National security should be above politics

There is a strong need to be security conscious

 

The whole country now knows the defects were at the upper most level of the security establishment and the reason for it was the rift between the country’s President and the Prime Minister. As a result the upper echelon of the security establishment had lost its cohesiveness and was not operating at full steam.

 By Gamini Abeywardane

Ten years of peace in our country following the defeat of the LTTE has been disturbed by the dastardly Easter Sunday terror attacks that shook the world. Public domain is full of theories and opinion over security lapses on our part and who should be held responsible for them.
While it is important to analyze the relevant data to find out answers to these questions, it is also equally important to re-establish the impenetrable security network we once had and improve it further to meet the kind of international terrorist threats now we are exposed to.

With experience of nearly thirty years of war against the LTTE terrorists we had established one of the best intelligence networks in the world. Although some allege that these networks were weakened with efforts towards reconciliation and prosecution of some intelligence officials for wrong doings during the time of war, that position is not entirely true.

Any one looking at the content of warning letters sent by the two relevant DIGs which together contained most of the vital information regarding the planned suicide attacks will understand that both police and military intelligence units were doing their job well.

 Rift in the government

The whole country now knows the defects were at the upper most level of the security establishment and the reason for it was the rift between the country’s President and the Prime Minister. As a result the upper echelon of the security establishment had lost its cohesiveness and was not operating at full steam.

There has not been any agreed policy on the composition of the Security Council and if there was any such practice the Prime Minister and the Inspector General of Police would not have been kept out of the council meetings.

Whenever the President who is the Minister of Defence was out of the country the practice in the past had been to make an acting appointment. But under the new dispensation the practice seems to have been disregarded.

During President J R Jayewardene’s time this issue never arose because Lalith Athulathmudali functioned as the Minister for Internal Security.  Similarly during the presidencies of R. Premadasa and Chandrika Kumaratunga, Ranjan Wijeratne and Anuruddha Ratwatte respectively were deputy defence ministers and both of them had cabinet rankings and used to handle most of the defence matters on their own.

The reasons that contributed to the security lapses such as non-appointment of a deputy defence minister with a cabinet ranking, the lackadaisical attitude towards the Security Council, non-appointment of a competent Defence Secretary and the inactiveness of the IGP show that security was not a top priority of the government and security matters have not been discussed at the cabinet level.

All this points to one fact, that is when the country’s President and the Prime Minister are from two different political parties the security of the country is likely be at stake. This is even further corroborated by certain developments that took place during the UNP government from 2000 to 2004 under Chandrika Kumaratunga’s presidency.

Despite Chandrika being the head of the cabinet differences emerged between her and the cabinet and she used to boycott most of the cabinet meetings. The rift became worse with her taking over of a few ministries citing national security as the reason and finally this led to the premature dismissal of the UNF government of Ranil Wickremesinghe.

However, the current crisis situation has to be overcome with unity among all political parties in the parliament while a long term strategy has to be formulated with necessary constitutional amendments to ensure that national security will not be compromised in the face of political issues.

National security above politics

Either the national security has to be kept above politics through some constitutional and legal mechanism or the current constitution has to be amended to prevent a situation where the President and the Prime Minister are elected from two different political parties. Unless one of these things happens a similar situation can arise again in the future as well.

Like in the US and many other developed countries permanent institutions need to be set up to handle intelligence gathering and processing at the national level while the composition and the operation of the Security Council has to be legally defined and kept outside general politics of the country.

A country which has faced numerous security threats -- two insurrections, a separatist war and finally an international terrorist threat --  can never afford to take national security lightly and it’s time to place national security above everything else in the country.

There are allegations that the current government has been too involved in national reconciliation efforts and that was one of the reasons for neglecting national security. The fact is those are two distinct areas that should not be mixed up.

Reconciliation among communities is necessary after an internal war, but it cannot be achieved if there is re-emergence of terrorism. In that sense, a foolproof system of national security is a prerequisite for national reconciliation. In other words reconciliation cannot be achieved at the expense of national security.

In this age and time where terrorist groups are powerful enough to shake even mighty nations, emergence or re-emergence of terrorism could be a matter of time. So, the mere fact that the war is over in our country should not be a reason to be complacent about national security.

With a history of insurgencies, terrorism and war running into well over three decades, Sri Lanka can ill-afford to ignore the need for strengthening its armed forces and intelligence services. This will become more relevant as the country grows economically and increases its asset base – industrial installations, power stations, ports and airports etc.

In the context of current internal and regional developments, it is likely that terrorism will continue to remain an eternal threat in the foreseeable future. No country can afford to be lax on matters of security and the latest happenings are a grim reminder for the necessity of being security conscious at all times.

(Writer can be contacted on: gamini4@gmail.com)

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When will the power problem be resolved forever?

 

Restructuring of electricity sector will also require a huge amount of capital and it goes without saying that private capital has to be infused into the system in some way. Like in many state owned loss making institutions the very word ‘private capital’ is anathema to CEB workers who have vehemently opposed these restructuring plans.All major political parties are aware of the situation, but when in opposition they also try to make political capital out of these issues by opposing the restructuring moves.

By Gamini Abeywardane

The country just witnessed one of the worst blackouts in the recent times. Power cuts imposed twice a day, sometimes even without prior notice left most consumers furious and frustrated. The politicians and the top officials as usual were blamed for the calamity which caused much damage to the economy. In time for the New Year problem has been temporarily fixed hiring a barge mounted power plant amidst allegations of corruption.

The minister in charge proudly announced that there will not be any power cuts hereafter. But he owes the country a full explanation on how he is going to do that when we all know that it’s not possible. Critics say that continued power supply is possible only during the New Year season because of the decreased demand and power cuts at some point afterwards will be inevitable.

This is part of a cycle of events which we Sri Lankans have been witnessing from time to time over several decades. Politicians are engaged in leveling allegations against one another making political capital out of the unfortunate situation while some of them are alleged to be profiting from sudden power purchases. Country as a whole has to suffer huge economic losses while the people have to undergo many hardships.
Long unresolved crisis

At the root of all this is the long unresolved power shortage. For too long we depended on hydroelectricity and when consumption increased power shortages and power cuts became the order of the day. There was no consistent effort to identify the correct power mix and increase the output in keeping with the increasing demand. In short, for several decades there has not been any definite plan or consensus among the political leadership for systematic development of the power sector.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has been run as an inefficient, oversized and loss making outfit for politicians to provide employment for their supporters. Because of its monopolistic nature and the presence of strong engineering unions no politicians had the courage to reform or restructure the CEB though it has been a long felt need.

Major reforms in the power sector became impossible due to lack of funding and opposition from various quarters. Finally the problem became too acute compelling the government to urgently look for other sources of power and coal power plant at Norochcholai was one such solution in a hurry.

In the not so distant past the machines at Norochcholai stopped for umpteen times due to technical issues. There were allegations of corruption and use of substandard components in the commissioning of that plant and most of the blame in this regard has been heaped on the previous government. There have also been questions about poor environment management raising huge issues about future use of coal.

However, all governments that ran this country in the past several decades are equally blameworthy for the power sector mess although both major political parties have been preaching on this topic with a lot of wisdom whenever they are in the opposition.

At the same time, one should not forget that plans by many governments to build such power plants had to be shelved in the face of mounting opposition by environmental groups and other politically motivated activists in the past.Despite whatever its negatives, the addition of 300MWof power from Norochcholai averted major power cuts in the last few years.

However, energy experts have pointed out that due to the inability to complete the proposed 500MW coal power plant in Sampur on time, country is likely to face a power crisis in 2020, similar to the situation in 2000. There has also been a long delay in implementing the 300MW power plant at Kerawalapitiya due to some controversy over awarding the tender. Sampur project had been cancelled because of the opposition for use of coal on environmental reasons. Whatever the reasons the end result is a power shortage causing hardship to people and great loss to the economy and the responsibility for any failure should lie with the government of the day.

Power mafia

In the meantime several privately owned diesel power plants also entered the power sector making use of the severe shortage of power. These are all temporary solutions, but there have been allegations of the CEB purchasing power at high prices. Thus, there seem to be an electricity mafia involving politicians, CEB officials and the businessmen. At the centre of all this is the unresolved power crisis and the politics behind it which makes it even more difficult to resolve the issue.

Then there is the other side of the issue, the high cost of electricity in Sri Lanka. Our electricity costs are probably the highest in South Asia and it is no doubt a great disincentive for foreign investors while also adding to the people’s cost of living here. Because of that, electricity is subsidized to domestic and industrial consumers. Since the electricity tariff is not cost reflective, every year the CEB makes a loss close to Rs. 50 billion. 

The only way proposed by economists, power sector experts and multi-lateral aid agencies such as the World Bank and the ADB to resolve this issue is to restructure the CEB which is an inefficient entity with colossal debts amounting to billions of rupees which has already become a burden on the treasury. In order to increase efficiency of the CEB and to resolve its debt issue, it has been proposed that three of its main functions –generation, transmission and distribution, should be separated.

Restructuring will also require a huge amount of capital and it goes without saying that private capital has to be infused into the system in some way. Like in many state owned loss making institutions the very word ‘private capital’ is anathema to CEB workers who have vehemently opposed these restructuring plans. All major political parties are aware of the situation, but when in opposition they also try to make political capital out of these issues by opposing the restructuring moves.

If we are to avert any future catastrophes in the power sector only way out is to seriously look at these restructuring plans and implement whatever is suitable from the country’s point of view with infusion of private sector capital where necessary. Country is already seeing the positive results of such restructuring in the once maligned telecom sector and there is no reason why same norms cannot be applied to the power sector.

However the reality is that no government is bold enough to take on the strong trade unions in the CEB because of its monopolistic nature. Although they know that restructuring the power sector is a necessity, no politician had the courage to face its political and electoral consequences and such moves become even suicidal especially when the elections are round the corner.

Whenever a drought continues for long and the weather gods are not in our favour, food shortages are the first thing to hit us followed by the energy shortage. Where the power issue is concerned we have been talking too long about inadvisability of continuing to depend on hydro power and the need for going into other sources of energy.

Many researchers have, with scientific data and statistics pointed out clearly and well in time, the country’s future requirements of energy as the economy grows and how to meet that. All calculations on the right mix of various energy sources such as hydro, thermal, coal and renewable energy had been done several years ago, but the question remains whether proper attention has been given to these suggestions and proposals.

Renewable energy

Hydro electricity is weather-dependent while both thermal and coal power are expensive and also not environmental friendly. And in this situation, the virtues of renewable energy are many and especially in a country where sunshine and wind are abundant, it is one of the most viable forms of energy. However, why no concerted effort has been made to use renewable energy, more specifically solar power despite sunshine throughout the year, is a question that begs an answer.

Even in countries like the US there have been arguments to say that there is a national conspiracy to prevent renewable energy from becoming the primary source of energy. In the US the conspirators are said to be the fossil fuel industry which continues to rake in exorbitant profits on oil and gas while it refuses to make any significant investment in renewable energy.

In the US main stream news media too has been accused of being subservient to the corporate interests and abstaining from doing any serious coverage on the viability of renewable energy.  The members of the Congress have been accused of being addicted to the big buck they receive from big oil and other traditional oil sources to block any worthwhile renewable energy legislation.

According to the US Department of energy, the amount of solar energy that hits the surface of the earth every hour is greater than the total amount of energy that the entire human population requires in a year. While the facts remain so, if we know that it works why don’t we use renewable energy in place of heavily polluting oil, gas or coal?

The primary reason is that the cost of renewable energy is still relatively high compared to fossil fuels although the gap is closing as the cost of natural gas and oil continue to rise. The price to install photovoltaic panels on the average home is quite high and affordable only for those who are well off.

But the common experience is when some product is mass-produced its price per unit should plummet. The one million dollar question is why solar power and wind power products are not promoted in a serious manner with appropriate duty concessions and mass produced.

With diesel mafia and connected interest groups being powerful in the energy sector the situation in Sri Lanka cannot be much different from the US and it’s time for us to have a fresh look at this energy issue  and formulate a stronger national policy on renewable energy and promote specifically solar and wind power.

On the overall energy issue the government seems to have risen from a deep slumber and appointed a cabinet committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to look at the short and medium term solutions to the power sector issues. Even if they do their job properly it will only be a temporary solution.

There is a strong need to have an independent body or mechanism fully empowered to handle the power sector on a long term basis in terms of the laws governing the sector while also meeting the growing demand as the country goes into its next stage of development. Such an outfit should have the authority to raise the necessary capital from whatever the legitimate sources with adequate participation of the government without having to depend on inexperienced politicians to handle this vital issue. It should also have its own mechanism to minimize room for corruption.

Though originally created for that purpose the CEB in its current form is woefully incapable of handling such a job. That is why restructuring this institution has become a vital necessity and that has to be done while the politicians in power look for temporary and short term solutions to the issue. We have been talking about it for too long and now with memories of power cuts still being fresh it’s time to concentrate on this onerous but vital task.
(The writer can be contacted on: gamini4@gmail.com)

 

 

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Will the budget offer some solution to public transport issue?

 

"How the buses run on the city routes during the peak hours of the day scaring all other road users to death is ample testimony for the dire need to put an end to the current primitive system of operating buses. The question is how the proposed system can be implemented without getting bus operations in each district under the control of one single authority"

By Gamini Abeywardane

The budget among its many proposals which have received mixed reactions seems to contain some valuable suggestions targeting the much needed modernization of the public transport sector. It has clinically looked at the public transport sector identifying some of the main causes for its chaotic situation today. The approach has been to look at it from a long term perspective rather than proposing some quick fixes.

However, going by the history of our budgets and their implementation most Sri Lankans would be quite skeptical until these proposals are fully implemented. Overall, the Budget 2019 which is before the Parliament appears to be one instance where problems of public transport have been looked at rationally at least.

The most significant proposal is the idea of getting the revenue from all buses into a Revenue Support Fund as a transitional arrangement and paying the bus owners on monthly basis for the number of kilometers operated. This could be a solution to the central issue right now which is the unhealthy competition to collect passengers at the expense of the safety and convenience of both commuters and pedestrians on the road.  

How the buses run on the city routes during the peak hours of the day scaring all other road users to death is ample testimony for the dire need to put an end to the current primitive system of operating buses. The question is how the proposed system can be implemented without getting bus operations in each district under the control of one single authority.

The rat race for a bigger daily revenue collection is an inherent problem in a public transport service operated with individually owned buses. Most buses are bought with leasing facilities from financial institutions and as a result bus owners fix a high daily target for the crew. The wages of the bus crew depend on the volume of the daily collection.

The situation is made worse because there is no practice of issuing tickets to the passengers which has given the opportunity for the drivers and conductors to pilfer whatever the collection made over and above the stipulated daily target. It should also be noted that every attempt by the authorities to make issue of tickets compulsory in the past has been resisted and stifled by the bus operators.

At the moment there is no employment security, proper salary structure or EPF and ETF benefits for those employed in the private buses making the situation worse. Drivers and conductors in this sector lack any permanency of employment or social status quite in contrast to the situation prevailing in countries where there are well developed transport systems.

Drawing attention to this issue, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in his budget speech, said that private sector bus employees will be given better job security with EPF and ETF benefits and will be eligible to get loan facilities as an incentive for better service towards passengers. It is a fine idea, but it is necessary to have some sort of permanent employment for them before this could be introduced and it is doubtful whether such a system can be implemented under a regime of individual bus operators.

Poor quality buses

The poor quality of buses in the public transport system at the moment is another huge issue. It is a known fact that the majority of buses belonging to both private sector operators and the SLTB are goods transport vehicles converted into passenger buses and as a result they lack the standard comforts found in original passenger transport vehicles.

When these buses were introduced to our roads several decades ago only very a few people owned motor vehicles.  The income levels of the people were quite low and nobody looked for comforts. Today the situation has completely changed and people look for more and more comforts and that is why there is a major shift from use of public transport to private motor vehicles.

Finance Minister admitted that fact when he said “Our transport sector is yet not meeting the needs of a middle-income county.”  As a remedy he proposes a Bus Modernization Program in the next five years to transform bus services across the country. It is proposed to expand the SLTB’s fleet with addition of 250 buses with safety and user-friendly standards in the next two years while they will also introduce buses that are more suited for those with special needs.

A concessionary loan scheme ‘City Ride’, under ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’, has been proposed where the Government will bare 75% of the interest cost for private bus fleet owners to expand their fleets by a total of 1000 luxury buses. The private bus owners who are willing to purchase luxury buses instead of the existing old buses and the reputed companies who are willing to provide comfortable transport services for their employees will be entitled to this loan facility.

Under this scheme the maximum loan amount will be Rs 10 million with an annual effective interest rate of 13.86% while 75% of the interest will be borne by the government. The repayment period will be five years including a one year grace period.

There are proposals aimed at upgrading and systematic phasing out of three wheelers which now have become an integral part of our transport system. ‘Mini Taxi / Electric Three Wheeler’ scheme under ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka’ will be introduced to upgrade current three wheelers into electric three wheelers and small cars that will be more environmentally friendly, safer and comfortable.

Persons who are 35 years of age or above, who own three-wheelers currently used for hiring purposes will be eligible for this loan while the existing three-wheelers should be disposed. The maximum loan amount available under the scheme will be Rs 2 million with an annual effective interest rate of 13.86% while 75% of the interest will be borne by the government with a repayment period of five years.

Multimodal transport hubs

There is also a proposal to introduce within the next few months, starting with the Central and the Western Provinces, pre-paid fare cards, electronic tracking of buses, using GPS and information on next bus and bus schedules, delivered to the palm of the passenger through mobile applications.

Modern multimodal passenger terminals will be introduced starting from Makumbura and will include Kandy, Kadawatha, Pettah and Moratuwa. The budget also proposes to establish a Joint Bus Operations Control Centre connected to live digital data streams throughout the country to make bus transport an attractive option. The budget proposes to allocate Rs 1300 million to support these investments.

Recognizing the significant demand for improved railway services in the country, it has also been proposed to enlist the support of the private sector. In this regard, the minister proposes to allow the private sector to lease/rent Sri Lanka Railway’s carriages, and improve their facilities in the four main lines.

These proposals together seem to have the potential to bring about some fundamental changes in our public transport system without resistance from any segments connected to the transport industry both in the state and private sectors.

Theoretically at least, this seems to be a good beginning because more effective remedies like getting the private sector capital and management skills into government owned bus transport services or railway networks is not possible without facing resistance and much disruption in our country under the present circumstances.

However, as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the country has to wait and see how much of these seemingly good proposals would be effectively implemented during the period covered by the Budget 2019 that is expected to be passed by the Parliament this week.

(The writer can be contacted on: gamini4@gmail.com)

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