Category: Featured Headlines

It’s surprising to note while banning diaspora organizations and inviting them to come forward to invest in the country.

Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, has made amusing statement.

The fact that he welcomes the diaspora Tamil community to invest in Sri Lanka is like locking the door inside and inviting guests to dine. It is amusing to note that the president made statements to the UN Secretary-General that he is inviting diaspora to come forward to invest in Sri Lanka while banning many of the organisations and creating a climate of fear. President has failed to realize that congenial political and administrative environment is essential for investors to come to a country. Investors usually decide on investments by considering these factors first and foremost.

Militarization continues in the state administration. Political problems and human rights issues remain unresolved by the government. The whole country has realized that the internal mechanism cannot bring just solutions for any one belonging to any race, in the country.

To crown it all, political prisoners have been intimidated at gunpoint by the state minister in charge of prisons. Not only has the internal mechanism failed to take legal action and ensure justice, it has also shown that the government is protecting such elements.

In this context, the comments made by the President of Sri Lanka to the UN Secretary General are amusing.

If the government fails to act in good faith with the international community to ensure a lasting political solution, improving human rights issues, justice system, reconciliation and accountability, it will only lead to plunge the entire country into the abyss.

Surenthiran
Official Spokesperson TELO
Tamil National Alliance

Ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was returned to remand custody until the 05th of October, as per an order issued by Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage on Tuesday (21).

Detectives produced Ex-Minister Bathiudeen to the court on the charges of giving priority to a firm owned by Ibrahim Ahamed, one of the suicide bombers responsible for the 2019 April 21st Terror Attacks, by providing scrap metal and copper owned by the Ministry of Industries, and using the funds generated through that scheme to fund terrorism.

The Criminal Investigations Department was ordered by the Magistrate to have representation from the Attorney General’s Department to make submissions on the bail application made on behalf of the suspect at the previous hearing.

Sri Lanka’s plans to import 63 million US dollars of organic fertilizer from a China based company after a ban on chemical fertilizer could be risky if they contain harmful micro-organisms and if they are made from municipal waste, a legislator warned.

Sri Lanka has banned the import of agro-chemicals as money printing triggered forex shortages and agrochemicals made people sick.

Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna said the government at first said they would produce organic fertilizer in Sri Lanka, and that farmers would be compensated for crop losses from money saved from a chemical fertilizer subsidy.

“But what happened was, after stopping the local production of fertilizers, a tender was placed to buy fertilizers with 17 percent nitrogen,” Vijitha Herath told parliament.

“The suppliers said they can’t find fertilizers with 17 percent nitrogen. Therefore, this cannot be done. All importers withdrew except one.

“This one does not intend to import the requested fertilizers, but fertilizers that only have 5-8 percent nitrogen.”

He said, a company called Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group, a China based company, had now got a 63 million US dollar contract to supply organic fertilizer.

Herath questioned what the organic fertilizer was made of warning that municipal waste fertilizer could contain harmful residues.

He said a sample was brought and supposedly tested and found to contain Erwinia bacteria through the government had said organic fertilizer was supposed to be sanitized or sterilized.

Some species of Erwinia bacteria are plant pathogens which destroy crops.

Herath said now claims were made that the sample was wrong.

In May 2021 Hearth fired what appeared to be a conspiracy theory that authorities had banned chemical fertilizer so that interested parties could import organic fertilizer from China which could be harmful.

Environmentalists then warned that organic fertilizer from animal or plant waste could contain harmful pathogens.

Sri Lanka has subsidized chemical fertilizer and promoted their excessive use since it became an election issue in 2004.

Due to the shortage of suitable fertilizer, Sri Lanka is unlikely to be able to achieve its export earnings target for 2021, according to the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA), which also reiterated calls for a sustainable solution to the worsening crisis.

Earlier this year, the Export Development Board (EDB) set a target of USD 1.47 billion in export earnings from tea for 2021, but the industry expects there to be a gradually widening shortfall of around 30-40% moving into the end of 2021 and beyond, primarily due to the decline in harvest as a result of fertilizer unavailability, the PA, which represents the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), points out.

In total, in the first seven months of 2021 (up to end July), Sri Lanka has recorded export earnings of USD 766 million from tea, an increase of 9% compared with the same period of 2020. However, this increase was off a low base, influenced greatly by improved weather conditions in 2021, as compared with a severe drought which impaired production 2020. However, when considering a more valid comparison with the corresponding period of 2019, the 2021 performance shows a 4% reduction.

In addition to the target for 2021, Ceylon Tea will also be unable to meet its target of USD 1.8 billion in export earnings by 2025, unless a solution is provided, the Planters’ Association says.

“It is unfortunate that that the export earnings generated by the tea industry, which has sustained Sri Lanka for more than a century, is unable to contribute to its fullest potential at a time the country is in dire need of it,” PA Media Spokesperson, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said. “This is an unnecessary opportunity cost for both the industry and the country. Sadly, based on the analysis of credible experts, the worst is yet to come. Long-term reduction of yield from tea plantations is inevitable, unless a solution is provided immediately.”

The Association has already warned that in the absence of suitable fertilizer to replenish the nutrients in a timely manner, tea production will decrease by 25% within six months and as much as 40% to 50% thereafter, together with the quality of the end product. With tea being a perennial (long-term) crop, the negative effects of insufficient nutrition will be felt throughout the economic lifespan of the plant, which tends to be more than 25 years.

Even prior to the overall ban of fertilizer and agro-chemicals, the government’s ban of the primary weedicide used by the tea industry resulted in Ceylon Tea losing the highly lucrative Japanese market. Changes in fertilizer and agro-chemicals also alter the properties of the final product that tea consumers associate with Ceylon Tea – including a strong aroma and taste.

Sri Lankan tea plantations managed by Regional Planation Companies (RPCs) have all necessary safeguards in place already to ensure the proper application of fertilizer and agro-chemicals. This is evidenced by the industry’s capability to meet the highly stringent standards of buyer countries, including European countries, in terms of maximum residue limit (MRL), which refers to the highest level of a chemical residue legally allowed in food and beverages. The industry already adheres to ‘integrated agriculture’ practices, hence relying on natural methods as well beyond agro-chemicals, to repel pests, avoid diseases and stop the growth of weeds.

In addition, plantations only make use of inputs approved by the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka, which follows a highly rigorous testing and approval process in allowing use of agro-chemicals for tea cultivation. Similarly, RPCs strictly adhere to the parameters recommended by the TRI for the application of fertiliser. Sri Lanka is also by far the most environmentally and otherwise certified tea industry in the world, with a plethora of international certifications.

The industry has pointed out that limiting fertilizer to only organic inputs is infeasible for commercial-scale tea production, given especially the high cost involved. This is because a significantly greater amount of organic fertilizer needs to be applied when compared with chemical fertilizer and the application process also requires vastly greater use of labour – which is both highly costly and not available sufficiently in Sri Lanka. Organic tea is a small and emerging niche within the industry and would not provide sufficient scale to sustain the sector.

The Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka and Australia met today (21) on the eve of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, where Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris met his Australian counterpart Marise Payne in New York and discussed avenues for enhanced cooperation on a wide spectrum of areas such as the sharing of intelligence and education, as confirmed by the Foreign Ministry in Colombo.

Minister Peiris referred to the experience of Australia in vocational education and expressed that Sri Lanka is very much interested in gaining assistance in this area.

With regard to the topic of human trafficking, he stated that this is a humanitarian tragedy and that the Government of Sri Lanka has played a substantial role in curbing this illegal activity. Minister Peiris further apprised Minister Payne that much headway has been made in the economic development of the Northern and Eastern provinces of the country as well as with reconciliation.

He also elaborated on developments related to the Office of Missing Persons, Office for Reparations and the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) as well as the appointment of a Commission headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to take stock of the current situation and to identify ways and means of taking the process forward.

Additionally, Minister Peiris stated that there is a need to allow local institutions the space and opportunity to carry out their mandates and the establishment of an ad-hoc external mechanism that overrides this work is unnecessary and detrimental, further stating that It is premature and inappropriate to have a mechanism selectively targeting Sri Lanka and goes against the very principles of the UN Charter.

Meanwhile, Minister Payne stated that there is a very warm and significant Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia, and welcomed enhanced cooperation between the two countries in the areas outlined by Minister Peiris, particularly in the field of intelligence sharing and education. Both Ministers agreed to work together closely to further enhance the warm and cordial relations between Sri Lanka and Australia.