Don't be
amused by my attire says this new Police recruit to a Santa outside a shopping
complex in Colombo. Police Recruits from a training school wearing short
trousers in a bygone era have been pressed into service for the festive season.
Pix. by Gemunu Wellage
A massive showdown between the government and powerful trade unions appeared to be in the offing yesterday as TU leaders held emergency talks to plan a general strike in protest against a police crackdown on workers at the crisis ridden Ceylon Steel Corporation.
Union leaders told The Sunday Times they would launch an island-wide protest and decide on a general strike by Wednesday, following the midnight arrest of some 15 CSC workers in the aftermath of last Tuesday's stone throwing demonstrations against Korean investors who have bought the Oruwela Factory.
A CSC trade union leader yesterday called upon all public servants to unite in a campaign against the government's attitude towards workers and the arbitrary sellout of valuable public enterprises to foreign businessmen.
He warned that the situation at the Oruwela factory was at flashpoint, with and some 600 armed policemen on guard others conducting house to house searches to arrest workers who had demonstrated.
As tension grew, trade unionists in other spheres threw their weight behind the CSC workers and promised full support for an island-wide protest campaign.
Somaweera Chandrasiri, president of the organisation for the protection of CSC, charged that the government and the police were hounding the workers.
Thousands of trade union members and Buddhist monks are expected to take part in an island-wide protest campaign this week calling for the release of the 15 CSC workers and an end to the chaos at the Oruwela factory, Mr. Chandrasiri said. A petition has also been sent to President Kumaratunga.
N. P. Hettiarachchi, secretary of the powerful union, Union of Post and Telecommunications Officers (UPTO) said they were pressing for an immediate general strike in support of the CSC workers.
Meanwhile work at the CSC has come to a standstill since last Tuesday when the Korean Hanjun executives who came for an inspection of the factory were blocked by noisy demonstrators and forced to go back home.
Trade union leaders and others have alleged that the CSC has been sold to the Korean investors at a rundown price which would mean a loss of more than Rs. 500 million to the nation.
Campaigning to end gender discrimination in Sri Lankan laws, a woman minister is to introduce legislation to allow foreigners who marry Sri Lankan women to get Sri Lankan citizenship along with their children.
Women's Affairs Minister Srimani Athulathmudali said the present law was discriminatory in that it gave citizenship to foreign women who married Sri Lankan men but not vice versa.
Recently there had been wide-spread media criticism of this practice and one Lankan woman who married a foreigner has petitioned Court against the gender discrimination.
"The inability of a foreign spouse of a Sri Lankan woman to obtain citizenship is seen as a violation of the constitutional guarantee on gender equality and non-discrimination.
Besides denial of citizenship to children born of such marriages until the child becomes an adult is also a violation of human rights," Ms. Athulathmudali said pledging that these rigid and discriminatory laws would be rectified soon.
Ms. Athulathmudali said that she was pushing for a change in the laws and the Ministry of Defence has set up a committee to study certain discriminatory provisions in the Citizenship Act.
"Action will be taken to introduce laws to implement the proposals they make", she said.
The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs would help in working out the mechanics of the new laws, she said.
The EPDP is to file action against the governments of Sri Lanka and India in the Supreme Courts of both countries for the non-implementation of the Indo-Lanka Accord, EPDP Leader Douglas Davananda said.
Mr. Devananda cited Clause 2.14 of the Indo-Lanka Accord which says: "The government of India will underwrite and guarantee the resolutions, and co-operate in the implementation of these proposals." Clause 2.16 Section (e) states, "The governments of India and Sri Lanka will co-operate in ensuring the physical security and safety of all communities inhabiting the Northern and Eastern Provinces."
Citing these clauses, Mr. Devananda said both governments had failed to implement the Accord and if the 13th Amendment had been implemented at least in half measure, most of the outstanding problems would have been solved by now.
Mr. Devananda who recently visited New Delhi and Chennai had talks with government and opposition politicians regarding the non-implementation of the accord. He is also reported to have met lawyers to discuss the proposed action.
Mr. Devananda stressed that the Tamil speaking people and their elected representatives should be allowed to participate directly in the process of provincial autonomy, if national unity and equality were to be rebuilt..
Regarding local elections in the North-East, now postponed, Mr. Devananda said the security situation and the position of the refugees should be improved before any polls were held.
Mr. Devananda also called for the setting up of a cabinet ministry for north-east affairs to oversee rehabilitation, devolution of power and other issues.
Tamil political parties reacting to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's call last week to start political activities in the North, expressed their willingness to resume their work but have set conditions for their return.
EPDP leader Douglas Devananda told the Sunday Times that they were inundated with letters and oral requests from the people of Jaffna appealing the Tamil parties to come back to Jaffna as they have no representatives to address their problems.
"We are contemplating to go back to Jaffna and work for the people with the purpose of redressing the problems the Jaffna people are facing," he said.
EPRLF General Secretary Suresh Premachandran said: "We had been engaged in political activities in Vavuniya and the East, and in the same manner we would like to resume political work in Jaffna too.".
"But the government should provide adequate security and transport. We have no weapons to protect ourselves. In such a situation, government has a duty to give us proper security and protection. In that atmosphere, EPRLF will do its political activities there," he added.
"So far, the government has not invited us to any sort of consultation regarding these matters. In fact, if the government sincerely want to have a democratic setup in Jaffna, then they should invite all Tamil political parties and consult with them to formulate the proper mechanism to carry out the political activities", Premachandran said.
General Secretary of EROS K. Suthakaran said there would be no difficulty to resume political activities in Jaffna provided that the situation in Jaffna District had been brought under complete control of the security forces.
"When the war-atmosphere continues to persist, the parties whatsoever could not engage in democratic politics. What we want is to function in a democratic atmosphere. Having gone with arms, we could not maintain that we are a democratic element. It is meaningless to work for elections without a conducive democratic atmosphere," he stressed.
"EROS is even at this juncture is ready to do political work among the people provided a guarantee is given to us that there would be nothing to stand in the way of democratic functioning," Suthakaran said.
General Secretary of TELO M.K. Sivajilingam said, "Of course, we like to go to Jaffna and work for the security and the rehabilitation of the people there. But the government should permit us to look after our security itself by us."
He said "Our objective of contesting the election is not for the seats, but to ward off the pro-government leaning parties from capturing them. Still we have not finalised whether to contest or not".
"The government is keen to fill the local government seats with its supporters. But it is only in a dream that a puppet regime could be installed in Jaffna," Sivajilingam said.
Postal Department trade unions suspect that their institution would be privatised at the turn of the year, and pointed out that the Post Master General was making arrangements to facilitate foreign investors to come in.
Secretary, Union of Posts and Telecommunications Organisation (UPTO) N. P. Hettiarachchi, told The Sunday Times that the stage is set for the BOI to call for tenders shortly.
Mr. Hettiarachchi said that the sudden decision by PMG Soma Kotakadeniya to wind up the PMG's account at the Central Bank of Ceylon is the first step to privatisation.
"The second move was to terminate the free postal services to MPs, hospitals, schools and charitable organisations. A foreign investor would never allow free services," he said.
Mr. Hettiarachchi warned that if the Postal Department is privatised the general public would no longer be entitled for cheap rates of postage nor other facilities which are available with a government institution.
He said that to add to these the one-year training programme offered to employees over decades has been stopped, "and the Postal Department is to be closed on Sundays from today," he added.
"All these steps indicate that the Postal Department is making way for a foreign investor to move in. Besides, the PMG has made it clear that very soon the Postal Department is to be transformed into a corporation," said Mr. Hettiarachchi.
A bill introduced in 1987 requires that any government department which is to be privatised should be first transformed into a corporation and subsequently a company, before its shares are sold to private investors.
"So the Postal Department is on course, and we can expect PERC to call for tenders very soon," said Mr. Hettiarchchi. "But UPTO warns that it is dead against any privatisation, and that drastic trade union action would follow any moves to privatise the Postal Department"
The Sri Lanka Railway (SLR) is running with funds from a massive overdraft which is costing it more than Rs. 110 million as interest to banks as the Treasury has failed to release this year's full budget allocation, Transport Minister Srimani Athulathmudali said.
The Minister told The Sunday Times that as the Treasury had not funded the SLR properly it had to resort to thumping amounts of loans from banks resulting in heavy interests. "The SLR is not in a position to pay back the banks", she said.
Mrs. Athulathmudali said she has been negotiating with the Treasury to write-off the interests, if they are unable to provide the budget allocation. "We had cordial discussions with the Treasury,and hope that the funds are remitted before the end of the year", she said.
Ms. Athulathmudali has frequently complained of the shortage of funds and called on the Treasury to release the allotted amount to the SLR and other transport institutions.
Meanwhile trade unions in the SLR have expressed fear that the shortage of funds could lead to further cuts in already restricted facilities provided to workers. According to railway officials, SLR would face its toughest times if the Treasury does not release the funds immediately.
The JVP has sought an urgent meeting with the President alleging that some groups or individuals within or outside the government are conspiring to create a situation similar to that in 1971 and 1988.
JVP spokesman Wimal Weerawansa told The Sunday Times they also wanted to meet Defence Secretary Chandrananda de Silva as they felt the allegations were intended to set the stage for another military crackdown on the party.
He said recent statements from various quarters in and outside the government had accused the JVP of having a secret armed unit with a secret leadership, and also blamed the party for some recent acts of violence.
Chartered Accountant Rohan Fernado concluded his evidence this week in the criminal defamation case filed on behalf of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga against the Editor of The Sunday Times.
Mr. Fernando maintained that in his opinion the gossip items on which the editor is indicted is not defamatory. The trial resumes next Tuesday, December 17.
President's Counsel Tilak Marapona with S.L. Gunasekera, Kumar Ponnambalam, Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, Upul Jayasuriya, Ronald Perera and Maithri Guneratne, instructed by Samararatna Associates, appear for the editor.
The U.N. Security Council late on Friday made official its selection of Kofi Annan of Ghana as the U.N. Secretary-General to succeed Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Jan.1.
In a closed-door meeting, the council adopted a formal resolution that put on the record its recommendation to the 185-nation General Assembly, which will appoint Annan formally on Tuesday.
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