March 7, 2011 · 5:53 pm

Populist Politics and the Sooriyawewa & Premadasa Stadiums

Michael Roberts

The old Premadasa Stadium was a monstrosity. The new one is far better on the eye though hardly a classic structure. Together with the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium at Sooriyawewa it was constructed in time for the staging of the World Cup. In this achievement both stadiums stand out sharply in contrast with the tale surrounding the renovations that were done at Eden Gardens in Calcutta.

 The old Premadasa Stadium in silhouete — Pic by David Colin-Thome

 

 

 Premadasa Stadium today —Pics by Pramod Fernando in isandcricket.com

Thus both venues stand as monuments to the hard work of Suraj Dandeniya and his team, including the army of workers of all types who slaved away for months. In this silent but imposing manner they are a slap in the face of the several media outlets, headed by the Island, who ran a concerted campaign of denigration against Sri Lanka Cricket in general and its chairman de Silva and his nephew Suraj in particular. The carping attacks were as concerted as they were strident Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 5:22 pm

Humanitarian Issues During the War in Sri Lanka-Speech by Don Randall MP made in the Australian Parliament on 28 Feb. 2011

Date Monday, 28 February 2011
Source House Page137
Proof Yes
Questioner
Responder
Randall, Don, MP Question No.Mr RANDALL(Canning) (12.02 pm)—

I am pleased to speak on this motion on humanitarian issues during thewar in Sri Lanka. At the outset, I congratulate the member for Werriwa on bringing this motion to the parliament and for the measured way that he addressed it. I have always had high regard for the member for Werriwa’s interest in human rights issues and migration issues. On this occasion he is quite passionate about his views as the issue stands now.

  I come to this debate from a number of perspectives. One of them is the fact that I am the deputy chair of the Sri Lanka friendship group in this parliament and I have a keen interest in the issues. Like the member for Werriwa and others, I have had contact and lobbying from both sides of the Sri Lankan debate. Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 12:36 pm

Danziger: Migration plays an important role in the Sri Lankan economy

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Leader [27 February 2011] covering wide range of migration related issues, Richard Danziger, Chief of Mission of International Organization for Migration highlighted the importance of migration related activities to Sri Lanka. “Migration plays an important role in the Sri Lankan economy and has enormous impact on society as a whole. There are some 2 million Sri Lankans abroad. That is almost 10 percent of the population.  Many of these perhaps as much as thirty percent – have a tertiary education. The total amount of money remitted to Sri Lanka will likely be over 3.5 billion US dollars this year,” he said, Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 9:15 am

SSRR: Samaraweera slashes the Rajapaksa Regime

Mangala Samaraweera, in Sunday Leader, 27 Feb. 2011 under title:   “Rajapaksa’s Dictatorial Allies Foretell His Future”

 It is with great alarm that the peace loving people of the civilised world witness the despotic regime of Muammar Gaddafi killing his own people, using heavy weapons and even fighter aircraft to bomb civilian targets in a desperate attempt to retain power. Looking at the brutal suppression of peaceful civilian protests in Libya by its megalomaniac leader and his sons we cannot but draw parallels to the dynastic path the Rajapaksa regime has taken here at home.
For the last 42 years Gaddafi has ruled Libya with an iron fist, destroying all forms of opposition, stifling dissent, silencing free speech and paving the way for his sons to take over once he is no more. During this time he and his family amassed billions of dollars and siphoned the country’s oil wealth. Oil rich Libya with its population of just six million is run by a handful of family members and cronies loyal to the first family. Gaddafi’s sons Saif, Mutassim and Hannibal hold key positions in government and the military running the country as if it were their personal fiefdom.
Only the blind or those who refuse to see, in my opinion, cannot draw the obvious parallels between the Gaddafis of Libya and the Rajapaksas of Medamulana. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has often been pictured on the world stage with his arm around his best pal, Muammar Gaddafi has imposed single family rule in Sri Lanka and through the passing of legislation such as the 18th Amendment ensured that Sri Lanka is well on the path to dictatorship by the removal of term limits for the all powerful executive presidency. Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 4:56 am

TTT: Tamil Tigers infiltrate Tory Party in Toronto

Anthony Rinehart,  Courtesy of Globe and Mail, Saturday, Mar. 05, 2011

Tories trying to win support from South Asians in Ontario have opened the door to remnants of a Tamil Tiger front group the federal Conservatives themselves banned in 2008. The unlikely association, forged behind a curtain of tough government talk about Tamil refugee ships and a feared terrorist migration to Canada last year, has developed since the Tigers’ separatist struggle was crushed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

Last month, Tim Hudak, Leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives, announced Shan Thayaparan as his party’s candidate for Markham-Unionville. Mr. Thayaparan had helped run an election for a new Tamil separatist group, the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), whose key adviser, Nehru Gunaratnam, is a former spokesman for the outlawed World Tamil Movement. Federally, Tamil broadcaster Ragavan Paranchothy, who was in direct contact with the top Tiger leadership in 2009, is seeking the Conservative nomination in Scarborough-Southwest. Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 4:43 am

Tony Grieg, our new Tourism Ambassador

Courtesy of the Island, 7 March 2011

What do Leonard Woolf, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Tony Greig have in common? All three Englishmen loved Sri Lanka and her people immensely. Therefore, it was very welcome news to learn that Tony Greig has been recently appointed as Sri Lanka’s Tourism Ambassador to promote this Indian Ocean Island as a popular travel destination. 

Greig was born in South Africa. During the apartheid times, by virtue of his Scottish father, he was accepted to play cricket in England and later captained the side untill he lost it, owing to his involvement with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. Mainly due to his naturally gregarious personality, now he seems to fit better in Australia than his previous chosen home of England. Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 4:26 am

Amnesty International under the gun in Sri Lanka

Shamindra Ferdinando, in the Island, 7 March 2010 under the heading: “SL calls for probe into NGO funding”

The Sri Lankan government says the recent revelation that former Secretary General of the London headquartered Amnesty International, Irene Khan and her deputy Kate Gilmore received a staggering 533,000 and 325,244 pounds, pay-off packages, respectively, should prompt a worldwide scrutiny of NGO operations.

Khan, a Bangladeshi and the first Asian to head the AI, assumed duties in 2001. During her tenure as head, AI targeted the Sri Lankan cricket team during the last World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 over the country’s war against LTTE terrorism. Although Khan and Gilmore quit AI on Dec. 31, 2009, they remuneration remained undisclosed until Feb. 2011. The British press reported the issue last week. Continue reading →

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March 7, 2011 · 4:21 am

The Mouth of the Mighty Walawe Ganga …. asleep

 … looking south to the Indian Ocean

and north upriver towards Uda Walawe where the river has been tamed by a dam … indeed by two dams the other being on the tributary at Chandikawewa –

Pics by Michael Roberts

 

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February 26, 2011 · 4:18 am

Namal Rajapaksa presents Hambantota as new sports centre

Nitin Naik of TNN, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/interviews/Hambantota-Sri-Lankas-new-sports-capital/articleshow/7560048.cms

We’ve gushed over how quickly Hambantota got ready for the World Cup, we cursed how far it is from the main city and ran out of count of the number of difficulties one had to face to reach the venue where the two World Cup matches were staged and staged successfully at that. Now, as the Hambantota party ends, it’s time to take stock of the pros and cons of having a $9 million cricket venue in an essentially poor territory. Namal Rajapasa, son of Sri Lankan president Namal Rajapaksa, whose brainchild the stadium is and who is member of parliament from this region, allays the fears of the people who think this could be a white elephant and lays down his plans to bring the Commonwealth Games here in 2018.

 Plan of harbour scheme for visitors viewing present state… The port willbe fully operational by December 2012 according to the official presentation — Picked up by Michael Roberts, February 2011

Excerpts from the interview.

You’ve realised your goal of having international cricket matches staged here, the tough task is to sustain interest in cricket among the locals after these two World Cup games.
It’s not tough. Certainly not as tough as convincing the cricket board and the other authorities to come and build this facility. When we identified the land in 2006, this was a poor village. The road was only eight feet wide and it was made of mud. Now, because of the stadium, we have a double road. So development has taken place. We are happy to bring the WC to Hambantota , but we don’t want to relax. We have bigger plans in store to develop this place.

 Pakistan and Kenya cricketers line up for match, 23 Feb. 2011– Pic by Michael Roberts

Continue reading →

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February 22, 2011 · 5:05 pm

Kushil Gunasekera on Goodness, welfare activity , the tsunami and Murali

SEE http://groundviews.org/2011/02/22/sri-lankan-cricket-and-social-work-interview-with-kushil-gunasekera/

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