Columns

It is no wonder that when it comes to climate change, Sri Lanka is among the more vulnerable nations in the region, despite its relatively low carbon footprint compared to big industrialised polluters in the West.

A Reuters analysis report this week found that a programme meant to help developing nations fight climate change is funnelling billions of dollars back to rich countries.

The report found that Japan, France, Germany, the United States, and other wealthy nations are reaping billions of dollars in economic rewards.

Wealthy nations have loaned at least USD 18 billion at market-rate interest, including USD 10.2 billion in loans made by Japan, USD 3.6 billion by France, USD 1.9 billion by Germany, and USD 1.5 billion by the United States, according to the report.

Ten debt-distressed nations, including Sri Lanka, took on a combined USD 11.5 billion in debt from climate finance loans between 2015 and 2020. Sri Lanka received USD 1.5 billion as a loan and USD 115 million as a grant during that period, the study found.

Commenting on the deepening hole in which heavily indebted countries face the vicious cycle of bad climate change-related loans, the former World Bank climate envoy Rachel Kyte, who recently advised Britain in climate negotiations, said: “The way the international financial system works at the moment… is to dig even deeper a hole… We have to say, ‘no, no more digging, we’re going to fill the hole and lift you up.’”

Fisheries Minister going to India to study about floating solar power plants and aquaculture practices

Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda will leave for Hyderabad, India, tomorrow, not to take up the issue of Indian fishermen’s poaching and illegal practices in Sri Lanka’s northern waters but on a study cum technical tour about floating solar power plants and aquaculture
practices.

Minister Devananda will lead a delegation that consists of senior officials from the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and the National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA) as well.

During the one-week-long trip, the delegation will visit a floating solar power plant in Ramagundam, an aquaculture farming facility, and a shrimp hatchery at Rajahmundry in Hyderabad as well.

Bidders taken aback by huge police tenders

Those who usually take part in government biddings were taken aback when they noticed that the Ministry of Public Security had called for three different biddings worth billions of rupees for the Police Department with the approval of the Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee.

The three bids are for 70,000 pairs of leather shoes, 58,500 pairs of jogging shoes and 732,000 metres of khaki uniform material for police personnel.

The bidders said they were surprised by the quantity of the items required for the police.

Namal, Mahela at Ambani wedding of the year

After months of festivities, the wedding ceremony of the son of Asia’s richest man finally got underway in Mumbai yesterday.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani tied the knot with Radhika Merchant, daughter of pharma tycoons Viren, and Shaila Merchant.

The wedding is a four-day extravaganza and the final stop in a string of elaborate parties the family has hosted since March, which have featured performances by pop stars including Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

PHOTO OP AT AMBANI WEDDING: Mr. & Mrs. Namal Rajapaksa and Mr. & Mrs. Mahela Jayawardena

The wedding has attracted celebrities from India and across the world. They included Bollywood royalty such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan, Alia Bhatt, and Ranbir Kapoor. Other celebrities included reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former UK prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, and US wrestler and actor John Cena.

Several Sri Lankans were also on the guest list and were seen arriving at the wedding venue. They included Namal Rajapaksa and his wife Limini, former Sri Lanka cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene, and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez.

Key roads in Mumbai are being sealed off for several hours a day until the festivities end tomorrow.

The wedding has made global headlines, with minute-by-minute updates being shared widely on social media. It has also created a backlash, however. The BBC reported that city dwellers have complained that the road closures have worsened traffic snarls caused by monsoon flooding, while others have questioned the ostentatious display of wealth at the seemingly never-ending celebrations.

Janadipathi Unnehe takes immediate action to repair road to rural pirivena

President Ranil Wickremesinghe this week received an unusual letter addressed to “Janadipathi Unnehe” from the chief incumbent of a Pirivena at Medagoda, Galagedara, in the Kandy district.

The chief incumbent, Ven. Dimbulkumbure Visuddhananda Thera, explained in his letter that the road leading up to his pirivena was in a shocking state of disrepair owing to years of neglect by authorities.

He had noted in frustration that, though repeated requests had been made to the many government ministers and MPs who pass through the area, little or nothing had been done so far. The Thera’s letter asked the President to tell the Highways Minister to provide a mixture of tar, rock, and sand, which the locals call “pol peni,” so that at least the large potholes on the road to the pirivena can be filled.

Not long after the letter reached the president’s office, a call came through to Ven. Visuddhananda Thera. The caller informed him that “Janadhipathi Unnehe” was waiting on the other end of the line to speak to him. The astonished Thera then found himself speaking to the President, who assured him that he would personally see to it that the road would be fully repaired.

True to the presidential word, Road Development Authority officials visited the location to inspect the road, and repair work is due to begin shortly. Ven. Visuddhananda Thera told the media that even more than the road being repaired, he was grateful that a sitting president took the time to speak to a monk from a far-off rural area.

Club Wasantha shooting incident puts Yukthiya operation under fire

When the much-publicised “Yukthiya” operation was launched in December last year, government and police bigwigs loudly proclaimed that police had been given the task of eradicating drug trafficking and underworld activities from the country by June 30 this year.

Such sweeping statements have now come back to haunt both the police and the government in an embarrassing fashion. Drug trafficking continues, and gunmen are seemingly able to strike at will, as shown yet again by this week’s brazen daylight shooting at the opening of a tattoo parlour in Athurugiriya. The shooting left businessman Surendra Wasantha Perera, alias “Club Wasantha,” and another person dead and injured several others, including popular singer K. Sujeewa.

Though several arrests have been made, the two gunmen remain at large, along with the masterminds of the attack, thought to be underworld gangsters operating from overseas.

The ease with which the gunmen launched their attack and fled the scene was noted by the Acting Kaduwela Magistrate, who pointed out to police when he arrived at the scene of the crime for a magisterial inquiry that the attack happened less than a kilometre away from the nearest police station. The magistrate likened the country’s situation to Chicago of yore, when gangsters such as Al Capone ruled the US city.

Alleged underworld threats have also extended to a Borella funeral parlour, where Club Wasantha’s remains were being kept. Armed police guards had to be deployed at the funeral parlour amid the threats. His funeral took place yesterday amid tight security.

If anything, the high-profile killing has shattered the illusion that “Yukthiya” has been the roaring success that the authorities claim it to be. Or maybe it’s too early to claim success.