Archive for the ‘Economy’

Review of ‘Right of Way: A journey of resettlement’

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I was delighted when asked to review Right of Way: A journey of resettlement by Sharni Jayawardena and published by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA). Sharni’s skill in photography is enviable, and was the co-creator of Walkabout: Slave Island, supported by Groundviews. At the time of review, the publication was not in the public domain, and given what I had seen of Sharni’s previous work, I expected it to be a largely photographic record, in a coffee table book format, of the human displacement that occurred as a result of the E01, Sri Lanka’s first highway. And yet the book features few photos. 72 pages long, the book has just 8 photos included in it. I’ll come back to why I think this makes for a less compelling way of grappling with what the book sets out to do. Thousands, since E01 opened late last year, have taken the highway to Galle from Kottawa. The focus when on the…

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  • 2 Jan, 2012
  • 1 Comment
  • Development,
    Economy,
    International,
    Poverty

In conversation with Prof. Anil K Gupta: Grassroots innovation and development

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Prof. Gupta teaches at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and was in Sri Lanka recently to deliver the first Ray Wijewardene Memorial lecture. Prof. Gupta is one of the world’s leading voices on social innovation, and the development of social capital. We began our conversation with Prof. Gupta defining what he sees as social entrepreneurship, and why it is important to recognise and nurture it. He then talks about the difference between big science and small science, and how the support of the former through national budgetary allocations does not necessarily address or strengthen the latter. Prof. Gupta also shares some insights into how grassroots innovation can be supported and through the blending of what he calls formal and informal sciences, development made more sustainable and equitable. Prof. Gupta’s multi-disclipinary background holds him in good stead when he talks about the double-helix of language and culture, and how the preservation of one is to support the development of the…

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Extravagance veiled as National Pride: Brief analysis of Corrupt Public Expenditure in Sri Lanka

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Lessons from China or Tunisia? Just few months ago, in response to a public outcry for more accountability and transparency in the use of public funds, the State Council, which is the Cabinet in the Chinese government, directed 98 public institutions including ministries to make public their budgets and expenditure on  official receptions, official overseas visits  and public vehicles. Why these three items? China has recognized these as the most abused items of public expenditure, which have long been viewed as major sources of squandering and corruption. Though the nature of lavish and wasteful expenditure varies from country to country, one can see similarities of the operation of such expenditure. I begin this article on extravagance on public expenditure, with this Chinese example to demonstrate that criticism on extravagance is not a Western concept, as probably our coteries of political advisors and self-serving propaganda experts would always say.  Those great people who have found solutions for their own countries have…

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The Prime Minister’s call will exacerbate Horizontal Inequality in Sri Lanka

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The statement by the Prime Minister that wheat flour imports should be banned is an irresponsible statement and must be retracted.  While it may be his choice to consume only rice, or he wishes more people in this country ate rice, he must be made aware that some people in Sri Lanka are totally dependent on wheat flour. The Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) for 2006 found that an average Tamil family in the estate sector consumed 17.4 Kg of wheat flour per month when the cost per Kg was less than Rs 40.  At the time the national monthly average was 2.4 Kg per household.  Even though price of wheat flour more than doubled since then to close to Rs 85 a Kg currently (the increase was much higher relative to rice), the HIES for the year 2010 found that estate Tamil households consumption fell only marginally to 15.4 Kg per month indicating how price inelastic these household…

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Sri Lanka For Sale: Wealth Creation by Dispossession

A man cleans the main board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo.

“You are horrified at our intending to do away with private property. But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths.” Karl Marx No one knows how far the government is planning to go to gain control over nation’s wealth and sell it to those who patronize its economic and political agenda. The controversial expropriation bill that plans to grab 37 properties is likely to be followed by another proposal to amend the Town and Country Planning Ordinance to acquire lands for economic, social, historical, environmental and religious purposes within municipal and urban areas. It will also end taxes and restrictions on foreigners buying and developing land anywhere in the country. The opposition’s parochial politics and ideological bankruptcy prevent constructive engagement with the procedural and substantive issues pertains to these the new property laws that…

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A Supreme Court & Government that erode investor confidence in Sri Lanka?

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The Sri Lankan government is callously gambling with investor confidence. The effects are already evident, and will get worse.  ### One can understand President Obama’s urgency. His legislative programme has been delayed by a divided Congress, his approval ratings have fallen and next year is election year. Hence his new slogan is ‘We can’t Wait’. Despite claims of unconstitutionality and abuse of power he has resorted to issuing executive orders to get things moving. Obama would envy President Rajapakse. With complete control of Parliament, the latter enjoys high approval ratings and an election is not any time soon. Yet Rajapakse’s government is in an equal hurry. Thus certain legislative proposals are being pushed through Parliament as ‘urgent bills’. Around a year ago, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was presented as an urgent bill. The latest is the Expropriation Act previously known as the ‘Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Bill’. There a lots of things wrong with the…

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The State Defense and City Development Ministry: From Utopia to Dystopia

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Photo from RNW ‘Seek ye first the political kingdom, and all things shall be added unto you.’ Kwame Nkrumah (First President of Ghana, 1960) We got the ‘political’ kingdom and nothing has been added unto us: A lot has been taken away (Chinua Achebe, 30 years later) Security and development are primarily responsibilities of the state.  Our cities need visionary leaders and disciplined citizens. We should also appreciate the efforts of our leaders who are trying to take our country forward amidst of many obstacles. But if urban development is merged with the Ministry of Defense as ‘State Defense and City Development Ministry’, we run the risk of replacing public-spirited behavior and deliberative politics with selfish interests, authoritarianism, and militarism. This sets us back in our efforts to achieve sustainable ‘human security,’ and in the long run could undermine the nation’s economic and political sovereignty.  ‘Human security’ requires the continuous protection of individuals from economic, political, environmental deprivations, and from…

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Facades of Development: Of Commonwealth Games and Drag Racing at Green Path

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We woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of screeching tires, booming exhausts and the smell of burning rubber recently. My cousin’s children had nightmares and could not get back to sleep when the test runs were done. Calls to police emergency numbers were ignored: there seemed to be official patronage for speedsters and noise polluters – including of course the daily Presidential convoys in the area. Residents of Green Path and its environs, one of Colombo’s posh residential neighbourhoods, are worried about the latest sports extravaganza planned by the ever entrepreneurial Rajapaksa Bros Inc. Earlier this year they ran a weekend “Hawkers Street” there with loudspeakers blaring till the wee hours, but that was not a commercial success, so drag races are planned to bring in the crowds in November. Drag racing, however, can drive local communities up the wall, and there have been several fatal accidents recently in high profile races. Why inconvenience and…

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A Prima Facie Critique of The New Bill to Vest in the State Under performing Enterprises and Under Utilized Assets

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Editors note: Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc, a CSE listed company that owns the Colombo Hilton hotel was named in a controversial new bill, rushed through Parliament in secret, not unlike the outrageous 18th Amendment. The Bill appears to have been certified by the Cabinet on the 20th October 2011 as an Urgent Bill and was presented to and reviewed by the Supreme Court during the last week. The Bill has reached the Media and Citizens only towards the end of last week ie. after the review by the Supreme Court and possibly after its verdict had reached the Speaker of Parliament The need for this bill to be deemed an Urgent Bill needs to be properly justified by the Executive and unless so justified it appears to be so classified with mala fidei interests to by pass democratic good governance expectations of society The secrecy surrounding the bill and its reported compilation outside the purview of the usual drafting sources…

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Development or maldevelopment?

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Image from Wikipedia In the current hype on ‘Development’ have any of us questioned its intent?  Does it just mean ‘progress’ in the manner referred to by Anada Coomaraswamy when he published the comment that  “we who call art significant not knowing of what, are also proud to progress, not knowing wither” ?  Wandering aimlessly, with success measured only by an increase in industry and consumerism. The current vision of development certainly could not refer to cultural or philosophical development.  So exactly what type of development are we referring to in Sri Lanka when we have various public figures exhorting us towards ‘development’? It would seem bizarre indeed if it transpired that we have been developing for the past 40 odd years manly in a western consumerist perspective.  One of the standard answers to the question of what is development? is that it means economic growth. On this point Prof. Dudley Seers notes, “in fact, it looks as if economic…

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UNP victory in Colombo Municipal Council: A Political Economy of the Numerics

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In capitalist modernity ‘elections’ are a means by which disparate social interests are brought together and ruling class hegemony is maintained. “Their politics consist of activity completely defined by the framework of bourgeois society…the actual training of the masses to become imbued with the inviolability of the bourgeois state” (Trotsky, The Lessons of October, 1924). UNP’s victory is elusive and unimpressive.   We are left with several interesting questions: why did UPFA lose despite its claim that Colombo is on the fast track to becoming a cleaner, greener, secure, investor-friendly, tourist-friendly and sustainable city?  Is the UNP victory in Colombo indicative of an emerging movement towards substantive democracy (freedom with equality and justice, social and environmental) in Sri Lanka? Is this going to be the end or a new beginning of the UNP? It would be simple to explain it away like this: Humans, as ‘moral beings’, value freedom and decent standards of living: humans have the capacity to transform the…

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Goodbye, Steve Jobs; Long Live Mavericks!

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Steve Jobs would have been bemused by the many epithets assigned to him in the wake of his death on 5 October 2011. He was described variously an inventor, digital entrepreneur and marketer. From humble origins in 1976, he – more than anyone else – propelled Apple, Inc. into one of the world’s best known and most admired consumer electronics companies. That was achieved through a relentless pursuit of innovation, technical perfection and high emphasis on design aesthetics. He inspired a cult-like following for himself and Apple products, many of which bore his signature style. All very true — but also very passé. The minimalist Jobs would have settled for just four words: he changed the world. And change he did — in many ways, some already known, the rest still unfolding. He used to say that Apple sat “at the intersection of the liberal arts and technology.” Similarly, for 35 years, Steven Paul Jobs stood like a colossus at…

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SEC must safeguard credibility of CSE to build investor confidence in Sri Lanka

Investors and brokers monitor the market at the Colombo Stock Exchange

Photo courtesy JDS We understand that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to compound undisclosed securities fraud by some billionaire investors. Media reports have begun to circulate that Environmental Resources Investments (ERI) and its Directors have agreed with the SEC to pay an insignificant fine of Rs 10 million and compound an offence related to securities trading. While the nature of the fraud has not been made public it was well known that the SEC was investigating ERI for trading and disclosure related matters. While the SEC is yet to make an announcement on this matter and acknowledging that this statement is based on media reports we nevertheless believe it is the SEC’s duty, as the regulator, to take swift action against fraudulent activities under the SEC Act.  The Act calls for prosecution. If ERI has not committed any fraud they will be found not guilty but if convicted the perpetrators shall be imprisoned and fined accordingly. The…

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Chaos in Colombo: Mêlée over jobs indicates a serious economic problem in Sri Lanka?

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Anushka Wijesinha (who blogs here), a Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies, sent us these incredible photos and video of the chaos in Colombo today when thousands of Korean job seekers appeared for Korean exam applications at the Police Park down Havelock Road. Mainstream media reports a figure of 10,000, which going by the video and photos appear to be mostly young men. In a speech by Dr. Anura Ekanayake, outgoing CCC chairman and IPS Board member, he noted that of the 4.5% unemployment rate overall in Sri Lanka, 18.1% of youth (age 15-24) are unemployed and within this around 10.7% of those qualified with A/Ls are unemployed. Anushka observed that, Many were queuing from 5pm yesterday, which means they had spent the night on the pavements. By the time the centre closed at 11.15am (as was informed by the officials there to those gathered 3,500 applicants had been registered. There was at least 1,000 more in the…

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Katunayake Protest as an Invitation to Political Economy

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Photo courtesy Vikalpa [Editors note: For background on the Katunayake protests, read Protests in Katunayake Free Trade Zone: No police in sight] The state sponsored triumphalist ideological noise of Sinhalese ethno-nationalism was suddenly disturbed, on the eve of the officially declared month for the commemoration of war heroes (ranaviru), by an unexpected eruption of workers at Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) into the political field. The majority of these were women workers who came from rural areas, effectively defying the sanctioned definition of traditional Sinhala women, as propagated by the current nationalist ‘truth-regime.’[1] Although the government media points its fingers at some political parties over the May 30th clash between thousands of workers and the police at the Katunayake FTZ, the protest campaign likely reflected the worker’s own fear and distrust of the Pension Bill, introduced by the government for private sector workers. A young worker died and hundreds were injured as a result of police gun fire, enraging trade…

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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!"

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