Situation Report

The island of Delft (Nedun Theevu or Long Island), off the northern Jaffna peninsula, was known centuries ago under Portuguese rule as Cow Island. There were plenty of cattle there. Yet the mortality rate was high because they sometimes fed on the venomous herbs that grew wild.

The Portuguese had a fort there. The ruins are still evident. During that period, they brought some horses into the island. A historian later recorded "multiplying in time produced a certain kind of horses that are very small, but hardy and very fit to travel on stony and rocky grounds."

The descendants of the Portuguese horses, ponies as they call them now, are perhaps the only living remnants of that era that remain in Delft Island. It is 35 square miles (seven miles long and five miles wide). The island is the largest among the seven located off the peninsula. The main occupation for some 6,000 civilians is fishing. Located some 18 nautical miles from the Jaffna peninsula, access is only by boat from the Kurikattuvan jetty in the Kayts island. Another is the Kayts jetty. The area was under the control of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP). After the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002, a Navy detachment was positioned there to supplement a Police Station that existed.

Six months ago, a sub unit of this detachment was located in the southernmost corner of Delft Island to guard a Radar facility. That was to monitor movements of Sea Tigers, the ocean going arm of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It became necessary following reports of increased sea traffic between the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and guerrilla-held Wanni area. The radar is placed near the disused Queen's Tower beacon that existed many years ago.

Last Thursday, Delft Island was world news. Just before crack of dawn, Tiger guerrillas mounted a surprise attack on the sub unit. It came after they had smuggled in weapons and infiltrated the island. Whilst the attack got under way, Sea Tiger boats awaited and later engaged Navy re-inforcements that rushed in. These boats had come from guerrilla bases in Viduthaltivu and Pooneryn. The guerrillas overran the area and held it for three hours. It was only after the crack of dawn that sailors managed to re-capture and restore normalcy. By then, the guerrillas had withdrawn with two .50 calibre guns (point five zero calibre heavy weapon used in many roles including anti-aircraft), two machine guns, one Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher and two T-56 assault rifles among other items. Air Force Mi-24 helicopter gunships joined in the battle and destroyed at least two guerrilla boats.

During that period, another drama was being enacted in Colombo. Officials at the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) had the unenviable task of disseminating information on the incident to the local and foreign media. Faster than the speed of bullets fired by re-inforcements to re-take the Radar facility, the casualty counts were changing. At one point, officials at the MCNS said sailors who took over the island had seen six bodies of sailors lying in the area. It later rose to seven.

Then suddenly apologetic MCNS officials explained they were under orders from top brass at Navy Headquarters to give a lower casualty count. Strange but true that meant some of those found dead had been resurrected by the top brass. They declared only four sailors had died and four more were wounded. Five others had reported to the main Navy detachment in the Delft Island. All others reported missing had also turned up. Besides officials at the MCNS, separate accounts were also being given by a Navy spokesman. It was not so long ago that one such spokesman talked of a Sea Tiger attack on a Navy patrol. It later turned out that the number of Sea Tiger boats he announced as being destroyed far exceeded those engaged in the sea battle.

The Sunday Times learnt from authoritative Navy sources that contrary to claims by the top brass, eight sailors were killed in the incident and three others wounded. The dead sailors are: T. Jayatilleke, K.N. Weerakulasuriya, I.D.U. Silva, R.A. Prasanna, K.S. Weeraratne, W.I.D. Ratnayake, W. Wickremasinghe and W. Pushpakumara. Their last rites are to be accompanied by full Navy honours.

It became clear that Navy top brass were not only directing operations by re-inforcements at Delft Island tasked to re-capture the area overrun by the guerrillas. They were also at the same time engaged in news management to give the Sri Lankan public and the world at large an entirely different picture. This is what prompted me to once observe that there are two separatist wars in Sri Lanka. One is in the theatre of conflict in the North and East. The other is the media release war in Colombo.

Even the Security Forces Headquarters in Jaffna, which is the overall authority for Security Forces deployed in the peninsula, was unable to report to Army Headquarters in Colombo on the casualty count in the Delft incident. Both the Navy and the Air Force in the peninsula come under the operational command of the SFHQ (Jaffna).

It is no secret that co-ordination and co-operation at the highest levels between the Army and the Navy have not been very smooth. This week, Security Forces Commander (Jaffna), Major General G.A. Chandrasiri, the senior most officer in the peninsula, sought a report from the Northern Naval Area Commander, Rear Admiral S.R. Samaratunga. Until yesterday, he had not received the account.

Ironic enough, managing the news has become a distinct characteristic feature of the ongoing undeclared Eelam War IV. The Delft incident is the latest to clearly illustrate this phenomenon. In an era where communications have advanced and the flow of information cannot be forever curtailed, news management by those spearheading the "war on terror" is only bringing the Government's credibility into further question. Apologists may argue it is necessary in order not to demoralize troops. This is nothing more than a myth, for it is troops in the operational areas who learn from the grapevine the exact casualty counts in military encounters. Moreover, to claim that four sailors have died when eight sacrificed their lives is a grave act of injustice by the men who die. Not even in their death is their sacrifice for the nation recognized.

Another equally disturbing factor is the reaction of the public who support the Security Forces and the Police engaged in battles with the Tiger guerrillas. Will not their morale be affected when they learn that some top brass engineer and doctor the news to economise on the truth? Therefore, will not such actions reflect badly on the leadership of the Government? In fact, some of the official claims after military encounters, particularly in a string of battles in the East, come into serious question. Reportage of such claims raises high public expectations but crumble no sooner the truth is discovered. Unlike during the previous phases of the war, there is little or no control by the Ministry of Defence over these matters. The result is news management going on unabated at various levels.

Strange enough they reach levels where the intelligence of the public is insulted by some of the claims. One example is the ease with which some spokesman describe flotilla of guerrilla boats coming into attack Navy patrols. The numbers of the "suicide boats" and the others are frequently spelt out though it is not clear how it is possible to exactly identify the "suicide boats''. They do not carry name boards. It is known that on some occasions the guerrillas have dived into the water after directing a suicide boat to a target. Other times, a single cadre had been deployed. But the boats used in attacks look much the same and any difference is often unnoticeable.

Within hours of the attack on Delft Island, a directional claymore mine fixed to a motorcycle exploded on Thursday morning at Reclamation Road that runs outside the boundary wall of the Colombo Port. It hit an Army bus killing a soldier and wounding three more soldiers.It also injured three civilians. It is not still clear whether the Army bus was the target.

Intelligence operatives believe the mine may have been detonated by a guerrilla cadre using a remote-controlled device. This is after they found it difficult to move it to the Fort area for fear of being checked. Various aspects are now being probed. This includes possible plans to attack trucks carrying ammunition expected to exit from a nearby gate (near the Khan Clock Tower). A vessel had been unloading military hardware in the Colombo port. Another aspect is whether it was intended for a VIP.

The two incidents on Thursday, after a brief lull, make clear Tiger guerrillas are girding themselves for fresh attacks. This is whilst the Security Forces have started limited operations both in the North and the East against guerrilla positions.

Against this backdrop, the Government's move to acquire four MiG-29SM multi-role combat aircraft (together with a trainer) from Russia on long-term credit, revealed exclusively on this page last week, generated a controversy. The opposition United National Party sought and obtained a debate on the matter on Thursday afternoon. However, on Wednesday President Mahinda Rajapaksa told his Ministers the Government wants to go ahead with the purchase. Besides the purchase of five MiG-29SM, including the trainer, the Air Force sources confirmed yesterday plans were afoot to buy three new Mi-35M helicopters and to upgrade four more Mi-24 helicopters in the SLAF possession as Mi-35 variants. These sources also said an overhaul facility for helicopters will also be set up at the Sri Lanka Air Force. These, no doubt, will entail heavy expenditure.

The MiG-29 and other accompanying deals are to be concluded by the newly formed company Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited. It is a company incorporated under the Companies Act (no 17 of 1982). Its primary objective is declared as "to procure equipment and services for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police and any other State institution from time to time in terms of the policy guidelines, regulations and other direction as stipulated by the Government with regard to procurement such as guidelines on tender procedure." The Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up the company on a proposal made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Minister of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order.

Despite this approval, the Cabinet has not granted any authority to deviate from policy guidelines on procurement laid down by the Government. One is the document titled "Policy Guidelines - 2006" approved by the Cabinet. President Rajapaksa in a preface to the Guideline in January 2006 noted, "….it is imperative to ensure speed, transparency and integrity in all the development spheres and in regard to which the procurement function of goods, works and services plays a critical role."

President Rajapaksa added: "….the National Procurement Agency has been established under Presidential directive. The institution which functions directly under my purview is mandated to study, revise and adopt the procedures and processes in order to govern this vital aspect. The effort taken by the National Procurement Agency, within a period of one year from its inception, to study the several procedural documents which prevail in the sphere of public procurement and to formulate a single harmonized procurement guideline applicable to over the different funding agency procedure is a significant and commendable achievement."

The National Procurement Agency formulated guidelines to "enhance the transparency of Government procurement process to minimize delays and to obtain financially the most advantageous and qualitatively the best services and supplies to the nation."

The NPA did formulate a set of procedures. They are lengthy but some of the highlights include giving maximum publicity to a procurement notice to ensure maximum competition. This is not only in print and electronic media but also in relevant websites. Direct contracting, the NPA has said, should only be under exceptional circumstances.

Lanka Logistics and Technologies Limited have received proposals for very high value military equipment and services directly from manufacturing arms and trading organizations. They have been dealt with on the basis that the entities in question are state owned and have been recommended by heads of diplomatic missions abroad. That move also enhances official claims that the deals would thus be Government to Government. What of private foreign suppliers, whose products may, in some instances, turn out to be better than ones manufactured by State owned enterprises? Does that mean they are out of the race and thus shut out? For example a military item from the United States where the defence industry is in private hands? Thus single offers are being accepted for consideration as against several. Will that obviate competition that leads to competitive prices and better products?

The single proposals, however, have been subjected to either Cabinet appointed or Ministry approved Tender Boards. This is a significant departure from the past where there was fierce competition from various bidders. Of course local agents also benefited from fat commissions for lobbying with connected "promoters" including some in uniform.

Despite claims that the newly set up company has stemmed corruption, many questions still arise. The first is the question of transparency. Another important one is whether a good product and a better price could be obtained. The others, some of the recent procurements have shown, has not eliminated the role of local agents. Suppliers have due to Government insistence "dropped" their agents but "take good care" of them when the deals are through. The agents are most helpful to obtain the required business intelligence and whom to lobby. Hence, what are the total benefits arising from a State owned company where the shareholders are the armed forces commanders, the Police Chief and the Secretary to the Treasury. Have they ever been explained to the public?

Though still undeclared, the Eelam War is not only heightening further but taking a frightening dimension. As billions worth of military equipment is being procured, this time through an exclusive state company chaired by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the cost of war is soaring.

It is the public who will be called upon to further sustain the burdens placed on the economy by this undeclared Eelam War IV. The least that could be done by the Government is to tell the truth over incidents and win their support and co-operation. Military top brass may, to cover their shortcomings, conceal or exaggerate events. It could be argued that in the national interest both these measures may become necessary sometimes. But that should be left to the Government and not in the hands of the top brass. It is not them but President Rajapaksa and his Government which has to bear the brunt of it at the end. That is when the expectations they raise do not match the ground realities. That is not fair by the troops and policemen who have placed their lives on the firing line. There is a lesson in this from the Delft incident which the Government should not ignore.

Tale of two wars: Ground battle and media battle