• 'Tackle duty free racket, don't hit us' 
• BASL wants affidavit given 
• Bills going up 
• Vision of unity 
• Blackout cripples Batticaloa district 
• Buddhist conference tomorrow 
• Gamini's half built dagoba in ruins 
• 'Why take it out on my child?' 
• NMAT opposes talks with LTTE 
• Now a University involved in credit card scandal? 
• If you have a wheel he has got a deal 
• Break political deadlock - Neelan 
• An eye wash or washed out budget! 
• Dates and outdates 
• Strikers stay sceptical 
• Seventh day of grads' fast in Kandy 
• Investigative journalists meet 
• Economy good, says your own man! - from the blue corner

'Tackle duty free racket, don't hit us' 

By M.Ismeth

According to the budget proposal, these workers who were entitled to between US$ 1,000 and US$ 1,250 to buy household appliances duty-free on their return will now get only a paltry Rs. 5,000.

Though at least two cabinet ministers are reported to have opposed this move, president Kumaratunga insisted it was necessary to crack down on what she descried as a 'duty-free mafia' — middlemen who buy duty-free goods from returning workers and sell them at a much higher price in a racket involving millions of rupees.

The government says local manufacturers of household appliances have been severely affected by this racket. But migrant workers and the main opposition party are rejecting the government's claim.

The Sunday Times spoke to several migrant workers after the budget proposal was announced on Thursday.

"All those who work abroad do not sell their entitlement to middlemen or businessmen at the airport. Only those who could not save some money or those who have worked and have been underpaid by their employers are forced to sell their entitlement for Rs 3500, as the Minister claims," said Mohamed Ghouse, who has been working in the Gulf for the past ten years.

"There are cases where housemaids sent by bogus agencies return after one year and all they get is some money from the middlemen who buy their entitlement. We sweat to earn a living and send valuable foreign exchange to the country and at the end of it if we are asked to pay duty for the items we buy abroad, that is totally unfair," he said.

Sithy Zareena from Kompannaveediya was justifiably angry. 

"What's the use of the government giving us Rs. 5000 as an outright grant on our return after having toiled for one year or more in Gulf countries. What can we buy with Rs. 5,000, it is utterly wrong," she said.

K. Jinadasa of Kandana said," We earn so much money for the country. Why are they periodically trying to throttle us? At one time they told us to pay a fee to the Foreign Employment Bureau. Now they are stripping us of our duty-free allowance."

The migrant workers said if there was a big racket, the government should get the police to deal with the racketeers instead of extracting the pound of flesh from the poor workers.

UNP spokesman Karunasena Kodituwakku said migrant workers should be given the right to decide when to buy and what to buy.

"Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans employed in foreign countries are our biggest source of foreign exchange. We should give them every encouragement and incentive possible instead of stripping them of their right to buy household goods which they need," he said.

A Customs officer told The Sunday Times the duty-free restriction was likely to be imposed from January.

BASL wants affidavit given

Twelve of the 13 members present cast their votes in an unprecedented ballot on Friday night to decide whether the president should give an affidavit. The resolution was passed by eight to four with Romesh de Silva as president abstaining, The Sunday Times learns.

The members present were Romesh de Silva PC, Nilanthi Pieris, Niel Dias, Nihal Jayamanne PC, Nihal Pieris, L.C. Seneviratne PC, Palitha Wanasundara, W. Dayaratne, K. Neelakandan, M. Hanaffi, Ikram Mohamed PC, Kithsiri Seneviratne and Ananda Wijesekera PC.

Faiz Mustapha PC, Anil Silva, A.C.S. Hameed, Mahinda Lokuge, Ajantha Coorey, Hilary Fernando, Sunil Abeyratne and Sanjaya Gamage were absent. 

Meanwhile, despite the Attorney General's statement to the media that his doors were open to them, when The Sunday Times tried to contact him to get his comments on his remarks that he was sick of the way Minister G.L Peiris was runing his ministry, we were told he was at 'conferences'.

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

Mr. Jayaratne who is also the general secretary of the ruling People's Alliance said the budget gave no comfort to the ordinary people but it brought no major discomfort to them either. 

He said proposals such as duty-free vehicles were largely for the well to do, but he was appreciative of the concessions given to farmers. He said these proposals might not have an immediate effect on prices. But he was confident that in the long run they would bring food prices down.

Bills going up

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

Sri Lanka Telecom official S. Chandrasena, who is in charge of billing said all SLT charges on services such as telephone calls, connection, telex and Internet would be increased as a result of the hike in the NSL, which is also known as the defence tax.

Meanwhile, one of Sri Lanka's main trade bodies, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has expressed concern over the government's inability to contain the budget deficit within the original forecast.

CCC Secretary C.G. Jayasuriya said the Chamber also felt the issue of competitiveness of local products in the export markets, particularly in the light of the South East Asian crisis had not been adequately addressed. 

The Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) said some companies which were expecting relief in this year's budget, were being compelled to close down.

"There is a gap between the decision makers and the action takers, and as such the best intentions of the government are sometimes defeated," CNCI secretary Asoka Tennekoon said.

In a reaction to budget proposals, a local plywood company has informed the Labour Commissioner it is closing down immediately.

'With the waiving of import duty on raw material, we are losing out at both ends. Our exports are not competitive in the international market, and our import substitution industries cannot compete with cheaper imports," Lakply chairman Sherhan Caderamanpulle told the Labour Commissioner.

He said some 115 workers were being laid off.

Kuruwita Textiles Chief Executive Officer Nimal Perera also said the company would be compelled to close down as they could no longer operate profitably. He said that for the textile industry the latest budget had only negative proposals. 

Rohan Perera, who heads the Sri Lanka Foundation for Development of Small and Medium Scale Industries, commended budget proposals for the withdrawal of the minimum investment requirements, the import machinery duty free basis and the setting up of farming villages.

He, however, regretted the government's failure to address the severe financial crisis most local industries were facing, and the threat to local agriculture due to free importation of several agricultural products. "No government with a commitment to increasing job opportunities could afford to ignore these factors," he said.

Vision of unity

Fr. Edward Ravel, parish priest of the Queen of Angels Church at Rawatawatta near Moratuwa said the latest apparition also took place during a special three-hour adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar.

Fr. Ravel and others who were present in the Church on Friday said they saw a flash of light in the shape of a map of Sri Lanka. It fell apart, indicating the possibility of the country going to pieces. But the apparition which began at 3.30 p.m. ended on a hopeful note with the country coming together again. This was seen in the shape of a rosary with the outline of Sri Lanka.

In the previous apparition on October 23 a ball of light like a globe came from the Blessed Sacrament and rested on the hand of the Blessed Mother whose mysterious image has been imprinted on the Church wall since August 16.

Blackout cripples Batticaloa district

By Chris Kamalendran and S.S Selvanayagam

The disruption of power also had severe economic repercussions with rice mills and garment factories being among the worst hit. Three large garment factories have already been closed down threatening the jobs and livelihood of thousands of families. 

Attempts by NGOs to negotiate with the LTTE to allow restoration of power supplies have failed with the Tigers detaining an NGO official who visited the uncleared area.

S. Mamangaraja, Batticaloa District Coordinator for the World University Service of Canada, who entered the Kokkadicholai area on Tuesday in his vehicle was detained though his driver along with the vehicle had been released.

A senior CEB official in the Batticaloa district told The Sunday Times that if they attempted to restore power supplies their lives would be in danger. 

Even the CEB office has no power and it is running on a generator.

The LTTE is reported to have planted Johnny mines around lamp posts, preventing the CEB from doing any repairs. 

On Friday evening, two boys looking after a herd of cattle, had their legs blown off at Eravur, when they were passing one of the damaged lamp posts.

The power distribution line from Laxapana through Habarana to the Batticaloa district was affected as a result of electricity posts in Santhiveli, Siththandy, Vantharumoolai and Aarumugatha Kudiyiruppu being blasted. The supply from Inginiyagala was disrupted with the blast of posts in Palugamam and Porativu.

Batticaloa's Government Agent A. K. Pathmanathan told The Sunday Times the blackout was crippling the economy of the eastern capital. 

At the Batticaloa Hospital, only urgent operations are being carried out while normal work has come to a standstill.

Buddhist conference tomorrow

The theme of the conference will be 'The Timeless Message of the Buddha'. This conference, which is jointly organised by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be held from tomorrow till Saturday at the BMICH. President Chandrika Kumaratunga will inaugurate the conference.

High level delegations from 28 countries are expected to participate in this conference. Ministers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea and high-level state nominees from Pakistan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Bhutan will attend this conference. 

Delegates from the U.S.A, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, and Brazil will also participate in this event. More than 75 foreign delegates including scholars will also attend this conference.

Gamini's half built dagoba in ruins

By Nilika de Silva

Srima Dissanayake, widow of UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake, who during his tenure at the Mahaweli Ministry, was instrumental in the construction of this dagoba, has written to the President requesting that work be resumed and completed urgently.

The dagoba with inlaid porcelain tiles is three fourths complete. Yet only a broken down bulldozer and some generators are the visible evidence that this project was once seriously underway. 

A sign post outside the closed gates warns the public not to approach the construction site and even taking photographs is prohibited.

Across the road a miniature model of the Mahaweli Maha Seya indicates exactly what is left to be done. But no work has been done for about ten years. So far the authorities have not seen fit to complete work on this dagoba which was constructed to make up for all the temples that went under water when the Kotmale reservoir was built. 

What is the mystery surrounding this half-built dagoba which has been abandoned to all intents and purposes and yet is provided with a watcher and a watch hut.

More News/Comment * 'Why take it out on my child?' * NMAT opposes talks with LTTE * Now a University involved in credit card scandal? * If you have a wheel he has got a deal * Break political deadlock - Neelan * An eye wash or washed out budget! 

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