Features
Establishing a self-financing Disability Studies Unit a the University of Kelaniya
(Excerpted from Memories that Linger: My journey through the world of disability by Padmani Mendis)
We had entered the last decade of the millennium. And I had aged into my sixties. I was thoroughly involved in my work, travelling extensively. Often, I would be away for eight or nine months of the year; never continuously, always coming home in between assignments. And I was tired. Long standing diabetes and knees degenerating from Osteoarthrosis were taking their toll.
So I said to my Swedish friends that I would like to have others take over and now stay at home. Kristina would have none of it. “But you can’t stop teaching,” she said, “I understand what you say. Instead of you having to travel about, we will bring students to you.” This was the first of three remarkable incidents.
At about the same time, Einar’s replacement at WHO had discussed with me the need to institutionalise Community Based Rehabilitatuin (CBR) in academia. He asked me to look for a suitable university on my travels that will be willing to initiate CBR education. This was the second incident.
The third is when, not too long after this, I received a message from the Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka, Professor M.M.J. Marasinghe, saying he would like to meet me. When we did so, he said that he would like to introduce disability as an area of interest to this university. Could I help him? Oh, could I!
A series of three coincidences. Destiny again?
I shared with the Vice Chancellor my work in CBR and my relationships with Radda Barnen, with WHO and with Uppsala University and their current thinking about the need for recognised education.
Prof. Marasinghe’s request was opportune. We could do something for sure. He brought in other faculty members for discussions. Prof. K. Tillekeratne, then Dean of the Faculty of Science was most supportive of the whole initiative. They would like to establish an educational activity in the Faculty of Medicine which was set up newly in 1991. Prof. Carlo Fonseka had been appointed its first Dean. He was invited to the discussions and was agreeable to the suggestion. This was now early January1993.
An International Delegation in Sri Lanka
One month later, a delegation of five headed by Yngve was in Sri Lanka. Others in the team were Einar’s successor in Geneva, Enrico Pupulin, Kristina Fenno from Radda Barnen, Tom Lagerwall from the Swedish Handicap Institute with whom also I had worked, and Ingrid Cornell, representing the Swedish International Development Agency which may provide financial support if the initiative was suitable.
I had arranged a programme for them to first meet Prof. Fonseka and decide on the preliminaries. With Prof. Fonseka later that morning the group met Prof. Marasinghe. In the afternoon Prof. Fonseka led the group to a long meeting with Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, who was the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, UGC. Prof. Aluwihare and Yngve got on famously, sharing much in common as experienced medical academicians.
By the end of that meeting, a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding or MOU had been reached between the UGC and the international team. This was put into a draft document to be discussed further by each side before they next met.
The core of the draft was that a Disability Studies Unit (DSU) would be established at the Faculty of Medicine, Kelaniya University. It would function directly under the Dean. Its purpose would be CBR education, research and publications both at an international level and in Sri Lanka.
As an initial activity the DSU would organise and carry out over the next two years, two international courses in CBR, each six weeks in length, each for 20 – 25 participants. Financial support would be provided by SIDA and Radda Barnen and channelled through the International Child Health Unit or ICH of Uppsala University.
Details about how this would be done were also in the draft. When asked, the Swedish delegation made one request of Prof. Aluwihare. It was that I be given responsibility for the DSU and for the two initial CBR courses. Prof. Aluwihare looked at me and we smiled.
The same group met Prof. Aluwihare the next morning with further suggestions. The draft was finalised, made ready and signed by him and Yngve.
Late that afternoon, Yngve took a flight back to Sweden. All done and dusted within two days. The other team members stayed on until Friday, meeting relevant people for discussions. More information gathering really. Included was a field visit to a CBR project. We used this project later as one of the field study areas for the international course participants.
The Disability Studies Unit is Born
And so, the DSU came into being. Prof. Fonseka asked me to come in on an informal basis to get the DSU started until I was given a formal appointment. Prof. Fonseka was Professor of Physiology and I met him in his office. On this my first day he said to me, “Padmani, it will be easiest all round if I gave you space in this department.”
He took me to a large, spacious, airy room and said, “You can have this for the DSU.” It had a desk and a chair. I was happy with that. The post of “Course Director” was soon formally advertised and three applicants were interviewed. I took up my appointment on April 26, 1993.
There were two remarkable clauses in the Memorandum of Understanding. The first was that ICH (International Child Care Unit of the Unversity of Uppsala) would meet the cost of setting up the DSU. This included all the equipment we would need. Also, the salaries of three staff for the rest of the year, at the end of which Kelaniya University was expected to take over that cost.
It was this allocation that the Faculty used to employ for us Kodi and Senevi, two of my former physiotherapy colleagues. The three of us worked together to get the course going. They then participated in the first course to learn more about CBR. They became teachers on the local courses we organised.
Before he left, Yngve had asked me to make a list of the equipment that the Disability Studies Unit, DSU, would require and fax it to him as soon as possible. He said particularly, “Don’t forget to include a vehicle for your use.”
The second remarkable clause was that the two CBR courses were arranged on a “sell-buy” basis. The DSU sold each course wholesale to ICH to buy using funds provided by SIDA and Radda Barnen. This was Yngve’s innovation, with Prof. Aluwihare’s unhesitating concurrence. The DSU arranged the residential course programme, invited and hosted resource persons, estimated the cost of the course per participant and forwarded it to the ICH at Uppsala University.
ICH selected 20 – 25 international participants and forwarded to us information about them. We made arrangements for each participant’s return travel and made sure their itinerary and travel tickets reached them in time. Each was met at the airport and brought to the course venue and residence, the Mount Royal Beach Hotel, Mount Lavinia, then under Sri Lankan ownership.
ICH paid us for all these. On the first course the participants came from 12 countries. On the second, from 14 countries. The cooperation of Thomas Cook, Colombo was memorable indeed. There were no travel hitches for any single participant. That was their achievement.
The First International Course on Community-Based Rehabilitation
Yngve attended the first course to launch the cooperation and the course. In his honour, we asked the hotel to have all the flowers in blue (manel) and yellow (araliya) flowers. The hotel was amazed, remarking that these flowers are not expensive. To us it was not the cost, but the colours and the beauty of the flowers that was important. Blue and yellow are the colours of Sweden. The hotel had gone to town and placed them all over. Making the room quite festive and beautiful. We had large flags of both countries on each side of the top table.
We arranged travel and accommodation for our international resource persons in the same way. We invited Einar to both courses. He came willingly to share both his experience and his happiness about the whole thing. Other resource persons were “Baby” Estrella from the Philippines to share her experience of disability as a wheelchair user and Joy Valdez to share hers as a CBR pioneer in the same country.
For the second course and thereafter, we invited Joy as well as Javed Abidi from New Delhi to share his experience of disability and as that of a successful activist. We also had other international resource persons for specific modules. And eminent Sri Lankans for special topics.
Sri Lankan disabled people were always invited as resource persons as soon as we could, no later than the second day. There were a few participants who had never had prior exposure to disabled people. This was not surprising – those were the times.
The First Self-Financing Unit
There was a very significant and carefully planned outcome of this sell-buy agreement. Planned by Yngve. When the DSU costed each course, we could add a percentage of the total as the cost of organising it and of running it. This was profit that we maintained in our own bank account. The Faculty though, was responsible for it and only its staff could sign cheques. We could only see the monthly statements. We followed the same practice with all the local courses that we did.
Uppsala paid us in USD. For this, we were given permission by the Central Bank to maintain a USD account at the People’s Bank NRFC branch. An exceptional approval at that time. So the DSU (Disability Studies Unit) was wealthy! But we didn’t just accumulate this wealth. We used some of our profits to run our unit. We paid our own salaries, met the costs of running our own vehicle and hiring our own driver, and of all the material we needed for the unit. All fair and square and we donated a share to the Faculty. And we invested any to spare in fixed deposits so as to add to our capital.
The DSU was a profit-making venture. It was financially independent. And it was the first self-financing unit in our university system.
The DSU was the only section in the faculty that had its own vehicle. The Dean would ask for it whenever his was not available. Other faculty members felt free to do the same. Those were the early days of computers, and we had three; we had our fax machine, own phone line, photocopier, a library and absolutely all the equipment required to run the Unit. So it was no surprise that many faculty members were often in and out of our room. It was not long therefore that the DSU became “a part” of the faculty.
When that Memorandum of Understanding ended Yngve had retired and his replacement had taken over. He had not proved himself to SIDA so our MOU could not be extended. But the purpose of the MOU was achieved. DSU was now established in the faculty. It would grow.
And grow it did with increasing demands on our work. Made possible by Prof. Fonseka’s unstinting support. We ran two more similar international courses in the next three years. One was at the request of the two WHO Regional Offices for South East Asia and for the Western Pacific. The other we organised ourselves. I had still been doing international work and travelling. The DSU had good relationships with sponsors who had sent us participants over the three years. We advertised our course to these contacts. An adequate number purchased places on our course to enable us to run it independently.
By the time we completed just the four international activities, we had reached and prepared 89 participants from 27 countries to improve in one way or another, the situations and lives of countless disabled people in their own countries.
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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