Free education was the dream of one pioneering leader who was defeated in the first general election of independent Sri Lanka. He fought an invisible alliance of the left and the right represented by leaders who belonged to a privileged club. The common denominator that united them was that they spoke English and were the manor born. It was a time when politics was the preserve of the privileged. They thought that free education would erode their hold on power which the departing British were happy to leave in their reliable hands. One man thought otherwise. He alone realized that children constituted the only renewable resource a nation would possess. Dr.C.W.W. Kananagara the father of free education built 54 Central Coleges throughout the country in the period 1943-1947. The central college concept ended with his defeat.

  Dr. C. W. W. Kannagara,  popularly  known  as  the  father of free  education,  was  born  as  a  saviour,  for  the  emancipation  of  the  neglected  and  down-trodden  masses  of  this  country.  At  the  time  of  his  birth,  the public  education  system  in  this  country  was  a  monopoly  of  the   Christian  Missionaries,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Colonial  Government. Although  the  people  of  Sri  Lanka  were  heirs  to  a  well  established  educational  heritage,  well  known  in  the  whole  of  Asia  and  even  beyond,  it  had  deteriorated  to  a pathetic  state due  to  subsequent  foreign  invasions,  and  by  the  time  of  the  late  19^th  century,  the  indigenous  education  system  had  been  confined  to  some  temple  schools  and  a  few  Pirivenas  which  played  a  somewhat  limited  role  catering  to  the  religious,  ayurvedic  and  astrological  needs  of  the  people.

On   May 30, 1944  Dr. C.W.W. Kananagara as the Minister of Education  presented the motion EDUCATION:REFORM OF THE SYSTEM  that was eventually passed by the then State Council amidst severe reservations among some of the leaders belonging to the privileged classes who saw in this legislation the seeds of a social revolution that was yet to come. However, it is noteworthy that he was fully supported by Tamil leaders such as C.Sunteralingam , V.Naslliah and Moslem leaders like T.B.Jayah. In the reforms adopted introducing free education, the medium of instruction in schools was spelt out as follows.  

1.The medium of instruction in the primary school shall be the mother tongue, but English shall be a compulsory second language. 

2. The medium of instruction of the lower department of the post primary schools may be either the mother tongue or bi-lingual. 

3. The medium of instruction in the higher department of the post primary schools may be English, Sinhalese, Tamil or bi-lingual. 

(see box under from the Hansard of the State Council-Control of Education) . .    

 1947   Debacle

After  Kannangara  was  defeated  at  the  1947  election  by  vested  interests,  Prime  Minister  D.S. Senanayake  appointed  E. A. Nugawela  as  the  Minister  of  Education,  although  A. Ratnayake  (who  right  through  out  stood  by  Kannangara  in  his  struggle  for  educational  reforms)  expressed  his  wish  to  be  appointed  as  Minister  of  Education. Ironically one of the leading central colleges – the Nugawela Central College was in his constituency. There in lies another tale.  

D S Senanayake in  his  endeavour  to  undo  what  Kannangara  had  done  for  education,  got  down  Dr. H. W. House  from  Gibraltar  ( which  had  a  population  of  only  21,000  and  a  school  population  of  2,650 ). Dr.  Howes  replaced  Walwin  A. de  Silva a brilliant member of the then Civil Service as  Director  and  the  latter  retired  in  disgust.  It was  C.  Sundaralingam  who  vehemently  criticised  the  attempt  to  import  an  outsider  to  man  our  education.  He  said,  “ There  are  problems  which  face  this  country  but  which  most  countries  in  the  West  do  not  face,  such  as  the  question  of  the  national  languages.  Now  for  instance,  how  many  outsiders  have  heard  the  word  ‘Swabhasha’ ?  Here  is  this  most  important  problem  of  the  place  of  3  languages  in  the  curriculum  of  our  schools.  Can  a  man  who  has  had  no  knowledge,  no  experience,  personal  or  otherwise,  do  anything  to  solve  this  problem?   
“ Then,  another  case  is  the  question  of  culture. The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  we  do  not  want  any  more  importation  of  alien  talent  into  our  education.  We  want  our  own  men,  our  own  specialists,  versed  in  the  educational  system  in  the  country  to  be  able  to  tackle  our  problems  in  our  own  way.  It  is  better  that  we  should  make  mistakes  and  learn  ourselves  rather  than  that  others  should  make  mistakes  for  us  and  go  away. ”  (1949  Hansard,  Vol.  VI )  Sundaralingam  was  also  one  person  who  right  through  out  backed  Kannangara  in  his  struggle  for  Educational  reforms.

        When  going  through  the  debates  in the state  Council,  one  can  definitely  see  that  there  was  no  communal tinge  or  shades  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Legislative  Council  or  State  Council.  It  was  the  power – hungry  politicians  who  messed  up  the  politics  of  the  country  and  created  the dissension that was to torment this island in later years.

In order to lay the ground work for his reforms Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara took the following steps…

1. Free Education for all, irrespective of caste, creed and wealth (and also age) so that children of all classes could gain knowledge in school to become useful citizens of the country. 
2. His education system evolved from the Rural Schools  he experimented with Handessa in the 1930s and which were considered as a useful experiment in education in the whole of Asia. 
3. He established 54 Central Schools covering all the electorates at the time and equipped them with good and efficient Principals and teachers, hostels for scholars, laboratories, workshops, playgrounds, etc., which were then confined to the Christian Missionary Schools  and  a  few  Buddhist  denominational  schools.
4. He  handpicked  efficient  and  straightforward  teachers  to  man  these  schools  and  gave  them  every  encouragement  to  develop  them,  keeping  a  close  eye  on  them. It  was  unfortunate  that subsequently,  such  good  Principals  were  promoted  to  be  Directors  of  Education  without  grooming  successors  to  take  over.  Such  good  and  efficient  Principals  should  have  been  kept  in  the  schools,  giving  them  the  necessary  perks  in  the  school  itself.  We,  representing  the  Central  Colleges  Past  Pupils’  Association  of  Sri  Lanka,  brought  this  matter  up  with  the  National  Education  Commission  in  1992.  We  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Commission  the  dearth  of  good  and  efficient  Principals  to  man  the  schools  and  requested  the  Commission  to  take  suitable  measures  to  train  a  cadre  Principals  to  take  over  from  those  who  retire  but  so  far nothing  tangible  has  happened.

Dr Kannangara  brought the estate schools to  main stream education and looked after the estate children as well, which in fact won him the votes of the estate workers in Mathugama in 1947, whereas, in other electorates they voted against the UNP. 

He introduced subjects like science, agriculture, woodwork, pottery, leatherwork, music and dancing, book binding, etc., into  the  school  curriculum  so that children, after leaving school, could be gainfully employed and even established Resident Training Colleges to train the required teachers for the various subjects up to senior level. These are non  existent  today.

However, the elite class headed by Mr. D.S. Senanayake conspired to defeat him in the 1947  election, and thereafter, did everything they could to obstruct and retard the Education Reforms that CWWK had very thoughtfully introduced in 1945. 

This was done successfully and now we reap the benefits in the form of communal and economic problems that we are facing today.   

What ails the education system today 

Education administrators, guided by politicians without a vision, carried out a number of operations in the body of education from time to time, thereby bringing forth the predicament that education has come to today.  Some of the ill conceived reforms carried out can be enumerated as follows : 

In the early 1950s, there were 3 compulsory subjects for the Senior Level Examination, namely, First Language (mother tongue), Second Language (English/ Pali/ Sanskrit/ Tamil etc.) and Arithmetic or Mathematics. 

 Subsequently, these were reduced to 2 subjects, namely, the First Language and Arithmetic/,Mathematics. Sinhalese Language and Literature (also Tamil Language and Literature) which were treated as 2 subjects were made in to one, making the students neither proficient in language nor in literature.  This has resulted in the decline of the Sinhala/ Tamil language even among the University Professors and Lecturers, leave alone teachers. 

With the introduction of the Provincial Councils education became a devolved subject coming within their purview.  However, successive governments established another set of schools called National Schools administered by the line Ministry, without establishing adequate machinery to administer them.  Due to this remote control system, most of the National Schools (including most Central Schools) are being neglected and today some of them have no discipline 

There is no transfer system for Principals and teachers in both National schools and Provincial schools.  Even if a Principal  is  found  to  be  inefficient  and  corrupt,  he  cannot  be  replaced  or  transferred  due  to  stringent  procedures. If  a  Provincial  school  teacher wants  a  transfer  to  a  national  school,  he  has  to  go  through  14  steps. 

In  the  days  gone  by,  there  were  Boards  of  Survey  carried  out  annually  in  every  school  and  Administration,  Finance,  Inventories,  methods  of  teaching,  results  at  Public  Exams, Sports,  Environment  etc.  were  all  checked  by  a  competent  team  from  the  Education  Department.

 As  far  as  I  am  aware,  this  vital  aspect  of  education  administration  has  been  neglected where  the  Principal  of  a school can be  changed  4  times  during  a  period  of  nearly  30  years,  without   the  Boards  of  Survey  being  held.

The  Navodaya  Scholarship  system  which  replaced  the  5^th  Standard  Scholarship  Examination  introduced  by  C W W K,  has  created  a  system  of  so-called  Popular  Schools,  thereby  uprooting  the  village  children  from  their  cultural  environment  and  exposing  them  to  a  cosmopolitan  culture. This  ran  counter  to  the  Kannangara  system  which  brought  up  children  in  their  traditional  environment.  His  vision  was  to  develop  decentralized  centres  of  higher  learning,  spread  through  out  the  country. 

The  Tuition  system,  which  has  now  become  the  canker  in  the  whole  education  system,  has  come  into  being  from  the  time  the  school  curriculum  and  syllabuses  were  revised,  leaving  a  gap  between  the  O/ L  syllabus  and  A/ L  syllabus,  bringing  forth  a  set  of  tuition  masters,  who  came  in  to  fill  in  the  gap,  without  which  children  could  not  follow  A/ L  classes. In  our  days,  there  was  a  continuity  in  the  syllabuses  from  6^th  Standard  up to  University  level.

International  Schools 

 Education,  which  was  considered  a  sacred  subject  from  time  immemorial,  has  now  become  a  profitable  venture  as  a  result  of  the  neglect  of  the English  language  in  the  normal  Govt.  schools. (Closing  down  of  the  English  Training  colleges  has  led  to  this  situation  in a  large  way. 
The  Vidhya  Peethas,  I  feel,  have  not  been  able  to  fill  that  gap.)  The  overemphasis  placed  on  the  English  medium  by  Politicians  and  Administrators,  who  had  their  children  educated  abroad,  also  led  to  the  mushrooming  of  these  International  schools. 

The  elite  class  (including  drug  barons,  uneducated  Mudalalis  and  underworld  kingpins)  send  their  children  to  international  schools,  spending  several  millions  of  illicitly  earned  money,  with  the  aim  of making  their  children  achieve  what  they  themselves  could  not.  These  schools,  registered  under  the  Company  Ordinance  or  as  B O I  Projects,  bring  up  children  in  an  atmosphere  of  an  alien  culture,  imparting  knowledge  in  subjects  relevant  to  the British  Education  system,  much  against  the  vision  of  Dr. C.W.W. Kannagara  and  against  the  existing  Law  of  the  Island  pertaining  to  education. 

The  underlying  vision  of  these  International  schools  was  well  manifested  when  reading  a  news  item  that  appeared  in  the  Daily  News  of  Feb. 8,  under  the  heading “ 53  Lankan  teens  for  2007  Future  Leaders  Summit. ” According  to this  news  release,  of  the  53  students  selected  to  represent  Sri  Lanka  at  this  Future  Leaders  summit  to  be  held  in  Washington  D.C.,  50  are  from  International  schools  and  only  3  from  National  schools (1  from  Nalanda  and 2 from  Royal).  It  is  pertinent  to  question the  basis  and criteria  on  which  these  students  were  selected.  The  release  further  says  that  these  students  are  sponsored  by  their  parents.  This  means  that  only  those  who  can  afford  to  bear  the  expenses  can  send  their  children  to  the  Future  Leaders  Summit. This  also  means  that  students  attending  national  schools  have  no  chance  of attending  future  leaders  Summit. ( Poor  folks  have  no  chance  of  becoming  future  leaders in  the  country  of  their  birth ! )

Since  independence,  Sri  Lanka  has  undergone  3  Youth  uprisings,  namely,  J V P  uprisings  of  1971  and  1989  and  the  Tamil  Youth  uprising.  If  the  Kannangara  Education  system  had  been  implemented  in  its  entirety  and  in  its  true  form,  I  feel  that  such  situations  would  never  have  arisen.  If  Kannangara’s  vision had  been  followed,  the  language  problem,  which  was  a  precursor  to  the  ethnic  problem,  would  not  have  arisen. 

The  Youth  Commission  appointed  in  the 1990s  to  study  the  background  to  the  youth  uprisings  and  make  suitable  recommendations  to  avoid  such  uprisings in the future,  had  recommended  the  appointment  of  a  National  Education  Commission  to  draft  a  National  Education  Policy ,  which  may  not  be  changed  with  the  change  of  Governments,  change  of  Ministers  and  change  of  Secretaries.

This  Commission,  I  feel,  has  miserably  failed  to  address  the  real  issues  and  advise  the  Governments  on  a  prudent  Education  Policy,  may  be  due  to  their  failure  to  take  independent  decisions,  without  being  dictated  by  the  powers  that  be.  Some times,  the  Commission  has  become a dumping  ground  for  political  rejects  at  elections.

The prohibitions imposed on fishing due to National Security, were removed recently and the fishing community today in a state of ecstasy. It was the fisherman who suffered most by the twenty five year long war.  No fishermen got any chance to continue their way of living during the past few years. All of them were astonished and overjoyed to hear the end of the war and taking away the ban at once. Yet few more issues still remain making the fishing community uneasy. Matters regarding the issuance of fishing licenses and identity cards are most prominent.

We revealed you recently about the pathetic situation of Edwin Appuhamy alias “Baby Aiya”of Kodbe, who was a traditional trawling fisherman and later faced the ban to fish in the sea line he was used to. He is a father of seven eight kids and also it was with his business several others who worked under him earned their living. Nevertheless the navy decided to make prohibitions in that area of fishing, indicating that National Security was more important than individual hunger. Time elapsed and now the navy has come again to remove the barbed wires. Baby Aiya has been given his life back. He says that it is now he feels that he himself is alive.

“All my family earned our living by this seine. But during the last five six years we were banned from fishing in the interior part of the harbor..We didn’t even think of getting this job again. It is our honorable president who gave our lives back. Now by the sake of the god we can live by our own.

It was the Tamil Fishing Community who suffered most with this ban. Majority of the Sinhala community look at the Tamils as Tigers thinking that every Tamil is a Tiger. This worsened the condition of the Tamil fishermen. But everything is changing now.

Mr. N. Balasubramanium a fisherman in Thirakadavur in Trincomalee says that the evil times are over now. Still they face difficulties in obtaining fishing licenses and identity cards though.

“ We lived on the pawning of my wife’s and daughters’ jewellery. We had to bear water and electricity cut. We would never face this kind of life if we had our job. Anyway the bad times are over now, things are far better. Little issues remain though. To get licenses and ID cards we have to go to Grama Niladhari, Police, Regional Secretariat, Navy, Department of Fisheries, Cooperative Society for Fisheries and so on.. We request the minister to help us in this matter by giving us one day mobile service.”

 As to Mr. Subramanium this is not a problem of the government but the inefficiency of the officers. He believes that the minister should intervene in this matter to see a solution.

During the period of the forbiddance many fishermen found different ways of living as they could not stand the cries of their family members. But now they are coming back to their old profession. According to Fisheries Project Office in Trincomalee, the fishing community has been increased by seventy per cent (70%) by this month. Trincomalee which was starting to hide under the ruins has been given a new breath to live. It is reaching prosperity. Mr. M. Yusuf, an owner of a well known jewellery shop in Trincomalee says that people are becoming much strong in money now. 

“ Actually it is from the fishing Triincomalee gets money. As fishing was under a ban during last few years, nobody could manage to buy at least a packet of milk powder for their kids. No need of talking about buying jewellery then. Anyway everything is changing now. We could do a good business at the beginning of this month as people are getting money”, he said.

“ We think that a new era has dawned upon us. We hope all the limitations will be taken away very soon. Still we are not allowed to reach the coast till dawn. Fish gets rotten when we stay a whole night in the sea. It is better if these things are also being considered.” Mr. I Maharoof from Jamalia said.

M. G.G. Saman is a  well known businessman in Trincomalee and he is the president of the Society for Multi Day Boats Owners Association. He says that the government did the right things at right time. If not the war could have been continued for few more decades.

“We blamed the government when the ban was laid, we blamed the navy too. But our honourable president requested us to bear all the difficulties till the war ends. He was looking for our support. We gave it and that’s why we could win the war. We have no more attacks from tigers now. Earlier it was us who faced the results when the navy attacked on their boats. But now everything is over. Fishing licenses, identity cards are not such big things, we can make them happen and we can get them done. We can’t blame government for such little things. It is nothing but the wrong doings of the officials”.

Mr. Ananda Peiris, the president of Sumedhagama Fishing Society, is the convener of Trincomalee District for All Island Fishing Movement.  He has a very good knowledge on the tribulations faced by the fishing community of that area. He says that Trincomalee was reborn with the removal of the ban.

“We were more like dead in last years. We had nothing to eat at homes, we were like beggars.. but god’s sake.. the bad times are over. Few issues unsolved remain though. Still the navy doesn’t allow 32 and 34 feet boats fish without radio message equipment. One such equipment costs around two and half lakhs. For those who had no job for years, this is a cost unimaginable. The officers from the navy asks how to manage to purchase a boat if we are not strong enough to buy such a “set”. They don’t know we pawn our lands and get bank loans to buy a boat..”

Nevertheless everything in Trincomalee is becoming normal again. The future will be far better.  The poker faced farmers have smiles on their faces now.. they smile saying “Ellam,Nallam”.

Displaced Lives in Nanattan

Yearn for Tomorrow

Nanattan, an area situated about 70 km away from Medawachchiya was not known much until September 1970 when thousands of families in the divisional secretary area known as Musali were displaced within one hour as a result of the current war. Musali includes much productive agricultural and fishing areas such as Aripputhurei, Silawathurei, Mullikulam, and Keini . In 1990 too, they were displaced to Madu area by the same war,and after wasting their lives in refugee camps for four years they were once again given the opportunity to resettle in their own villages.

Alas, in 2007 they were once again informed to leave the area within one hour . Abandoning all belongings they earned with many hardships since 1994, they left again on 1^st September 2007.taking only what can carry in hand..

That is how these innocent civilians came to Nanattan which is 7 km away from their homelands, using every available way such as bicycles, other vehicles or even on foot. While some of them have sought refuge from relatives who were in safe villages, others started living in tents erected in various places within Nanattan.

As stated by the divisional secretary of the area the number of both fishing and farming families so displaced, comes to about 1200. These people are presently provided per month by the government with 2 ½.kg. of rice, 2 ½ kg. of wheat flour 250g. of sugar, 250ml. of vegitable oil 850g. of dhal per head as dry rations. In addition, Robert and Pushparani , two members of a fishing family from the camp Koil, state, some NGOs as well as Karitas Sedeck Mannar Padavi Valvudayam Institute have also provided them with dry food items.

“We are natives of Kandy. It was Mannar lagoon where we were used to live in calmly earning livelihood through fishing. But because of the war, we who were used to live with some dignity without any panhandling, are now descended to this position of depending on free rations of the government while sighing and dying again and again.” They said.

We talked to those who are in two refugee camps namely Koil and Mil in Nanattan. The camp Koil consists of tiny and separately erected cajan huts where 38 families live in. There are 64 families in the camp Mil. This camp is a large one which is made out of tin sheets without cementing it’s dusty floor and partitioned with polythene sheets or sarees. Small children who play on that dusty floor frequently face with various health problems.

95 displaced children are studying in St. Mary’s pre-school sitting on the floor without desks and chairs. Many deficiencies were seen in their uniforms too. Lady teachers who serve in this institution are volunteers and are not being remunerated at all.

“ We cannot tolerate these children being further helpless. That is why we extend our service voluntarily” Those teachers say.

Asked whether they do not have any longing towards going back to their homelands, they replied “ Why not? Who wishes to lead this nasty life as rootless beings , by allowing all belongings earned since birth to deteriorate ?

It is said that the process of de-mining is not yet over. So we are not allowed to go back.” They said. Those who discussed with us including Robert opined that the war has caused massive destruction to the lives as well as properties of all indiscriminately and it is impossible to restore the status quo at all. “ Houses may be built. But who is going to bring back the lost lives ? Some how or other it is the lives of those who can shoulder the future of this country that deteriorate. Not only that. What about the lives of those hitherto lost in other parts of the country ?” They mourned.

Here, we had new opportunity to talk to another group. That is some displaced year 12 students who carry out their studies in cajan makeshift class rooms erected in the premises of Mannarippu Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School and also some teachers of the same school.

“ We being Tamils face problems everywhere. Those who hold identity cards issued from places such as Mannar Vaunia or Jaffna are always being treated as Tigers. When we want move to a nearby place we are compelled to surrender our identity cars and obtain atokens from the relevant check point. In case of a long journey, permission should be obtained from the Navy. Sometimes the token issued by one check point is not recognized by the other. If by any mistake the token is lost some how or other, they impose on us the punishment of kneeling down. We are still refugees” They said.

Students however do not have necessary environment to carry out their education freely and systematically. Studies cannot be carried out by staying outside either, since they are compelled to return to the camp by 6 ‘O clock in the evening. It is also very difficult to study while mingling with many families in the same camp Our friends who come from outside are allowed only 10 minutes to talk with us. We are virtually disgusted with this camp life now.”

Approximately there are 700 students in Nanattan Mannarippu Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School under it’s principle MR. Patrick Emmanuel Croose. Teachers state that 150 displaced children come on foot to their school from areas far away between 4 to 6 km.and sometimes faint in consequence of the deprivation of enough food.Their level of education too is low, as teachers state. Teachers often were compelled to extend their financial assistance to those students who do not have enough food, cloths, and educational material such as books. While revealing their inability to continue with this further, they point out that the education of these students too is in the downturn due to non fulfilment of their basic needs.The Institute of Karitas Valvudayam has also helped this school in an earlier instance.

Teachers are concerned about the unsatisfactory position that the students are facing to,as a result of being compelled to live together with many families in one camp. They say that their utmost attempts were made to keep up the mentality and discipline of these children. They appreciate the immense support extended by the principle as well as Fr. Samuel Pillei Jayabalan. What we have procured so far are only the desks and chairs. All other facilities are yet to be found. It would be greatly helpful if we can find at least 5 computers for our students. And also it would be highly beneficial to them if some philanthropist offer to donate at least 100 push bikes for them to travel to school conveniently” The principle said.

“ I am also a displaced person. But my mind irritates whenever I see other displaced people. Some do not have any clear idea on displaced people. We are not even aware of any program either to resettle them or to uplift their future. It was told that they will resettle us within 24 hours or failing which, within 48 hours. But even after one and a half years we are lagging behind in these camps. Employment problems, paucity of food and various other social problems have conquered the lives of refugees.”

“Nothing can be done without the notice of soldiers. Sometimes they violate our privacy too. Women are deprived of the right to reveal their ailments to doctors. People were ordered to be under the supervision of a soldier . Even during the previous Christmas season people were ordered to be included in a group of 6 under the supervision of one soldier when leaving the camp to buy their needs” That is how Fr. Seimond Pillei Jayabalan who is also a refugee came from Aruppu Silawathurei described.

Authorities should take action immediately to explore the exact needs of the refugees in order to protect these human beings from getting buried in the camps themselves. Fr. Jayabalan stressed further.

These students who are presently confined to the area of Mannar are very keen on having the company of youngsters of the south. Mr. A Jesudasan, coordinator of the people’s organization for a program on peace and sustainable development implemented by the cooperation for national fishing, has made a pledge to commence a program which fulfills the requirement of exchanging ideas between the children of both parts of the island and to develop friendship.

Information from the economic centres has revealed that about 365 tons of vegetables and fruits, produced by the Rajarata farmers are discarded as waste at Thambuththegama. The Government as well as the private sector is now searching for solutions to minimize the wastage.

The Thambuththegama Economic Center was opened in 2005 due to the untold miseries faced by the Mahaweli farmers at the Dambulla Economic Center. It was managed by the Trade and Marketing Development Ministry.

There were instances where the farmers who took their vegetables to Dambulla, had to sell their produce for such low prices, that they were unable to even cover their transport costs. The Thambuththegama Center in the Mahaweli H Zone is an alternative which enables the farmers to acquire some relief from this tragic destiny.

The officer in charge of this centre, H. M. Thushara, said as a result of the transport costs decreasing to a large extent and the reduction of the wastage while transporting and also maintaining steady prices similar to those at Dambulla, the supply of vegetables to the Thambuththegama Center has increased greatly.

Around 12,000 vehicles enter the center, in order to do business. In the beginning, an amount close to 30,000kg of agri-produce was handled during a day of business and now that has gone up to about 700, 000 presently.

However, the centre points out that, during every step of transport, preparation and packaging, vegetables are subject to bruising and spoilage and as a result the amount that goes to waste has also increased greatly. Manager, Mr. H.M. Thushara says, that as they do not have any guidance regarding the choice of crops which are in demand, it is a very serious problem for the farmers. He also said “During the last harvesting season, the price of a kilo of marrows rose to Rs. 35. The farmers cultivated a large amount of marrows during the next season. The result was that, the price of a kilo dropped to, as low as Rs 4 and 5 so much so, that the marrows could not be sold. They do not have any guidance. They come to us to inquire about pesticides when their crops become disease ridden, as they have no one to ask. That does not concern us. Finally they buy whatever pesticides the shops recommend.”

Vendors say that, many of the farmers, do not have the proper knowledge, attitude or a system in order to reduce the amount of wastage until they bring the produce to the market.

Initially, the private sector introduced plastic boxes as a solution for this problem. The Post-Harvest Technology Institute in Anuradhapura, also commenced distribution of plastic boxes at a concessionary rate as a special project. However, instances can be seen where, varieties of vegetables which can get bruised have been packed into gunny bags and loaded onto lorries and people sleep on them during transportation.

Mr. Thushara is of the opinion that, when the private sector supplied boxes for packaging, the quality stocks went to them and the leftovers reached his center.

The centre for collecting agro-produce which is maintained by the Cargills organization at Thambuththegama, pack their vegetables according to the highest standards and give a higher price than the Economic Center. They train the farmers to maintain a high standard from harvesting until they take charge of the produce. They collect private data and data regarding their cultivations from the farmers.

Lakshman Wakishta, the Manager, told us that the objective of their organization is to purchase agro produce direct from the farmers, sans a middleman, at higher prices. The produce that is purchased is distributed among the Cargills Supermarkets.

However, once again the vendors say that, once the better produce has been selected by the Cargills centre and purchased, the rest reaches the Economic center once more.

What happens finally is that the garbage dump at the economic centre keeps rising daily. Now, the Government sector is searching for solutions, for the volume of waste amounting to 30 tons which is collected during a month.

The Chairman of the Post-Harvest Technology Institute, Attorney, H.M. Abeyratne says they are hoping to dry their refuse and make them into blocks for animal feed. The farmers in the Thambuththegama area, take a small amount of this to their pig-pens.

The management of the Economic Center is hoping to reduce the wastage and thereby reduce the collection of garbage through the Department of Agrarian Services and to make use of the waste for some service.

However the first step towards, reducing wastage is to provide the farmers with advice and guidance on crops that are in demand and those which do not go to waste. Nevertheless, the officers of the Economic Center declare that there is no result from this effort, because there are no statistics for any season regarding the cultivable lands of the farmers and the volume that reaches the market and as there is no planning.

As the, “Ministerial Sub-Committee on Food Protection and Cost of Living” via the intervention of the President’s Secretariat office, is directing their attention towards this problem, Manager, Mr. H.M. Thushara says that he intends to submit his issues and problems as well.

Whatever happens, it is the heap of garbage at the Economic Center that keeps increasing. The Government sector is now, searching for solutions for the thirty tons of waste that collects at the Center, monthly.

However, under these circumstances, no satisfactory solution has been found or planned for this wastage and the garbage that remains. There is practicality to a certain extent, visible in the system that the Cargills organisation commenced. Farmers declare their opinions on this, as follows.

“We can call and find out the price before we harvest the vegetables. When we bring them, they are methodically packed into boxes and we are given the money. If the price of a kilo is thirty rupees at the Economic Center, here, we get around 34 or 35. More often than not it is advantageous to us,” said, Mr. H. M. Subharatne, who supplies winged beans to the Cargills Center from Thalakolawewa.

Mr. D.M.S. Dissanayake of Thambuththegama states thus; “From this we can get to know what we should or should not cultivate. We learnt how to work methodically. There is no loss to us. It is not necessary to throw away vegetables, either.”

What sort of impact do you think the global economic downturn will have on UN activities around the world?

I think the global economic downturn is going to have an impact on three major areas of UN activity. One is fairly obvious – that is, it is likely that there will be fewer resources available to us because many countries that contribute to the UN are in economic difficulty. Historically, whenever there has been economic difficulty the availability of resources reduces.

I think the second impact will be that the people whom the UN are most concerned about around the world, both in terms of  development work and humanitarian work,  are going to be more vulnerable. Although the crisis has first hit the powerful and mighty who have large amounts of money invested in various bonds and stock markets, it is soon going to transfer into the real economy. It is in fact already transferring into the real economy through increased unemployment, through decreased markets for exports. And when you have that increased vulnerability, it can also mean that people will be more vulnerable to natural disasters, as poor people with low incomes tend to move to areas such as flood planes, into places where they shouldn’t be living. It may also create more tension within societies, which in turn may have an impact in creating disturbances and lead to a need for more humanitarian assistance. I think it will also lower incomes among the poorest of the poor, and have an impact on areas such as the Millennium Development Goals.

And I think the third broad area, and I hope it won’t happen, but there is a possibility, is that it may increase tensions amongst countries or perhaps among regions in countries, and that may create a demand for more UN involvement in conflict resolutions. In a more positive way, the global economic crisis should prove to countries the necessity for world economic well-being, as opposed to the economic well being of an individual state or community. You need to have global mechanisms, because with the speed in which things happen, what happens on Wall Street can happen on Main Street in the United States, but it can also have an impact around the world, and the UN should be involved in trying to mitigate that. Otherwise a crisis which could be a small dip in the ocean, becomes a big dip, and a big dip is bound to have other consequences, which will make it much, much harder for the global economy to regain its stability.

Is there likely to be an impact felt in this country?

I think there will be. A very large part of the Sri Lankan economy depends on exports, such as garments, where Sri Lanka is a leader, tea, coconuts, and many other things.

Secondly a very large part of the Sri Lankan economy depends on foreign remittances.  It is the second largest source of foreign income according to official figures, and if you were to take into account unofficially reported remittances, it might be even the largest source.

And there will be fewer opportunities for those people to make money. Their incomes may reduce, they may loose their jobs, and that going to have a knock on effect. It may have a knock on effect in poor areas of the country, as people who are working abroad are poor people. It may be mitigated to a certain extent, as a lot of Sri Lankans are working in the Middle East, and those are the countries that are likely to be the least affected, but there will still be an effect. I think those are the two biggest areas. I think the third factor is the Sri Lankan industry’s dependence on investments. There is going to be more competition for less foreign investment around the world and that going to affect the country’s ability to compete, and thereby its economy. So there is definitely going to be an economic effect. Whether there will be a bigger effect in terms of human development, I think will depend a lot on the Government’s actions, and also how the International community works with Sri Lanka to mitigate that effect.

In terms of UN activities in Sri Lanka, how would ordinary Sri Lankans be affected by the impending economic downturn?

Well, in one sense, Sri Lanka, because it has been going through such difficult times over the last decade, has some experience in dealing with crisis and there is a lot of resilience, within the economy, within the society, at coping with the ups and downs. At the same time as I indicated in my last answer, so many Sri Lankans are dependant for a good part of their livelihood on international trade, national investment and international remittances. So, the garment worker who is working in Kurunegala, who maybe the main income earner for her family in terms of cash income – when she looses her job, that going to have an impact on her family, on her community. The people living on plantations picking tea right now – with the declining tea prices, they may loose their income and that will have a knock on effect, for example, in Bandarawela in the bazaar, on all the traders there. So I think there is a real risk that the ordinary Sri Lankan will be affected. In addition you have Sri Lankans who are living in areas where they have been affected by some sort of disaster over the years. The tsunami in 2004, the effects of being displaced by the conflict over the last couple of years…. These areas will find it hard to get back to normalcy as there will be more competition for investment from other areas in the country.

In terms of our ability to actually assist, it may also be more difficult because there will be more competition for development funds, there will be more competition for funds for humanitarian assistances around the world. So it is very important that we in the UN do our job properly, so that we can adjust our programme to work with our many partners here, most important of who is the Government, to address these issues to try to, I guess compete, with the other countries around the world and other UN programmes around the world. So we can get resources here for programmes here that mitigate the effect of the economic downturn on Sri Lanka, and us the economic downturn in a positive way to increase what I think gives Sri Lankan its main competitive advantage around the world, which is the quality of Sri Lankan human capital in terms of its education and health care. If that is lost in Sri Lankan during this period, if it isn’t preserved and strengthened, it may be much more difficult for Sri Lankan to bounce back from the economic downturn.

If household incomes decline in Sri Lanka, what are the likely effects to be experienced in terms of the basic development indicators?

In one sense, if the Government and society are able to maintain a priority on basic investments in health and education, the impact on development indicators will be mitigated. But if the allocations towards health and education decline, you will have an effect. In countries where ordinary people have to pay for their medical expenses, may be like the United States and a lot of other countries in Asia, it’s going to be much harder. If Sri Lankan can preserve, essentially, the free health system and the free education system, that is going to mitigate the downturn. But nonetheless one of the areas in which Sri Lanka has progressed the most over the last years is the reduction of the population that lives below the poverty line. And there has been a decline, but a large part of the population isn’t that far above the poverty line. So if you have reverses in income you may have people that fall below the poverty line again. And if you look at poverty also defined in terms of what you can buy with your money, if the inflation affecting other places translates into higher food prices, the people are going to be able to buy a lot less. It will be harder for them, so that why it is very important to be (again I use the expression) ahead of the curve, have measures in place to mitigate the effects on the most vulnerable in society, because the vulnerable have to feel their included. If they are not, it is very hard to have a society that goes forward, and that’s the experience of Sri Lanka, the experiences of South Asia and many other Asian countries, which have progressed over the last few years.

Should the Millennium Development Goals be revised?

I think no, and yes. No in the sense that so many, including all the world leaders, agreed upon it in 2000, and it has been reiterated in a number of meeting since. I think the MDG’s goals have been translated into programmes and targets around the world and it is best not to mess with them. I think they do capture an important aspects of, I guess you could say, psychical development. Of course there are other aspects to development which are not captured in the MDG but are captured in the Millennium Ddeclaration. People tend to forget that these world leaders in September 2000 actually signed something called the Millennium Declaration, which is something much broader, including matters regarding governance, human rights, the environment….. The MDG were extracted from that and dealt with things which are perhaps more measurable, like maternal mortality, infant mortality, gender equality, Aids and poverty. And it is important not to forget that these measures of governance, measures of rights, environment, are part of the package and really important. So yes, the MDG should be revised to somehow capture that, but I don’t think they should be revised at this point. The danger is that it would take away from the momentum of the eight goals which are very important.

6. Might we see other problems increase, such as impunity toward the rule of law?

Yes, I think on a global basis, when there is an economic downturn, that sometimes translates to tensions between countries. When there is tension between countries, states tend to, I guess, have stronger central roles and stronger laws. In my own country Canada, when there was a slight upsurge of a separatist faction in Qubec – a small terrorist group kidnapping a couple of people in 1970 – we brought in the War Measure Act. It was a point of much controversy and still is in Canada, but it was brought in by a very liberal minded Prime Minister who was actually a human rights advocate. It was removed a few months later. So even in a county like Canada, if you have tensions rising there is a tendency to bring in stronger laws to protect National Security. So I think that there is a danger with the economic downturn if that leads to tensions between countries. And if countries turn inwards instead of turning outwards, that could lead to issues of stronger central government control, because of National security. I think as someone who has worked for the UN for almost 25 years, I think I do try to believe what the UN is based on. I believe that the solution is not to turn inward but to turn forward. In fact I think the way things have changed in the world most recently countries don’t really have a choice. If you  turn outward, I think that it’s much more likely the  fundamental values which the UN are based on, which are values of quality, values of sovereignty of countries, but also values of tolerance, that those will be propagated rather than constrained. But there is a danger that in times of tension people will turn inwards. That has to be avoided for any country, especially smaller countries that are more vulnerable to international systems. I would even include my home county in that, as even though it’s the second largest country in the world, economically it is not a super power.

Do you think that the financial downturn will change the way world affairs operates?

I think it will, in the sense that it has been seen in the way international financial markets have functioned over the last 15 years or so. It did bring a lot of good and it did bring a lot of wealth, but at various points even going back to 1997 when there was the Asian Economic crisis, it was recognized that you have to regulate these markets. You have to throw sand in the machine sometimes, because the markets work too fast. They work on short term information, they don’t work on long term information, and there needs to be accounted a balance to them, because there is a tremendous positive power to international capital movement. Some of the developments in China over the years, with so many people coming out of poverty, are a result of the positive deployments of the capital movement. But such rapid capital movement can do tremendous damage as well. So there is a need for individual countries to have mechanisms in place to counter balance and regulate that. But because there are primarily international capital movements, and if just one country does something by itself it may end up missing out on the benefits, you need to have an international action. Ad I think that this current crisis is so deep that it is going to lead to international action. For example, the IMF – just eight or nine months ago people were talking about the IMF becoming increasingly irrelevant to the current situation, because many countries had their cash balances. People weren’t following the IMF advice, and suddenly all these countries are now having to go back to the IMF.  It does have to be like a lender of last resort, but I hope that the IMF also learns from previous lessons – and I think they have – and apply policies which are, I guess, more in line with what the UN talks about, such as human development. Policies that have a more sustainable impact, because it is great to have more rapid capital movement, but if the wave washes away, and skeletons are left on shore then it hasn’t brought a benefit. You’ve got to let that wave come in and become calmer and bring sustainable benefit, rather than having it crash out and destroy things. We have to change the system to stop that crashing.  I think we can and also, with the American Government, with the electing just an hour ago, at least from what was said, maybe more actively engaged in these issues, it should be easier for brother countries, and for the United Nations to play that positive role.

The President elect, Barak Obama – Does not send a very powerful message to the world that here is a global citizen, at last in command of the shining city, of the world. That it has truly become the melting pot of communities, and that humanity and human aspirations transcend all other fault lines that anthropologists and social scientists talk about.

The answer is yes, very strongly yes. I think it sends a very important message that you can be a very good citizen of your country and a strong member of your community, because Barak Obama in fact started his political involvement being a community organizer in very poor parts of Chicago, areas as poor as some parts in southern countries, poor as some parts of Sri Lanka. But you can also be a responsible and engaged global citizen. If all countries and if all communities recognize that  it is  possible to be a good member of your community, it is important to  have a strong cultural identity and be proud of it, but at the same time to be somebody who interacts with others and includes them rather than excludes them, that’s a very positive message. That idea is very central to what the UN is about – that you have individual countries, you can have people within those countries who are good people, who have their own individual identities that have to be protected, yet who can also interact together for everyone’s mutual benefit. It is the politics of inclusion, not the politics of exclusion, and that’s what the UN is based on.