A timely call

The call made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a Global Food Crisis Fund during his address to the World Food Summit in Rome is a timely one given the present food crisis that is sweeping the continents not even sparing the developed world.

What is significant in this call is idea mooted to draw in all State as well as non State actors to contribute to this fund.

The President said "the Fund will have contributions from all countries and all business organisations and transcend geo political boundaries and from Financial institutions, arms manufacturers and philanthropists of the world among others."

The mention of arms manufacturers certainly is significant given their efforts concentrated on the destruction of human lives when their munificence could lead to saving the lives millions from starvation. The Fund could snowball in no time if even a fraction of this blood money is donated to the cause.

The President proposed a fund handling mechanism that would give priority to the countries whose food security is seriously threatened. It is vital that a body such as the UN take charge of the fund to ensure the fair distribution of resources.

The proposed Fund could also help break down many barriers that exist between states ideological or otherwise, the joint sharing resources would engender. It would also open avenues for trade and other areas of mutual cooperation between States leading to global peace.

A common fund of this nature would also bring countries together to engage in matters of common interest. Therefore what the President has proposed is a far reaching move that would serve the cause of unifying nations.

However a common Fund alone would not rid the world from food crises in the near future and thereafter. This is why President Rajapaksa spoke of protecting all cultivable land as against their use for the development of biofuel which the developed countries are pursuing in a frenzy to fight off the recurrent fuel crises.

The President said in his address "in the prevailing competition between food and fuel Sri Lanka is firm in the decision that no land that can be used for food will be used for biofuel whatever the commercial attraction may be".

He noted that food for the people should have the highest priority and not the running of gas guzzling vehicles.

This is in tune with the President's oft repeated call for sustainable development where a balance would be struck between development needs and the protection of the environment.

Today being World Environment Day it would be useful if this observation of the Lankan Head of State literally provides food for thought to world leaders at this World Food Forum. For serious damage to the environment is continuing apace in the name of development and progress without a thought spared for the unborn generations.

Already warnings have been made by experts on the effects of global warming and the El Nino factor which had seen a large depletion of natural resources and climatic abberations.

Today one often reads of retreating glaciers, depleted life span of ice on lakes and rivers, change in seasons and rising sea levels that would combine to have cataclysmic consequences to mankind threatening his very existence.

Here in Sri Lanka too we are already witnessing the consequences of unplanned development over the years that has taken a heavy human toll on the environment and our natural resources. The frequency of natural disasters such as landslides, flashfloods, sea erosion etc. are sure indicators of environmental imbalance.

Experts have traced this phenomenon to factors such as the rapid depletion of forest cover and the juggernaut of urbanisation that has sullied the unspoilt beauty of the countryside.

Urgent steps are therefore needed to arrest this trend. It is fitting that President Rajapaksa whose village roots necessarily makes him a friend of the natural environment is seen leading from the front to halt the slide. He should receive all the support from all his Ministers and state agencies to protect and preserve what is left of our environment and natural resources.

After all the President in the Mahinda Chintanaya has emphasised the need for development and progress being necessarily undertaken in harmony with nature and the protection of the environment.

Therefore there should be strict guidelines in this respect to ensure that the President's command is carried out to the letter.