10 theSun | MONDAY MAY 25 2009

news without borders

The cratered wasteland

where thousands died
LONDON: Sri Lanka’s former
war zone is a wasteland, its earth
scorched and pocked by craters.
Cars and trucks lie overturned
near bunkers beside clusters of
battered tents.
The government has denied
firing heavy weapons into what
had been a battlefield densely
populated with civilians. But the
helicopter tour the military gave
the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon and a group of journalists
yesterday revealed widespread
devastation.
The sandy coastal strip where
the final battles of the 25-year
civil war were fought was dotted
with patches of charred earth
and dark craters were visible
amid the greyish earth. One area
was thick with endless rows of
tents, many flattened and dam-
aged. Abandoned vehicles were
overturned, some reduced to
burnt skeletons. Some huts with
thatched roofs were destroyed,
others had no roofs at all.
After touring the area, Ban
said the trapped civilians must
have undergone “most inhu-
mane suffering”.
The government declared vic-
tory last Monday in the civil war
that began in 1983. In the final
weeks, with the rebels boxed
into a tiny coastal strip and tens
of thousands of civilians trapped
inside, the government said
it would no longer fire heavy
weapons.
But government doctors in
the area – as well as human
rights groups and foreign leaders
– said intense shelling continued,
killing hundreds of civilians.
The UN Human Rights Council
is planning a special session on
Sri Lanka on Monday in Geneva,
amid international calls for a
war crimes investigation into the
military’s conduct. According to
private UN documents, at least
7,000 civilians were killed in the
final months of fighting.
The military said again yes-
terday that it had not shelled the
area, and blamed the craters on
rebel fighters. “We heard many
explosions, even in the last days,
as they exploded their ammuni-
tion dumps,” said Brigadier
Udaya Nanayakkara.
But many of the trapped civil-
ians, now living behind barbed
wire in displacement camps,
spoke of unrelenting shelling.
“We walked for three days to
get here. We were shelled and
bombed. There was no food.
Both sides were shelling us,” said
an elderly woman who gave her
name as Lechchami. Another
said her family came under shell-
ing from the military and one of
her children was killed.
At the Manik Farm displace-
ment camp, some civilians said
there was little food or water.
They complained that they were
not allowed to leave and their
male relatives had been detained
by the military, presumably
under suspicion of being rebel
fighters.
Ban appealed to the govern-
ment to improve conditions for
the almost 300,000 ethnic Tamil
civilians displaced by the fight-
ing. He also called for aid groups
to get unfettered access to the
camps and welcomed President
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s promise to
resettle the bulk of the displaced
by the end of the year. “We will
try to work hard to make sure
that promise is realised,” he
said.
Mark Cutts, a senior UN hu-
manitarian officer, said Manik
Farm was erected almost over-
night and is the world’s largest
displacement camp. “There are
200,000 people here. This is a
overcrowded place, a very big
place, and there’s a lot of work
still to be done. Conditions, you
can see, they’re very basic.”
Sri Lanka’s ministry of health The Sri
said yesterday it was “investigat- Lanka war
ing” the arrest of three govern- zone that
ment doctors by the military as is now a
they fled the war zone last week. wasteland.
The three, Thurairaja Varathara-
jah, Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi
and V Shanmugarajah, are
accused of giving false informa-
tion to the media about civilian
casualties.
The doctors, who provided the
very few sources of information
about conditions after journalists
were banned from the area, said
they treated hundreds of badly
wounded civilians in under-
staffed, makeshift hospitals in
the north during the military’s
final offensive against the rebels.
– The Independent

Green buildings the new frontier

by Meena L. Ramadas
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Global en-
vironmental issues have been
gaining enough momentum in
certain countries to command
a change of governmental
policies and proactive public
action. Malaysia has not been
one of those countries until
now. These issues have begun
rearing its green head in our
society and is starting to make
an impact.
In an effort to promote
an environmentally friendly
property and construction
industry, the Malaysian Insti-
tute of Architects (PAM) and
the Association of Consulting
Engineers Malaysia (ACEM)
has devised a green rating tool
aptly called the Green Building
Index (GBI).
Recognising that build-
ings consume a significant
amount of resources, the GBI
is an effort by the construction
industry to raise awareness
among developers, architects,
engineers, planners, design-
ers, contractors and the public
about environmental issues.
A green building is designed
to reduce energy consumption
and operating cost. There are
six criteria that the GBI rating
is based on which are energy
efficiency, indoor environmen-
tal quality, sustainable site
planning and management,
material and resources, water
efficiency and innovation.
The GBI is one of the myriad
green rating systems that has
already been adopted by the
UK (BREAAM), US (LEED),
Singapore (Green Mark), Ja-
pan (CASBEE), Australia and
New Zealand (Green Star). The
GBI will be a first for measuring
sustainability levels of buildings in
a tropical zone.
“Buildings contribute to 40% of
the world’s carbon emission,” said
GBI organising chairman Boon Che
Wee at the GBI launch in Kuala
Lumpur Convention Centre on
Thursday.
“The rating system gives oppor-
tunity for developers to design and
construct green buildings that can
provide energy and water savings, a
healthier indoor environment, better
connectivity to public transport and
the adoption of recycling and green-
ery for their projects,” he added.
PAM president Lee Chor Wah
said: “This historic moment is a
testament to the power of volun-
teerism, international exposure and
networking and people-to-people
international cooperation.”
The Works Ministry has also
lauded the creation of the GBI
deeming it as a momentous creation
for Malaysia.
Works Minister Datuk Shaziman
Abu Mansor said the ministry will
make suggestions to the government
to consider constructing buildings
that are GBI-rated.
Currently, there are no incen-
tives offered to developers for GBI-
rated buildings but Shaziman said
that “it’s not right to think that way.
We should do things because it is
better for us and for our nation, not
because we will be rewarded.”
The GBI has different require-
ments for residential and non-resi-
dential buildings. The rating has four
classifications which are certified,
silver, gold and platinum. Points are
awarded to each stage with as low as
50 points for certified to as high as 86
to 100 points for platinum. The
The biggest challenge for the
construction and property building financial
industry is to reduce carbon emis- benefits
sions. Currently, buildings contrib- are lower
ute anywhere between 33% and 38% energy,
of the world’s carbon emission. waste
Global carbon emissions have in- and water
creased since the Industrial Revolu- costs,
tion. It is reported that this increase lower
has contributed to global warming environ-
and Earth is already exhibiting the
early signs such as rising sea-levels, mental and
melting glaciers, heat waves, coral emission
reef bleaching (already rampant in costs,
Malaysia), droughts and fires just to lower
name the few. operatio-
Consumers around the world nal and
are encouraged to adopt sustainable main-
options when dealing with daily tenance
choices. With the GBI inception, costs, and
Malaysian consumers will have
more options that are ultimately increased
rewarding. producti-
Unfortunately, there is a price for vity and
going green. However, this is due health.”
to the fact that industries are yet to – Boon
make the necessary changes that Che Wee
will make the green option more
market friendly.
“Yes, going green will cost more.
We are looking at a 3% increase
of cost for a standard size building
while large buildings can score a
higher 15%. But the long-term ef-
fects are that green buildings have
a higher investment return of 6.6%
than standard buildings,” said GBI
accreditation panel member Serena
Hijjaz.

120 summonses issued against Mat Rempit

KUALA LUMPUR: Traffic po-
lice issued 120 summonses
and seized 30 motorcycles
in an operation against Mat
Rempit early yesterday.
Enforcement and operation
commanding officer DSP Ng
Fook Long said the offences
committed include no road
tax, expired road tax and mak-
ing changes to the engines.
“Other than police, the
Road Transport Department
(JPJ) also issued 54 sum-
monses to owners of vehicles
with tinted glass and high in-
tensity discharge (HID) lamps,”
he said.
Ng said the operation from
11.30pm Saturday till the early
hours yesterday was held at
six locations in Jalan Raja Laut,
Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Pan-
tai in Bangsar. – Bernama