Showing posts with label Right to Information Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Right to Information Act. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 November 2019

Let’s Not Revert (A Poem About Sri Lanka)



I wrote a poem about the future of Sri Lanka as the country is going to face a Presidential election
very soon on the 16th of November. This is my personal take on it, and it isn’t an in-depth discussion
about what has been going on and what could happen going forward. It’s a short expression of my
views in poem form.  

I don’t wish to see
Sri Lanka revert to
Pre 2015 again
There’s now a threat
Of white vans,
Authoritarianism,
Lawlessness, 
Inability to criticise,
And more coming back  

Yes, post 2015
Didn’t bring all
That was needed
And disappointments came
Though I feel
We’re headed in
The right direction
We did get
A reduction of 
Presidential powers,
Right to information,
Open policy debate
Among others

The current negatives
Don’t make the 
Pre 2015 status
More attractive 
What we need
Is to study
What went wrong,
What went right,
And take our country
Where it needs to be
Let’s strive to
Improve on our
Current state
To make the Sri Lanka
We wish to see
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Friday, 28 September 2018

Sri Lankan Twitter Showcase: September 2018


On the Internet, people discuss and share happenings of Sri Lanka. One platform where this occurs is on social media. I decided to showcase a collection of tweets about Sri Lanka from the social media website Twitter covering the month of September 2018 in sequential order. If you don’t use Twitter or are unfamiliar with it, you can still read this post. The tweets (a message of 280 characters or less) are featured on this blog post. I selected a group of tweets that I like. Issues covered include politics, economics, pictures and positive occurrences. I’m including positive occurrences as there is usually more talk about the negative occurrences than the positive ones and hearing positive news can make us feel good.

This is a good picture of Matara by Kalani Kumarasinghe. Sorry, but the image embedding doesn't do it justice. I recommend clicking the picture link above to see it properly.


I think this is a good statement from Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera. What ultimately matters is if the government takes these reforms and how successful they are if carried out. I am of the opinion that Mangala is one of Sri Lanka’s better ministers so that gives some hope.


These statistics show economic growth of Sri Lanka, particularly since the start of the 21st century.

This is a good point made by Dr. Asanga Welikala at his recent Verité Research talk titled “The Presidential Term Limit After The Nineteenth Amendment”.


This is an image of Sri Lanka’s GDP per capita as shared by Daniel Alphonsus who got the figures from English economist Angus Maddison. The reason this is different to the previous Sri Lankan GDP per capita figures that showed GDP decreasing from 1960 to 1978 is because that one was in comparison with the rest of the world. This shows tremendous growth Sri Lanka has undergone and gives hope that as the GDP per capita has gone up in the past, it will go up again in the future to bring benefits to Sri Lanka.


It’s good to see technology being used to work on dengue prevention and control.


These are interesting statistics regarding CIABOC. It’s good that they are getting these complaints. I hope that CIABOC will get more complaints and that it will get more effective in the fight against corruption.


It’s good to see a story of a whale shark being rescued. It’s interesting to note that whale sharks are not harmful to humans.


This is a good example of the Right to Information (RTI) law functioning with all the work on appeals by the RTI Commission.


This is a great photo of Nuwara Eliya taken by Rovin Shanila featured on the Sri Lankan Trends Twitter account.


The Sri Lankan economy functions in a way where the government sets prices for certain goods. As it’s very unfortunate that prices of goods frequently rise, it’s worth noting that there are also some price reductions such as this one.


It’s good to note that Sri Lanka is celebrating Right to Information week this week of writing as recounted by Director General of Government Information, Sudarshana Gunawardana. It's also worth noting that today (28th September) is International Right to Know Day.


This is information of the Amendment to the Penal Code which was passed earlier this year that increased the minimum age of criminal responsibility as reported by the Verité Law Twitter account (part of think tank Verité Research).


M.A. Ratnasiri shares recent contrasting facts alongside the New York Times of Sri Lanka’s paper the Daily News. It’s good to know that the Daily News went online before the internationally acclaimed New York Times.


It’s good to see a beach clean-up effort by the EU in Sri Lanka, UN agency UNOPS and the Government entity Marine Environment Protection Authority.


At the end of last week, two MPs were temporarily suspended from Parliament. I suspect that this is a result of the new Parliamentary Standing Orders adopted in April.


This is from Asoka Obeyesekere (Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka). My suggestions are Priyan Dias, Nishan de Mel and W.A. Wijewardena.

I hope you enjoyed reading my selection of tweets on Sri Lanka. I am on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sumith90 in case anyone is interested. I would enjoy hearing people’s thoughts on any of the issues and happenings featured here.  
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Wednesday, 18 April 2018

The Sri Lanka I Dream of

In this article I am providing a list of good qualities I wish to see in Sri Lanka, as Sri Lanka being a
developing country unfortunately has many problems. The point of this list isn’t to be very
pessimistic, but to look forward with what could and should be the case for Sri Lanka with optimism.
Let’s begin.  

I dream of a Sri Lanka
  • Where we have a new political culture not known for bribery, corruption, nepotism, lies, etc but to serve the nation with honesty and integrity.
  • Where election related violence no longer occurs. 
  • Where we don’t have several issues of crime allowing citizens to relax for both serious and minor crimes.
  • Where the rule of law applies equally to all.
  • Where there’s a fast and efficient independent judiciary that doesn’t allow rich and/or influential people to tamper with the system.
  • Where the Government departments are fully digitised, thus giving an efficient way of operating.
  • Where citizens don’t face bribery in their dealings with the state and elsewhere.
  • Where the Government can implement projects and policies fast and effectively with most of what was promised delivered.
  • Where the attitude of doing something wrong is OK as long as you don’t get caught is replaced by a desire to do the right thing.
  • Where there aren’t serious issues regarding the cost of living.
  • Where there aren’t so many heavy protectionist taxes that cause difficulties for the citizens.
  • Where there is a balanced tax structure not focused heavily toward indirect taxes.
  • Where the average salary is significantly higher than what it currently is.
  • Where the tragic racist incidents stop occurring.
  • Where all citizens are treated equally.
  • Where our exports have been diversified into a much wider range of sectors.
  • Where we have a high flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) coming in.  
  • Where the garbage management is effective. 
  • Where the country is clean.
  • Where the majority of citizens are law abiding.
  • Where the country is not on reactive mode (most noticeably seen regarding disasters), but on preventive mode instead.
  • Where services and support exist for people with special needs.
  • Where the road rules are enforced with the drivers obeying the rules.

I hope you enjoyed reading this list. I’m sure that others will have more issues of their own to add to this list, so I invite others to share their own list of what they dream of for Sri Lanka. I am aware that making these changes to Sri Lanka is a very difficult thing to do, but I’d like to point out that the country does improve over time, comparing the country’s position with what it was ten years ago to now. We’re in a better position now then we were then, as improvements include no longer facing a civil war, the achievements in media freedom which include the ability to openly discuss and debate Government policy, the Right to Information law that has been active since last year and the improved tax structure under the new Inland Revenue Act that came into effect this month. It is likely that improvements will continue, thus making us in a better off position ten years from now and going forward.
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Friday, 7 July 2017

Six Sri Lankan Specialists Discuss Sri Lankan Issues

I travelled to Sri Lanka in May this year and had the opportunity to meet several specialists to discuss Sri Lankan issues that were mostly related to politics and economics. In this article, I’ll be sharing the highlights of my meetings with the 6 people I had the privilege of talking to.    
In conversation with Asoka Obeyesekere (left)
Monday 8th May 2017
This was the first meeting which was at Verité Research. Their workplace was an old house re-done as an office and it had great architecture.


Janeen Fernando
That afternoon, I met Janeen Fernando who’s the Head of Politics at Verité Research. As part of his role, he’s in charge of the Sri Lankan trilingual political tracking site Manthri.lk. I’ll now list some highlights from our discussion.  

  • I asked Janeen what his thoughts are on the political alliance between the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) whether it’s providing benefits, causing problems or both. Janeen responded that these 2 major parties have competing ideologies, a different voter base and that there have been clashes, but the 2 parties working together allows them to carry out major reforms.
  • Janeen thinks the government’s priority should be constitutional reform as we’ve never had a Constitution that the 2 parties agreed on as the 1972 Constitution was brought by the SLFP & opposed by the UNP while the 1978 Constitution was brought by the UNP & opposed by the SLFP. He mentioned that a new Constitution by both parties is an opportunity.
  • I asked Janeen how the recent Right to Information (RTI) law impacts his work at Manthri.lk. He said that they have filed an RTI request on Parliamentary attendance and are waiting for a response. Subsequently, I discovered that an image on Parliamentary attendance has been posted recently on Manthri.lk.
  • Janeen mentioned the interesting fact that during the 1970 General Election, the UNP got more votes than the SLFP, with the results being something like 36% for the SLFP and 37% for the UNP, but that the SLFP won because of the first-past-the-post system.
  • I asked Janeen whether the order of Ministers is Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers. He said that it isn’t the case, adding that what’s more important is if the Minister is a Cabinet Minister or a Non-Cabinet Minister based on differences such as a Cabinet Minister attending a Cabinet sub-committee which a Non-Cabinet Minister wouldn’t attend. He also said that a senior Minister might get the State Minister title for their seniority, but that there is no clear distinction between State Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
  • Janeen said that the Code of Conduct and the National Audit Bill are 2 promises from the 100 day program that haven’t been delivered.
  • On the Code of Conduct, Janeen said that its draft has been released to the public in December and that he has some issues with it.  
  • I asked Janeen if the Code of Conduct can reduce corruption. He said that it isn’t a major or magic solution for that, but it’s part of the process of reducing corruption, saying that the Code of Conduct isn’t the role of the Bribery Commission or Supreme Court and that you need both this law and these institutions.    
Tuesday 9th May 2017
This was the busiest day for meetings as I had 3 meetings starting at 9 am.


Dimantha De Silva
I first went to Moratuwa University to meet Dr. Dimantha De Silva for an interview. He’s the Consultant/Team Leader for the Colombo Transport Plan of the Megapolis. The Megapolis is a massive government infrastructure project aiming to improve the Western Region of Sri Lanka. Unlike the other meetings, I won’t list highlights of it only to say that it focused on the Colombo Transport Plan covering mostly transport issues as well as some politics and economics relating to that plan. Those interested in reading the interview can access it here.

Rohan Masakorala
In the afternoon, I met Rohan Masakorala, CEO of the Shippers’ Academy Colombo to discuss economic affairs which he’s very knowledgeable about. The meeting took place at the office of a mutual contact. Here are some highlights from the meeting.

  • I asked him how Sri Lanka’s foreign direct investment (FDI) can be increased. He said it would be by correcting the legal system and the tax system as well as institutional reforms.
  • On the issue of the planned Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) for Sri Lanka to sign with India, he wants it to happen, the faster the better. Rohan said that Sri Lanka is “just a small city” compared to India, and that ETCA is more positive to Sri Lanka as it can access a massive market.
  • I heard that Rohan had done some work for former Ministers, Lalith Athulathmudali & Ronnie De Mel and asked him about it. Rohan hadn’t done work for Lalith Athulathmudali but knew him well as a teenager in the 1980s. Lalith used to visit Rohan’s family very often and encouraged him to get into the export business, thus Rohan credits Lalith as the reason he went into the export sector. Rohan worked for Ronnie De Mel as a consultant from 1999, associated with him for many years and up to date keeps in touch with him.
  • I mentioned 2 controversial institutions being set up at the start of the year. One was the Horana Tyre Factory and the other was the ‘Western Automobile Assembly Factory’ that was originally supposed to be a Volkswagen Assembly Plant. I asked Rohan if he thinks that they can bring benefits to the country despite these controversies. Rohan thinks so, saying that they are a value addition in the smallest scale. He mentioned that this is a beginning, saying that even if someone starts a bicycle tyre business that’s a positive first step. Rohan said that this was how the apparel sector started.
  • Rohan thinks Sri Lanka’s RTI law is a reform that’s good for investment.
  • Rohan thinks the current Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy is an excellent choice who has integrity, straightforwardness and is non-controversial.

A.C. Visvalingam
Following my meeting with Rohan Masakorala, I met with Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, President of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG). I met Dr. Visvalingam at his house. Here are some highlights from the meeting.

  • Dr. Visvalingam is a 50:50 civil/structural engineer who was a civil engineer in state employment and a structural engineer in the private sector. He has international experience having studied in the UK & spent 16 months in Japan, 11 years in the UK, 3 months in Germany and 30 months in Ghana.
  • When he returned to Sri Lanka, he worked as as Deputy General Manager (Civil) of the River Valleys Development Board on the Walawe Project (1971-1973). There was political interference in the Board which nullified all efforts to educate farmers on water conservation and growing crops to the appropriate soil conditions. The Deputy Minister publicly stated that there was no need to listen to engineers and that if the Walawe Ganga ended up having insufficient water, he would “"divert the water of another river into this one". That experience led to his activism for good governance.  
  • Dr. Visvalingam got involved in CIMOGG in 2002 when a group of people got together. CIMOGG comprises retired persons, including many public servants. Dr. Visvalingam was elected as their President in 2005.
  • CIMOGG does not look for funds from government or local/foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) so as to maintain its independence and they don’t wish to have people with political connections associated with the group. Over 90% of the funds are generated internally and a few donations from individuals have been accepted from time to time.
  • Dr. Visvalingam has had negative experiences of writing reports on politicians. He said if you write a mix of positive & negative comments about them and conclude with a positive remark, they’ll highlight the concluding positive remark and you become a collaborator. He also said if you write something negative about them, they will go against you.     
  • Dr. Visvalingam has a problem with the fact that the 1978 Constitution put Parliament above the Supreme Court, saying that it is difficult for Judges to make independent judgements. He also thinks that corruption really increased since the 1978 Constitution.
  • On Sri Lanka’s proposed new Constitution, Dr. Visvalingam thinks that it should have a separation of powers and with a ceremonial President chosen by a committee.
  • Dr. Visvalingam believes that despite issues of corruption, to not give up in his desire for good governance such as through his writings, with the hope that it might eventually arrive.
Friday 19th May 2017
After a gap of 10 days, I had my final set of meetings which began in the morning.


Asoka Obeyesekere
I went to Transparency International Sri Lanka at the start of a working day to meet their Executive Director Asoka Obeyesekere. Interestingly, Asoka was the person who came up with the idea of Manthri.lk and used to run the site (The political tracking site now run by Janeen Fernando, the first person that I met) when he worked as a Governance Consultant at Verité Research. Here are some highlights from our meeting.

  • I asked Asoka how the implementation of Sri Lanka’s RTI Law is going. He said that effective implementation requires a change in the public sector, referring to its culture of secrecy. He said that the Government Information Department have been training Information Officers on RTI, but don’t seem to be training citizens on how to use it. He mentioned that there is a resistance to RTI in some public bodies, with some Information Officers asking citizens requesting information questions like “Who are you?” & “What do you do?” and that citizens tend to back off when information officers say that. He also said that citizens should ideally have been able to request anything covered under RTI since February.
  • I asked Asoka about his thoughts on the performance of Sarath Jayamanne as the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) who replaced Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe following her resignation late last year. He spoke positively of Sarath Jayamanne describing him as a very experienced prosecutor, and then went on to say his issues with CIABOC. His issues are the fact that it was set up before there were other anti-corruption agencies thus they compete with one another. He said CIABOC was set up in legal framework as the only agency for these investigations. Asoka said that CIABOC is supposed to investigate money laundering, but that it’s investigated by the FCID (Financial Crimes Investigation Division). He said that these agencies don't want to share information with each other as they are in competition. Police officers are sent to CIABOC and Asoka wonders if the IGP (Inspector General of Police) would be willing to send the best police officers for these investigations pointing out that if you send the best police officers, you won’t be able to use their services.
  • Asoka says that we can improve CIABOC via our commitments to some international organisations that include the World Bank. One such commitment is to allow CIABOC to conduct investigations on their own without a complaint having been made.  
  • I asked Asoka if he knows of any developing countries that have made successful efforts against corruption. He asked if developing countries could include countries that weren’t in a financially good state when they started their anti-corruption drive. I replied yes, and he mentioned Hong Kong as a place that has taken action against corruption and that it is mentioned a lot in Sri Lanka at present. Asoka mentioned that Sri Lankan politicians spend high sums of money for their campaigns, but get paid a low salary. Thus, this is one of the causes of corruption in Sri Lanka. He mentioned that Kenya has paid their Parliamentarians among the highest in the world due to this, but said that despite the high salaries, the lure of ill gotten wealth is still too great for some politicians to say no to.


Dhananath Fernando
I was to meet Dhananath Fernando next. He’s the Head (Chief Operating Officer) of Public Policy Think Tank Advocata Institute. Unfortunately something came up at the last minute, so he was unable to meet me on that day. I was however able to speak to him on the phone instead. I first heard of Dhananath from his article “What we could have done with the losses of state-owned enterprises” (on dailymirror.lk), and I was speaking to him exactly 1 year after his article had been published. Here are some highlights from our discussion.

  • Dhananath said what’s currently going on with Advocata is an essay writing competition and a study of market prices. I asked about the market prices study and he said Sri Lanka has set prices for certain items such as bread. Dhananath said that a free market deals with supply and demand, and that a fixed price can cause problems so they are studying the impact of fixed prices.
  • I found out that the losses of the Sri Lanka Transport Board drastically reduced in 2016 from this tweet that used Central Bank figures, and asked Dhananath about this. He said it could be due to a number of factors, and that some of these loss making state entities are profitable in some years. He elaborated that it could be due to global issues such as oil prices, saying that reductions in losses or even profits doesn’t necessarily mean better management. He said there still could be better management which is why they advocate privatisation.
  • I asked Dhananath what he thinks should be the government’s economic strategy. He said that economic reforms were promised, but nothing had happened. Dhananath said that as we are in a debt trap, there should be improved tax collection of government revenue with a proper government policy on tax. He also mentioned restructuring of state-owned enterprises.
  • I heard that Advocata has a partnership with the Atlas Network, an organisation based in Washington D.C. and asked about it. Dhananth said that there is no official partnership and that the Atlas Network have programs for funding based on project work which they apply for. He said these projects are based on Sri Lanka.
  • Dhananath believes the private sector have a big role to play in the Sri Lankan economy. He wants the government to make it easier for them to do their work and to not get in their way.
  • On the issue of Sri Lankan Airlines, Dhananath does not believe that the government should be managing an airline.     
I enjoyed meeting these people to discuss Sri Lankan issues. They have knowledge in their respective fields, and talking to them made me understand some subjects I wasn’t sure about. These discussions led me to even re-evaluate my own views on certain issues. It’s interesting to note that Dhananath Fernando and Dr. A.C. Visvalingam both contributed to my article “Impact of the 19th Amendment One Year On” in July 2016.


Thank you to you all for giving me your perspectives on issues relating to your respective field. I wish you all the best in your work and believe you are capable of making Sri Lanka a better place.  
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