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Sri Lanka arrested dozens of striking oil workers yesterday as the military moved in to restore supplies and end fuel shortages, officials said. Police said they arrested more than 30 workers of the state Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) who defied an order by President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday banning strikes in the energy sector. The military said it deployed armed troops to guard two wholesale oil distribution depots and ensure gasoline and diesel were distributed. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament that a tanker train carrying aviation fuel was also despatched to the airport despite attempts by strikers to block it. Hundreds of workers have been on strike since Tuesday night, protesting government plans to sell off stakes in state-owned oil storage depots to India and China. The indefinite walkout by CPC workers was instigated by former president Mahinda Rajapakse, government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told reporters in Colombo. “It is the Rajapakse faction that is behind the strike,” said Senaratne. “They think they can bring the government down through this action, but we will not allow that.” “The army has assisted the police in providing security to two oil distribution centres,” military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne said. “We also provide security to those who have reported for work to restore supplies.” The strike triggered fears of a fuel crisis on the island, with long queues of cars and trucks building up outside petrol stations across the country during the night. CPC trade unions said they will not return to work until the government abandons plans to sell stakes in oil storage tank facilities in the northeast and south of the island. The government has said it wants to develop a disused World War II-era oil depot in the northeastern port of Trincomalee with an Indian state-owned company. Authorities also want to form a partnership with a Chinese company to develop the loss-making Hambantota port, including its oil storage tanks, in the island’s south. The government finalised a $1.12bn deal to sell off a majority stake in the strategically sited port to Beijing’s state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings on Tuesday. The deal is to be signed on Saturday.

Sri Lanka deployed troops and police to distribute fuel on Wednesday as striking petroleum workers protested over plans to sell off stakes in state-owned oil depots to India and China. The indefinite walkout by workers of the national oil company, backed by Sri Lanka's main leftist opposition party, is in response to the sale of state assets by the current government, which says foreign capital is needed to develop the island's infrastructure. Constables and hundreds of troops were sent to man two main distribution points of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) near the capital Colombo, and have begun restoring supplies, police said. "Petroleum distribution has been declared an essential service from midnight," said a government statement. "Those who do not report for duty today will be considered having vacated their posts." "The army has assisted the police in providing security to two oil distribution centres," military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne told AFP. "We also provide security to those who have reported for work to restore supplies." The strike has triggered fears of a fuel crisis on the island, with long queues of cars and trucks building up outside petrol stations across the country during the night. CPC trade unions, who downed tools on Tuesday, said they will not return to work until the government abandons plans to sell stakes in oil storage tank facilities in the northeast and south of the island. The government has said it wants to develop a disused World War II-era oil depot in the northeastern port of Trincomalee with an Indian state-owned company. Authorities also want to form a partnership with a Chinese company to develop the loss-making Hambantota port, including its oil storage tanks, in the island's south. The government finalised a $1.12bn deal to sell off a majority stake in the strategically sited port to Beijing's state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings on Tuesday. The deal is to be signed on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet cleared a revised agreement for its Chinese-built southern port of Hambantota yesterday, the government said, after terms of the first pact sparked widespread public anger in the island nation. The port, close to the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has been mired in controversy ever since state-run China Merchants Port Holdings, which built it for $1.5bn, signed an agreement taking an 80% stake. Under the new deal, which Reuters has examined, the Sri Lankan government has sought to limit China’s role to running commercial operations at the port while it has oversight of broader security. Chinese control of Hambantota, which is part of its modern-day “Silk Route” across Asia and beyond, as well as a plan to acquire 15,000 acres (23sq miles) to develop an industrial zone next door, had raised fears that it could also be used for Chinese naval vessels. Sri Lankans demonstrated in the streets at the time, fearing loss of their land, while politicians said such large-scale transfer of land to the Chinese impinged on the country’s  sovereignty. Details of the new agreement have not yet been made public. But according to parts of the document seen by Reuters, two companies are being set up to split the operations of the port and allay concerns, in India mainly but also in Japan and the United States, that it won’t be used for military purposes. China Merchants Port Holdings will take an 85% stake in Hambantota International Port Group that will run the port and its terminals, with the rest held by Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The company’s capital will be $794mn. A second firm, Hambantota International Port Group Services Co, with capital of $606mn, will be set up to oversee security operations, with the Sri Lankans holding a 50.7% stake and the Chinese 49.3%, according to the document. Ports Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that several foreign missions had sought clarification from Colombo about whether the Chinese navy would be using Hambantota port as it steps up its presence in the Indian Ocean. “We told China that we can’t allow the port for military use and that 100% responsibility of security matters should be with the Sri Lankan government.” China has been building ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and smaller island nations in what military officials call a “String of Pearls” in the Indian Ocean, or a network of friendly ports where its warships can refuel. China Merchants Port Holdings also agreed to reduce its stake in the Sri Lankan joint venture running the commercial operations of the port to 65% after 10 years, the  document says. “The cabinet approved the deal and now it needs parliament approval. We will send it for approval this week,” cabinet spokesman Dayasiri Jayasekera said. He didn’t provide details. A Chinese embassy spokesman said it had no comment to make on the deal. A source close to the Chinese embassy in Colombo said both sides had reached a compromise and that Sri Lanka’s concerns had been addressed. “They emphasised that they wanted to maintain balanced relations with other countries. But the deal is still beneficial for China in terms of revenue,” the source said. The latest agreement relates to the port while the pact for the industrial zone will be handled separately, Sri Lankan officials said. The revised deal comes weeks after President Maithripala Sirisena reshuffled his cabinet, naming Samarasinghe to the ports ministry after his predecessor had strongly opposed a majority equity stake for the Chinese firm and raised a red flag over possible military use. Two Sri Lankan sources familiar with the deal said the Sri Lankan Ports Authority would have the right to inspect ships entering Hambantota. “Sri Lanka will have control over port activities including security, which various parties have raised concerns over earlier,” one source said. “The agreement clearly says no military ships will be allowed in the port.” New Delhi in 2014 was alarmed when a Chinese submarine docked in Colombo, where another Chinese firm is building a $1.4bn port city on reclaimed land. India has long considered Sri Lanka, just off its southern coast, as within its sphere of influence and sought to push back against China’s expanding maritime presence. In May, Sri Lanka turned down a Chinese request to dock a submarine.

Maldives parliament was shut yesterday after President Abdulla Yameen ordered troops to evict legislators and prevent an impeachment of his speaker, the opposition said, in the latest turmoil in the honeymoon islands. Parliament had been expected to hear a no-confidence motion against the speaker, Abdulla Masheeh, but MPs found their way blocked, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said. MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor added several opposition MPs broke through the military cordon only to be pepper sprayed and evicted. The country’s exiled main opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed said the eviction was illegal and expressed his concern, his office said in a statement.  Earlier in the day, parliament’s gates were padlocked by members of the armed forces and MPs were forcibly prevented from entering the parliamentary compound. There was no immediate comment from the government. The opposition this month secured enough support from government defectors to begin impeachment proceedings against the speaker, in a bid to wrest control of parliament from Yameen before presidential elections next year. The government has repeatedly tried to frustrate these efforts.  It arrested several opposition MPs last week ahead of the vote, and scuttled a past no-confidence bid by raising the number of signatures required for a  successful motion. The first attempt to impeach the speaker in March sparked chaos when Yameen ordered troops to enter parliament and remove dissenting opponents by force. The political turbulence has seen the international community, including the United States, urging the Maldives to safeguard democracy. The opposition coalition, led by Nasheed, wants to defeat Yameen at elections next year but faces an uphill battle. All their key leaders are imprisoned or have fled to avoid a lengthy crackdown on dissent under Yameen’s leadership. The instability has threatened to dent the Maldives’ image as a tourist paradise. Nasheed became the Maldives first democratically-elected president in 2008, but was narrowly defeated by Yameen in a controversial 2013 election  run-off. In 2015, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. He now lives in exile in Britain.

Two young elephants washed out to sea were saved from drowning yesterday by the Sri Lankan navy in the second such incident off the island in as many weeks. The navy said the pair of wild elephants were brought ashore after a “mammoth effort” involving navy divers, ropes and a flotilla of boats to tow them back to shallow  waters. Photos showed the elephants in distress, barely keeping their trunks above water in the deep seas about 1km off the coast of Sri Lanka. “Having safely guided the two elephants to the shore, they were subsequently released to the Foul Point jungle (in Trincomalee district),” the navy said in a  statement. “They were extremely lucky to have been spotted by a patrol craft which called in several other boats to help with the rescue.” Two weeks ago, the navy mounted a similar operation in the same region to save a lone elephant washed 8km (five miles) off the Sri Lankan coast into the deep waters of the  Indian Ocean. Navy officials say the animals were likely swept out while crossing shallow lagoons in the region. They are not the only wildlife to encounter trouble in the biodiverse island. In May, the navy and local residents saved a pod of 20 pilot whales that became stranded in Trincomalee, a natural harbour that is popular for whale watching. The waters around Trincomalee, which were used by Allied forces as a staging post during World War II, have a high concentration of blue and sperm whales, while the surrounding jungles have herds of wild elephants.

Two young elephants washed out to sea were saved from drowning Sunday by the Sri Lankan navy in the second such incident off the island in as many weeks. The navy said the pair of wild elephants were brought ashore after a "mammoth effort" involving navy divers, ropes and a flotilla of boats to tow them back to shallow waters. Photos showed the elephants in distress, barely keeping their trunks above water in the deep seas about one kilometre off the coast of Sri Lanka. "Having safely guided the two elephants to the shore, they were subsequently released to the Foul Point jungle (in Trincomalee district)," the navy said in a statement. "They were extremely lucky to have been spotted by a patrol craft which called in several other boats to help with the rescue." Two weeks ago, the navy mounted a similar operation in the same region to save a lone elephant washed eight kilometres (five miles) off the Sri Lankan coast into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean. Navy officials say the animals were likely swept out while crossing shallow lagoons in the region. They are not the only wildlife to encounter trouble in the biodiverse island. In May, the navy and local residents saved a pod of 20 pilot whales that became stranded in Trincomalee, a natural harbour that is popular for whale watching. The waters around Trincomalee, which were used by Allied forces as a staging post during World War II, have a high concentration of blue and sperm whales, while the surrounding jungles have herds of wild elephants.

Street children attend an open school named the School of Fun, run by a group of young volunteers, at a railway station in Dhaka yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s police faced censure yesterday over an attempt to “abduct” a student activist, a tactic widely used against dissidents by the previous strongman leader’s regime. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said he lodged a protest with police chief Pujith Jayasundara over an attempt by plain-clothed officers to seize on Thursday night a student known for his anti-government views. Other students prevented him from being grabbed by the plain clothed officers. Samaraweera said the “white van abduction” was to recreate the fear psychosis associated with former strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime. The minister said the new government came to power in January 2015 promising to end the “white van culture” and ensure people had more freedom, but the latest police action was a retrograde step. “I spoke with the Inspector General of Police and he said he will take disciplinary action against those responsible,” the minister told reporters in Colombo. “We condemn this action of the police.” Being “white-vanned” had become a verb synonymous with being abducted – a tactic widely used by Sri Lankan forces to deal with troublesome opponents during Rajapakse’s decade in power. The abduction attempt came hours after President Maithripala Sirisena gave legal effect to a 2016 law which established an office to trace the tens of thousands of people who went missing during the island’s decades-long ethnic war. Samaraweera told the police chief that the timing of the illegal police action suggested there may be elements trying to discredit the administration. Anti-government activists stage regular protests against the government’s free market economic reforms, including allowing private medical education. Under the previous regime police and security forces killed several people when they fired at them during anti-government demonstrations. White vans were deployed to abduct  dissidents.

Australia will join Sri Lanka in its war on dengue fever, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said yesterday, as the virus has claimed a record 250 lives and infected nearly 100,000 people in the South Asian country this year. Sri Lanka has deployed hundreds of troops to destroy mosquito breeding grounds as it battles to control the spread of the mosquito-borne virus, which has been unprecedented and caught authorities off guard. Humid monsoon weather, stagnant water from recent flooding, as well as mounting piles of rotting garbage accumulating in the capital, have combined to create abundant areas for mosquitoes to multiply. Official figures show about 250 deaths so far this year compared to 78 for the whole of last year, when only about 55,000 infections were reported. Bishop said Canberra would provide A$500,000 ($400,000) to fund the World Health Organisation’s dengue prevention and control measures in Sri Lanka. It would also fund an AS$1mn research partnership between Australia’s Monash University and Sri Lanka’s health ministry. She said Sri Lanka could benefit from Monash University’s groundbreaking research to trial the introduction of naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria to Sri Lanka’s mosquito  populations. “It prevents the dengue virus from being transmitted between people,” she said. “It also has the ability to block other mosquito-borne diseases such as zika and chikumgunya.” Bishop made the announcement after talks with her Sri Lankan counterpart Ravi  Karunanayake. Authorities have blamed a garbage disposal crisis in Colombo for the unusually large infections. The country’s main rubbish tip collapsed in April, crushing dozens of homes and killing 32 people. Stagnant water left behind after last month’s flooding was also seen as contributing to the spread of dengue.

The nephew of Maldives president Abdulla Yameen has been arrested for allegedly bribing politicians to challenge the ruling regime, the opposition said yesterday, warning of further reprisals in the troubled honeymoon islands. Faris Maumoon, a member of parliament and son of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was taken into custody after police searched his home in the capital Male on Tuesday. The passport of another key opposition figure Qasim Ibrahim, a former ally of strongman Yameen, was also seized by authorities. Opposition parties aligned against Yameen issued a joint statement condemning the arrests. Ibrahim had helped Yameen win a controversial 2013 run-off election against Mohamed Nasheed, the head of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). But after a fallout, Ibrahim joined the growing ranks unifying behind Nasheed and the MDP to topple Yameen. The opposition this month secured enough support from government defectors to begin impeachment proceedings against the speaker, in a bid to wrest control of parliament from Yameen before presidential elections next year. The latest arrests come a week before parliament is due to vote on the impeachment proceedings. “The opposition fears the imminent arrest of more members of parliament who signed the impeachment motion,” the opposition said in its statement. The first attempt to impeach the speaker sparked chaos when Yameen ordered troops to enter parliament and remove dissenting opponents by force. That move attracted international condemnation, with the United States urging the Maldives to restore faith in democracy. The political unrest has raised fears over stability in the islands and tarnished its image as a tourist paradise. Nasheed became the Maldives’ first democratically-elected president in 2008, but he was narrowly defeated by Yameen five years later in a controversial run-off election. In 2015 Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. He lives in exile in Britain after being granted leave to go there for medical treatment.

During Sri Lanka’s May floods, rescue crews in Kiriella, a small town in Rathnapura district, spotted a remarkable sight. A middle-aged woman, trudging through waist-deep floodwater, clutched a rooster carefully above the torrent, while a small girl struggled to hold onto the woman’s waist, at times barely able to keep her head above water. “Not just the public, but even policymakers are the same: They look at natural disasters as isolated events and the main aim is to save movable and immovable property, not lives,” charged Ranjith Punyawardena, the head of climatology in the agricultural department of Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya. Disasters – from deadly floods to worsening droughts –  are happening more frequently in Sri Lanka. But efforts to begin treating the crises as a new “normal” –  which requires fundamental changes to how the country’s systems work, rather than one-time responses –  is struggling, some officials say. In May, floods and landslides killed 216 people, left 76 missing and affected over 600,000 – just a year after similar floods killed more than 100 people. A 10-month drought, meanwhile, is lingering in the northern part of the island –  despite some recent rain –  and is likely to result in the 2017 rice harvest being the lowest in a decade, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. One of the main problems, Punyawardena said, is the difficulty of sustaining changes put in place in the wake of disasters. In each of the last three years floods have killed at least a hundred people in Sri Lanka, and in each case disaster officials have initiated inquiries afterwards to identify what went wrong,  Punyawardena said. After this year’s flooding, Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre and Department of Meteorology were widely criticised for failing to provide sufficient early warnings of the approaching floods. Officials at the Department of Meteorology said a lack of sophisticated radar technology prevented it from issuing detailed-enough warnings. The disaster centre has since revamped its procedures for issuing early warnings and the government has signed a $22mn agreement with Japan to set up new weather radar stations. The government also has said it will set up 100 disaster evacuation centres across the island nation. But Punyawardena said it remained to be seen whether such action would cut the death toll from floods in coming years. “Hopefully these new changes will not end like sudden bursts. We need sustained emphasis. The policies have been there in the past as well. It is the implementation that has been lacking,” he said. The problem, said Punyawardena and Sarath Premalal, director general, department of meteorology, is that disasters usually lead to a flurry of government activity that then peters out as the disaster situation eases. The cycle then begins again with the next disaster, they said. “The policies are clearly there in documents and plans. I don’t think we need newer ones. What we need is to properly implement these for the long haul,” Punyawardena said. Disaster officials say one big problem for them is lack of access to top-level decision makers as they try to bring change. Normally such access comes only during major disasters, Premalal said. “We need support at the very top level to make sure we are prepared. Sometimes it is very difficult to gain access to decision makers. That slows down a lot of the work,” he said. Lack of co-ordination can also be a problem. During May’s floods, for instance, both the country’s president and its prime minister chaired separate committees aimed at addressing the disaster, leading to confusion in the early stages of the crisis, according to Disaster Management Centre officials and officials of United Nations relief organisations. Getting officials from across agencies –  such as agriculture, water, disaster and meteorology –  together to co-ordinate plans also is a challenge,  Premalal said. “We tend to still work in silos. There is a need for practical, real-time data and information sharing,” he said. Since 2010, government agencies have come together to hold a pre-monsoon meeting each March to share and discuss information on expected rainfall. The problem is that very little activity then takes place to head off problems that might be anticipated from the data, said the head of the meteorological department. For example, data provided by the department of meteorology before the May floods suggested very heavy rainfall was possible, and should have led to the country’s department of irrigation running computer models on what flooding might be expected, Punyawardena said. Currently the irrigation department relies primarily on water gauges in rivers to assess water levels and determine when flood alerts should be  issued, he said. M Thuraisingham, director general of the irrigation department, said that his team did not have the technical capacity or human resources to accurately run computer models of  possible flooding. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Sri Lanka’s minister of disaster management, said efforts to better spur and co-ordinate action  are underway, however. “At ministry level we are now having regular meetings with all connected departments and if the need arises we will seek (a) meeting with the president,” he said. He noted that the government had also renewed its pioneering national natural disaster insurance policy, which last year earned the country a $2mn payout amid floods just six weeks after being purchased. The country also is seeking help to improve its weather  radar network, he said.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, left, shaking hands with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ravi Karunanayake during their bilateral meeting in Colombo yesterday. The Singaporean minister is leading a seven-member delegation to Colombo on a four-day visit.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, left, shaking hands with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ravi Karunanayake during their bilateral meeting in Colombo yesterday. The Singaporean minister is leading a seven-member delegation to Colombo on a four-day visit.

Sri Lanka has failed to deliver on its international commitments to prosecute government troops and Tamil rebels for atrocities committed during its ethnic war, a UN expert said yesterday. Ben Emmerson said Colombo’s efforts at transitional justice were at a “virtual standstill” eight years after the end of its ethnic war which had claimed over 100,000 lives. “None of the measures so far adopted to fulfil Sri Lanka’s transitional justice commitments are adequate to ensure real progress,” Emmerson told reporters in Colombo during an official visit to assess progress. “There is little evidence that perpetrators of war crimes committed by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces are being brought to justice,” said Emmerson, a UN special  rapporteur on human rights. Sri Lanka narrowly avoided sanctions when a new government came to power in January 2015 promising investigations into war-time atrocities, which the previous regime refused to even acknowledge. The new administration of President Maithripala Sirisena secured more time from the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to deliver justice, ensure reconciliation and prevent the island slipping back to ethnic strife. But Emmerson said “retrograde elements” within the armed forces and the coalition government were stalling and expressed fears of a return to ethnic conflict. “My plea to the government and the people of Sri Lanka is... not to allow the process to be diverted by retrograde elements in the security establishment and their allies in government,” he said. Sri Lankan forces were accused of killing up to 40,000 Tamil civilians during the final months of the war while defeating separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas who fought for independence. International rights groups have called the prosecution of both the military as well as the Tigers, who were known for their trademark suicide bombings and child soldiers. “The government has thus far done almost nothing to hold to account those members of the armed forces and security services who committed gross human rights violations during and since the conflict,” he said. Emmerson also called for the repeal of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). He said 12 suspects had been held under the PTA without trial for over 10 years, and another 70 had been held for over five years.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister said yesterday Buddhism will remain paramount in the bitterly divided island, seeking to head off protests led by the powerful Buddhist clergy against proposed changes to the constitution. The government announced plans last January to devolve power to provinces including in areas dominated by the country’s ethnic Tamil minority in an effort to address alienation and bury the kind of ethnic tension that led to a 26-year civil war But Buddhists who make up 70% of Sri Lanka’s 21mn people are opposed to any changes in the constitution under which Buddhism is accorded foremost position while allowing people of other faiths to practice. Sri Lanka has chosen only Buddhists to the post of president and prime minister since independence from British colonial rule in 1948. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the Buddhist character of the country would not be touched. “We are in the process of preparing the new constitution... the president and myself have agreed to maintain the priority given to the Buddhism in the constitution as it is,” Wickremesinghe told a group of Buddhist monks in Colombo. More than 75 prominent monks last week warned the government not to change the constitution or it would face consequences. Radical monk Maagalkande Sudaththa had said hardline Buddhists were mobilising Sri Lankans from the majority Sinhalese ethnic group to resist a new power-sharing arrangement being drafted by the government. “Monks are going from district to district to educate their followers about the dangers of the proposed constitution,” Sudaththa told reporters. Sudaththa is an ardent supporter of firebrand monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who is on bail after being accused of hate speech and stoking violence against Sri Lanka’s tiny Muslim population, the second largest  minority after Tamils.  The opposition, led by former president Mahinda Rajapakse, and hardline Buddhist groups have warned the government of nationwide demonstrations if the government went ahead with changes to the charter. Some opposition members have alleged that the new constitution had been drafted to please Western nations and to dilute the influence of  Buddhism. More than 100,000 people were killed in the civil war that ended in 2009 in a crushing defeat for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamils.

Sri Lanka's navy has rescued an elephant that got into difficulties after being washed out to sea, a spokesman said on Wednesday, calling it a "miraculous escape". Chaminda Walakuluge said the navy mounted the 12-hour rescue after spotting the elephant struggling to stay afloat around eight kilometres off the island's northeast coast. Divers aided by wildlife officials approached the distressed animal and tied ropes to it before towing it gently to shallow waters near the coast, where it was released late on Tuesday. Walakuluge said the animal had likely got swept into the sea while crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, a large stretch of water that lies between two areas of jungle. "They usually wade through shallow waters or even swim across to take a short cut," he said. "It is a miraculous escape for the elephant." Photos posted on the navy's website show the animal trying to keep its trunk above the water as divers approached it. The rescue came six weeks after the navy and local residents saved a pod of 20 pilot whales who became stranded in nearby Trincomalee, a natural harbour that is popular for whale watching. The waters around Trincomalee, which was used by Allied forces as a staging post during World War II, have a high concentration of blue and sperm whales, while the surrounding jungles have herds of wild elephants.

Sri Lankan Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said that the government was working on a programme to curb the spread of dengue 50% within a month. The minister said the programme would be implemented based on the recommendations of a team of experts from the WHO. The report, compiled by the team of WHO experts, on the eradication of dengue in Sri Lanka, has been handed over to the government. Dr Amal Harsha de Silva, deputy director, General of Health Services, said that the report would be presented to the cabinet today. He added that steps were being taken to only admit critical dengue patients to government hospitals in a bid to curb the influx of dengue patients at state hospitals.

Sri Lanka’s hardline monks yesterday broadened a growing campaign by the Buddhist clergy against the government, threatening street protests if the island’s Tamil minority is granted greater autonomy. Radical monk Maagalkande Sudaththa said hardline Buddhists were mobilising Sri Lankans from the majority Sinhalese ethnic group to resist a new power-sharing arrangement being drafted by the government. “Monks are going from district to district to educate their followers about the dangers of the proposed constitution,” Sudaththa told reporters in Colombo. Last week the government vowed to enshrine in law a promised power-sharing agreement in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority northern and eastern regions in exchange for a lasting peace. President Maithripala Sirisena has stated he wants to prevent a repeat of the bloody separatist war that claimed 100,000 lives on the tiny island between 1972 and 2009. The 225-member national parliament is currently drafting the legislation, but hardliners have vowed to take to the streets before the measures take effect. “About 70% of MP’s are asleep in parliament when important issues are discussed,” Sudaththa said, accusing many of them of being “uneducated.” Sudaththa is an ardent supporter of firebrand monk Galagodaatte Gnanasara, who is on bail after being accused of hate speech and stoking violence against Sri Lanka’s tiny Muslim population, the second largest minority after Tamils.  Nearly 70% of the island’s population is Buddhist and the monks, who hold huge sway, have generally opposed any political concessions to Tamils. The mounting opposition from the Buddhist clergy is seen as a challenge to Sirisena, also a Buddhist from the Sinhalese majority, who is committed to ethnic unity. Hardline Sinhalese oppose a federal system that would ensure more political power for Tamil Sri Lankans. The island’s Tamils took up arms in 1972 against what they claimed was entrenched discrimination in education and employment. These grievances expanded into a full-fledged war with the Tamil Tigers, a guerrilla rebel group, eventually controlling a third of Sri Lanka before being crushed in May 2009. The brutal suppression of the Tigers movement caught civilians in the crossfire, with government forces accused of war crimes including the murder of at least 40,000 Tamil civilians. Sirisena was elected to power partly on the back of support from Tamils, after he pledged reconciliation and promised investigations into war-time atrocities.

Three Indian fishermen were arrested and a flat bottom trawler was detained for illegally fishing in the Sri Lankan waters, the media reported yesterday. The arrests were made by Sri Lankan navy’s northern naval command ship when it was on routine patrol on Saturday, the Colombo Gazette reported. The three were engaged in bottom trawling in Sri Lankan waters, about 13Nm northwest of the Kovilam Point. The trawler was brought to Kareinagar and the fishermen were handed over to the Jaffna assistant director of fisheries for action. This comes after a series of arrests by the island nation this year, claiming that Tamil fishermen illegally entered Sri Lankan waters. Eight fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on July 6 for fishing in the island nation’s territorial waters.

Sri Lanka has sought assistance from the World Bank (WB) to conserve its wild elephant population, an official has said. Sri Lanka boasts of 6,000 wild elephants, a major tourist attraction in the island nation. W S K Pathiratne, director general, wildlife conservation department, told Xinhua news agency that another nationwide census would be conducted at the end of the year to estimate the total number of jumbos in the wild. The last was done in 2011. “We found 5,789 elephants in the wild. It is a high number. It might have increased by now,” he said. Wild elephants are scattered throughout the country. But they are found mostly in the dry zone. “With the increase of the number, the country also faces the increased incidence of human-elephant conflict. We have worked out a plan for the conservation of elephants while protecting human habitats as well,” he added. In the island nation, an elephant in the backyard has long been a sign of wealth, privilege and power. Though capturing wild elephants has been banned for decades and registration records indicate there should be only 127 elephants in captivity — most of them older — young elephants are a common sight in Sri Lanka’s 400 or so Buddhist religious processions and traditional ceremonies every year. Success of a religious procession is measured by the number of parading elephants. For Buddhists, who make up 70% of the country’s 20mn people, elephants are believed to have been servants of the Buddha.  In the last two years, the government has confiscated 39 elephants whose owners produced either false permits or none at all. Some had paid as much as $200,000 per captured animal when a previous government was in office, according to the wildlife ministry. It would suggest the authorities had either turned a blind eye to the racket or sold fake licences. The Sri Lankan elephant is one of three subspecies of Asian elephant and is found only in Sri Lanka. In the 19th century, there were believed to be up to 14,000. That number fell to fewer than 3,000 before hunting and capture were banned.