sector against encouraging palm oil plantations on unused or old rubber land – at a time when rubber prices were in the dumps – arguing that it was a hasty move. Some 1,500 to 2,000 acres of rubber land were transformed into oil plantations.

Three to four years later, his position has been vindicated: rubber prices are soaring, demand is high and it is the most profitable crop around.

Highly qualified in the field of chemistry with many degrees in their bags, both Dr Tillekeratne and Dr Mohamed could have walked into any high-paid job abroad but chose to remain in their motherland and serve their chosen field … and that too with dedication.

The former RRI chief has been described by industry colleagues as the most eminent scientist the industry has produced in the past 25 years. In Dr Mohamed’s case, it was the private sector, at least some sections of the tea industry, which immediately came to his rescue when he was victimized.

The former TRI director’s quitting is unfortunate. While being a member of an official delegation to Japan in April to canvass Sri Lanka’s case for Japan to resume tea purchases – which had been temporarily stopped over an issue of pesticide residues --, Dr Mohamed was served with a vacation of post notice. Dr Mohamed was told he had failed to get permission from the ministry to travel to Japan.

The former TRI director’s presentation to Japanese government officials providing enough evidence to show that Sri Lankan tea was clean as a whistle and didn’t contain any residue, won the day for Sri Lanka and the industry. In fact recently the Sri Lanka Tea Commissioner in Tokyo has said that Japan now swears by Sri Lankan tea and prefers it to even Indian tea. Tea exports to Japan has seen unprecedented growth this year with volumes rising to 5.0 million kg in the first half of 2006 against 3.9 million in the 2005 period.

Dr Mohamed was arrested after his return from Japan, detained and subsequently released with all charges being dropped by the police. The government also withdrew the vacation of post order and he returned to the TRI. However having filed a fundamental rghts case against the authorities, he felt it was improper to continue at the TRI.

Like many other scientists in the past, these two gentlemen have given their best to the country, the institution and the industry they serve with little reward or recognition from the state.

Their departure itself was unnoticed or didn’t matter to the state or the industry for that matter. They now move to the more lucrative private sector. Scientists of this calibre still continue in service but must get a better deal from the government for the reasons given above.