Archive for the ‘Nuwara Eliya’

The National Soil Question: Part 1

Tea Erosion

There are some very disturbing trends in the management of the land of this nation, that cries out for action, but who will hear the cry? We are ever ready to talk about and fight about land, without the slightest inkling about or concern for the land that we are so willing to fight for. Land comprised of four basic elements, its water, its rocks, its soil and its biodiversity. These elements come together on varied landscapes to give us mountains, valleys, flatlands, forests, rivers and lakes. The protection and maintenance of these landscapes is what  dedication to ones land must be measured by; the rest is politics, opportunism and greed. Land, when seen only as an abstract political or economic entity  usually results in its degradation.  To understand one’s land, we must have some measure of knowledge about its elements. A discussion on water has begun. In a similar manner we should also understand the basics of soil, then…

Continue reading »

Three Musketeers redux

adf26e97ca1baa82aaadc343457383b3_XL

Image from The Nation Close to four decades ago, Richard Lester’s film, “Three Musketeers” was one I still remember  enjoying. A different genre of comedy from that of politically inspired Chaplin films, “Three Musketeers” was swashbuckling, fun, simple and of course with bawdy humour at times. A few days ago, I had a mail in my “Inbox” that reminded me of those “three musketeers” for some odd reason. The title of that mail read, “Arumugam Thondaman, Mano Ganesan, Radha Krishnan join hands for Sabaragamuwa PC”. It was a media release and concluded saying, “Under the current electoral system, we (i.e., the three of them) have reasonable opportunity to obtain our representation only if we go together beyond party lines.” Somewhere in between, the statement says, “DPF being a vibrant party in the opposition, will continue to oppose the government. We will continue to work with UNP, NSSP and USP and other opposition parties.” The statement was from DPF leader Mano…

Continue reading »

On Flooding and Disaster Management

167401_497808493424_105303528424_5932902_3207540_n

Photo courtesy www.facebook.com/battipeople Over the last two days, torrential rainstorms in the Central and Eastern province have caused severe flooding, landslides and an overwhelming humanitarian crisis with 758,000 people affected island-wide (according to the latest update at 7:14AM today from the Disaster Mangement Centre [via JNW]) 809 houses have been fully damaged and 2948 houses have been partially damaged. There have been nine deaths; nine injuries and four people are still missing (last update Sunday evening.) An article in the Daily Mirror details the extent of the crisis, According to the Centre (Disaster Management) some 55,936 families belonging to 14,519 families have been displaced and had been housed at 138 camps that have been opened.  Several Divisional Secretariat offices in the East were also reportedly under water while Badulla District Secretary Keerthi Disasnayake was also reportedly marooned as a result of a land slide which occurred along the Badulla-Mahinyangana Road. The following areas in the country have been affected by the…

Continue reading »

Needed: An Agenda for Reform on Groundviews

GV - Test 1

Whilst it is not clear as to whether we would be voting in both the presidential and general elections on the same day, it is clear that we will be voting in at least one of them in the next three months, followed soon thereafter by the other.  Most likely it will be the presidential elections since it is the president who has to decide and since he is much more popular than his party. Moreover, we have been told that he is willing to sacrifice, if necessary, two years of his first term in order to secure a second and a parliamentary majority nearest to the heart’s desire. All elections are important and these will be no exception. It is worth reminding that we are still in a post-war situation and far from the post-conflict one we ought to be in. What this requires is the prioritization of peace, reconciliation and unity and the firm commitment to ensure that the…

Continue reading »
  • 24 Jun, 2007
  • 1 Comment
  • Nuwara Eliya,
    Poverty

The flip side of picturesque: Estate workers in Sri Lanka

From Al Jazeera’s channel on YouTube. Also read Causing a storm in a tea plantation. Repost This Article

Continue reading »

Causing a storm in a tea plantation

The plight of the Sri Lankan tea plantation worker is a well known issue in the country, and even though the law now grants them with full citizenship rights, the real story is that these rights are very often not realised. Plantation workers are mainly Tamils of Indian origin who were brought to the island in the late 19th century by the British. Being largely confined to the tea estates on which they earned their pitiful living, workers formed their own communities. Being so heavily dependent on the tea estate owners for most of their basic needs such as healthcare, housing and water access, these communities have almost always existed socially and economically isolated from the rest of the country. As a by product of this, plantation workers to this day suffer from low self-esteem, ill health and also have poor levels of education and language barriers to contend with. There have been countless reports of instances where tea estate…

Continue reading »

Crossover and Mixed Public Reaction

The latest survey conducted by the Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives reveals that Sri Lankans express mixed opinion on the recent crossover by the 18 UNP parliamentarians along with 6 Muslim Congress MPs. 37% of people approve of this move while the same percentage disapproves. Interestingly, a quarter of Sri Lankans are either unaware of the crossover or do not have an opinion on whether to approve or disapprove of it; despite the chaos it has triggered in many corners that is yet to be settled. In the wake of numerous interpretations and reinterpretation of the present political situation as a result of the recent crossover by the political elites, the authors of this article attempt to discuss how citizens perceive the crossover. The results of the latest poll, that was conducted by Social Indicator – Centre for Policy Alternatives are used to discuss the public views in this article. This survey was…

Continue reading »

Human displacement

Two posts on DBS Jeyraj’s blog highlight aspects of the humanitarian crisis in the North and the East already flagged here. Civilians in Vaakarai face death and starvation Displaced Tamils face difficulties in B’caloa Coupled with the severe displacement of civilians on account of the recent landslides in the Hill Country, Sri Lanka in 2007 seems ill-geared to handle human displacement of this magnitude. Important to remember however, is that while landslides are natural disasters, the current displacement in the North and East is the result of a botched peace process, which shows no signs of resurrection this year. Repost This Article

Continue reading »

About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

cezarneaga.eu