On the alert

At the time of writing these comments a Norwegian Embassy spokesman had denied to The Island reports appearing in other newspapers yesterday that the Norwegian government special representative, who is acting as a facilitator in the Sri Lankan dispute, was scheduled to arrive yesterday. Whether Mr. Eric Solheim, the Norwegian representative, will arrive soon or his arrival is being kept under wraps for reasons unknown, time will reveal.

It is now about two months since Mr. Solheim met LTTE leader Prabakaran in the Wanni and proclaimed that Prabakaran was willing to engage in negotiations with the Sri Lanka government without any pre-conditions being laid down. The contradictory statements made by the LTTE in London as well as the unilateral declaration of a cease-fire have blown away the pretext of no conditionalities.

The Sri Lanka government, at least now wise to the ways of the LTTE, has not accepted the unilateral declaration of a cease-fire. Since then the Sri Lanka government forces have gone on the offensive and claim to have recaptured large areas of the Jaffna peninsula.

The impression has been created in Colombo that the LTTE is militarily weakened and is on the retreat. However military analysts point out that the terrorists having broken through the Wanni, captured Elephant Pass, swept up North and was halted only on the outskirts of Jaffna. Whether they have suffered a great debacle in terms of men and equipment is hard to tell because of the blanket military censorship still on. The only information that can be published are official versions and yesterday the state-controlled Daily News carried a report of the Special Media Information Centre warning newspapers about 'seditious reports'.

While news from the 'warfront' is under censorship, news from the 'peace front' is nil either because there is no news about peace or because of the secrecy maintained about negotiations, if any.

There are pressures being exerted on the government both internally such as by Sri Lankan Tamil parties and political groups as well as by western powers to accept the cease-fire and commence negotiations. The government has rightly said that once negotiations commence, the modalities of a cease-fire can be worked out. Whatever the pressures being exerted by western donor nations may be to bring about a negotiated settlement soon, the government cannot afford to relax either at the negotiating table or on the battlefield. That has been learnt from experiences gained in the last 18 years.

The posture of a weakened LTTE on the battlefield may be only a feint. Mullaithivu, Pooneryn are debacles from which much could be learnt. The tragic events now taking place in Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and other parts of Israel demonstrate that despite the most powerful and influential facilitators and/ or mediators, unless the two parties are determined to resolve their differences the age old problems will continue to simmer.

A mobile traffic police

Today, even in the clogged roads of Colombo, an errant motorist, be he an owner driver, taxi driver, bus driver or three wheeler driver can get away with any offence unless they are committed right before a policeman on the curb.

This is perhaps why traffic offences are committed with gay abandon.

Most of the traffic policemen are seen on curbs waiting to nab an errant motor cyclist without a helmet or a motorist jumping the amber light while a huge bus belching black diesel fumes that engulf the guardian of the road laws, can career away. Motorcyclists, bus drivers and three wheeler drivers can even flout any law before a policeman on the curb. Either the policeman does not care or is incapable of apprehending the offender because he does not have a vehicle.

Even motorised traffic policemen prefer to park their vehicles and await an 'easy cop' such as a motorist jumping the amber light. Motorised traffic cops are seen more often than not picking up and dropping their family members from office or school on their official vehicles than being engaged in mobile patrols.

It's time the traffic police were motorised to catch errant motorists committing offences while on the move.

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