Monday, December 31, 2007

Maximum City. Bombay lost and found. Suketu Mehta. Gangsters. Bar dancers. Jain monks



A must read book despite its expatriate overtones. Suketu Mehta gives a detailed description of extremities of the City of Bombay and how they coexist. His amazing stories take the reader through the worlds of gangsters, bar dancers, jain monks etc seamlessly. The book gives crystal clear insights on how the sociopolitical fabric is inter-woven with fantasies, mafia, violence, racism and terrorism in Bombay, which is more or less common in almost all the third world cities at different scales. I wish I had read this book before going to Bombay for the Urban Changes project in July.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Health. the State. Care. Regulator. the Poor. Privatisation





“ The overall emphasis of the state policy is on the social justice and equity, economic well-being and individual rights. The overall policy of the state, particularly with regards to health and social welfare, has remained fairly consistent and stable, despite the changes of government and political structures. As a result, the process of health services development has continued over the years, resulting in improved health status.
“ As a result of the pursuance of the social welfare-oriented state policy over the five decades, Sri Lanka has outstanding achievements in literacy and health status of its people. The overall economic policy of the government is being increasingly oriented towards free market mechanisms, aiming at improving efficiency as well as preserving achievements in equity, economic well being and individual rights. The process of disinvesting public enterprises has been on for quite sometime. The government policy in health is to promote harmonious growth of both public and private sectors in order to widen people’s choice in seeking care and ease out increasing burdens on government health institutions.

World Heath Organization (WHO)
http://www.searo.who.int/EN/Section313/Section1524_10875.htm

………………………………………………

GMOA (Government Medical Officers Association) and other experts point out repeatedly the systematic deterioration of the state health system. Today the poorest of the poor seek the assistance of the state medical care. In most cases, even for them, medical officers at the state institutions have to prescribe drugs, which have to be purchased externally. Those who can afford private health services in a slightest possible way would opt for it. Until today, state has failed to make a system in which free and paid medical services co-exist. Such a carefully designed resource allocation and generation model would have been able to utilize resources of the state medical system more efficiently and profitably to generate funds to provide the needy a free and quality service. On the other hand it would have been able to provide medical sector experts an opportunity to earn extra income within the state sector, which would have invariably generated more loyalty and passion to serve towards the state sector. Successive governments’ laissez-faire attitude towards the emerging monopoly of private hospital giants has hindered innovative and modern practices and initiatives within the state medical sector. Though the state has established regulatory body for telecommunication (Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has been entrusted to regulate the banking sector, it is surprising that the sate has made no attempts to establish a regulatory body to safeguard the interests of the patient (the customer) and the health sector in an era where the health sector services are been privatized at a phenomenal rate. (Nor have they formed such bodies for education and transport – the two sectors that are being privatized at its fullest force.). Ideally Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) should have been entrusted to regulate the health industry to safeguard the interests of the patient (the customer), the industry and all other stakeholders.



Wednesday, December 26, 2007

One who sang rhymes


One who sang rhymes rustles Whitney Houston
One who crawled on the mat spins the ball
One who fell asleep to fairy-tales scribbles the scripts
Ones who witnessed all that are counting greys in the mirror now.

~ Namorihs
(for Amanda, Ruchinda and Milith)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Wannyala-aetto (Vedda community) the indigenous people of Lanka. Struggle. Land grab. Being driven out. Dispossessed of land and livelihood

In the dim waste lands of the orient stands
The wreck of race old and vast
That the greyest legend cannot lay hands
On a single fact of its tongueless past

~ R L Spittel (1882~1969)

Dr. R. L. Spittel was a surgeon, an anthropologist, wildlife conservationist and author.

..........................................................

I made a few visits to meet Lanka's indigenous people or the Wanniyala-aetto (commonly known as the Veddha people). Talking to the Chief several times was in deed a great privilege in my life. I am thankful to the Explore Sri Lanka for publishing (un edited) my subsequent photo feature titled 'Hunters without a Forest' and accompanying text by Nilvala Vijayasiri.

The Chief told me ...

"I want others to recognise us as a distinct people and allow us to live in the land we have been living for generations over a period of 30,000 years. I want our existence to be recorded so that future generations will know that a distinct people of this nature existed. Successive leaders of the country would have launched development schemes probably in good faith. But the effects of all those were disastrous to us. In every instance they came to us to discuss only after the project was implemented. By that time the damage was done and important decisions had already been taken."

~ Chief Uru Warige Wanniya, 8 December 07, Dambane, Sri Lanka

In Dambane



Chief Uru Warige Wanniya (the photo above). A dignified man. An intelligent leader. A man who is aware of change and a man who demands recognition for a people who has a rightful claim for the land where they have been living for over 30,000 years.





In a letter to the President, United Nations Working Group on Indigenous People (UNWPIP), which held its 14th session in 1996, urged the Government of Sri Lanka to recognise and respect the rights of the Wanniyala-aetto to maintain their traditional subsistence and live according to their culture. The working group has also urged the Government to "cease all acts of repression."

Address of the Chief Uru Warige Wanniya to the UN

United Nations Working Group on Indigenous People (UNWGIP) 14th session held in Geneva, 1996

“We come here to join in the work of the Working Group on Indigenous population by contributing to the review of developments considering the diverse situations and aspirations of the world's indigenous peoples.

“We draw your attention to the land of Sri Lanka and of the specific condition of our people, the Wannyala-aetto. Most indigenous participants here are familiar with the Sinhalese and the Tamil populations of our country but little is said about us, the first occupants of the island. Archaeological estimates link our ancestry in Sri Lanka as far as 130,000 years ago or possibly even 500,000 years before presence.

“On November 9, 1983 the central government of Sri Lanka turned the last of our forest territory into a national park, he Maduru Oya National Park, and thereby transformed us from being hunters and gatherers into poachers. Our traditional way of life, became a criminal offence in the eyes of the English Common Law, a law from a foreign country that we do not understand. We were driven out of our traditional homeland to flat rice-fields, labeled “System C”, in the language of the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project. Our last hunting grounds comprising about 51,468 hectares was designated a combined “catchment area” for a gigantic hydroelectric cum irrigation project, the Mahaweli Development Project and a Forest and Wildlife Reserve. At the present time our numbers have dwindled to approximately 2000 individuals and until 13 years ago we maintained a continuity of our hunting-gathering/ swidden-fallow cultivation subsistence.

“We, the Wannyala-aetto, which means forest-beings are not allowed to remain in the forest. The national park regulations proscribe people from hunting, picking flowers, collecting honey, lighting a camp fire, much less allowing anyone to live in the park.

Instead, development programme villages awaited us with schools, shops, health clinics, “proper” clothes, i.e. English school uniforms for our children to go to Sinhalese schools, Buddhist temples and modern means of communication. Two and a half acres of irrigable land was allotted to each family. Two acres was for cash cropping and the remaining half acre was for domestic consumption. We were expected to learn to become agriculturalists and live in a “civilized” way, have a “civilized” language and religion. For the first two years, we were provided with free material to resettle. We received artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hybrid seeds to cultivate, and we obtained Triposa (a nutritious mixture of three kinds of flour), Lux soap (with a nice white lady on the wrapping paper), and milk powder. Implied was the promise that this would be an everyday reality for us in the new resettlement village if they moved and abandoned our ancient lifestyle. We were expected to move from the tropical forest to the “rehabilitation villages” by free will. The government says no one was forced. If “force” is armed forces, the statement cannot be argued. We had the choice to stay on, in the remaining land bordering the dams. The risk however of flooding during the monsoon rains was a threat to consider. We were not allowed to live off the land. Furthermore, no person is allowed to enter the National Park, except for the purpose of observing the fauna and flora, according to the Fauna and Flora Ordinance. We are arrested, imprisoned and brought to courts if we go inside. There are electric fencing, barriers, and national park guards armed to shoot if we trespass the borders.

Our relationship with our environment is changing. We were the custodians of the jungle throughout generations. Now the jungle is no longer ours and we do not feel responsible for its maintenance. A “Grab and Run” philosophy has developed. We sneak inside, kill what we can get and then run outside again. We would not do that before. We were taught not to kill an animal drinking water, because we all need to drink water. We would not kill a pregnant mother - a deer, a sambhur or another pregnant animal. We would not kill a four-legged mother giving milk to her small ones. The very land we, the Wannyala-aetto, shared with other beings (-aetto) is also shared by our ancestor forefathers, gods and goddesses and forest spirits. We are now alienated from them. Our very name, the Wannyala-aetto have no meaning if we cannot live in the forest. Because of the 1983 prohibition of maintaining our traditional subsistence new diseases appear. Since we cannot collect honey we have to add sugar to our diet. My own son is one of the first cases of diabetes in our community. Obesity, is another problem, and with that, high blood pressure. Since foraging is forbidden, we cannot track game for days and days as we did before. We cannot exercise the same physical hard work as we did before 1983. Alcoholism has also gradually penetrated into our society. You who were with us during the Preparatory Meeting at the World Council of Churches this year may have noted there were three of us here. Today we are only two. With the permission of my brother-in-law, Una Pana Warige Sudu Bandiya, I am sharing with you the reason why he is not present at this presentation. He has been introduced to alcohol by unscrupulous outsiders. They offered him the opportunity to forget about his helplessness and grim future by the temporary relief of alcohol. I was not aware of how far the disease had taken him when I asked him to join me to this WGIP-meeting. My brother-in-law is suffering from strong withdrawal symptoms.

The frustration of the futility in managing our own way of life expresses itself also in another way. 'Madness' falls upon us. These are bad spirits that possess us. To cure this we perform healing ceremonies where most of our society members cooperate. We give the sick person care and attention and we visit him/her often to give strength. The healing ceremonies have increased considerably only during the last year. Analysts say this may be a sign of a society in disintegration, dying from the inside, a destruction of the foundation of our beings, the Wannyala-aetto. By the loss of the jungle and our subsistence we can no longer call ourselves Wannyala-aetto, the forest-being and we have come here to find a solution to this. We want to survive not only as a people but also as a culture.

The solution to our problem and those of other indigenous people in similar situations is very simple; let us go back to our traditional land, specifically the Maduru Oya National Park. Those of us who recognize our need to return as the only answer for our survival as the Wannyala-aetto should at least be given the opportunity to do so. We are not members of the majority people, we are not Sinhalese, neither Tamils nor are we criminals. We are simply a humble people attempting to remain true to who we are.

For the indigenous and non-indigenous participants at this WGIP meeting who would like to support our cause, we ask you to sign a resolution to the government of Sri Lanka. Your support will be greatly appreciated. The list will be ready later today.
We will also give a slide presentation about our culture in room XXII on Thursday at 3-4 p.m. We wish to welcome you to attend our presentation. Thank you for your kind attention.

Resolution of Indigenous participants to the 14th session of the united Nations Working Group on indigenous peoples in support of the Wannyala-Aetto (Veddahs), indigenous people of Sri Lanka


In Hennanigala




Photo above : Mutubanda (L) and Sudubanda (R)

I met some people who had been driven out from their land when Maduru Oya National Park was being set up. Chief Uru Warige Wanniya has referred to this land grab in his speech at UNWGIP in 1996 in Geneva. What I saw was sad. It is sad. And truly sad. What I saw created in me not only sadness but also a guilt. According to Uru Warige Sudubanda (47), 227 families have been removed and “settled” in Hennanigala. Sudubanda is “married” with 4 daughters. He raises cattle like some other 28 families who also have been removed while others found various means of living which were far remote from their traditional life style. They raise their cattle collectively. In talking to me, they were not at all emotional in words but were matter of fact. “We were promised with a land in which we could gather bee honey and wild meat. You can see the land we got. Each family is given 3 acres for both paddy and other crops. To cultivate this kind of a land one needs to have so many other things including know-how and money. We like the jungle. We want to live there”. Sudubanda was determined. Herath Mudiyanselage Mutubanda whose mother was an indigenous woman and the father, a Sinhalese, said, they were removed from their land some 23 years ago. Two or three years later “we went back to our land but were forcibly driven out again” Mutubanda said. The generation that was born and bred in Hennanigala appeared rootless or lost while the older generation sounded uprooted and bitter. Younger ones show clear shyness in discussing their origins. However, my brief encounters, I believe, were not enough to come to a conclusion on the sentiments of those. I felt, nonetheless, that there is a vast vacuum to be filled in terms of welfare of this community. A great responsibility lies in our hands in shedding light on this community which is subject to repression and in persuading lawmakers to come up with a suitable legal framework where Wanniyale-aetto could again live freely.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Water. Joy

Sorabora wewa

Nilvala, Amanda, Ruchinda and Milith







Ulhitiya waters


Cool Clear Water

Many a time i walked
A well beaten track
In my search for water
Cool clear water
It was hot and dry
The sun hung high
When i searched for water
Cool clear water
Mischief', the blue healer and i
Searched low and high
So we could taste the water
Cool clear water
The creek we found
Low in the ground
We bathed ourselves with water
Life giving water
Cool clear water
Death will come with the setting sun
Without the taste of water
Cool clear life giving water
Cool clear water
When life began and did arise
From the embrace of water
Cool clear water
Cool clear water

Allan James Saywell (2007)

Monday, December 3, 2007

Comfort zone. Art of Anoli







This is Anoli's (Perera) exhibition at Teertha Red Dot Art Gallery, a gallery as Jagath Weerasinghe put it at its inauguration run by artists for the artists. I had the opportunity of seeing all 5 exhibitions of the series. This is the Fifth exhibition of the "Theertha Pradarshana Wasanthaya".

Comfort zone opened at Red Dot Gallery (36 A, Baddegana Road South, Pitakotte on Sunday, 2th December 2007 at 6.30 pm) The exhibition will remain open from 3rd to 21st of December 2007.

4th exhibition - 
Pradeep Chandrasiri - Remembering violence to write a personal history
3rd exhibition - 
Sanath Kalubadana Exhibition - Love that can't be expressed: The war, the soldiers and the momories in everyday life
2nd exhibition - Rohan Amarasinghe - The 'Monologue' that craves to be a 'Dialogue'
1st exhbition - 
Anura Krishantha Exhibition - The Kitsch and the Expressive

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Le petit matin


Enroute to Kiriella


Godakawela


Enroute to Madampe


Udawalawe tank

Within this week I passaged through these landscapes in the early hours of day in different parts of the island on my photographic traveling.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Dissanayake and Hinniappuhami. Wanders



I met these two men : Dissanayake (L) and Hinniappuhami (R), yesterday in Tanamalwila. Chatted with them. Dissanayake is 58 years and Hinniappuhami is 70 years. Former is disabled. Latter pushes the wheel chair. Dissanayake belives that his disability is a result of misadministration of a drug (injection) at a private hospital in Colombo. He was a stone sculptor and can no longer work. His wife has died 8 years ago and he found himself with no support. “My four children do not care for me. The only way to survive is to go from place to place collecting daily expenses."  The duo would go to places where there are religious festivals. They were enroute to Panadura where they are originally from after staying some time in Kataragama. I asked about a tattoed name on the forearm, “it is my eldest daughter. No sooner she was born I got this tattoo done” Dissanayake said. Hie eyes were wet when he remembered his wife with deep affection… “had she been alive, I wont be begging like this”.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Chandrasena. Micro hydro power plant. Only 54% have access to electricity








Photography takes me to great people and amazing places. Am grateful. Chandrasena is married and is a father of two daughters. His ancestors lived in Bambaragasyaya (Ella) for generations. Electricity was a problem as it was a difficult terrain. Bambaragasyaya is blessed with pristine water streams and a small fall. Villagers make their livelihood on agriculture – mainly paddy cultivated with water from the fall. Still there are remains of a wooden anicut built by his ancestors. Being acutely aware of the need to preserve water, Chandrasena started a campaign of forest re-plantation using native plants. He had the chance of meeting a gentleman who mooted the idea to build a micro hydro power plant. That was the beginning. Chandrasena went ahead with organising to form a society : Bambaragayaya Swashakti Viduli Sangamaya. Members of the society were villagers. They managed to obtain recognition for it and to secure funds from UNDP (larger portion) and the Provincial Council. The Society’s contribution was by way of labour. Work commenced in 2003. Distribution of power began in 2005. The power plant now generates 9.5 killo watts of 230 volts electricity through out the day. Thirty eight families are served by the plant. Members pay a flat rate of Rs 200 (approx USD 2) per month for their electricity usage, which is not metered. Those who do not use appliances like refrigerators pay only Rs 150 (approx USD 1.5). There are around 5 families of this category. The contribution by members comes to around Rs 7000 (approx USD 70) per month and of it Rs 5000 (USD 50) goes to the society's savings account while the other Rs 2000 (approx USD 20) is for maintenace and Chandrasena’s caretaker fee. “We have all the more reason to look after the forest up there now” Chandrasena told me.

.........................................................................

Energy in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a population of 19 million people, of whom approximately 75 per cent live in rural areas. It is estimated that only about 54 per cent of the population has access to electricity, meaning that around 2 million households lack access to electricity from the grid. The household electrification rate in Sri Lanka ranges from 28 per cent to 36 per cent despite the fact that rural electrification programmes began over half a century ago. Meanwhile, power demand in Sri Lanka is growing at over 8 per cent per year and the central electricity board is unlikely to be able to keep up with demand. There are 300,000 off-grid households who use power from car batteries that are charged from grid supplies, and this gives some indication of the large amount of unmet demand for electricity. The use of traditional 
grid-based approaches to meet the rural electricity demand has become increasingly expensive as lines are extended to dispersed populations and fossil fuel costs have continued to increase.

(courtesy : Series 5: Programme 9 (of 9) - 'A Switch in Time' by www.tve.org)