Features
The Virus, Vaccine and the Task Force
by Rajan Philips
The doctors have been saying it daily. Vaccine alone is not enough to stem the spread of Covid-19, especially the Delta variant. Doctors have been calling for greater isolation, lockdown, and even a curfew. “An immediate curfew will prevent at least 1,200 additional deaths within the next 20 days,” Prof. Suneth Agampodi, Rajarata University, is reported to have predicted. This is based on a forecasting model he has developed with two Sri Lankan colleagues at Harvard and MIT. At the present death rate there could be 3,000 deaths in 20 days. The government seems to think otherwise, and apparently believes that rapid vaccination alone is enough to achieve national immunity and end the pandemic.
Lockdowns and curfew can be measures of last resort – that is the official government position. When is that going to be? Doctors seem to think it is already time for last resort. But – trust the vaccine, spurn the doctors – seems to be the governing motto. Quite apart from the fact that you need to trust your doctor before you trust the medication, the evidence of mounting infections, deaths and hospital admissions clearly gives credence to the worries and warnings of our doctors. Why distrust them now? Why not trust the doctors, even err on the side of caution, and stop pretending to be firm in spite of evidence?
The government’s strategy to rely solely on the vaccine would have worked any time last year, when Sri Lanka was a rather fortuitous beneficiary of low infections and even lower death rates. But there was no vaccine last year. There is no question, Sri Lanka’s current vaccine rollout is truly impressive in spite of initial hiccups and political cockups. Achieving 250,000 to 500,000 doses a day is indeed remarkable. But the fact of the matter is that even if Sri Lanka were to deliver one million shots a day, that will not be enough to overtake the virus spread, let alone stop it.
Vaccine and the Virus
At about 350,000 shots a day, it will take about two weeks to fully vaccinate 10% of the population. So, optimistically it will be end of the year or early next year before Sri Lanka can achieve maximum and effective vaccination. That is a long interval to expect to keep the virus down and keep the unvaccinated out of harm’s way.
While vaccines are for the weeks and months ahead, the spread of the virus has been gathering speed over days, weeks and months gone by. While it will be some time before all adults receive their first dose, there will be time lags between the first and second doses, and additional time periods before vaccine efficacy clicks in even after full vaccination. But the virus is not going to take a break during any or all of these time intervals.
The current surges in infections and deaths are believed to have started in May/June, nearly two months ago. Mid last week, the official death total was rising to 5,500, and the infections were rising to 345,000. Some Epidemiologists are fearing that the death total may climb to 20,000 by the end of the year with daily totals reaching as high as 300. The current trends are pointing in that direction.
For almost a week now daily death total has been exceeding 100, while daily infections have remained high between 2,500 to 3,000. These are the official figures. The actual figures are considered to be three to four or five times higher. On Thursday, doctors were complaining that hospital admissions were higher than the infection numbers put out by the Ministry of Health. There you go. So, regardless of the rate of vaccination, deaths and infections are going to keep increasing. And hospitals are going to be overwhelmed, leaving both Covid-19 patients and other patients who need hospital care to stay home and fend for themselves.
There is also the question of vaccine efficacy even for those who are vaccinated. There are six authorized vaccines (AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik V, Pfizer, Sinovac and Moderna) in Sri Lanka, but mostly four of them have been used so far. Sinopharm from China is the most widely used vaccine followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca from India, Japan and the WHO. Sputnik V (Russia) has been used in limited quantities and the use of Pfizer (US and EU) started recently. A supply of Moderna is also expected from the US.
The different vaccines have different levels of efficacy – after the initial dose and the second dose. There are also differences when the same vaccine is used for both doses, and when two different vaccines are used. With the rise of the Delta variant (and the newest Columbian variant) – the concern is about the longevity of vaccine efficacy even after the two doses have been completed. All of the vaccines are known to have shown varying levels of success in minimizing the severity of illness, avoiding hospitalization, and virtually eliminating deaths due to Covid-19. But none of them are as successful in protecting the vaccinated from getting infected or from becoming sources of virus transmission.
As well, in the US, over 90% of current hospitalizations and deaths are among the unvaccinated, whereas in the UK as much as 30% of hospitalizations have been found to be among the fully vaccinated owing to the Delta variant. This is the background to the push for a third dose of vaccine in countries that have money to buy, and by vaccine manufacturers who want to keep selling to rich governments. Israel, Germany, France and lately the US have announced that a third dose of vaccine will be given to targeted groups among their citizens.
The WHO is opposed to this medical prodigality of the rich when only 1.2% of the people in low-income countries have received even a single dose. There is, however, a medical justification for a third dose for immuno-compromised people (e.g., those with transplants). Doctors in Canada have indicated that a third dose is not needed in Canada and that the Canadian government should give away its surplus vaccine supply to needier countries. There is also criticism that some of the vaccine-rich countries are holding on to their vaccines for too long and are then using the vaccine-poor countries as dumping ground for vaccines that are nearing their use-before dates.
Crucial Task Force Meeting
For Sri Lanka, it would be irresponsible to talk about a third dose. But political headline grabbers are already on to it, musing about third doses. The medical profession, on the other hand, is pleading in unison for stronger measures to ensure isolation and social distancing. That alone will deny the virus the human conduit it needs to spread and multiply. The Daily Mirror reported at the crack of dawn on Friday that “another crucial meeting” was to be held later that morning between “President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Presidential Task Force on Prevention of COVID-19 to decide if travel restrictions will be imposed over the weekend to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus.” The breaking news came as I was writing this column, so I could not have the benefit of knowing what transpired at the meeting.
But the Army Commander and Head of the COVID-19 Task Force General Shavendra Silva gave a glimpse of what could be expected from the meeting. According to Gen. Silva, the meeting will have “the participation of ministers, Director General of Health Services and several other experts to discuss the current developments and further decisions to be taken related to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.”. He went on to opine, “though experts had made statements to media over a lockdown, not a single formal request had been made to the COVID-19 Task Force.” And he added, “however, the matter is likely to be noted at the meeting today.”
Perhaps the good General, reasonable man and logistics expert he is supposed to be, should ask himself – why is NOT every shade of medical expertise appropriate to Covid-19 included in the Task Force? Then these experts and their professional organizations will have no reason to run to the media and make statements. The General should also concurrently ask those who are supposed to be medical experts on his Task Force – what they have to say about the statements to the media calling for lockdowns and curfews, by medical experts who are not on the General’s Task Force? And the General will be doing everyone in the country a transparent favour by releasing the names of all the members of the COVID-19 Task Force and the specific expertise and skill, other than patriotism and presidential loyalty, that each one of them brings to the task force forum.
It is not my purpose to pick on the army, inadvertently or otherwise, unlike Ranil Wickremesinghe. After falsely ridiculing the SJB that it had set a world record in moving a No Confidence Motion against an individual Minister instead of the whole government, Mr. Wickremesinghe landed both his feet in his mouth by appearing to be critical of the Army while meaning to criticize the government for its handling of Covid-19. He had a point in highlighting the diminished roles of parliament and cabinet government, but Mr. Wickremesinghe was inarticulate in expressing it and unnecessarily implicated the army.
(By the way, there is nothing unprecedented about moving No Confidence Motions against Prime Ministers or individual ministers in Sri Lanka or elsewhere. Ranil Wickremasinghe himself was the target of an NCM in 2018 when he was Prime Minister. His own President supported the NCM because MS could not fire RW! More prominently before RW, and always unsuccessfully, NCMs were brought against Sirima Bandaranaike as Prime Minister, and against Felix Dias and GG Ponnambalam as Ministers, but decades apart).
There is nothing to blame the army about for what it has been doing on the Covid-19 front. The army would have done what it did without a Task Force. Not surprisingly the task forces have hurt the GR presidency more than they have helped it. Even as the task forces and advisory cabals have sidelined cabinet ministers and their administrative machineries, they have also isolated the President from the structure of government of which the President is the civilian head even as he is the commander in chief of the armed forces. This has led to an artificial situation where there is nothing meaningfully mediating between the President and the 6.9 million voters who voted for him in November 2019. Other than his frequent reminders that he polled 6.9 million votes and his (not anymore) monthly village visits, there is nothing that is keeping the President connected to his larger constituency.
The Task Forces were an unnecessary invention to sideline the cabinet of ministers and render irrelevant the parliament of Sri Lanka. If the Task Forces had worked even partially, the task force system would have been acclaimed as a presidential stroke of genius. But they were doomed to fail as indeed they have. Political societies did not labour over centuries to create institutions like parliament, cabinet, taxation, banks and systems of law and order, for the dubious genius of one individual or a family of individuals to simply jettison and replace with whatever contraptions that are found to be most convenient for wielding power. What may have come as a shock to some, however, is the level of incompetence associated with the otherwise predictable failures of the government’s unorthodox enterprises in the arenas of the state.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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