Is Situlpawwa Nenasala for monkey users?

Sri Lanka Education Forum > Blog > General

Posted on July 6, 2007 / 16 Comments

After we have published the news item about Neasala, we have received some interesting photos from one of our regular readers who wish to remain anonymous.

We publish onlyÂ four of his photographsÂ three showing the now defunct Siltulpawwa Nenasala and the last one a set of prospective users. A plaque saysÂ this NenasalaÂ was opened on June 24, 2005.Â

Our reader writesâ€¦

I see no logic why anybody wanted to have a tele centre at a place like Situlpawwa. It is 13 km from Kataragama, (on a very difficult road that takes 2 hours to cover that distance) in the middle of a jungle, with no nearby villages. The only prospective users might be pilgrims (who do not come there to surf and who want to leave asap due to security reasons) and the monkeys one finds in abundance.Â

It is no secret that under the present government the majority of the Nenasala operators have been selected outÂ of theÂ proper selection process which involved an application procedure, interviews, screening etc. The licenses were given mostly on the basis of political relationships. The use (misuse? abuse?) of Nenasala concept has become a good loophole to â€˜donateâ€™ a building to a temple from e-Sri Lanka funds. (a soft loan from World Bank)Â

I do not know the actual cost of setting up a Nenasala. However, what I do know is an aggregate cost of Rs. 900,000 (75k per month) was borne by ICTA to provide VSAT connection to this Nenasala, which would probably have never been used.Â

Is this an isolated example or the norm, our reader wants to know.

Over to you, ICTAâ€¦

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17 Comments

WB Official
July 6, 2007, 10:57 am
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This doesn’t come under my preview but I will definitely alert WB authorities of this kind of wastage of WB money.
Sreepathy
July 6, 2007, 11:02 am
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I am not convinced the post No. 1 from a real WB official, but apart from that, strictly speaking it is not WB money. It is ultimately the money of the poor people in Sri Lanka wasted in this manner because E-SL grant is not aid, but a soft loan we have to pay someday. The word ‘soft’ does not mean much because in another 10-20 years the rupee would be half of what it is today.
MKW
July 6, 2007, 11:28 am
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The tender to provide VSAT connections to Nenasalas was given to a single supplier, Electroteck, owned by Mr. Gamini Abewardena who is famous for his close political contacts. The value of this tender was Rs. 90 million.

At the pre-tender meeting Mr. Rohit Udalagama of Lankacom questioned about the tender conditions to have VSAT connections at such a high cost. Why not provide terrestrial connections at much lower cost? Mr. Reshan Devapura and Mr. Radley Dissanayake of ICTA said if that is allowed the supplier would have a better opportunity in bidding for the proposed RTN. (RTN never materialised)

The real reason could have been to award the tender for a pre-determined party. I am not fully sure about that but we all know that is not the only time that happened in ICTA. (Rememebr Samsung?)With only few VSAT players in the local market Mr. Abeywardena did not have a competetion.

So the outcome was wasting Rs. 90 million for these connections for a period of a year.

It is good that ICTA realised the fallacy of its decision and the next year no VSAT connections were used to provide connectivity. They have awarded tenders for three ISPs this time for much lower costs.

The bottom line is Mr. Udalagama has been right always. VSAT should never have been used. It was too expensive.

This is a good illustration how a simple mistake leads to such a waste of public money. The funny thing is the government officials who make such mistakes never held accountable for their wrong decisions.

So the outcome was wasting Rs. 90 million for these connections for a period of a year.

It is good that ICTA realised the fallacy of its decision and this time no VSAT connections are used to provide connectivity. They have awarded tenders for three ISPs this time for much lower costs.

The bottom line is Mr. Udalagama has been right always. VSAT was not the option. It was too expensive.

This is a good illustration how an eror in judgement (or was it deliberate) leads to such a waste of public money. The funny thing is the government officials who make such mistakes never held accountable for their wrong decisions.
VSAT
July 6, 2007, 3:10 pm
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By paying Electroteks huge monies some American or Russian satellite companies made the best use of it. If the contracts were given to local companies like LankaCom, Suntel, LankaBell, etc. it would have been helpful to strengthen local internet and telephone backbones. But there was no “locals” in ICTA those days. We had a set of ‘kalu suddas’ there. And there wasn’t Web 2.0 to question their deeds. But now Web 2.0 is too strong and ICTA won’t be able to play the goat again.
ordinary man
July 6, 2007, 4:31 pm
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dear WB Official,
“This doesnâ€™t come under my preview but I will definitely alert WB authorities of this kind of wastage of WB money.”
your perview? why are you the GA of Hambantota?

alart WB authorities? is that what you do at WB? rat for your bosses!spend time digging dirt,so you could write long papers and send it to Nakao ,to get some Japaneese moves over it?

“wastage of WB money ” my ass… you talk as if this is your god given, inherited from your grandmother money! get lost you spinless kocksucker!

brownnosing faggots like you are the main cause of WB losing its vision.
anyway, better to waste “WB money ” then, paying exoberant wages for WB Presidents bitches!
do you know who is Ms.Thaha Riza ?

Dear Sreepathy many thaks for shining a light over the WB idiots comments , and VSAT for a glimps of hope for the future.

(dear Admin-do pls accept my apolagies for the use of bad language. but Idiot WBs comments , i could not let go of…)
ordinary man
July 6, 2007, 4:38 pm
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for more on WBs crusade ‘against’ wastage of money ,pls read-

http://www.worldbankpresident.org/

regards to all , including the WB idiot.
ICTA official
July 6, 2007, 6:12 pm
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This VSAT deal was awarded by Manju. He was corrupted and most of the times awarded tenders for political reasons. That is why we had to get rid of him. Now ICTA is clean. It will not happen again.
Sri Lankan
July 6, 2007, 6:39 pm
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Man, what is the frikking meaning of this? ICTA cannot award tenders to everyone. There will always be losers. If you lose a tender go and study why you lost it and address your weaknesses. Do not sling mud like this. You people sling mud at Prof. VKS and see what happened. At least learnt from that you dunderheads. Think before you write.
Hanuman
July 7, 2007, 12:00 pm
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Dear Sri Lankan,

Hope ICTA was happy to offer Nenasala tenders to monkeys as well. Monkeys must have completed all the criteria. What a waste? It was your god VK who changed VGK (which followed a good Indian model) into Nenasala to get a political mileage and destroy the whole project. Sri Lanka will go down in the history for providing Internet access to monkeys. I don’t mind if Internet facilities went to Chimpanzees instead of monkeys because they are much better than monkeys in brain departments. Bravo ICTA. Keep up the good work.
CDMA
July 8, 2007, 1:20 pm
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News Item below says Dialog also has started CDMA. After offering Rs. 90 million to Eletroteks Abeywardane, ICTA has stupidly hired SLT’s CDMA to Nenasalas!!!!!! Can CDMA provide internet at least to one PC let alone a network of PCs? When will ICTA have people with brains????

Dialog CDMA launched

Our goal is to provide our customers a complete package in the provision of multi-sensory connectivity, with uncompromising quality and the most competitive solutions

Dialog Broadband Networks, a fully owned subsidiary of Dialog Telekom Limited, Sri Lankaâ€™s premier telecommunications company, this week launched its fixed wireless operations based on CDMA technology.

While the official ceremonial launch was held in Kurunegala under the auspices of Mayor Nimal Chandrasiri Silva, the product was simultaneously launched in Kandy, Puttalam, Kegalle, Kalutara and Ratnapura.

â€œOur goal is to provide our customers a complete package in the provision of multi-sensory connectivity, with uncompromising quality and the most competitive solutions,â€ said Nushad Perera, General Manager Sales and Marketing, Dialog Telekom.

With the entry into the CDMA market, Dialog will further strengthen its market position as the undisputed leader in the telecommunications industry while fulfilling their vision to become a provider of a â€œtotalâ€ connectivity solution, encompassing Mobile, Fixed, Broadband and Media, the company said in a press release.
Chinthaka
July 8, 2007, 5:47 pm
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ICTA has launched more than 350 Nenasalas for the last three years. So one fails. So what?

Why you people always want to see the glass half empty? Why not talk about the drastic changes Nenasala centrs have done? Have you seen how many Nenasala users signed the e-condolences book for Prof. Samaranayake? Was this possible few years back?

Why donâ€™t you take about the e-revolution that is talking place in Sri Lanka.

Please do not see only the negatives. If somebody is doing the right thing, be genuine and appreciate it. Otherwise this country will be where it is forever.
Unbiased
July 9, 2007, 12:25 pm
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Hope Nenasala’s road map plan was to sign condolence books. I heard that the online book was signed from Colombo University. Not from Nenasalas!!!!
Daily Mirror
July 14, 2007, 8:49 am
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Nenasala ground to halt http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/14/Rural/03.asp

By Sanjeewani Ariyaratne

The Nenasala Information Technology Training Centre in Ganewatta DS Division in Hiriyala electorate which was declared open by the Provincial Council Member (NWP) Laxman Perera ceased to function within days of opening.

The training centre was established according to a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to expand Information Technology at grass-roots level.

However it is a matter of serious concern that Nenasala Information Technology Centre in Ganewatta has grounded to a halt in a short period of time.

The residents of the area said the successful applicants were from the families of UNP supporters and that the Training Centre ceased to function due to political interference.

Nenasala Information Technology Centre was intended to provide, Internet, E-Mail , E-Library Information and Computer Technology Training.

The residents of the area accused the authorities for denying educational facilities to their children on political grounds.
buddha
August 8, 2007, 9:01 pm
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paka nansalas!!!!!thats how our paka mahindas profiles and policies goes…damm VKS also died it’s better that useless buggers like vks who have just titles also die…..mahinda mamage paka nana sala…..
slt cdma vanchawa…
buddha
August 8, 2007, 9:13 pm
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hhaaaaa now i think rohith udalagama has questioned about VSAT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT CAPABLE OF PROVIDING SUCH SOLUTIONS AND its just that the udalagama’s company lanka com is famous to play the bull with customers….
lankacom doesn’t have that much capacity and they have only one DS 3 BACKUP……
Tuk Tuk Driver
August 9, 2007, 9:10 am
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Well, one would expect the enlighten one to use a bit more civic language, but I think this is the norm of the days. Anyway, I understand your frustration.