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Leading
News
TV talk shows creating misgivings:
CEC
Taib Ahmed
Dispelling confusion over
holding the election, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)
on Sunday said the election must be held by December this
year.
Huda was speaking at the second round dialogue with the
political parties held at the EC secretariat yesterday.
The CEC said, "We are firm on our announced roadmap and
the election must be held by December this year." He
suggested not watching TV talk shows to avoid being
confused over holding the elections as he thinks all
misgivings centering the election are because of TV talk
shows. On the first day of the second round talks, three
political parties –Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB),
Shamyabadi Dal and Workers’ Party of Bangladesh held talks
separately with the Election Commission. Rashed Khan Menon
led a ten member delegation of Workers’ Party while Major
(retd) Abdul Mannan and Dilip Barua led the teams of BDB
and Shamyabadi Dal respectively.
All the three political parties demanded of the Election
Commission not to hold the local government elections
before the stalled parliamentary polls. The parties also
told the Commission that the general election can never be
held amid the state of emergency and asked it to mount
pressure on the government to lift the emergency as early
as possible to pave the way for creating a conducive
election-friendly atmosphere in the country.
In response to their demand not to hold the local
elections, the CEC, ATM Shamsul Huda, questions, "I do not
know why you are forbidding us to hold the local
government elections. Are you apprehending that the
current rulers are interested to continue…I do not think
so…you see, they are old and retired guys. I think they
have no intention to stay in power for a longer period."
"Possibility of taking over by the midnight horse-riders
[a metaphor of military coup], if there is any, would not
be brushed aside, even if we do not hold the local
government elections before the general polls," Election
Commissioner Brig (retd) Sakhawat Hossain sitting next to
the CEC told the leaders.
"The election can never be held amid the state of
emergency. So you (Election Commissioners) will have to
put pressure on government to withdraw the state of
emergency immediately," Workers Party President Rashed
Khan Menon told the meeting. He also demanded a specific
poll date soon after the completion of the second round
dialogue aiming at dispelling "confusion already created
over holding the general elections." Menon also asked the
EC not to be engaged in the task of delimitation before
the next general elections apprehending that "it might
thwart the election process".
Talking about the independence of the EC secretariat,
Menon observed, "There is still the scope for executive’s
influence on the EC." Both the Workers’ Party and
Shamyabadi Dal put forward a proposal for enacting a law
so that the war criminals and the religious political
parties cannot be registered with the EC.
EC-AL second round talks today
Confusion looms large over holding polls: AL-NAP leaders
Staff Correspondent
Leaders of Awami League (AL)
and National Awami Party (NAP) on Sunday demanded of the
Caretaker Government to announce the schedule for the next
general election within the shortest possible time. "There
is widespread confusion among people over holding the
election during the stipulated timeframe earlier announced
by Election Commission. The authorities concerned must
take necessary steps in this regard to remove doubt and
confusion," the AL-led 14-party leaders observed. They
were addressing newsmen after the bilateral meeting
between the AL and NAP at the residence of NAP President
Prof Mozaffar Ahmed at Segun Bagicha in the capital
yesterday. The meeting urged the government not to
registrar - war criminals, militants and communal forces -
with the Election Commission as a political party. They
also demanded of the government to withdraw the State of
Emergency immediately and release detained AL President
Sheikh Hasina, AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil and other
jailed party leaders as early as possible.
Emerging from meeting, Professor Mozaffar Ahmed said, as
part of taking a unified position on the issues to be
discussed at the proposed dialogue between the government
and political parties, and also the second round dialogue
with the Election Commission and AL, the meeting discussed
various issues on the basis of 31-point reform proposals
of the AL-led 14-party alliance. "People want a free, fair
and credible general election at present. But I am
doubtful whether the election would be held in time," he
added. As part of the dialogue, NAP (M) will hold talks
with EC tomorrow (Tuesday). AL presidium member Tofael
Ahmed said, "We need polls. With a view to ensuring a
pre-election environment, the government must lift the
Sate of Emergency from the country." Chaired by NAP
President, the two-hour long meeting was also attended,
among others, by Abdur Razzaque, Suranjit Sengupta, Motia
Chowdhury and Syed Ashraful Islam of AL and Amina Ahmed,
MA Gani, Advocate Enamul Haque, Ismail Hossain and
Advocate Habibur Rahman.
Meanwhile, a-ten member team of Bangladesh Awami League
led by the Acting party President Zillur Rahman will take
part in the second-round talks with the Election
Commission at the EC Secretariat in capital at 12pm today
(Monday). Nine presidium members -Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir
Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaque, Tofael Ahmed, Suranjit
Sengupta, Kazi Jaforullah, Motia Chowdhury, Ataur Rahman
Khan Kaiser - and Acting AL General Secretary Syed
Ashraful Islam will accompany the Acting AL president
today (Monday).
Biman board
reconstituted
New aircraft to be added to Biman
Rabiul Islam
The Government on Sunday reconstituted the board of Biman
Bangladesh Airlines Limited, saying that the national flag
carrier would be turned into a modern and competitive
organisation.
"We have reconstituted the Biman board with a view to
bringing dynamism, not that the previous board has
failed", the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Mahbub
Jamil told The Bangladesh Today at his office yesterday.
On the previous board, he said that it was an interim
board and its members were very busy.
The proposal by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism
has been approved by the Chief Adviser and a circular to
this effect was issued on Sunday, an official of the Civil
Aviation Ministry said.
Initiative would be taken soon to purchase new aircraft
and to reschedule routes, Mahbub, who is in charge of the
Civil Aviation Ministry, stated, saying Dhaka-New York and
Dhaka-Tokyo flights would be resumed.
Asked whether the new board would take any decision to
appoint a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Special
Assistant said that the board would consider that
definitely. Biman M D M A Momen told this correspondent
that everything regarding procuring new aircraft and
rescheduling routes is ready. Due to bureaucratic tangle,
some board members including Shaikh Altaf Ali, now OSD,
were dropped out of the newly constituted board, sources
said.
On July 31, 2007, the national flag carrier was turned
into a Public Limited Company (PLC) with a view to making
it commercially viable and profitable. But the Biman
management failed to take any concrete decision regarding
a viable route plan, procuring new generation aircraft and
appointing a CEO. Despite turning Biman into a PLC, the
fate of the national carrier is still rolling from bad to
worse. Now Biman Bangladesh Airlines has 5 DC-10, 3 Air
bus, and 4 F-28. Of these 12 aged aircraft, half remains
out of order most of the time. Biman operates to 20
international destinations and 4 domestic destinations.
Medicine price
hikes up
Life saving drugs get out of reach of
patients
Firoz Mamun
Patients suffering from
various complicated diseases are unable to buy medicine as
prices of most life saving drugs have been increasing.
Talking to this correspondent, the pharmaceutical shop
owners alleged that the whole sellers in connivance with
the pharmaceutical companies in a planned way are engaged
in hiking of the prices of medicine.
"In last one year, prices of almost all drugs have
increased in general while prices of some most essential
drug items including inhaler for patients suffering from
different respiratory-related diseases such as asthma and
bronchitis have been doubled", said Mainuddin Talukder,
owner of Kohinur pharmaceutical shop at Mirpur 1.
The price of a box of 500 Paracetamol tablets has
increased by Tk 20, anti-constipation syrup by Tk 25,
Salbutamol inhaler by Tk 150-200, one packet of 30
Amoxacillin capsules by Tk 15, one packet of 100 Cosec
capsules by Tk 100, one blister of 10 Oradexon tablets by
Tk 2, Steron tablet by Tk 0.50. Price of birth control
pill Nordette 28 has increased by Tk 12, Ovostat by Tk 3,
Femicon by Tk 2/3. Besides, the price of herbal medicines
has also increased. The price of Cinkara syrup of Hamdard
has hiked by Tk 25 and vitolin syrup of Janakalyan by Tk
25.
However, the pharmaceutical companies claimed that they
did not increase life saving drug-price for the last few
years.
"The pharmaceutical companies have to import the raw
materials at high rate from the UK, the USA, Switzerland,
Germany, Hungary, Japan, India and other foreign
countries. As a result, production cost of the
pharmaceutical items has also increased.
The medicine shop owners said, "Around 500 kinds of drug
are available in the market for the treatment of different
diseases. Most of these medicines are produced by local
companies. But the raw materials are not manufactured in
the country. Another cause of price hike of drugs is
import of pharmaceutical raw materials at the higher
cost."
Leading pharmaceuticals companies, which control more than
80 percent of market share in the pharmaceutical industry,
are also planning to increase the price of anti-ulcer,
anti-biotic, vitamin, minerals, cholesterol, diabetic and
hypertension drugs, a physician said.
A reliable source said, the whole-sellers hoard important
drugs and the pharmaceutical companies do not supply these
medicines to the retail sellers directly, creating an
artificial crisis of medicines on which the government has
apparently no control. For example, an essential drug for
children, Azyth powder suspension, is not available in the
market at all. Mixtard 30 insulin for the diabetes
patients is not available in the market. Even the
officials of the drug administration do not come to
monitor the market price, identify the expired drugs and
other irregularities.
HC orders govt
Set up civil, criminal courts in hills districts
BDNEWS24, Dhaka
The High Court on Sunday
ordered the government to set up civil and criminal courts
in the three hills districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari
and Bandarban.
The HC bench of justices ABM Khairul Haque and Abdul Awal
issued the order after Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services
Trust and three CHT residents filed a writ petition with
the HC in 2006.
The HC set the government a one-year deadline to implement
the order. In the verdict, the court said the CHT
residents had been deprived of their equal right to law
and justice in the absence of civil and criminal courts in
the three districts.
In 2006, the HC asked the government to explain why it
would not be directed to set up civil and criminal courts
in the hills districts. But the case had remained stalled.
The districts have a different court system as they are
administered under the CHT Regulation and Hill District
Council Act.
The deputy commissioner (district administrator) for each
district discharges the functions of a civil court.
Appeals can be filed with the Chittagong divisional
commissioner against the orders passed by the deputy
commissioner. The High Court holds powers to review the
order of the divisional commissioner.
Also, the deputy commissioner who is also district
magistrate deals with criminal cases.
Back Page
BSTI launches one
stop service centre in city
Staff Correspondent
The Bangladesh Standards and
Testing Institution (BSTI) has launched a "One Stop
Service Centre" at its headquarters in the capital on
Sunday in order to provide better services to the people.
The 'One Stop Service Centre' was inaugurated at a
function at the BSTI office yesterday.
Speaking at the inauguration function, the speakers said
the widespread corruption-gripped Bangladesh Standard and
Testing Institution will be able now to give quality
services to its clients as a result of setting up the
first-ever one stop service centre.
The national standard organization was established several
years back in order to ensure required quality of all
products in the country except medicine, they said adding
but the office failed to ensure required standard of
products as it could not take stern action against those
manufacturers which failed to meet the BSTI standards on
production, they observed.
After producing their products in compliance with the BSTI
standard, the manufacturers did never get proper services
when they approached the BSTI office along with their
products as the office is plagued with widespread
corruption, the speakers said.
Over the last decades, the country was inundated with
adulterated food and other lower standard products as a
section of unscrupulous BSTI officials were reluctant to
take action against the manufacturers liable for cheating
the consumers, they alleged. Now the situation will
improve and the institution will be able to provide
quality services to the consumer products manufacturing
companies in a very short time, the speakers hoped and
said the one stop service centre will help the people to
get quality products in the country. It may be mentioned
that a group of four BSTI officials played pioneering role
in establishing the one stop service centre after
participating in a six-week-long training programme under
the DFID-financed project titled "Managing At The Top"
(MATT-2) that was held between August 26 and October 04,
2007.
The government will provide higher training to the BSTI
officials in Singapore so that the office is equipped with
efficient human resource as the BSTI is responsible for
controlling the quality of products and implementing the
'International Metric System' in Bangladesh.
Under the one stop service system, the BSTI will be able
to give quality services to its clients in accordance with
the newly formulated Citizen Charter.The institution will
deliver product testing reports to its clients according
to the Citizen Charter after receiving the samples of all
products that are produced, imported and marketed in the
country. Within 48 hours, it will give testing reports to
the clients who fail to reach the required standard of
products.
The institution will also provide rapid services to the
small and medium entrepreneurs including the women
entrepreneurs and standard testing licenses to the clients
in a very short time. Among others, secretary of the
ministry of industry Dr. Nurul Amin and director general
of the BSTI Mohammad Azmol Hossain spoke at the function.
People get sick drinking contaminated water
F.M.Masum
The drinking water of different parts of the capital
supplied by the Dhaka WASA has become totally contaminated
and many people of different areas in the capital are
being attacked with different waterborne diseases like
diarrhea and dysentery everyday.
The drinking water of different parts of the capital
supplied by the Dhaka WASA has become totally contaminated
and many people of different areas in the capital are
being attacked with different waterborne diseases like
diarrhoea and dysentery everyday.
Besides, the contaminated water is also spreading bad
smell polluting the environment. The people are facing
acute crisis of drinking water for the last few days.
WASA authorities said that a result of using a large
quantity of chemicals by the Sayedabad Water Treatment
Plant to purify the infected water, the water has become
not drinkable due to acute smell of chemicals. An official
of the WASA told this correspondent, "The water is not
contaminated though it is emitting foul smell. It's the
smell of the chemicals used by the WASA and it does not
pose any threat to public health." He also said, the water
of the river Shitalakhya has already become contaminated
due to the industrial wastes and chemicals and sewerage
dumped by the industries as they have no Effluent
Treatment Plant (ETP). But unfortunately the authorities
concerned are not taking any steps against the industry
owners who are polluting the environment by violating
Government rules."
Talking to The Bangladesh Today over cell phone, another
official said, "The WASA has nothing to do regarding
emitting smell from water. The Government should ask all
the industry owners to set up ETP in their industries
immediately, mainly in the dry season, the water levels
fall drastically which also the main cause of intensifying
foul smell."
Sources said in some places, the sewerage pipes have
leaked into water lines and that's why the WASA water has
contaminated causing a serious threat to the public
health.
Talking to this correspondent, Rahim Akand, an inhabitant
of Jatrabari, said, " It is difficult for us to take bath
by using such water. Besides, my one year-old child Rahul
is now sufferings from diarrhoea for last two days by
drinking this contaminated water and now we are drinking
the mineral water of different companies." He also said,
"We are drinking water of deep-tube well set up by WASA
which is one kilometre away from my house. But many people
are not getting the facilities as in many areas as there
is no deep tube well."
The most effected areas are: Mirpur, New Market, Farmgate,
Rampura, Basabo, Badda, Khilgaon, , Sabujbagh, Arambagh,
Lalbagh, Motijheel, Mukda, Shahajnpur, Uttara Ibrahimpur,
Kafrul and most of areas of Old Dhaka,. The WASA supplies
about 180 crore litres of water every day against the
demand of 200 crore litres in the Capital and Narayanganj.
As the 88 per cent water is pumped out through 403 deep
tube wells from underground, the water level is falling
drastically.
‘BCS quota violates constitution’
DU Correspondent
Noted personalities at a roundtable discussion on Sunday
said the provision of having 55 per cent quota in the
Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination violates the
constitution of the country.
The speakers were addressing the roundtable on "Rational
Rearrange of the 55 per cent quota in the recruitment
system to all government jobs including BCS test",
organized by the 'Dhaka University students' at the VIP
lounge of the National Press Club yesterday. They said,
Article 29 (1) and 29 (2) of the constitution says that
there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens
irrespective of class, caste, birth place and gender in
respect of employment in government jobs which is being
violated in existing BCS quota system.
Terming the existing quotas unacceptable and irrational,
they suggested keeping the limit of the quota in the BCS
examination between 10-20 percent. Former VC of DU
Maniruzzaman Miah said, the existing irrational quota is
creating scope for corruption and causing inefficiency in
the civil administration. Former Chairman of University
Grants Commission (UGC) Prof M Asaduzzaman said, the
increasing number of unemployment in the country is caused
by the existing quota system.
Noted journalist Sadek Khan, DU teachers Prof Mozammel
Haque, Masuda M Rashid Choudhury and Akhtar Hossein Khan,
among others, spoke on the occasion.
Crime Watch
Disciplinary actions against nine cops
UNB, Barisal
Disciplinary actions have been taken against nine police
of Barisal range on different charges in the current
month.
Police department sources said Assistant Sub Inspector and
camp in charge Mokhtar Hossain, Nayek Bachchu Mia,
constables Rafiqul Islam and Raju of Torki police camp
under Gournadi upazila of the district have been closed to
Barisal district police lines on Friday night.
The actions were taken after preliminary investigation
following an allegation by Mashiur Rahman, sales
representative of Rangs Medicine Company to higher police
authority on Wednesday.
Mashiur alleged that Rezaul, a local top terror, along
with the four cops physically assaulted Mashiur following
an altercation.
Besides, four police officials were suspended this month
on various corruption charges.
The suspended police officials were Shakiluzzaman,
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Jhalakati
Sadar circle, Safizul Islam, ASP of Kalapara circle in
Patuakhali, Rezaul Huq, District
Inspector (DI) of Barisal, and KM Anwar Amir, a sub
inspector and second officer of Patuakhali Sadar Police
Station. Barisal Superintendent of Police Towfiq Mahbub
Chowdhury also got a show cause notice for negligence of
duty. ASP Shakiluzzaman, ASP Safizul Islam and DI Rezaul
Huq were accused of misevaluation of answer papers and
other irregularities in exchange of bribes in departmental
examination for promotion from nayek and havildar to
assistant sub
inspector and from assistant sub inspector to sub
inspector, police department sources said. The
examinations were held at Barisal Police Lines in October
last year.
On the other hand, K M Anwar Amir, sub inspector and
second officer of Patuakhali Sadar police station was
suspended and arrested on February 19 allegedly for taking
bribe, misuse of power and harassing innocent people.
Father hacked to death by son
UNB, Comilla
A mentally handicapped son allegedly chopped his father to
death at Gujra village in Chouddagram upazila Sunday.
The dead was identified as Abdul Aziz, 55. Police and
witnesses said, mentally ill Saleh Ahmed suddenly stabbed
his father Aziz with a sharp 'dao' at about 10:00 am,
leaving him critically injured. He was rushed to the local
health complex where he succumbed to his injuries.
In another incident police recovered the bodies of two
minor siblings from Bijoypur village in the upazila Sunday
morning.
Police said Karim, 12, Jakir, 9, sons of Chharu Mia of the
village went out of their house Saturday evening to attend
a 'waz mahfil' in the village and did not return home at
night. Local people found their bodies beside a road in
the morning and informed local police.
Later, police recovered the bodies and sent those to
hospital morgue for autopsy. Police suspected that
miscreants might have strangled the boys.
6 shops fined
BSS, Madaripur
A mobile court in a drive realized Tk 19,000 from six
shops as fine for keeping the shops in unhygienic and
using faulty weight at Kalkini bazar in the district on
Saturday.
The team found that owners of the shop are selling
inferior quality of goods to the customers and also using
faulty weight. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Meshbauddin Ahmed
conducted the drive.
Urea seized in Jamalpur
UNB, Jamalpur
Police seized a trawler loaded with 58 sacks of urea
fertiliser in river Jamuna near Ghuthial area of Islampur
upazila on Saturday.
Police said, local people caught the engine-run trawler
when Jarultala bazar fertiliser dealer Mosharraf Hossain
and Guthial bazar dealer Kajal were smuggling the agri-input.
Later, they recovered the urea from the trawler. None was
arrested in this connection. A has been filed in this
connection.
5 held on charge of cheating
UNB, Khulna
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members arrested five members
of a gang, including three women, on charge of cheating
from Gallahmari area of Khulna City on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB-6 raided a computer
shop at night and arrested Waliur Rahman, 28, Abdul Aziz,
26, Bina Begum, 22, Jabeda Begum, 28, and Parul Begum, 25,
along with four sophisticated computer and other valuables
worth about Tk 3 lakh.
RAB sources said the gang members took huge money from
many local people in the name of arranging marriage with
expatriate affluent women living in America, Britain and
other countries. A case was filed in this connection.
Sand supplier killed
UNB, Narsingdi
Unidentified assailants hacked a sand supplier to death at
Mulpara village in Sadar upazila Saturday night.
The dead was identified as Hafiz Ahmed Bidyut, 35, son of
Delwar Hossain.
Police said the miscreants called Hafiz, a local sand
supplier, out of his Satirpara residence in the town at
about 11:30 pm and took him to Mulpara village. Later,
they stabbed him indiscriminately, leaving him dead on the
spot.
Local people saw his body this (Sunday) morning and on
information police recovered the body and sent it to Sadar
hospital morgue for autopsy.
The reason behind the killing could not be known
immediately. A case was filed.
11 arrested with drugs
BSS, Joypurhat
RAB arrested 11 persons along with 678 bottles of
contraband phensydile and 448 pathedine from different
areas in the district in a 24-hours drive on Friday.
RAB said they arrested Abdul Malek (28), Shahin (32) and
Bashar (25) along with 448 bottles of contraband Indian
pain killer pathedine from the town.
Momin (22) and Sayem (26) were arrested from Deor village
under Birampur upazilla of Dinajpur district for carrying
contraband items.
In another operation in Bankhur area of Sadar upazila,
police arrested Champa Khatun (45) along with 22 bottles
of phensidyle and Abdur Rahim (36) and Anjara (40) with 50
bottles of phensidyle and labels of 30 bottles.
In an operation at Birnagar area of Pachbibi upazila, RAB
arrested Badiuzzaman (20) and Dulal (20) along with 24
bottles of phensidyle and Meherunnesa (28) along with
drugs including 12 bottles phensidyle from the town.
Police said the value the seized goods is about Tk 2 lakh
16 thousand and 6 hundred. The arrested were handed over
to the police station after primary query.
Worker stabbed to death
UNB, Keraniganj
Assailants stabbed a dockyard worker to death in south
Keraniganj Saturday night. The deceased was identified as
Mizanur Rahman, 32, worker of Kaliganj Dockyard.
Local sources said Mizan came under attack at Khejurbagh
area at about 11pm while returning home from his working
place.
The assailants, numbering 4/5, stabbed Mizan
indiscriminately, killing him on the spot. Patrol police
team of South Keraniganj recovered the body early Sunday.
Woman's body recovered
UNB, Ha biganj
Police recovered the slaughtered body of a young
housewife, who went missing five days back, from a pond at
Dharmapur village in Lakhai upazila on Saturday.
The dead was identified as Champa Begum, 22, wife of Ali
Rahman of the village.
Police said Champa came to her fathers' house few months
back following a dispute with her husband.
On last Monday Ali came to Champa's father's house with a
negotiation proposal and brought her to his house. But
since then she remained missing.
Local people saw her slaughtered body floating in the pond
Saturday morning and informed the police.
Later, police recovered the body and sent it to hospital
morgue for autopsy. A case was filed.
Editorial
The Hassles of our
Mass Transportation
Everyday
millions of people are on the move to and from cities and
within cities. Most of these movements take place by roads,
highways and river routes. Also each day we are faced with
multiple news of accidents which account for scores of death
and injuries daily and which tally up to thousands each year
and yet public consciousness, awareness and concern rarely
goes beyond pity and commiseration. Authorities,
law-enforcement agencies, the Government and even the public
have long habituated themselves to considering such events as
normal hazards attendant to travelling.
Injuries and deaths are the ultimate price that some people
have to pay for travelling but before that there are other
hazards to be overcome : exorbitant fares which defy any
controls, long waits and even longer travelling times,
harassment by touts and thieves and finally miserable
travelling condition in ramshackle transports be they road
bound or riverine.
Except for railways, the government has entirely given up on
mass public transportation leaving it to the private sector to
provide that service. The private sector has of course
welcomed this opportunity at minting money at least cost to
themselves. Over a period of two decades powerful mafias have
developed in both road and riverine transport sectors who
control everything from fares to routes, from licensing to
recruitments and from ticketing stalls to stands and "ghats".
The government authorities such as the BRTA, BIWTA and the
police rarely, if ever, pay attention to this miserable state
of affairs; in fact, officials and personnel from these
agencies form a part of the mafia, taking hefty bribes from
various interest groups engaged in the business. The ultimate
suffers are the people who have to travel in order to earn a
living, to get to and from work or to do business. Government
have come and gone but none have seen fit to do anything about
a matter which of such a fundamental and basic interest to the
public - the need and the requirement of an efficient and
corruption free public transportation system.
Price escalation
It is quite embarrassing to write repeatedly on the same
issue. But we are constrained to do so as the escalation of
prices of essentials continues unabated and the sufferings of
the people multiply with every passing day. The situation in
the commodity market is beyond the control of the authorities
and a section of dishonest traders are raising the prices of
various essential items on the plea of additional transport
cost and price hike in international market. As a result the
cost of living keeps on rising. The skyrocketing of prices of
essentials is taking place so rapidly and such a free style
that the people have lost the hope of an end to this
unbearable situation. Inflation is the order of the day and
sufferings of the people seem to be unavoidable and unending.
The unrelenting rise in the cost of living resulting mainly
from skyrocketing of prices of essentials is a matter of grave
concern for the people as they are finding it increasingly
difficult to cope with the situation. The prices of rice, atta,
dal, edible oil, liquid and powdered milk, sugar etc have
registered another round of rise in the markets across the
country. In fact, prices of essentials are soaring by days, if
not hours. As nobody controls the markets, there is none to
explain the cause of this unprecedented price hike. The
consumers are helpless and dismayed as they are simply unable
to bear the burden of any additional expenses.
The market scenario is dismal and alarming. Despite monitoring
by the task forces and running of fair price shops by BDR, the
price escalation continues unchecked and the consumers are
plunged into further sufferings. According to press reports,
coarse rice is selling now at Taka 30 per kg as against Taka
18-19 in the corresponding period of last year. Similarly,
within the span of this one year prices of miniket and paijam
rice have increased from Taka 23 to Taka 44 per kg, that of
atta from Taka 24 to Taka 42 per kg, Soyabean oil from Taka 57
to Taka 110 per litre, Palm oil from from Taka 51 to Taka 105
per litre, Diploma powdered milk from Taka 340 to Taka 500 per
kg.
Most of the people of the country are poor and overburdened
with the ever rising cost of living resulting from inflation.
Along with the price escalation of essentials, power, gas,
water and other utility services as well as transport fare,
education of children, medicare and house rent are also
costing more and more. This is making it impossible for the
people to sustain with limited income.
It is true that the government has been trying constantly
through various ways to keep the prices of essentials at
tolerable level. The measures taken in this regard include
introduction of OMS, opening of fair price shops by BDR,
monitoring of market situation by joint forces and withdrawal
of import duties on certain items including rice, wheat,
powdered milk, edible oil and onion. But these steps have
proved inadequate and ineffective to contain the price hike.
Against this backdrop, the government should now try all other
available options and formulate some new realistic methods to
contain price spiral and free the people from the tyranny of
the wild market and greed of the profit mongers. To this end
the authorities should consider the proposals for introduction
of rationing system and import and distribution of essentials
by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). Besides, more
fair price shops should be opened by BDR, the OMS network
should be expanded and speedy supply channels should be
ensured.
Analysis
Tariffs - Its Importance on
Sustainability of Power Sector
The Utilities should have their tariffs based
on its geo-economic condition, but it is to be approved by
Energy Regulatory commission.
Shah Zulfiqar Haider
The
Electric Utilities should run at least on "No-Loss-No-Profit"
and on "Sound financial basis at lowest possible cost". This
is essential for the sustainability of Power sector. Power
sector need proper Tariff to achieve it. Revenue from
consumers is the main source of income for any Utility. As
such all new Electric extensions should be on "Revenue
criteria", i.e. electric line should be constructed first
where we expect maximum revenue. These new lines should have
reasonable consumer to recover the capital, operational,
maintenance and other costs in due time. But this may not be
the condition for remote off-grid cases, where we need
renewable energy which is costlier than fossil fuel grid
connected electricity. Again as electricity is now a basic
necessity or right for all, so everybody should be connected
with electricity connection in phases that is "Electrification
on area coverage basis in phases".
The concept "No-Loss-No-Profit and Sound financial basis at
lowest possible cost" and "Electrification on Area coverage
basis in phases" are conflicting criteria. In some countries,
Politicians commit to provide electricity free of cost to its
Consumers (voters) in irrigation areas or to the poor! Sounds
very interesting, but who will actually pay for this free
electricity. Result Utilities losses increases.
In any business the retail price is always more than whole
sale or bulk sale price. But in case of electricity, there are
many countries where the tariffs of Industrial consumers are
more than of Domestic consumers. The reason being that any
Political Government is afraid to increase Domestic consumers'
tariff for political gains. The domestic consumer's rate is
subsidized. But who pays this subsidy? It is the Industrial
consumers who actually pay for this subsidy. What happens for
charging higher tariff for Industrial consumers?
The Utilities having more Industrial consumers earn more, as
there is less operational cost with Industrial consumers. So
those Utilities become financially viable. But what happens to
the Industries? There cost of production is more. As a result
there is uneven competition with imported products in free
trade environment. So Industry's losses increase. Industries
try to adopt any means to minimize the losses. Necessity knows
no law. One of the means may be through electricity pilferage.
As a result Electric Utilities losses may increase or they
have to be more vigilant against such pilferage. In some
countries the Industrial tariff are less than that of Domestic
tariff. Result reasonable production cost. In today's
competitive market, certain highly populated countries like
China (having more than 1300 million populations) often charge
the Overhead cost of Exportable products to their internal
market, as a result their production cost is highly
competitive.
The rich countries often provide subsidy to its Utilities,
whereas Developing or Poor countries are discouraged to
provide any direct or indirect subsidy because of
mismanagement of their Power sector. Subsidies in the form of
Lower bill for less electricity users say 50-100 KWH per
month. Irrigation consumers are given subsidy and often
Utilities are provided with subsidy. Question is how long the
subsidies will be provided and who will bear the subsidy.
In Bangladesh Irrigation through electricity has tremendous
impact. The irrigation projects were earlier through farmer's
cooperatives. But now these Irrigation connections are mostly
privately owned. They sell water to other farmers for
irrigation purpose. The earlier Political Government declared
20% subsidy on electric bill for irrigation purpose. Result
the Irrigation connection owners (water sellers) were the
beneficiary. They were paying 20% less to Utilities, but
selling water to farmers at previous (higher) rate. Result No
significant benefit of irrigation subsidy to the farmers.
Often it is found that Cost of electricity and Tariffs are not
in harmony. This may be due to Higher cost of Plants,
equipments etc, Lack of Technical knowledge resulting in
inefficient or non-standard equipment procurement, Lack of
motivation, consumer awareness, Lack of transparency or
accountability, lack of commitment, Inadequate remuneration to
local staffs, Inefficient management, High losses including
pilferage, Political interference leading to less freedom,
Improper planning, No Master plan for electricity system.
As electricity is an expensive service, best way to apply
minimum tariff to attain No-loss-no-profit condition is to
keep the Total cost of electricity supply at the lowest. This
is possible through implementation of Energy Efficiency (EE)
through Energy audit, Lowering the Generation cost,
Improvement of Transmission and Grid system including sub
stations, Improvement of Plant Factor, Load Factor, Power
factor, Improvement of Load management to minimize or reduce
Peak Demand, Improvement of Technical & managerial skills,
minimizing administrative and other costs, reduction of
Technical and Non Technical losses, Introduction of reward &
punishment system, Transparency and accountability, Minimum
political interference, Consumer awareness on Energy
Efficiency, misuse of electricity. Also ensure minimum
disconnected consumers as it is loss of revenue, minimum
Illegal connections and maximum new connections under existing
facilities. These will ultimately reduce our energy cost.
Another important aspect is to always procure or install best
quality electrical products for Generation, Transmission and
Distribution side. Inferior or cheap products lead to more
fault in electrical system leading to more losses to the
Users.
Electricity is sometimes considered as Goods and by
some as Service. In any case it is such a product whose
quality cannot be ascertained before its delivery to its
consumers. It's like "Just-in-time" service. I order to
improve Power quality, Improve Power factor. Keep it minimum
95%. Use Intelligent Power Factor controller or Automatic
Power factor Improvement devices, which keep the Power Factor
to almost 1 (unity). Additionally incentive may be given to
the consumers for power factor above 95%. Another important
factor is Minimize harmonics. The higher the Total Harmonics,
the lower is power quality. This also reduces the electrical
items life.
The consumer electrical products must be standardized to
ensure minimum harmonics, better power factor and less GHG
emission. Other improvement of Power quality is through
keeping electric lines clear of any trees etc, Phase
balancing, adequate grounding etc and Proper Voltage by using
voltage regulators. Electricity is a service which is required
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Consumers never understand
how much time electricity was supplied, but they remember the
interruption time.
Countries in Europe with 99.95+% electricity supply
reliability are not satisfied. For losses due to discontinuity
in electricity supply is immense. They actually do economic
analysis of interruption. The Plant factor must be as high as
possible to minimize the idle Plant cost. The Peak and
Off-Peak demand should be as close as possible. Again
day/month wise demand should be made uniform.
To shift the expensive Peak through Market closure after
evening, Industries holiday staggering, Industry & Irrigation-
No use during Peak hours, Air conditioner, Heaters, Pumps,
Ovens etc use in Peak hour minimize, Use of multiple tariff
meters and Use of Prepaid meters for more power consuming
consumers.
Use of Energy saving devices actually reduces consumption of
electricity, but simultaneously the Peak Demand is also
reduced. Though critics urge Consumers may increase usage but
practically the situation is reverse. Examples of Demand side
management are Use of Energy Saving Lamps, Eco bulbs, LED,
Electronic ballasts use, Use of Energy efficient equipments,
Variable speed motors, Industrial cooling, Voltage regulators
install etc, Reduction of Technical & Non technical losses and
Consumer education & motivation to minimize misuse
(important).
Bangladesh experienced huge power shortage in 2006 (40%). Then
with extensive drive, Load management, Demand side management,
the Peak hour shortage has come down to less than 10%. This
was possible due to sincere efforts, strict implementation of
programme and close monitoring.
Meters are Cash Box for any Utility. Remember always buy best
quality meters especially Electronic Meters which can read any
minimum consumption. Today's Compact Fluorescent Lamps, Eco
Lamps, LED etc consume very less electricity, so meters must
be effective in reading such low wattage. For 3 phase meters,
it should be 3 element meter and must be adequately grounded.
Meters with multiple tariff provision may be used to
discourage excess use of electricity during Peak hours and
encourage the use during Off-Peak period. Prepaid Meters will
make consumer more aware of electricity use & minimize
consumption. But they are relatively expensive. Prepaid meters
are expensive, but have many advantages like No botheration of
bill collection rather advance payment, Consumer awareness
about electricity use leading to minimum misuse or Demand Side
Management etc.
The Utilities should have their tariffs based on its
geo-economic condition, but it is to be approved by Energy
Regulatory commission. In Bangladesh, Cooperatives making
profit lower their tariffs and those running on loss need to
increase their tariff to reach to Break even point.
Bangladesh had the experience of reducing the domestic tariffs
of financially viable cooperatives, which is very rare in many
countries. As the concept is "No-loss-no-profit" so in case of
loss, the tariff increase is the last remedy. In case of
profit, either tariff is to be reduced or new extension work
with the profit can be implemented.
The renewable energy like solar energy, wind etc is very
expensive. They require close monitoring with quality of
products and price. Their Tariff will be complex and
relatively high. Best thing will be to provide one time
subsidy to user of Renewable energy. We don't not have
alternate to renewable energy. It use should be increased.
One of the obstacles in transparency, accountability or
commitment is inadequate salary structure for local staffs.
There is huge shortage of skilled manpower. Again due to
insufficient salary, there is brain drain.
Privatization or unbundling is mainly due to inefficient
management of Government machinery to run the state owned
Utilities. We should be very careful with full privatization
of electricity distribution system. Our dependence on them is
increasing but it's not wise at least with Energy and
Electricity. Enough control should be there so that the
Private Companies are not in a position to dictate the
Government. Worst case with full privatization is the
Generation Company if interrupts or stops electricity supply
to such an extent that water supply is collapsed, then people
will simply come out and can collapse a government. Remember
water requirement is much more than electricity. We should
have Privatization but with sufficient control of Government
machinery. But in many cases unbundling did not yield fruitful
result mainly due to lack of commitment, transparency, too
much commercial way of thinking etc. It was just shifting the
losses from Government's shoulder to the private entity, but
in fact there was no improvement. The Tariff should be such
that Total cost for providing electricity is recover by Total
of Category wise Consumers electricity consumption x its
tariff. In many developing countries Tariff structure and
consumer mix is poor and unable to realize total cost of
electricity supply.
Electricity is an important part of Infrastructure of any
country. The main elements of Infrastructure development are
Electricity- Generation, Transmission and, Distribution,
Energy- Conventional and Renewable, Gas etc,
Communication-Road, River, Train and Air, Telecommunication &
Internet communication, Water supply, Rural Infrastructure and
Accountability and Transparency. We need to have a Transparent
and Accountable administration at all levels. In my opinion
this forms an important part in developing countries. Analyze
cost of power up to consumer point considering the Consumer
mix and their electricity consumption. Then formulate tariff
on the basis of "No-loss-no-profit "basis. Even after reforms,
if Losses exist, then we may go to enhance the Tariff. The
economic effect due to electricity supply must be analyzed.
Well if the losses there, then we have no other choice.
Conclusion: Keep the cost of electricity generation,
transmission and distribution up to consumer point should be
kept to minimum. Use only superior quality products to be
used. For renewable, One time subsidy may be provided. Develop
Human resources and provide adequate remuneration with
simultaneous reward and punishment for achievements and
failures. Power factor should be improved from consumer point
up to electricity generation. Load management & Demand side
management and Energy efficiency & Energy audit should be
developed. Minimize technical and non technical losses;
provide extensive motivation to consumers and education for
economical use of electricity. Use pilferage proof good
quality meters. No unnecessary interference or influence by
political parties. Infrastructure, Energy master plan develop,
implement & regular updating. Develop Accountability and
transparency of the Power sector. Then Cost analysis for
tariff fixation and Provide subsidy as required.
(Shah Zulfiqar Haider, PEng, presented above Technical
paper in the "International conference on Rural
Electrification" held in Morocco from 23 January-25 January,
2008. The author is General Manager of Noakhali PBS. He can be
reached at szhaider123@hotmail.com or Cell. 01552-307218.)
Global
Warming Objections
In almost every instance, computer models of climate change
have made accurate predictions.
Chuck Hall
One
of the most useful aspects of science is that data can be used
to make predictions. By collecting data and studying how
systems interact, it is possible to extrapolate further using
the data, and to thereby make predictions as to the outcome of
future events. One of the tests of the accuracy of a theory is
the accuracy of the predictions it makes.
Climate science uses mathematical modeling, based on climate
models. In the early days, numbers had to be crunched by hand,
using slide rules and pencils. Nowadays we have supercomputers
capable of making millions or billions of calculations per
second. The more calculations that can be made, the more
accurate the model will be.
Scientists working in the field of climatology have been
making predictions about global warming since as early as
1896. Back then, the calculations were slow because computers
didn't exist. Even so, they were able to make certain
predictions about carbon dioxide and its relationship to
global temperature. Svante Arrhenius was a Swedish scientist
who predicted, in 1896, that carbon dioxide emissions due to
human activities would raise global temperatures. Even though
he was working with very primitive equipment by today's
standards, he attained some degree of success with his
predictions.
Since Arrhenius's time, science has progressed quite a bit.
Climatologists have made a number of predictions based on
climate data. The 'proof of the pudding' that their models are
accurate lies in the accuracy of the predictions those models
reveal. Some of the many predictions made by climate models
include:
NASA scientist James Hansen, in 1988, predicted that
temperatures would climb over the next twelve years. His
predictions were remarkably accurate.
Models have predicted that increase in surface temperatures
would be accompanied by a cooling of the stratosphere. This
prediction has been confirmed by satellite data.
Models have predicted that a brief, but short-lived, cooling
period would occur in the event of a large volcanic eruption.
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1994 has confirmed this
prediction.
Models predicted that global warming effects would be
accelerated in the Arctic regions as snow melted. Snow
reflects sunlight, but the earth underneath absorbs it. This
prediction has been confirmed by observation.
Finally, models predict an accelerating increase in surface
temperature, correlating to the amount of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. This has been amply demonstrated to be so.
In almost every instance, computer models of climate change
have made accurate predictions.
Another way to test the validity of the computer models is a
technique called 'hindsighting.' In hindsighting, the computer
models are started from a known period in history, using
atmospheric data available for that time period. They are then
run forward to a later time. The results are then compared to
the climate data for that later time period for accuracy. For
example, using data from the 1880s, the computer model is set
to run from 1880 to the present. The computer results are then
compared to the actual observed data from the present time.
The results reveal that the climate model is accurate, because
the data from the computer model matches what is actually
observed in real life.
A true test of a scientific theory is its power to predict
future events. Climate models for global warming have
demonstrated such predictability. Dissenters are stuck with
the problem of coming up with an alternate theory that
explains the data. To date, no such alternate theory exists.
(Chuck Hall is a freelance columnist writing on
environmental & climate change issues. You may contact Chuck
by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org.)
Viewpoints
South Korea Targets
Global Relationship
The most
important diplomatic task of the Lee Myung-bak administration
will be how to bolster mutual trust and alliance between South
Korea and the United States.
Ripan Kumar Biswas
US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to attend the
inauguration of South Korea's new President Lee Myung-bak on
February 25, 2008 and discuss "regional security and bilateral
relations including the six-party talks."
But the President-elect Lee, former Mayor of Seoul
(2002-2006), was in some hot water until February 21 as he was
dogged throughout his election campaign by allegations linking
him to a financial scandal in 2001. The independent counsel
cleared Lee Myung-bak of all allegations, thereby paving the
way for the smooth launch of his presidency on Monday. The
special inquiry, which kicked off on January 15 and had a
40-day mandate, was initiated by Lee's political rivals who
denounced the conclusions of the state prosecutors'
investigation last year as "politically biased."
Lee Myung-bak, who grew up in the South Korean southern city
of Pohang, is known as a "man of myth" due to his rise from
poverty to become the top executive and president of Hyundai
Engineering and Construction Co.(resigned in 1992), which is
at center of South Korea's economic transformation.
Although Lee's life was also filled with blurs and scars and
had to peddled food on the streets by selling wheat flour
cakes, cloth, fruit, matches and ice cream in his early life,
Lee and his conservative Grand National Party (GNP) won a
landslide victory on December 19, 2007, gathering 48.6 percent
of the vote, almost 20 percent more than his closest rival,
Chung Dong-young from for the pro-government United New
Democratic party (UNDP), which won just 26.2 percent. Lee
Myung-bak is going to take over from his 9th predecessor Roh
Moo-hyun as the 17th President of the Republic of Korea.
The outgoing administration has not been particularly
business-friendly, as many foreign investors have found to
their cost, but Lee, who earned the nickname "The Bulldozer"
at Hyundai, has vowed to put a priority on reinvigorating the
economy, promising 7% economic growth by stimulating domestic
and foreign investment.
Lee has pledged 12.6 trillion won in tax cuts, lowering the
maximum corporate tax rate by stages to 20% from the current
25% and lowering oil-related taxes by 10%, paying for it by
reducing government expenditures by as much as 20 trillion
won. He also promises reductions in real-estate taxes. Lee
says he will ease rules that restrict industrial groups from
controlling banks. The current law bans industrial firms from
owning more than 5% of a bank. He will also privatize major
swathes of state-owned economic sectors.
Lee, who collected trash to finance his college education,
mainly campaigned on economic issues such as skyrocketing
property prices and rising unemployment under outgoing
President Roh Moo-hyun. In addition, his campaigned slogan
was, "747," the numbers standing for his pledge to adopt
policies that he says will raise the annual increase in the
gross national product from 4 percent to 7 percent, the annual
per capita income from nearly $20,000 to $40,000 a year, and
the size of the Korean economy from the world's 11th or 12th
to seventh largest.
Despite the Asian crisis of 1997, Seoul has seen a relatively
steady increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since the
early 1990s, largely due to diligent government efforts to
streamline foreign investment procedures, open up the market
and promote inward investment. Although the planned FDI into
South Korea fell for the third consecutive year in 2007, the
commerce ministry forecast steady FDI inflows of around $10bn
(€6.8bn, £5.1bn) for 2008.
Besides revitalizing in South Korean's economy, the
65-year-old Lee also has promised to adopt a more critical
view of the government's policy of reconciliation with North
Korea. Earlier, he has told voters that he will demand
reciprocity from North Korea before the government follows
through on pledges to provide vast amounts of aid, but he
urged North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program
first. He wants to review his predecessors' "Sunshine Policy"
of diplomatic and economic engagement with the rest of the
world.
No doubt that the most important diplomatic task of the Lee
Myung-bak administration will be how to bolster mutual trust
and alliance between South Korea and the United States. "Until
now, South Korean-U.S. relations were somewhat neglected for
the sake of inter-Korean relations," Lee said, faulting Roh
during a televised news conference on the work of his
transition team on January 14, 2008. "My theory is that if
South Korean-U.S. relations get stronger, it will actually
help improve inter-Korean relations. And it can actually help
improve North Korean-U.S. relations," he added.
The Lee administration is also expected to significantly
improve Seoul-Tokyo relations through stepped-up cooperation
with Japan's new government headed by Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda. Other ambiguous part in the incoming administration's
foreign policy concerns South Korea's relations with China.
To talk about the diplomatic and economic relation between
Bangladesh and South Korea, it is reported to be the single
largest foreign investor country in Bangladesh in terms of
number of investments in 2007. South Korea alone operates 57
industries with 100 per cent ownerships in 10 different Export
Processing Zones (EPZs) across the country. On the other hand,
the agreement signed between Bangladesh and South Korea on
recruitment of Bangladeshi workforce in the newly
industrialized country under the newly introduced South
Korea's Employment Permit System (EPS) on June 5, 2007, was
the symbol of strong bilateral relationship between the two
countries since the birth of Bangladesh in 1971.
Apart from these, a strong memorandum of understanding had
been signed between Bangladesh and South Korea on January 13,
2004 to provide institutional framework to promote cooperation
between the two sides in logistics and defence
industry-related areas.
Although Lee Myung-bak's foreign policy platform is
characterized by three priorities: resolution of the North
Korean nuclear issue, strengthening of the Korea-U.S.
alliance, and conditional assistance to the North upon
denuclearization, but he is adamant to expand Asia's diplomacy
in partnership with other regional states to move toward the
opening of an Asian era..
(Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York
February 23, 2008, New York. E-mail: Ripan.Biswas@yahoo.com)
Sri Lanka's Return to War: Limiting the Damage
The military and much of the
government leadership believe they can defeat or permanently
weaken the Tigers by the end of 2008.
Sri
Lanka is in civil war again, and there are no prospects of a
peace process resuming soon. On 2 January 2008, the government
announced its withdrawal from a ceasefire agreement with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This formalized a
return to conflict that has been underway since 2006 but also
presaged worse to come. The humanitarian crisis is deepening,
abuses of human rights by both sides are increasing, and those
calling for peace are being silenced. There is no present
chance of a new ceasefire or negotiations since the
government, despite pro forma statements in favor of a
political solution, is dependent on hardliners and appears
intent on a military decision. International actors must
concentrate for now on damage limitation: protecting civilians
from the war's worst effects and supporting those working to
preserve Sri Lanka's democratic institutions.
In addition to heavy fighting in the north, the first weeks of
2008 have seen the assassinations of a government minister and
a Tamil opposition member of parliament, multiple bombings in
Colombo, a wave of deadly attacks on civilians in the majority
Sinhalese south, and widespread disappearances and killings of
non-combatants in the north and east. More than 5,000
combatants and civilians are estimated to have been killed
over the past two years. At least 140,000 have fled
intensified fighting in the north, and more are likely to be
forced out if the military continues its push into
Tiger-controlled territory. If the government's military
approach in the east is a precedent for its conduct of the
northern campaign, civilians and their property are at grave
risk.
Much of the blame for the resumption in violence lies with the
LTTE; its ceasefire violations and abuses of the population
under its control pushed the government towards war. The Tiger
strategy was to shore up internal support by provoking a
Sinhala nationalist reaction; it worked, although the
insurgents may come to regret their approach. President
Mahinda Rajapaksa has also overplayed his hand. Relying on
support from Sinhala extremists, he has let them set an agenda
that allows only for a military approach.
The military and much of the government leadership believe
they can defeat or permanently weaken the Tigers by the end of
2008. The LTTE has been badly hurt over the past eighteen
months: it has lost the areas it controlled in the Eastern
Province; its arms routes have been disrupted; hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of its fighters have been killed; and
senior commanders are now vulnerable to targeted elimination,
either from air force bombs or Special Forces. But the Tigers
remain a formidable fighting force. While the army has been
inching forward in the north, they are fighting back from
well-defended positions. Even assuming the Tigers can be
defeated militarily, it remains unclear how the government
would pacify and control the large Tamil-speaking areas in the
north that have been under LTTE domination for a decade or
more.
The government argues its military campaign will clear the way
for a political solution. Vowing to "eradicate terrorism", it
says it aims to destroy the Tigers or force them to disarm and
enter democratic politics and negotiations alongside other
Tamil and Muslim parties. But after promising for more than a
year to undertake substantial constitutional reforms once the
All-Party Representative Committee (APRC) recommended them, it
now proposes only to "fully implement" the constitution's
long-existing Thirteenth Amendment. The limited devolved
powers for the north and east that this would represent are
unlikely even in the best case to be sufficient to win over
many Tamils or Muslims, though they could be a useful start if
implemented sincerely. Since President Rajapaksa has chosen to
depend on strongly Sinhala nationalist parties for his
government's survival, however, this seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, ethnic divisions are deepening. The humanitarian
costs of the war are concentrated in Tamil-speaking areas. In
Colombo, security forces have conducted large, often
indiscriminate arrests of Tamils under emergency regulations.
But Muslims are under pressure from both the Tamil Makkal
Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), a paramilitary group which broke
from the Tigers and operates with the government's blessing,
and government-sponsored land and administrative changes. The
much touted "liberation" of the Eastern Province has failed to
bring development or democracy; instead it has been
characterized by military rule and rising ethnic tensions. The
government will lose an opportunity to set up a democratic
alternative to the LTTE in the east if it fails to rein in the
TMVP ahead of a series of elections scheduled to begin in
March 2008.
The human rights and governance crisis continues unabated,
with paralysis of the institutions empowered to investigate
and prosecute, and consequent impunity for abusers. The many
ad hoc commissions of inquiry of the past two years have
accomplished nothing, while disappearances and political
killings continue, especially in Jaffna and other parts of the
north. Both the Tigers and the TMVP continue to recruit and
make use of child soldiers, despite repeated pledges to UN
agencies and others not to.
The current conflict is worse than what preceded the 2002
ceasefire. The government's counter-insurgency campaign is
more brutal and indiscriminate, the terror and criminal
activities of its Tamil proxy forces more extensive and
blatant, and the role of chauvinistic Sinhala ideologues in
government more pronounced. The suspected involvement of
pro-government forces in the assassinations of Tamil
politicians is particularly disturbing. The Tigers have fully
militarized life in areas under their control and returned to
brutal attacks on Sinhalese civilians, intent on provoking
even worse retaliation.
As unpromising as present circumstances are, the government
should be alert to any opportunities that arise to promote a
new peace process. Meanwhile, the international community
needs to use its limited leverage for the time being to
prevent further deterioration, while developing strategies to
strengthen the moderate, non-violent forces still committed to
a peaceful and just settlement and to build the middle ground
- significantly beyond the unitary state but far short of a
separate Tamil state - that will be necessary if a lasting
political solution is to gain traction once political
conditions are better. This will require pressing the Tigers
and their supporters to abandon terrorism and separatism,
while simultaneously encouraging a new consensus in the south
in support of constitutional and state reforms.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To the Government of Sri Lanka:
1. Meet basic humanitarian needs and protect civilians from
the effects of war by:
(a) conducting all military operations in strict accordance
with international law;
(b) guaranteeing full and prompt access for UN agencies and
humanitarian organizations, with adequate medical supplies, to
LTTE-controlled areas; and
(c) defending UN agencies and international humanitarian
organizations against unfounded allegations by hard-line
politicians and parties and guaranteeing the safety of all
humanitarian workers, Sri Lankan and foreign.
2. Take all necessary steps to protect the fundamental human
rights of all citizens, including:
(a) conducting anti-terrorist operations in accordance with
both domestic constitutional guarantees and international
human rights and humanitarian law;
(b) investigating fully all allegations of disappearances and
killings carried out by state forces or militant groups
aligned with the state and prosecuting when credible evidence
is available;
(c) passing through parliament a witness protection law that
takes into account suggestions from civil society
organizations and the International Independent Group of
Eminent Persons (IIGEP);
(d) accepting the proposed UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights (UNHCHR) office in Sri Lanka with adequate powers to
monitor and report on human rights violations throughout the
country; and
(e) guaranteeing the protection of media personnel and
investigating fully recent attacks on journalists.
3. Develop the Eastern Province equitably, transparently,
inclusively and effectively by:
(a) delaying local and provincial elections until the illegal
activities of all armed groups, including the TMVP, are
curtailed and adequate security for all political parties is
guaranteed by the police and legitimate security forces;
(b) ending de facto military rule over large parts of the
Eastern Province and ensuring that politicians and civil
servants of all ethnicities have a major role in planning and
decision making; and
(c) guaranteeing full access for UN agencies and humanitarian
organizations in the newly cleared areas.
4. Pursue vigorously political reforms that address the
legitimate rights and needs of all citizens and ethnic
communities in a united and democratic Sri Lanka by:
(a) granting the Eastern Provincial Council, once constituted,
all allowable powers under the Thirteenth Amendment, including
for police, finance, land and education;
(b) publicly committing to pursue in the near future more
substantial constitutional reforms, including power-sharing at
the centre; and
(c) requesting the APRC to publish its proposals for
constitutional reforms by the Sinhala and Tamil New Year
(mid-April 2008), even if full consensus has not been reached.
To the President:
5. Establish immediately the Constitutional Council and
request it to nominate new members to all independent
commissions.
To all Political Parties:
6. Monitor closely implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment,
work to ensure that maximum powers are granted to the Eastern
Provincial Council once it is established after free and fair
elections, and press the government to keep constitutional
reform high on the agenda.
To the Constituent Parties of the All-Party Representative
Committee (APRC):
7. Submit final proposals for constitutional reforms,
including power sharing, by mid-April 2008, if necessary with
majority and minority reports.
To the United National Party:
8. State publicly willingness to support in parliament
reasonable devolution and power-sharing proposals that go
beyond the limits of the unitary state, once these are
submitted by the APRC.
To the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE):
9. Cease all attacks on civilians, suicide bombings, forced
recruitment and repression of media freedom and political
dissent and respect fully international human rights and
humanitarian law.
10. Abandon publicly the demand for an independent Tamil state
(Eelam) and announce willingness to negotiate within the
framework of a united Sri Lanka.
To the International Community, in particular Japan,
Norway, the EU, the U.S., India, Australia, South Korea and
Other Asian States, as well as the United Nations:
11. Recognize that the 2002 peace process having now run its
course:
(a) the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donors Conference (Norway,
Japan, the U.S. and the EU) no longer have, as such, a clear
peacemaking role; and
(b) there needs to be deepened cooperation between India, the
EU and the U.S., with the goal of eventually developing a more
politically powerful contact group.
12. Strengthen efforts to convince the government to accept a
fully staffed UNHCHR office, able to monitor and report on
rights violations throughout the country.
13. Continue support for constitutional power-sharing reform
to address legitimate minority grievances, monitor Thirteenth
Amendment implementation and urge the APRC to submit its
proposals by mid-April 2008.
14. Strengthen efforts to close down the LTTE's global
financing and supply networks.
15. Cooperate with UK authorities in gathering evidence for
possible prosecution of former TMVP leader Karuna on war
crimes and human rights violations charges.
16. Speak out more regularly in defence of UN agencies and
international humanitarian organizations and for the safety of
all humanitarian workers, Sri Lankan and foreign.
To Donor Governments and International Financial
Institutions:
17. Promote respect for the Guiding Principles for
Humanitarian and Development Assistance agreed by donors and
the Sri Lankan government in 2007 by forming a donor task
force to investigate political and conflict dynamics in the
Eastern Province and report publicly on the best way to ensure
equity, inclusiveness and transparency.
To the United Nations Security Council Working Group on
Children and Armed Conflict:
18. Recommend that the Security Council impose targeted
sanctions on both the Tigers and the TMVP for continued
recruitment and use of child soldiers.
(The above is a press release by the International Crisis
Group. Colombo/Brussels, 20 February 2008. Source: www.
crisisgroup.org)
Another Turkish incursion
IN these times of violence
and political upheaval, the last thing the Middle East needs is
a new war front or the violation of state sovereignty that could
inflame passions. In this regard, although the details are
sketchy, Turkey's latest military incursion into Iraq to destroy
PKK bases will complicate an already delicate situation. Turkey
has genuine grievances against the rebel Kurdish organisation
that has launched several attacks on its military from the
mountain fastness of northern Iraq where the Kurds have a
regional government. However, although opposed to the PKK
militants, Baghdad is justifiably worried that 'minor mistakes'
could 'lead to a wider problem', and has joined other countries
in urging restraint. It is a piece of advice that Turkey would
do well to heed. Instead of launching air attacks and sending
possibly thousands of troops to eliminate rebel hideouts, thus
fuelling the conflict, Ankara should be ready to listen to calls
for a political solution. The fact is that Turkey, that has a
large Kurdish population, launched similar offensives in the
1990s and has been combating the PKK on its own soil since the
1980s. Frustratingly for it, the organisation has defied
elimination through force.
In other areas, though, Ankara has the advantage. The PKK is
recognised as a terrorist organisation by several countries;
indeed, it has resorted to violence against its own people which
is why support for its tactics is limited even in Kurdish
circles. It is this aspect that Turkey needs to turn into its
strength. If Ankara's stance is perceived as being correct by
its own Kurdish population, the PKK would suffer from a loss of
credibility in the eyes of those it claims to represent.
Economic development of Kurdish areas, resource-sharing, greater
language rights, and acceptance of the Kurds as an ethnic entity
with the right to practise their culture as they choose can
yield positive results. Said to be the world's largest ethnic
community without a state of their own, sensitivities among the
Kurds are aplenty. In all the countries where they are in
sizeable numbers (Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Iran and Turkey), they
have faced hostile environments and violence.
It is time to end their feeling of alienation by helping them
progress in their respective countries and reassuring them that
they are not being discriminated against.
Source:www.dawn.com
International
Iran vows reprisals
against any new UN sanctions
AFP, Tehran
Iran vowed on Saturday to retaliate if the
UN Security Council imposes new sanctions after the latest
UN atomic agency report on its nuclear activities spoke of
progress.
And ahead of a meeting of major powers on Monday to
discuss a new draft package of sanctions, Iranian leaders
insisted that more UN resolutions would be pointless and
without legal basis.
"They could spend 100 years passing resolutions but it
wouldn't change anything," Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said in an interview with state television.
"We have prepared plans if they continue. Any country that
leads the way, European or non- European, must know that
we will take firm reprisals," Ahmadinejad said.
He insisted it was "in the interest" of the world's major
powers to change their attitude towards Iran, adding that
Iran was "not joking." He dubbed the report by the
Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as
a "historic victory of Iran in its greatest confrontation
with the oppressive powers since the Islamic revolution"
of 1979.
Javad Vaidi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council, said that "if the Security Council wants
to issue a resolution it will be legally and technically
baseless," ISNA news agency reported.
The UN watchdog said it had made "quite good progress" in
its long-running probe into Iran's contested nuclear
drive, but that Tehran was still defying UN demands to
halt uranium enrichment.
The IAEA's report on Friday came amid a new push by
Western powers for a third package of UN Security Council
sanctions against Tehran, which diplomats in New York said
could be agreed as early as next week.
The UN agency said it was still not in a position to
determine the "full nature of Iran's nuclear programme"
which the West fears could be cover for a drive to make
nuclear weapons.
The UN ambassadors of Britain and France have formally
introduced to the Security Council the draft of a new
resolution imposing fresh sanctions.
The draft would impose a travel ban on officials involved
in Tehran's nuclear and missile programmes and inspections
of shipments to and from Iran if there are suspicions they
may contain prohibited goods.
The draft text also calls "upon states to exercise
vigilance in entering into new commitments for
public-provided financial support for trade with Iran,
including the granting of export credits, guarantees or
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