Voice Aug 2009

“VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS” Is the supplement that gives an insight on voluntary services performed by JVP members and sympathisers of the JVP using money from the fund. Our readers know that the elected JVP members of the Parliament, provincial councils, local councils and municipal councils are contributing their whole salaries and allowances into a fund which is reserved for public services.

AUGUST 2009

JVP'S CONTRIBUTION TO BADULLA

'VISHVA' COMPUTER CENTRE In a time when there is lots of discussion about information technology, rural children far from cities are reduced to merely being outside looking in. Even though the prevalent theme is about a computer technological world, it is rare that a school possesses a computer. There are private classes for computer science, but their costs are high, nigh on unbearable for a normal citizen. Also the knowledge obtained in these classes can only be utilised outside the classroom in order to amaze a computer illiterate person. This is because the objective of these classes is to train a person with a computer for self employment. If a country is to adapt to a new situation, there should be a well thought out plan for it. This is no d i f fe r e n t w h e n c o n s i d e r i n g information technology. However, what has happened up to now is that computer knowledge has been contained in only a few cities. The People's Liberation Front is a party that has understood this need well. Therefore it took steps to pool the salaries of its MPs into a fund to implement a project that would satisfy children's thirst for computer knowledge. The main objective of this project is to distribute computer knowledge among rural, financially disadvantaged children. This education is given completely free of charge. There are 5 such centres in Matara, Tissamaharama, Anuradhapura, Badulla and Kurunegala. Recently we visited the 'Vishva' Computer Centre in Badulla. The 'Vishva' Computer Centre of Bogahamaditta, Haliela was declared open on 27 March 2003. 200 students were included in the first batch of trainees. Since then, 2300 students, in 6 batches, have studied at the 'Vishva' Computer Centre, Badulla. The seventh batch, of 290 students, is

Free Food Center Orgernised by the Computer Center on the occassion of Poson full moon day ...

currently studying at the Centre. A

CURRICULUM OFFICE Introduction and Windows 6 Ms Word 6 Ms Excel 6 Ms Access 6 Ms PowerPoint DESKTOP PUBLISHING Introduction and Windows 8 Photoshop CS 8 Corel drow 12 8 Illustrator CS 8 Pagemaker 7 PROGRAMMING Introduction and Windows < Ms EXCEL < MS Access < Visual Basic

computer course which would normally cost about Rs. 4 million in the market is taught free of charge here. Not only that, but the 'Vishva' Computer Centre possesses many other special features. Its discipline is notable. The age group of the students at the Centre is between 18 35 years. Congregations of such groups can easily lead to many disciplinary complaints, within the Centre as well as from the residents of the surrounding area. However, the 'Vishva' Computer Centre offers a completely different reality. The students themselves admit that they behave in a disciplined manner. The residents of the surrounding area also attest to this. There are no outlandish rules to ensure discipline here; it is merely its culture and work ethic. The students have become familiar with this too. They do not need to be forced to do anything.

The Centre's unique features effortlessly train the students to behave in a disciplined manner. The mental image we have of a computer centre is that of a setting with a few computers and a few teachers educating students. The 'Vishva' Computer Centre is not such an institution. The students are not o n l y e d u c a te d i n c o mp u te r knowledge, they are also trained in social activity. The Poson 'dansal' held every Poson Full Moon Poya Day is a perfect example of this. The Centre aims to impart many qualities to its students, including leadership and organisational skills, and to improve the bond between students. Another feature is the annual field trip of every student batch. Their collective identity is improved and they gain a host of new experiences.

see pg V

“THESE RESOURCES ARE NOT THE PRESIDENT'S OR THE PRIME MINISTER'S. THEY BELONG TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC”

PROVIDE RICE INSTEAD OF SUGAR FOR

WELLASSA

Uva Wellassa, Bintenna, Eastern Triprovincial Sangha Nayake

will all be engulfed by the Booker Tate Company. The fate of the Sri Lankan people, who even today are subsisting on imported rice, doesn't need explaining.

Rev. Badulla Gammana Sumanasara

The recent drought in the Monaragala area caused the destruction of thousands of acres of rice paddies. The people of the area are still experiencing hardship due to this. If the Booker Tate Company and the Ministerial circus manage to cut down the Nilgala Reserve and convert it to wasteland to plant sugarcane in, what sort of outcome would that bring? People must endeavour to drive out the new invader in Wellassa.

These are our resources, the general public's resources. We cannot let them waste away to corruption. These resources and the natural wildlife belong to the public, not to the President or the Prime Minister. The government is only a guardian. Their responsibility is to protect these resources and give the opportunity for the public to utilise them. The Minister had said that this project would be implemented regardless of objections because it had the approval of the Cabinet. However we handed over a massive petition, with hundreds and thousands of signatures, to the President against this project. With the opposition of the whole province, for whose need has this project been reopened? The President promised us a discussion in 2007. Even that hasn't been granted yet. Why? 'People have not come to obtain character references, but to get Grama Niladari certification that their crops have been damaged.' It is appropriate to begin this story with this quote by retired Grama Niladari Mr. Karunaratne. He was talking about the present living conditions of the sugarcane farmers of Pelawatte. These farmers or their children have no need for character references. They have become perpetual debtors. Even if they draw more debts to plant sugarcane they do not make enough profit to repay them. Therefore they dream of 'deferring' their debts for a few more days, and thus they have to get Grama Niladari certifications that their fine crops are damaged. That certification can only stave off repayment for a few more days. However, they have no freedom from the crop debts, the debts that can never be repaid. We heard this story in Bibile, not Pelawatte. That is the speciality. Not only that, it was a warning for the future of the people of Wellassa. Uva Wellassa is a fertile agricultural and historical area. It is a medicinal garden with thousands of traditional remedies such as aralu, bulu and nelli. There is also folklore that King Buddhadasa possessed a medicinal garden in the Nilgala area. The area was named

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Wellassa because Prince Saddhatissa cultivated a hundred thousand rice paddies in the area. The war waged by King Dutugemunu against King Elara to reunite Sri Lanka was fuelled by the rice of the Wellassa area. Also, it was the people of Wellassa who took up arms against the English in the 1818 rebellion. That rebellion was crushed by the English by destroying the tanks, anicuts and rice paddies of the area, burning crops, and massacring the people of Wellassa along with their children. Wellassa is an area suffused with blood shed for standing up against invaders. It is true that Wellassa today is a financially disadvantaged area. This is because that like the English of the past, the so called 'our' rulers have not even given 'stepmother's treatment' to the people of the Wellassa area. Despite this, they are the owners of a self-sufficient economy. They cultivate in an environmentally friendly manner. After cultivating a piece of land, the next cultivation is done after about 10 years, after the scrub jungles have grown back. Therefore the land is very fertile, and there is no harm to the wildlife of the area. Wepathdeniya Yaya, Galgemullayaya, Thimbirigas Gommanayaya, Welikiula Yaya are some of those cultivated lands. A large number of responsible

If there is genuine care for the people of Wellassa by the authorities, what must be done? Not allowing the people to be turned into slaves for the Booker Tate Company, which has shown its naked greed and lust for profit through the Pelawatte Sugar Factory. Not allowing the fertile rice paddies of Wellassa which supply the country with rice to be destroyed and replaced with the giant headache collection that is sugarcane cultivation. They must instead take steps to improve the people's quality of life.

officials of our country, whether due to gained knowledge or the needs of politicians, do not know of this pattern of cultivation. Therefore they, and political heavyweights, complain that farmers destroy the land, waste it, and do not utilise it properly. They do not stop at complaining, and prepare to save the land from 'ignorant farmers', cultivate sugarcane on it, and to 'harvest the bounty of the land.' The experience of the farmers of Pelawatte pointed out by Mr. Karunaratne starts to become the fate of the people of Uva Wellassa. Since the sugarcane cultivation project has received Cabinet approval, Minister Dharmadasa Banda has stated that it will go ahead regardless of any objections. Due to this statement the Minister was, for the first time, subject to the opposition and ridicule of the people of his own area. A more important question was posed by the Chief Incumbent of the Nagala Raja Maha

Viharaya. Since the people of Uva Wellassa have emphasised that they do not want to become slaves of the Booker Tate Company, and this opposition was included in the petition of the Uva Wellassa Human Rights Protection Front that was signed by all the farmers of the area, why the strenuous effort to ensure the cultivation of sugarcane? If the people of Uva do not want it, who does? The answer to his question is clear. The residents of the village supplied more than enough information to us. This political authority is the one that cleared a priceless 500 acres of the Nilgala Forest for pineapple cultivation. Not one pineapple has been cultivated, and ancient trees were all felled and sold.

A twig on the forest floor of the Gal Oya Reserve is not allowed by the officials to be used as firewood. However, when the political authority ordered the felling of kumbuk trees from the same area, no officials were able to challenge the authority. The same officials built a tank in the Athugala area. The tank wasn't even large as a field. The locals point out that this tank, not even sufficient for a cow to drink from, necessitated the felling of all valuable trees in the surrounding area. Therefore it is clear that the purpose of the tank was not to aid cultivation. When all the above mentioned facts are considered, the fate of the 65,000 acres allocated from the Nilgala Reserve is not difficult to predict. To cultivate sugarcane, a completely deforested land area is needed. That is the fate of the priceless 65,000 acres of the Nilgala Reserve. The people of Wellassa are struggling to change

that outcome. The average time for an aralu fruit to mature from the tree is 75 years. Hundreds and thousands of such trees are on the verge of being destroyed due to the threat of the sugarcane. Even if billions of rupees are spent, such a massive medicinal forest cannot be re-grown. Therefore even economically, this is a massive resource. Such a massive resource is about to be destroyed for a pittance. Not only that, the whole agriculture of the Uva Wellassa area is under threat. The water feeding area of the Senanayake Samudraya is to be completely destroyed for the sugarcane cultivation. Madura Oya, Kerawala Oya, along with a large number of other tanks, are about to be destroyed. When a hundred thousand rice paddies were cultivated, a suitably gigantic irrigation system was also implemented. A large number of small tanks are scattered throughout the Wellassa area. They

The government that implemented a plan to ship oranges from Pakistan and distribute them to the whole country cannot implement a plan to distribute oranges grown in Bibile to a few traders in Colombo. They have no plan to transport chillies grown there to the markets. They have no plan to bring limes that rot under their trees without purchase to the markets. They have no plan to distribute grains to people who like them. The government that pays millions of rupees to India for importing ayurvedic medicine doesn't have a plan to bring medicines grown in Uva Wellassa to ayurvedic medical centres. They have no plan to utilise fruits that uselessly rot under trees, fruits that could generate a large amount of foreign exchange if utilised and marketed properly. How can it be assumed that the tanks and reservoirs of the Wellassa area will be reconstructed, its agriculture supported, and its people rejuvenated? In short, there is no plan to develop the Uva Wellassa region or to improve people's lives.

However, they have more than enough plans to turn the proud people of Wellassa into slave labourers for multinational corporations. They have more than enough determination and conspiracies to betray by not listening to their voices the people who endeavour to prevent the attempts to make them slave labourers, who demand freedom and rights. The government measured land in the Bibile for the Booker Tate Company claiming that farmers will be given two acres each. The government has enough plans like that to mislead the public. They have enough plans to fell and sell the extremely valuable ancient trees of the nature Reserve. The mechanism in operation here is nothing else but a new colonisation plan. Since the world is at a stage where countries cannot be directly subjugated, imperialists have utilised an approach of controlling those countries' economies and controlling the political mechanism through that. Imperialists put into motion a variety of plans to destroy our agriculture for that purpose. Through steps such as the Water Management Act and replacing paddy cultivation with tobacco plantations they tried to accomplish this. By this, the imperialists hope to weaken our economy, lure us into a giant debt trap and to snatch our valuable resources. What is being offered to the people of Wellassa is that cup of poison sweetened with sugar. It is the whole country's responsibility to decide whether they should be sacrificed to that. This situation should change, and should be changed. The people who supplied the food for King Dutugemunu's war effort, and sacrificed their lives for the rebellion of 1818 are being turned into slave labourers. The endeavour against this should be given life, and support. If that does not take place, the youth of Wellassa will not go to the Grama Niladaris for character references. They would instead go and ask for aid. They would ask for crop damage certification from Grama Niladaris to stave off debt repayment. They will be jailed for not being able to repay a small debt. No one except politicians drunk on wealth and power lust would like to see such a fate befall the people of Wellassa. However, dislike alone is not sufficient. Action is needed. see page V

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AUGUST 2009 ³ OUR STRENGTH – FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE From pg III

AMPARA

WATER SUPPLY PROBLEM UNCORRECTED FOR 50 YEARS SOLVED BY JVP'S INTERVENTION

Comrade Sarath Vidanagama Bibile Local Council Member, JVP Even a seed thrown away takes root in this land. This was called Adam's Garden by the English because of this. Sugarcane cultivation would ruin this land. People would become slave labourers, and thus they're opposed to it. The JVP is giving leadership to this opposition. Any other party would ignore this issue and not represent the people. In spite of this we have taken the people's side and have joined their endeavour with them. Until the people of Uva Wellassa have victory we are not stopping.

Sarath Kumara Lawyer, Deputy Secretary, Uva Wellassa Human Rights Protection Front A problem that remained unsolved for more than 50 years for people of the coconut cultivation colony of Ampara is on the way to resolution due to the introduction of a water distribution project implemented by the intervention of the People's Liberation Front. About 300 families currently live in the colony, and the lack of drinking water had been a major problem for them. The residents complain that even though they have explained their difficulties to various political figures over the years, none of them paid attention to it. Therefore they From pg I

had decided to tell the JVP of their need, they informed 'Janatha Handa.' In reply, JVP Member of Parliament for the Ampara District comrade Vasantha Piyatissa put this problem to the Parliament's Advisory Committee of Water Supply, and secured a grant of Rs. 11,500,000 to implement this project. Shown in the photograph is the occasion of the unveiling of the memorial plaque in handing over the project to the general public by comrade Vasantha Piyatissa.

JVP'S ...

We are opposing this project because we are certain that it is headed for failure. We have the experiences of Sewanagala, Pelawatte. We have the experiences of declines in all fields including economical, social and cultural sectors. The Uva Wellassa area possesses a self secure economy. We will not let it be destroyed and generational farmers be slave labourers of a multinational corporation.

M. K. Karunaratne Retired Grama Niladari I worked at the Madulla area of the Pelawatte sugarcane cultivation. The Booker Tate Company was responsible for that. The farmers cultivated sugarcane by drawing loans. At the end the farmers, being unable to repay their debts, came to get Grama Niladari certification that their crops were damaged, not for character references. Those certifications were used to delay debt repayment. Sugarcane cultivation only brings people difficulties.

R. A. Jayaratne Treasurer, United Farmers Association, Bendiyawa. We were told to accept compensation and move away from our land, and to come to the General Secretariat office to discuss it. We told them that if they want to, to visit our village and witness our hardship. We didn't go to the office. We know how compensation is distributed. Ultimately we are going into the fire from the frying pan. 12 families of the village have been told to relocate. At a WORKSHOP... Another more impor tant feature is that all instructors at the 'Vishva' Computer Centre work voluntarily, without drawing a salary, providing a valuable example. Many of the current teachers at the Centre are previous alumni of the Centre itself, which is a very laudable feature. In a society that has trained people to charge for any gained knowledge or technical expertise, to teach the students of the same Centre that they learnt from, especially free of charge, is

a significant sacrifice by the instructors. If there is any place that has advanced the example of voluntary work more than any other, it is the 'Vishva' Computer Centre. A large percentage of students that studied at the Centre are employed in the information technology sector. They have built their careers and their lives based on this. That is probably the most special victory of the 'Vishva' Computer Centre.

Upul Weeraratne - Bendiyawa

The whole village is against this project. No one likes to cultivate sugarcane on Uva Wellassa farmland. The plan has apparently been stalled because of this opposition. However we know that it has not stopped. We will not let the Booker Tate foreigners ruin our fertile land.