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Judith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Health | Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Health | US life expectancy gap widens to 20 years among groups, researchers found Health | Biden says healthy women help US prosperity as he highlights White House initiative on their health Health | Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Health | Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Oroville school shooting: Gunman dead and two children hospitalized in CaliforniaUnless you live alone, there's a good chance you've clashed with partners, roommates or other family members over just how warm your home should be in the winter. It's a debate as old as the HVAC system itself: What is the ideal thermostat setting to balance personal comfort and the bank? And now that the cold months are upon us, battles over the thermostat are sure to begin. Depending on what kind of HVAC system you have and how well you handle the cold, you could save some money by understanding the best method for programming your thermostat. So, before you go instigating more thermostat wars with others in your household, consider these tips from experts about proper home temperatures for the winter. What you should set your thermostat at in the winter Turns out, there's a magic number for what experts say you should set your thermostat to in the winter. That setting? 68 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Department of Energy. If that's too specific, anywhere around 70 degrees is a good target when it gets cold, Ram Narayanamurthy, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office, told USA TODAY. “A home that’s at 70 degrees is quite comfortable,” Narayanamurthy said. Turn the heat down when you're away But setting your thermostat to a specific temperature and never changing it won't be good for your heating bills . While around 70 degrees is ideal, it's unwise to set your thermostat to one temperature and never change it. Lower temperatures may be more comfortable when sleeping at night and can help keep your bill down when you're away from your home, Narayanamurthy cautioned. The Energy Department says that even turning thermostats back 7 to 10 degrees from their normal settings for 8 hours a day can save as much as 10% a year on homeowners' heating and cooling costs. And contrary to one prevailing misconception, your heating system doesn't work any harder to warm your house back up after you lower the heat for a set time. Narayanamurthy said he usually sets his at 64 degrees if he leaves his home for an extended period of time, though everyone's comfort levels may be different. “You don’t want your heater turning on all the time when no one’s at home,” he said. Don't set your thermostat too low Penny-pinchers may be tempted to set their thermostat at bracing levels and survive the winter by bundling up in layers or piling on blankets. While you'd have to set your home at a pretty low temperature for it to become a health risk, Narayanamurthy warns against going below 60 degrees. “You have to keep it really low to really get into a health concern," he said. "What you want to do is keep it at a reasonable temperature that’s not chilly.” The World Health Organization recommends keeping indoor temperatures between 64 and 75 degrees for healthy people. But for those who are very young, elderly, or who have health problems, the minimum temperature shouldn't dip below 68 degrees, the organization says. Heating and cooling: Check out USA TODAY Homefront for more HVAC tips for your home Space heaters can help, but use with caution Many homeowners may be tempted to rely on fireplaces, space heaters, electric blankets and wood-burning stoves to keep warm in the winter. According to Direct Energy , these types of secondary heating sources can help to slash costs since they offer heating to a more targeted area of your home at a fraction of the cost of cranking up the thermostat. But many of these options come with their own safety risks and similarly require routine maintenance, care and even replacement. Once a fire hazard, modern electric space heaters are much safer than they used to be with built-in safety features that turn the heaters off if they tip over, overheat, or have been left turned on for too long. Ways to save on heating bills Experts offer a variety of other tips that, altogether, could cut down on your bills and ensure your heating unit is working at maximum efficiency. Editor's note: A version of this story was last published in November 2023. Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.comAn online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalition WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press Dec 27, 2024 10:43 AM Dec 27, 2024 10:50 AM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Vivek Ramaswamy arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, to meet with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and billionaire Elon Musk as they convene a meeting of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as envisioned by President-elect Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes. Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Science News A 9th telecoms firm has been hit by a massive Chinese espionage campaign, the White House says Dec 27, 2024 10:01 AM Maryland sues maker of Gore-Tex over pollution from toxic 'forever chemicals' Dec 27, 2024 9:55 AM One owl rescued by a Minnesota woman is euthanized; efforts to save the other continue Dec 27, 2024 7:52 AM
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The railway community in Sri Lanka and all national-minded islanders commemorate 27 December as the day on which the inaugural Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) train ran between Colombo Fort and Ambepussa (34 miles on the main line) in 1864. One day prior to it, the same folks remember with pain and anguish the devastating effect of the 2004 tsunami which destroyed a 1,500 passenger train at Peraliya on 26 December, taking over 1,000 lives in an island-wide cataclysm that resulted in 30,000 deaths. But Sri Lanka Railways endeavoured to restore the stricken locomotive – a Class M2a EMD-G12 (‘Manitoba’), imported under the Colombo Plan in 1956 – and a few years later, it makes a regular run on ‘D-Day’ every year, heading the now-iconic Train No. 8051 (‘51). And in a trifecta of rail happenings, this December’s media has been rife with reports of how the Government of Sri Lanka is in talks with its counterparts in Japan to get back on track the much vaunted Light Rail Transit (LRT) project that was arbitrarily derailed by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration in 2021. Then Sri Lanka’s so-called “LRT fiasco” and the international fallout from a former regime’s ad-hoc policy decision is much in the news these days... for the right reasons, for a change. So much so that the case study of an arbitrary cancellation of the Japan-funded Light Rail Transit project in the context of international relations in an emerging geopolitical milieu may make interesting reading for all of SLR’s swains and stakeholders in good governance being restored. Ergo, this two-part piece on Sri Lanka’s ill-fated LRT project, on which fortune and the Government of Japan seem to be smiling again. [CONTINUED FROM A PREVIOUS ISSUE] Two further items in the same news report also signal salutary indications for Sri Lanka in general and the LRT project in particular. First, as regards the partnership of Japan, which was the original donor nation associated with the LRT project, and its ongoing support: “The President also conveyed appreciation for continued support provided by the Government of Japan and JICA.” (Colombo Gazette) Second, as regards the all-important factor of funding on the same or similar concessionary basis as below for the resumption and completion of at least the first planned phase of the pilot project of the LRT involving Line 1 and Line 4 in the road map: “Dr Tanaka Akihiko, the President of Japan International Cooperation Agency, called on President Wickremesinghe in Colombo. ... Dr. Akihiko elaborated on JICA’s efforts, highlighting the priority of concluding debt restructuring while also aiming for the resumption of stalled projects” (emphasis added). The sustainable role played by JICA is much in evidence in the Japanese agency’s rationalisation of the LRT project in its analyses and assessments of the scope of the work. JICA has long since affirmed on its website that “the project falls into the railways sector under the JICA guidelines for environmental and social considerations” per its mandate as of long ago as April 2010 (Japan International Cooperation Agency, ‘Project for Establishment of New Light Rail Transit System in Colombo’). JICA in its project outline affirms and undergirds the value of the LRT’s contribution to Sri Lanka’s national developmental agenda: “The objectives of the project are to alleviate traffic congestion, provide better connectivity and mitigate air pollution in the Western Region by constructing [a] mass rapid transit system, thereby contributing to the economic and social development of the Western Region and improvement of [the] urban environment” (JICA). And the same portal, by dint of its publication of ‘past’ and ‘latest’ monitoring reports spanning May, September and December 2019, not only indicates its commitment to the project but the ongoing interest shown and acted upon by JICA until the abrupt unilateral termination of the project by the Government of Sri Lanka under the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in September 2021. The ramifications of such an arbitrary action, although ostensibly taken at the behest of a single individual at the uppermost echelon of executive power, had consequences that affected not only personal relationships but also impacted on Sri Lanka at the sovereign state level. As an Echelon Media Company report commented editorially: “Sri Lanka is in the process to mend severed ties with Japan after the island nation unilaterally cancelled a 1.5 billion US Dollar Light Rail Transit (LRT) and East Container Terminal (ECT) projects as the crisis-hit South Asian nation is seeking international help to come out of its economic down turn amid a political crisis. Higher government officials and ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) members have told Economy Next that most foreign countries were unwilling to help Sri Lanka unlike in the past because of some harsh ‘undiplomatic’ experiences. A former SLPP cabinet minister has said some countries have indirectly told the government that they would not help until [what was meant is ‘as long as’] President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members are in power” (EconomyNext, ‘Crisis-hit Sri Lanka in process to mend Japanese ties after cancelling LRT, ECT projects’, 16 June 2022). The cancellation of the LRT project in particular hamstrung Sri Lanka’s longstanding relationship with Japan, according to the then Deputy Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Pieris, who affirmed that “the relationship with Japan is vital for Sri Lanka” (Economy Next), who also noted that the Japanese contribution to the island nation spanned decades – ever since the South Asian nation stood up for the defeated World War II country at the San Francisco Conference in 1945, after the conclusion of hostilities – and included substantial aid, loans, technological assistance and support for numerous projects spanning the gamut from the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) and the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital (SJH) to sundry helps in terms of skills development, computer technology, construction industry initiatives, and medical and pharmaceutical items, in a milieu where Japan was allied to the US’ post-Cold War interests. In addition, the souring of relations between the two sovereign nations, which were celebrating their 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations at the time (2022), would come with attendant opportunity costs as “Sri Lanka wished to expand cooperation with Japan in the areas of digitalisation, carbon credit, and ocean-related activities including coast conservation, fisheries and global warming”, according to the Deputy Foreign Minister, who added: “Reference was also made to exploring cooperation in areas coming under the purview of the World Trade Organization.” Unsaid was the steps away from Chinese debt-trap diplomacy these would take, where previously the People’s Republic had wrested control of Hambantota Port from Sri Lanka. These costs and opportunity costs could be construed as not only a severe setback for international relations between the two previously harmoniously allied nation states but also an impediment to aid for Sri Lanka as “Japan has been the top lender for Sri Lanka under its concessionary funding and has poured billions of yens (sic) into Sri Lanka’s main Colombo port and many other infrastructure projects”, in addition to the fact that “Japan played a key role when Sri Lanka faced an economic collapse in 2001.” Further underlining the severity of the impact that the LRT project cancellation had was the recollection in 2022 that in 2003, Japan “helped to host a donor forum for Sri Lanka and raise 4.5 billion US Dollars ... to rebuild war ravaged infrastructure during a ceasefire agreement in the island nation’s civil war.” In December 2022, after the abovementioned developments took place between Japan and Sri Lanka on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting, the island’s new head of state President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that his government was intent on mending fences with the East Asian giant that had been supportive of Sri Lanka over the decades, with a special emphasis on trying to get the abandoned LRT project back on the track (Wikipedia, ‘Western Region Megapolis Light Rail Transit’). “However ... and even a few months later, the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka at the time (March 2023) told a forum in Colombo that “a decision has not been made as yet about the revival of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded Light Rail Transit (LRT) project stretching from Colombo Fort to Malabe”, as quoted in a media report (NewsWire, ‘Japan yet to consider revival of Light Rail project’, 30 March 2023). The Japanese official intimated that “the decision about the project depends on the reforms of the Sri Lankan government, and if Sri Lanka can regain the trust of the Japanese government and business community”...”the revival of the project will be considered when those conditions are met.” In a post-Cold War milieu where until recently at least Russia was marginalised in an increasingly multi-polar world, the emergence of China as a contender against US economic hegemony was to some extent counterbalanced by the role played by American ally Japan in Asian region development. As a news report on the cancelled LRT project observed: “Sri Lanka, which lies along key shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, has become a hotspot for influence between India and Japan on the one side and China on the other” (Reuters, ‘Sri Lanka suspends Japanese-funded rail project over costs’, 24 September 2020). With Japan out of the equation for the LRT project, there was growing concern that China might step in once again. The poor governance ethos of arbitrary policy making and summary decision taking was thereafter to be compounded by other issues of governance such as covering up mistakes made. The project that was due to commence with land acquisition in 2020 and be concluded in 2024 with an LRT that would have trains running along an elevated track at four-minute intervals during rush hour and 10-minute intervals at off-peak times ended in ignominy for the Sri Lankan Government when the project was arbitrarily terminated by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration citing the ongoing economic crisis at the time (Janaka Ratnasiri, ‘Cancellation of Light Rail Project: Some alternatives to reduce congestion’, 7 October 2020) – but that was not to be all. The Government of Sri Lanka later claimed that the LRT project was not terminated per se but only temporarily halted (Wikipedia, ‘Western Region Megapolis Light Rail Transit’). Three months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa terminated the project unilaterally in a letter issued through the Secretary to the President as written proof of cancellation, a government minister claimed that “the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system funded by Japan has not been cancelled, but is under review” (NewsWire, ‘LRT project not cancelled, but under review – Minister’, 17 February 2021); with that government official, the State Minister of Urban Development among other ministries asserting: “The construction of a 15.8 km LRT track between the Colombo Fort area and Malabe is under review.” The minister in question had attempted in his statement to the media to explain the perceived cancellation in terms of the suspension of one of the four lanes (at US$ 2 billion compared to 400 million US dollars) of the two-line project, citing a cost discrepancy on which grounds it was allegedly temporarily suspended. Also claiming that the project was still up and running, the Secretary to the Ministry of Transport had previously, as much as a year after the cancellation (that is in September 2022), stated that since Cabinet had approved the project, it required termination by the Cabinet, and that a letter issued by the Secretary to the President was insufficient grounds to terminate the project (The Morning, ‘Colombo Light Rail Transit project still alive’, 27 September 2020). This attempt at political spin cast further shadows over poor governance and deepened the dark cloud over the goodwill between Sri Lanka and one of its longest-standing allies and international developmental partners in a multi-polar world – one where post-Cold War realities had brought China as a rival to Russia in the conflict with the superpower US. The proposed LRT project, formerly known as the Colombo Light Railway (Wikipedia, ‘Western Region Megapolis Light Rail Transit’), was an integral part of the Western Region Megapolis plan, and was “developed encompassing all aspects of transportation to provide a framework for urban transport development in the Western Region up to 2035” (Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, ‘Western Region Megapolis Transport Master Plan: Final Report’, November 2016) and was therefore a visionary, timely and strategically outlined project. Its “development plan priorities” [were] “prepared based on the urgency of the [need] to resolve the critical urban transport problems” (Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, ‘Western Region Megapolis Transport Master Plan: Final Report’, November 2016); and as a project of not only local, capital or regional but also national importance, because of the international cooperation dimension involving sovereign states and bilateral donor relations in a geopolitical milieu, it was “based on a logical sequence of implementation in order to maximize the outcomes in achieving the urban mobility objectives”. But in what was widely perceived as an arbitrary move and even a blasé exercise of authoritarian power, the then incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered the Ministry of Transport to “terminate this project and close the project office with immediate effect” (AFP, ‘Sri Lanka scraps $1.5bn Japan funded light rail system’, 24 September 2020), bringing to an abrupt halt the project that “commenced during the presidency of Maithripala Sirisena, in 2017, and was regarded as the largest single foreign-funded infrastructure project in Sri Lanka”. It was a terminal move that received Cabinet approval for cancellation on 29 September 2020, on the grounds that it would cause “huge environmental damage” (Janaka Ratnasiri, ‘Cancellation of Light Rail Project: Some alternatives to reduce congestion’, 7 October 2020, The Island Online) and come at “a very high cost”, although “Cabinet approval had been granted previously, both on environmental and financial grounds”. And yet, it was the decision to unilaterally terminate the project – and not the implementation of the project itself – that came at a very high set of costs. Firstly, financial: as “a Japan-based firm involved in a scrapped light rail transit project had claimed 5,896 billion rupees from Sri Lanka” (EconomyNext, ‘Japan firm claims damages of Rs.5.8bn from Sri Lanka after LRT deal scrapped’, 18 June 2021) as a result of termination of the US$130 million dollar contract with that consultancy, according to a revelation by the country’s Auditor-General. Secondly, fiscal: the suspension of a Japanese Government 30 billion yen concessionary loan signed with Sri Lanka in March 2020. Thirdly, reputational: the souring of relations between Sri Lanka and its long-time supporter, the nation, government and people of Japan. Fourthly, political: the fallout from this policy imbroglio as well as other political fiascoes such as a short-sighted chemical fertiliser ban and myopic monetary policies saw the regime of Gotabaya Rajapaksa coming to an ignominious end in July 2022 through the exercise of popular sovereignty vested in the people instrumentalising a citizens’ movement. Fifthly, social: the ongoing predicament of millions of commuters who continue to literally take their lives in their hands on inadequate and outdated railway infrastructure that is subject to delays, derailments and railroad union strikes. Finally (last not least), geopolitical: naïve governmental approaches to honouring international agreements and blasé cancellation of the deal between sovereign states that had partnered in development, which could precariously affect the balance of a post-Cold War regional order. In an emerging, complex and potentially threatening geopolitical milieu, the greatest fallout from the LRT fiasco was – over and above sovereign state-level displeasure – a realignment of allies, whereby Sri Lanka, ostensibly abandoned and at Japan’s displeasure, could slide towards China. A vision to develop Sri Lanka’s railway infrastructure is the need of the hour even now, over four years after the island nation arbitrarily terminated a project that would meet its creaking infrastructural needs at concessionary terms from a friendly nation’s government. It must be a vision that is ably backed up by the precise planning and meticulous attention to detail that the aborted LRT system that was funded by JICA and the Government of Japan displayed. But it would serve the national interest better if the type of bureaucratic bungling that was brought on by a regime change could be pre-empted, perhaps by the simple expedient of a parliamentary act to prevent successive governments from undoing the good work attempted by their administrative predecessors. This is by no means an easy task in a parliament where remnants of regimes can hold the executive arm of government to ransom or take the people’s will hostage because of bitter political rivalries that trump the national interest. It will take not only a regime change but a paradigm shift in the Standard Operating Procedure of ensuing Sri Lankan governments to enable the emergence of such a set of principles whereby the sovereign commitments of the state do not get derailed by the whims and fancies of authoritarian chief executives or any arbitrary bureaucratic decisions. There needs to be a radical redrafting of the social contract for this to eventuate whereby there is a better check and balance between the executive and the legislature, as well as between the government and state bureaucracy, and the people’s will versus wilful presidents. Such a reality will not eventuate without the awareness of the general populace about the international-level costs to the national interest. So especially in a global milieu where the old world order of bipolarity has changed so drastically that in an increasingly multi-polar world, even the (albeit arbitrary) cancellation of a developmental project can cause a regional geopolitical shift by driving a strategically important small country such as Sri Lanka away from US allies to China. It is in the context of all of the above that the mutual interest of and initiative shown by the governments of Japan and Sri Lanka to get the long-abandoned LRT project back on the track is to be welcomed and wholeheartedly endorsed by the public – especially commuters but also all stakeholders in growth, development, progress under a renascent good governance.National Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. Labor’s controversial misinformation laws are in tatters with the federal government withdrawing a planned vote on the friendless proposal, while gambling ad restrictions are put on ice and time is running out to reach a deal on housing and environment bills. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has welcomed the Albanese Government’s decision to dump its “dodgy” misinformation and disinformation legislation, which he described as a “scandalous attack on free speech, with censorship at its core”. The Albanese Government has withdrawn its misinformation and disinformation bill. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Labor failed to secure support from either the Coalition, who argued the bill sought to make “unelected bureaucrats the arbiters of truth” or the Greens who felt the proposal left too much power in the hands of tech companies and unfairly exempted media organisations. Independent senators including David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, Fatima Payman and Gerard Rennick also objected to the bill. Opposition leader Peter Dutton has welcomed Labor dumping the misinformation bill. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Mr Dutton said Anthony Albanese should rule out any future iteration of the misinformation legislation, which had aimed to force tech giants to stop falsehoods spreading online before they caused serious harm. Labor lost significant time and political capital fighting for the changes this term, and will no head to the election – due by May at the latest – with nothing to show for those efforts. The government has a huge to-do list in the final sitting week before the summer break, with changing the HECS indexation rate for university debts, electoral funding reform, aged care changes and raising the minimum social media age to 16 years among the major bills expected to pass parliament. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has criticised the Greens for blocking Labor’s proposals to help increase rentals and help first home buyers. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman But Labor has kicked plans for gambling ad restrictions into the new year, a move Mr Dutton described as a “cowardly and craven capitulation”. The government will forge ahead with a vote on two of it’s housing proposals, a “Help to Buy” shared equity scheme designed to help first home buyers, and a “Build to Rent” plan aimed at increasing the number of rentals in Australia. The Greens have abandoned demands such as a two-year freeze on rent increases and changes to negative gearing in favour of other asks, including that the government immediately fund 25,000 new home builds and increase the number of affordable rentals under the Build to Rent scheme. But Labor has dismissed the new requests, arguing the new builds would cost upward of $20 billion and the other requests would make the proposals untenable. Housing and Homelessness Minister Clare O’Neil said the Greens had consistently “blocked and delayed action on the housing crisis”. “You get the distinct impression the Greens want Australians to continue to be in housing distress, so Adam Bandt can try to harvest those grievances into votes,” she said. Greens Environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young says she wants to work with Labor to pass legislation, but wants native forest logging banned. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Labor’s nature positive laws, which would create an Environmental Protection Authority that would be able to impose much heavier fines for breaches that damage the environment, are also tenuously placed. The Greens dropped their demand for a climate trigger to be included in any environmental approvals, but the party’s Environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young has called on Labor to end native forest logging instead. Ms Hanson-Young insisted the Greens had been “pragmatic” in ongoing talks with the government, and was “trying to get outcomes” in the parliament. Ahead of the final sitting week, Government leader of the house Tony Burke said delivering on cost of living relief had been Labor’s “number one” priority in 2024. “Peter Dutton and the Coalition have tried to block every cost of living measure this year,” he said. “We will continue delivering for Australians despite their obsession with saying no.” More Coverage Withdrawal of creepy, flawed bill double humiliation for weak Labor James Morrow Labor’s misinformation bill dead in the water Angira Bharadwaj Originally published as Labor dumps misinformation laws, delays gambling ad reform, picks fight on housing in final week of parliament for 2024 Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? 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