Polluting Governance

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara The Nazi leaders.treated Germany like a conquered land, a colony to be used and abused without consideration, to be exploited to the full, and its national spirit, happiness and wellbein to be sedulously i nored!. "ebastian #affner $Germany% &ekyll ' #yde( $ &anuary ), )*+,- .olombo /"ri 0anka Guardian( 12ery year, the 3nited Nations 1n2ironment 4ro ramme $3N14( releases a chart with the sulphur content in the fuel used by different countries. 3ntil )*+), the sulphur content in the diesel used in "ri 0anka was a constant 5**ppm $parts per million( . 6n )*+,, the sulphur content in 0ankan diesel shot up astronomically, beyond )***ppm. Thanks to his colossal increase $more than ,**7( in 8ust one year, our island-home has 8oined the cate ory of lobal-worsts - countries with hi hest le2els of sulphur in their fuel .

.urrently the internationally appro2ed sulphur content in fuel 5*ppm9 in )**: the ;inistry of 1n2ironment issued a circular statin that sulphur content in our diesel should not exceed :**ppm. 6nstead of reachin this appro2ed le2el, "ri 0anka exceeded it by +,<**ppm in 8ust +) months. "ulphur in fuels is harmful not 8ust to li2in bein s and the en2ironment but also to buildin s and 2ehicles. =ccordin to a )**> 3N14 study, people with asthma, children, the elderly and people with lun ?heart problems are particularly 2ulnerable to emissions from hi h-sulphur fuels. 6n addition they are carcino enic and impair 2isibility. Their en2ironmental impacts include acid rain, forest and crop dama es and the acidification of soils. They also accelerate the decay of buildin materials and decrease 2ehicle efficiency and durability . "o in )*+,, probably for pecuniary reasons, the re ime switched to importin hi hly contaminated and extremely unhealthy diesel. The re ime also increased diesel prices in )*+,. .onsequently in )*+,, 0ankans paid more buy extremely toxic diesel.

6n an e2en bizarre turn, the .4. announced that from =pril )*+:, it will switch from diesel with a sulphur content of )***ppm to diesel with a sulphur content of 5**ppm / i.e. the restoration of status quo ante . 6f this actually happens $that is far from certain i2en the e2er rowin ulf between the @a8apaksa rhetoric and reality(, the re ime will use it to boast about its total commitment to clean ener y. No mention will be made about how in 8ust one year the @a8apaksas ensured that "ri 0anka belon s in the cate ory of countries which use the most contaminated fuel in the world. Toxic air is somethin which affects e2eryone, irrespecti2e ethnicity, reli ion or socioeconomic status. The sudden mountainous hike in the sulphur content in our diesel in 8ust one year is a matter of utmost concern to all 0ankans. 6t is also an e2ocati2e indicator of how criminally blasA the @a8apaksas are about the health and wellbein of all "ri 0ankans includin their core-constituency of rural and sub-urban "inhala Buddhists. Chy did the @a8apaksas switch from moderately contaminated diesel to hi hly contaminated diesel in )*+,D Eid this poisonous switch recei2e cabinet appro2alD Cas the cabinet aware of what it was appro2in D Cho benefited from this switchD These are some of the questions the opposition must ask in parliament. =fter all, this is a national issue of reat import which deser2es a national debate, which is serious and informed. "ri 0anka reached another summit in )*+)?)*+,, in the use of a ro-chemicals% F"ri 0anka is the hi hest user of a ro-chemicals in the world! accordin to 4rof. "hanthi ;endis, Noncommunicable Eiseases Eirector of the C#G . Huotin a C#G?3N internal report Eecember )*+,, The 6sland re2eals that "ri 0anka leads the world in o2erall a rochemical usa e in )*+)?)*+, $:I+ units per hectare(. "ri 0anka is also the worldJs first in the use of pesticides% +>I units per hectare. Ce are currently in the >th place in fertilizer usa e at )>: units per hectare. =ccordin to Er. Na2in de "oysa, General .ommittee member of the G;G=, FThe G;G= had learnt from a reliable source that some officials employed in the = ricultural ;inistry were also doin part-time 8obs in a ro-chemical importin companies! . =re the authorities aware of this toxic situationD =re their any connections between powersthat-be and a ro-chemical importin companies $especially financial connections(D The C#G has already identified hi h use of low quality a ro-chemicals as the most important reason for the kidney failure epidemic which is ra2a in our a ricultural heartland. Chat steps is the re ime takin to deal with this rowin crisisD Chat is the Gpposition doin either to pressurise the o2ernment into miti atin the crisis or to make the people aware about the re imeJs failureD Krom contaminated diesel and contaminated food to contaminated water9 accordin to the Eaily ;irror, the calcium hypochlorite $0ime( used to treat drinkin water is of low quality. The report quotes an anonymous Lsenior technical sourceJ at the =mbatale water purification plant% FThe minimum le2el of .alcium .arbonate is >*7 for the full purification of water but we ha2e detected that the le2el of the stock of 0ime supplied recently had only I<7 of .alcium .arbonate which means it is possible that the water may not ha2e been purified to the accepted

le2el! . The =dditional ;ana e of the Cater "upply 4ro8ect admitted that one consi nment of 5** metric tons of 0ime $imported from .hina( was L reenish instead of pure white and the concentration of calcium carbonate in this particular stock was only I<7J but insisted that the questionable stock was not distributed. Cas he tellin the truthD Gr is this another co2er-upD Gi2en the number of consumers who may ha2e been affected, shouldnJt the opposition take up this issue, in and out of parliamentD 4ollutin the en2ironment seems a @a8apaksa forte. But the only reason they et away with it is because we the people allow them to do so. The opposition is at fault for allowin most of these issues to drop out of public eye9 but so is the public. =fter all, when the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink are contaminated, our health and wellbein are directly affected. These are not esoteric concerns but matters which are of 2ital importance to us. "o why are we remainin silent and inacti2eD 4ollutin ;inds he issue was not the support for war9 war was una2oidable because of the nature of the 0TT1. 6f the Ti ers did not want a new war they would not ha2e en ineered the defeat of the appeasin @anil Cickremesin he. The war was una2oidable and a Ti er 2ictory would ha2e been disastrous e2en from the point of Tamil democracy. Chat was unnecessary and dan erous was the acceptance of the official myths about the war / that it was not a war which killed innocent people but a humanitarian operation which killed Ti ers only. This Llo icJ not only denied ci2ilian casualties9 it also turned the dead ci2ilians into Ti ers and made any critic of the war or its results a Ti er supporter. By acceptin the humanitarian operation lie we 8ustified e2ery action of the 0ankan Korces by bestowin on them, ipso facto, a cloak of infallibility. That lie was to extend beyond the war and become the psycholo ical premise of the internment camp masqueradin as welfare 2illa es. = mindset is bein fostered, or perhaps re enerated, of equatin the necessary but unfortunate war into a holy enterprise. 6n this 2ersion there is no difference between Ti ers and Tamil nationalists, between Ti er propa anda and Tamil rie2ances. 6t is as if history be an in +M>, with the 0TT1 attack on Kour Kour Bra2o, skippin Black &uly and any other atrocity committed by the 0ankan Korces and endin with the death of 4irapaharan on the shore of the "ea of .onches. Today this broad, inclusi2e, pro ressi2e nationalism in on the decline9 what is in ascendance is a reli ious nationalism in which reli ion as well as race?country of ori in is a determinant factor in decidin oneJs nationality. 6n some cases the reli ious identity may be more important, in which case a reli ious other may be as much of an or more of an alien than the racial other. The aim of this reli ious re2i2al is the total defeat of the pro ressi2e currents which led to the 1nli htenment and its child, the Krench @e2olution and all that the world inherited from these. &ust as post-socialism economics seeks to remake the world throu h a fundamental chan e in

the relationship between capital and labour?society, a reproduction of the relations of production more like what pre2ailed durin the pre-socialist capitalism9 post-socialist politics / or at least a powerful trend within it / seeks to take the world back to the pre-1nli htenment times, where reli ious liberty was synonymous with e2ery liberty for oneJs own reli ion and none for the others. 6n )**I, the 4resident @a8apaksa personally in2ited ++ international experts to form the 66G14 $6nternational 6ndependent Group of 1minent 4ersons( to assist the national .ommission of 6nquiry to look into +< incidents of serious human ri hts 2iolations includin the ;utur massacre. 6n )**> the 66G14 was literally hounded out of the country by bayin @a8apaksa acolytes. 6n its final report, the 66G14 spoke of the Fatmosphere of confrontation and disa reementen endered by the or ans of Go2ernment! . Celiweriya killin 9 refusal to implement the more meanin ful recommendations of the 00@.. 6f we continue alon that path, if human ri hts 2iolations continue to occur, then we will find oursel2es in the company of the 0TT1, mar inalised and scorned. =2alanches be in with a few ordinary snowballs. 6n "ri 0anka those first few snowballs, presa in a future a2alanche, came early in the Kourth 1elam Car. Gi2en the nature of @a8apaksa rule, there is 2ery little e2en the most outstandin ly able forei n minister could ha2e done to pre2ent a yet another debacle in Gene2a. #istory ne2er for i2es cupidity. ;oderation is wise9 maximalism is not. 6t always makes sense for a ma8ority to err on the side of enerosity in its treatment of the minorities. Kailure to do so could result in far reater losses than would ha2e been incurred as part of an initial compromise. 6n the 3" many 2eterans in the military campai n in Nietnam ot increasin ly in2ol2ed in crime and related issues and the pattern is somewhat the same here. This has to be understood and the matter treated accordin ly. =fter all, the men and women who 8oined the military ranks and were forced to fi ht, sometimes in the most barbaric conditions, did not start the war themsel2es. 6mpunity born in the North is now a national issue. 6ts repercussions are e2ident not 8ust in political acts such as the Celiweriya shootin or in the proliferation of acts of torture and extra8udicial killin s by the police in 2ery "inhala-Buddhist areas, but also in the rowin number of non-political crimes committed by ser2in and former combatants a ainst ordinary citizens. F;ost of the soldiers who were sent to the frontline durin the hei ht of the fi htin .came from humble 2illa e homes and after bein part of the military campai n they returned home as hardened men who had lost all fear! . =ccordin to former E6G Nimal ;ediwaka, F6t is these indi2iduals who maintain a mindset that they can do anythin and et away without bein apprehended.! The culture of impunity was created and is bein maintained by the re ime. =bout )5 or anisations under the defence ministry

@eferences9 http%??www.unep.or ?transport?pcf2?pdf?mapsOmatrices?ap?matrix?asiapacificOcombinedOmarch )*+).pdf http%??www.ifqc.or ?N;OTop5.aspx http%??www.unep.or ?transport?pcf2?pdf?ethiopia-airpollutionsulphur.pdf http%??www.hellenicshippin news.com?News.aspxD1lement6dP>b)*+b<b-<df)-:b:e->a<b)eMf5a,5:+)d http%??www.island.lk?index.phpDpa eOcatParticle-details'pa eParticledetails'codeOtitlePM:+:> http%??www.island.lk?index.phpDpa eOcatParticle-details'pa eParticledetails'codeOtitlePM:+:> Eaily ;irror / ),.+).)*+, http%??www.ruleoflawsrilanka.or ?resources?66G14nbsp"T;.pdf The "unday Times / +.+).)*+, 6bid