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Giving what's due to Dew

Government's efforts to pilot Sri Lanka into a future of peace and reconciliation are bound to be greatly strengthened with the appointment of Sri Lanka Communist Party stalwart Dew Gunasekera to the position of Constitutional Affairs Minister.

This appointment could be considered a crowning achievement for Dew who has played a significant role in the post - independence political evolution of Sri Lanka, at particularly its stormy moments.

A leading light of the Left movement of this country, Dew Gunasekera has stood by the Communist idealogy through thick and thin. In the J. R. Jayewardene years when the flood gates were opened to our multifarious ills - including the wasting ethnic conflict - Dew Gunasekera was the only Communist Party member of Parliament, having succeeded the mercurial Sarath Muttetuwegama in the House, on the untimely demise of the latter.

It was left to Dew to champion the cause of ethnic peace and justice on behalf of the Communist Party in Parliament. Numerous were the occasions when his was a lone voice.

Earlier, when the catastrophic ethnic riots broke out in Sri Lanka in 1983, the Communist Party, among other predominant Left formations, suffered political persecution at the hands of the then UNP government, of the most repressive kind.

They along with the JVP were accused of fomenting the riots, forcing the latter and some leading members of the Left movement to go underground. Dew was among several of those who were incarcerated on false charges.

The kind of sterling stuff Dew is made of was proved when he helped a fellow detainee - who was identified as a UNP - to draft a petition in English to the government of the day, pleading for his release. The petition had the desired effect when the UNPer was set free. But Dew continued to languish in detention for much longer.

Fresh opportunities to serve the cause of justice and ethnic peace came Dew's way with the PA electoral victory in 1994. The Communist Party under his stewardship not only helped in launching the peace process but in also shaping the draft constitution of the year 2000.

Active support for the peace effort came from the Rupavahini Corporation which was headed at that time by Dew Gunasekera. In fact his tenure as chairman has been the longest to date.

Dew followed this up with a memorable stint as Official Languages Commissioner. It speaks volumes for his capabilities that he was retained in this position by the UNP regime of 2001.

Dew's tenure of Commissioner was marked by an eager enthusiasm by the Commission to give practical effect to the country's official languages policy.

Dew, therefore, makes a comeback at another epochal moment when the peace process needs to be earnestly pursued. We wish him all the wisdom and strength for this great undertaking.

Food security

The Food Summit held in 1996 ended with a pledge to reduce the number of undernourished people by half by 2015. This is an ambitious goal by an any standards, as there are many hurdles in the way.

These hurdles and challenges were discussed at length during last week's Asia Pacific food security talks in Beijing. A projected scarcity of food is a worrying prospect for Asia, the world's most populous continent.

Asia Pacific agriculture ministers participating in the talks generally agreed that global progress in reducing the number of under-nourished people seemed to have stalled. Their consensus was that international cooperation was essential to ward off hunger.

For example, all countries in the Asia-Pacific region must engage in rice research and share information on breakthroughs. Higher-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of paddy could help all countries release bigger stocks of rice to the market at affordable prices.

Asian countries should also focus on the sustainable management of their agricultural resources, prevention of plant and animal diseases (ex: Chicken flu), research and development, storage and processing techniques for crops, better transport/distribution systems and food safety, among others.

Sri Lanka, being primarily an agricultural nation, must be actively involved in these efforts. The farmer, not bureaucrats working in air-conditioned offices, must be involved in the decision-making process.

He should be at the centre of various steps being taken to develop agriculture. It is thus heartening to note that the new government has taken steps to restore the fertiliser subsidy. This will help bring down production costs by some extent.

The development of irrigation and water management facilities, the provision of advice and expertise, the ready availability of credit facilities and a mechanism to handle excess production are other areas which the authorities should look into.

The present food aid and trade systems leave a lot to be desired, with developed countries having the advantage. Farmers are subsidised heavily in some developed regions, which means that Third World countries are generally unable to export their products at profitable prices after production costs are taken into account.

There is a dire need for fair and equitable trade. The issue of food security concerns the whole world, not just the Asia Pacific. The world has a limited extent of arable land and agricultural resources. Managing these effectively with an eye on the future will be essential if malnutrition is to be eradicated on a global scale.

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