By Harini Amarasuriya Over the past several days, the one question I have been asked most frequently has been: “Did you order a vehicle? Are you going to accept the luxury vehicle ordered by the Government for parliamentarians?” By now, the National People’s Power (NPP) has made its position clear on this issue. We feel […]
By Harini Amarasuriya
Over the past several days, the one question I have been asked most frequently has been: “Did you order a vehicle? Are you going to accept the luxury vehicle ordered by the Government for parliamentarians?” By now, the National People’s Power (NPP) has made its position clear on this issue. We feel that this is most certainly not a priority at this time and that the import of vehicles must be halted immediately. MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the JVP, one of the political parties in the NPP and leader of our parliamentary group, made a detailed statement, questioning the entire deal and made two specific recommendations: either let the LC that has been opened lapse (it has been done previously) or sell the vehicles in an open auction and use the money for the COVID effort. However, the questions keep coming and public anger on this issue is palpable.
Certainly, various comments made by members of the Government have not helped. One minister claimed that since this will be purchased through a LC, the Government will not be spending the country’s money and that if the Government does not use the LC facility at this point, it would be a waste! That was an extraordinary display of downright ignorance at best or an incredible insult to the intelligence of the Sri Lankan public. Various others have been justifying the need for MPs to have vehicles to engage in work on behalf of the public. Some MPs, it was claimed are forced to travel by bus. One Minister complained that he only had three vehicles at his disposal and that they were of poor quality. Images of the luxurious vehicles currently used by MPs and Ministers circulating in the media made these spokespersons look out of touch, petulant and completely insensitive to the public mood at this time.
So why this public anger? The luxurious lifestyle of many public representatives (and their families) is not a new phenomenon, so why is this particular episode generating such public fury? Perhaps the timing of this issue has something to do with it. At a time when the general public is dealing with immense problems coping with COVID, the decision by the Government to export luxury vehicles for MPs is not just incomprehensible, but jaw-droppingly callous. We hear of the sufferings of COVID patients and medical professionals struggling to stretch inadequate resources on a daily basis. We are short of everything from beds to medication to oxygen. Travel restrictions have severely affected people’s livelihoods, especially those in the informal sector, those dependant on small businesses, those who are self-employed and on daily wages. The education of thousands of young people has been disrupted and families are struggling to provide online access to young people to access education. On top of the problems linked to the COVID pandemic, the sudden fertiliser ban has severe implications for the farming community. The X-Press Pearl ship tragedy has devastated the livelihoods of the fishing community. The Government seems unable or unwilling to deal with any of these problems, Parliament is unable or unwilling to do anything – so, naturally, the vehicle fiasco provided a perfect reason for the public to vent their anger on parliamentarians.
This issue is indicative however of a much larger issue: that is, the nature of public service, and the privileges and entitlements of public representatives. Elected representatives are expected to do a job and they must be provided with the resources to do their job. This could include a salary, staff and even a vehicle if necessary. However, what are the limits to these entitlements and how can elected representatives be held accountable for the perks of their job? In most developed democracies for instance, there are strict guidelines on how much an elected representative can spend or claim as expenses. These are publicly audited and the information is made available to the public. There have been many instances in different parts of the world where politicians have had to resign due to controversies over expenses or have been held to account. Most recently, the media reported how the Finnish Prime Minister is facing scrutiny over what she has claimed as expenses for breakfast while in her official residence. Yet, there are still problems with accountability and transparency, since many of these ‘perks’ and ‘entitlements’ are invisible to the public. For instance, how do you declare a luxury holiday paid for by your ‘good friend’ who is a wealthy businessperson?
Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, we do not have even a minimum system of scrutiny and accountability on the entitlements and privileges of elected representatives. And it is not only elected representatives who are not subject to scrutiny, although they get away with much more than other public officers. For instance, what is the level of scrutiny and accountability of the privileges and entitlements of senior defence officers? There are huge gaps in the lifestyles of senior military officers and other positions in military. Most entitlements in the public sector are in the form of allowances – which are difficult to monitor. Yet, there has been little public scrutiny or discussion on these matters or an effort to implement a more transparent system of compensation within the public sector.
The issue of vehicles is in my view, quite unique to the Sri Lankan context. It is more a statement that about fulfilling a need. Obtaining a chauffeur driven car (fancier the better) is a sign of prestige and symbol of power. If you also have someone who opens doors for you and carries your belongings – so much the better. It shows the world that you are Somebody Important, someone with Power. If not, what is the purpose for anyone who barely qualified as a VIP to be provided with security? Even Vice-Chancellors of universities have security to fling open doors for them and to stand outside their office presumably to protect them from obstreperous students and eccentric colleagues! And let us not forget that this is twelve years after the war ended! When VIPs (and I use the term VIP extremely liberally here) are provided with security, is this based on a risk assessment? If not, then what is the justification?
The image of power that these trappings (fancy car, chauffeur, security, etc.) communicate is in my view inextricably linked to the culture of political patronage, the idea of the politician or Important Person as patron to the less powerful. It is linked to the idea of the politician as patron who distributes largesse to his or her loyal supporters. Hence the list of honorifics that are compulsory when introducing a speaker or guest at an event in this country; the pomp and pageantry that accompanies every event; the ugly spectacle of young people falling on their knees to worship adults that they barely know, let alone respect. These symbols and displays of power are as important to the receiver as much as the audience. We look to politicians to distribute favours in return for our support. We like politicians who are larger than life, who stand out from the crowd and who throw their weight around. As a politician representing a party that has tried to do things differently, I know that we have certainly not won any extra points (or votes) for the fact that we have rejected many of the privileges to which we are entitled or because we play by the rules and expect our supporters to play by the rules as well!
Public outrage that has erupted over the vehicle fiasco of this Government, is in my view, a good opportunity to reflect on how we, the public, also feed the sense of entitlement and privilege that politicians feel is their due. How we seem to respect and admire aggressive displays of power. How when it is serves us, we all look for loopholes to avoid playing by the rules or search for ways to obtain favours. Let us not forget that politicians reflect societal values – these are elected representatives.
The main problem is how we have allowed for politics to become a path to riches rather than a public service. Today, most enter politics as an extension of the family business or to establish a family business. In fact, this is why most people seek high office in this country – not just in politics, but in all sectors. By all means, people need to be compensated for the work that they do and they need to be provided with resources and perhaps even incentives to do their work well. But, a politician is not just any other public officer – a politician is a people’s representative. And as people’s representatives, we cannot set ourselves up on pedestals or be so removed from the lives of people that we can no longer represent or relate to the people who elected us. When we complain about having to use public transport, or justify luxury vehicles as essential to perform our jobs, we are displaying how alienated we have become from the people we are expected to serve. That alienation affects the policy choices we make: whether we choose to invest in public transport or provide a tax cut to car importers; whether we buy equipment for rural hospitals or gyms; whether we provide adequate toilets for schools or woo foreign universities to establish a local branch. Those choices will reflect our priorities and whose needs we pay attention to the most. The choices made by this Government and those who defend and justify these choices are showing us with shining clarity, exactly who and what they are prioritising. One thing is clear: it is certainly not the vast majority of those who voted them into power.
https://ceylontoday.lk/news/of-entitlements-suv-vehicles-and-other-things
ප්රාඩෝ රථ ගෙන ඒමේ ආණ්ඩුවේ සූදානම ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ අභියෝගයට ලක් කරන බව ජාතික ජනබලවේගයේ නීතිඥයෝ වෙනුවෙන් නීතිඥ සුනිල් වටගල පවසයි. ඔහු මේ බව පැවැසුවේ පසුගියදා කොළඹ පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවේදීය. වටගල මහතා වැඩිදුරටත් දැක්වූ අදහස් මෙසේය. “ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ නීතිඥ ප්රජාව ලෙස සුවිශේෂ කරුණු කාරණා කිහිපයක් සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට තිබෙනවා. මේ වනවිට ජනතාව අතර සාකච්ඡාවට පත්වී තිබෙන […]
ප්රාඩෝ රථ ගෙන ඒමේ ආණ්ඩුවේ සූදානම ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ අභියෝගයට ලක් කරන බව ජාතික ජනබලවේගයේ නීතිඥයෝ වෙනුවෙන් නීතිඥ සුනිල් වටගල පවසයි.
ඔහු මේ බව පැවැසුවේ පසුගියදා කොළඹ පැවැති මාධ්ය හමුවේදීය.
වටගල මහතා වැඩිදුරටත් දැක්වූ අදහස් මෙසේය.
“ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ නීතිඥ ප්රජාව ලෙස සුවිශේෂ කරුණු කාරණා කිහිපයක් සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට තිබෙනවා. මේ වනවිට ජනතාව අතර සාකච්ඡාවට පත්වී තිබෙන පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශවරයා ජනමාධ්ය ඉලක්ක කරගෙන නිකුත් කළ ප්රකාශය සහ මන්ත්රිවරුන් සඳහා වාහන ආනයනය කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් නීතිමය පැත්තෙන් පැහැදිලි කරන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයා නිකුත් කර තිබෙන නිවේදනයට ශීර්ෂ යොදලා තිබෙන්නේ “සමාජ මාධ්යයට සමාජ ජාලා ඔස්සේ විවිධ අසත්ය තොරතුරු, ඡායාරූප සහ වීඩියෝ දර්ශන ප්රචාරය කිරීම මඟින් මහජනතාව අතර අසමගිය, වෛරය ඇති කිරීම හා කොවිඩ් 19 මර්දනයට බාධා කිරීම” යනුවෙන්. පසුගිය 08 වැනිදා මේ ලිපිය නිකුත් කර තිබෙනවා.
වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගෙන් සහ සමස්ත ශ්රී ලාංකිකයන්ගෙන් ආණ්ඩුවට දැවැන්ත විවේචනයක් විවිධ ක්ෂේත්රවලින් එල්ලවී තිබෙනවා. කාබනික පොහොර ආනයනය, මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට වාහන ආනයනය කිරීම, ඛනිජ තෙල් මිල ඉහළ දැමීම, කොවිඩ් 19 වැළැක්වීමේ ක්රියාමාර්ග අසාර්ථක වීම වගේම පොලිසිය භාර අමාත්යවරයා නිරූපණ ශිල්පිනියක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්රකාශ නිකුත් කිරීම, යුරෝපා සංගමයෙන් ත්රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත අහෝසි නොකිරීම ගැන විවේචනය කිරීම යන මූලික විවේචන විශාල ප්රමාණයක් තිබෙනවා. සමාජ මාධ්ය ජාලා මේ දැවැන්ත වංචාවන් සහ අසමත්කම් හෙළිකරන්න කාර්යභාරයක් කළා. ඒ අතරතුර පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයා මේ නිවේදනය නිකුත් කරනවා. නිවේදනය තුළ “වරෙන්තුවක් නොමැතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත හැකියි” කියන කරුණ ඉහළට ගෙනත් තිබෙනවා. සමාජ මාධ්ය ක්රියාකාරිකයෝ සහ සාමාන්ය ජනතාව සැලකිය යුතු ප්රමාණයක් මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු විමසන්න පටන් ගත්තා.
මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පවතින යථාර්ථය කුමක්ද? වරෙන්තුවක් නොමැතිව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම කියන්නේ එක්තරා ආකාරයක දඬුවමක්. ලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු අත්අඩංගුවට ගත යුත්තේ නිසි වරෙන්තුවක් සහිතව ඇවිල්ලා. එහෙම නොවන අවස්ථා තිබෙනවා. මේ වනවිට සම්මත කර තිබෙන නීතියේ කොටස් කිහිපයක් අරගෙන පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයා අලුතින් නීති පෙන්වනවා.
නමුත් ඔවුන්ගේ අරමුණ තියෙන්නේ වගන්ති දෙකකට. දණ්ඩ නීති සංග්රහයේ 120 එක වගන්තියක්. ඒකෙන් කියන්නේ වචනයෙන්, සංඥාවලින්, නිරූපණවලින් ශ්රී ලංකා ජනරජයට විරුද්ධව ජනයා වෛරයෙන් සහ අගෞරවයෙන් පෙලඹවීමක් කළොත් අත්අඩංගුවට ගත හැකි බව. මේ වගන්ති සම්බන්ධයෙන් තිබෙන පැහැදිලි කිරීම පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයා කරන්නේ නැහැ. සාධාරණ විවේචනවලට මේ වගන්තියෙන් බාධා වෙන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ වගේම දණ්ඩ නීති සංග්රහය උපදින්නේ ඉංග්රීසි ආණ්ඩුව කාලයේ. ඒ අනුව මහ රැජිනියට එරෙහිව කරන වැරදි සම්බන්ධයෙන් විස්තර කරලා තියෙනවා. මහරජා කියන වචනය 2021 අංක 5 දරන දණ්ඩ නීති සංග්රහ පනතේ සංශෝධනය මඟින් වෙනස් කළා. එයින් කළේ මහරජා වෙනුවට ජනාධිපතිවරයා කියන වචනය ඇතුළත් කළා. හැබැයි අතීත තත්ත්වය අනුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා විවේචනය කරන්න බැරි බවට ආවරණයක් හදා ගත්තා. එංගලන්තයේ මහ රැජින හෝ මහරජා පත්වෙන්නේ මහජන ඡන්දයෙන් නොවේ. අපේ රටේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා පත්වෙන්නේ මහජන ඡන්දයෙන්. මේ නිසා 120 වගන්තිය ඇතුළේම විවේචනය කිරීමට තියෙන අයිතියට අභියෝග කරන්න බැහැ.
මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ නඩු තීන්දු කිහිපයක් තිබෙනවා. තංගල්ලේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ කාර්යාලයක “මහජරා රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව ගෙදර යවමු” කියලා ගහලා තිබුණා. 120 වගන්තිය යටතේ පොලිස් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරයා චූදිතයෙක්ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත්තා. අපි එය ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය හමුවේ අභියෝගයට ලක් කළා. අදහස් ප්රකාශ කිරීමේ හා භාෂණයේ අයිතියත් 120 වගන්තියෙන් විවේචනය කිරීමේ අයිතියත් මෙයින් උල්ලංඝනය වුණේ නැහැ කියලා එස්.සී.එෆ්.ආර්168/2010 නඩුවක් පැවරුවා. මේ වෙනුවෙන් මම පෞද්ගලිකව පෙනී හිටියා. ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මේ අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළිගත්තා.
ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවේ තහවුරු කර තිබෙන භාෂණයේ හා ප්රකාශනයේ අයිතීනුත් මහජනතාවට තිබෙන බව ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය ඉහත නඩුවලදී තහවුරු කළා.
අපරාධ නීතියේ තියෙන සිද්ධාන්තය මිනිසුන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම නෙවෙයි. කිසියම් පුද්ගලයෙක් විමර්ශනයක් කරන්න අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්න ඕනෑ කියලා අනිවාර්ය නැහැ. නමුත් පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයාගේ ප්රකාශනයෙන් අදහස් ප්රකාශ කරන්න සීමාවල් පනවන්න උත්සාහ කරනවා. නමුත් ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණයෙන් මීට අදාළව පැහැදිලි අර්ථ නිරූපණ දී තිබෙනවා. ත්රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත යටතේ ක්රියාත්මක දඬුවම් පනත මඟින් ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයාට පුද්ගලයෙක් රඳවා තබා ගැනීමේ අවස්ථාව මාස 18කට ලබාදී තිබෙනවා. ත්රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත ගෙනාවේ 1979දී. මේ පනතට අදාළව අමතක කළ වචනයක් තිබෙනවා. 1979 අංක 47 දරන ත්රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ තාවකාලික විධිවිධාන පනත හැටියට නම් කළාට දැන් දශක කීයක් ක්රියාත්මක වෙනවාද? ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහත්තයා අද ක්රියාත්මක කරන්නෙත් මේ තාවකාලික පනත. ඒ නිසයි යුරෝපා කොමිසමෙන් මේ පනත ඉවත් කරගන්න බලපෑම් කරන්නේ.
මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට වාහන ගෙන්වීමේ කැබිනට් සන්දේශයක් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහත්තයා දාලා තියෙනවා. ජාතික ජනබලවේගය හැටියට අපි මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ලබන සතියේදී ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ නඩු පවරනවා. මූලික කාරණා දෙකක් ඊට පදනම් කරගන්නවා. මැයි 18වැනිදා කැබිනට් පත්රිකාවෙන් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මයා තවත් වාහන අතර ප්රාඩෝ ජීප් රථ 227ක් ගන්න සූදානම් වෙනවා. නමුත් 24වැනිදා කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයේදී ඒ තීරණය අත්හිටුවූ බව මාධ්යට ප්රකාශ කළා. නමුත් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශක ඇමැතිවරයා ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරස්පර විරෝධී කතා දෙකක් කියා තිබෙනවා. ණයවර ලිපි නිකුත් කර තිබෙන නිසා ඒ වාහන ගෙන්වන්න සිදුවෙන බව කියා තිබෙනවා. ඒ අතරම ඊට පස්සේ කියනවා, වාහන ගෙන්වීම අත්හිටුවලා තිබෙන බව. හැබැයි මහා භාණ්ඩාගාර ලේකම් තවත් කතාවක් කියනවා. පෝට් සිටි පනතට පක්ෂව ඡන්දය දුන් මන්ත්රිවරුන්ට දෙන්න මේ ප්රාඩෝ රථ ගේන්න සූදානම් වෙන බව පැහැදිලියි. හැබැයි කැබිනට් සන්දේශය ඉදිරිපත් කළ 18වැනිදාත් එය අහෝසි කළ 24වැනිදාත් කියන දින දෙකටම කලින් අප්රේල් මාසේ 22වැනිදා මහා භාණ්ඩාගාර ලේකම්වරයා ණයවර ලිපි නිකුත් කරනවා.
මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ අභියෝගයට ලක්කරනවා. ඊළඟට දෙවැනුව මහජන භාරය කියන නීතිමය සංකල්පය අනුව කටයුතු කරනවා. ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මයාට මේ රට භාරදී තිබෙන්නේ අවුරුදු 5ක මහජන භාරයක් හැටියට. එප්පාවල පොස්පේට් නිධිය සම්බන්ධ නඩුවේදී, වෝටර්ස් ඒජ් නඩුවේදී ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මේ මහජන භාරය තහවුරු කර තිබෙනවා. මේ අනුව මහජන භාරය සිද්ධාන්තයට පටහැනි වීම නීතිය අභිභවා යන තත්ත්වයක්. ඒ නිසා අපි මේ බව ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය ඉදිරියේ අභියෝගයට ලක් කරනවා. කොවිඩ් – 19 මර්දනය කරන්න එන්නත් ටික ගන්න සල්ලි නැතිව ඉන්නවා. ඒ අතරේ මේ වාහන ගේන්න යනවා. මහජන භාරය ඒකද? ගොවියාගේ අස්වැන්නට ඍජුවම බලපාන පොහොර ටික නැහැ. විදෙස් සංචිත නැති නිසා පොහොර ගෙන්වන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ අනුව ගොවියත් එක්ක තියෙන මහජන භාරය ඉෂ්ට කරන්නේ නැහැ. මේ වගේ තත්ත්වයන් නිසා ණයවර ලිපිය අහෝසි කරන්න හෝ එහෙම බැරිනම් ඒ වාහනවල වෙළෙඳපොළ වටිනාකම මහා භාණ්ඩාගාරයට ලබාගන්න කියලා නියෝග කරන ලෙස අපි ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා. ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මේ ඉල්ලීම්වලට ඇහුම්කන් දීලා මහජන භාරයේ අයිතිය තහවුරු කරයි කියලා අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.”
නීතිඥ නිර්මලා සිරිවර්ධන
“මම මෙහිදී අම්ම කෙනෙක් විදිහට, පුරවැසියෙක් විදිහට සහ කාන්තාවක් විදිහට පොලිස් මාධ්ය ප්රකාශකවරයාගේ නිවේදනය දකින්න ඕනෑ කොහොමද කියලා පැහැදිලි කරනවා. කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්ත්වය යටතේ අපේ දරුවන්ගේ අධ්යාපනය මූලික කරගෙන බරපතළ තත්ත්වයන් මතුවී තිබෙනවා. විශේෂයෙන්ම විශ්වවිද්යාල දරුවෝ කරුණු හොයා ගන්නේ අන්තර්ජාලය එක හරහා. ඒ වගේම තමන්ගේ අදහස් ප්රකාශ කරන්න අවස්ථාව තියෙන්නේ සමාජ මාධ්ය හරහා. ඔවුන්ට යම් යම් කාරණා සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවේචනයන් තිබෙනවා. සමාජ පරිණාමයේ එක යුගයක රජ්ජුරුවෝ කියන දේ විශ්වාස කරන්න සිද්ධ වුණා. නමුත් එය සත්ය නෙවෙයි කියලා පසු කාලයක ඔප්පු වුණා. රජ්ජුරුවන්ගේ අත්අඩංගුවට අරගෙන වස පොවලා මරා දාපු විද්යාඥයන් හිටියා. එවැනි පසුගාමී සමාජයකට යන්න උත්සාහ කරනවාද කියන එක මේ මාධ්ය නිවේදනයෙන් අපිට සැකයක් මතු වෙනවා. අසත්ය හෝ වෛරීය ප්රකාශන සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශේර්ෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දුවල පැහැදිලි අර්ථ නිරූපණ දී තිබෙනවා.
අනුරාධා හේරත් (www.mawbima.lk)
By Harini Amarasuriya A trending story during the last couple of weeks has been the arrest of the rambunctious Mayor of Moratuwa, Saman Lal Fernando on charges of obstructing the work of a public official. The arrest was precipitated by scenes of the Mayor clashing with health personnel at a COVID vaccination centre where he […]
By Harini Amarasuriya
A trending story during the last couple of weeks has been the arrest of the rambunctious Mayor of Moratuwa, Saman Lal Fernando on charges of obstructing the work of a public official. The arrest was precipitated by scenes of the Mayor clashing with health personnel at a COVID vaccination centre where he insisted that only those who possessed a Mayor’s ‘chit’ should be vaccinated. Health officers refused to comply and insisted that the ‘chit’ system introduced by the Mayor was invalid. Images from this incident were circulated widely on social media and outraged messages calling for the arrest of the Mayor and congratulating the health officials for standing their ground circulated widely on social media. There were also images of the Mayor’s supporters crowding around the Court house when he was produced in Court, violating all lockdown and quarantine regulations.
In the meantime, there are reports from many parts of the country of the involvement of local politicians in the vaccination programme. Images of banners with photographs of politicians at vaccination centres have also been circulating. Reportedly, the GMOA had a scheme whereby family members of doctors could be vaccinated. Universities arranged vaccination programmes for university staff. Presumably, other professions and sectors also tried to organise special programmes. Yet, workers in the FTZ (which has been declared an essential service) are clamouring for help – with vaccination, with quarantine facilities and support during lockdown to no avail. The bottom line being that a vaccination programme that should have been rolled out according to evidence-based prioritisation for controlling COVID, has turned into one based on privilege, status and connections.
It is unfortunate that both the media and the public directed their (justifiable) anger at individuals such as Mayor Saman Lal Fernando and saw this simply as a problem of a rogue Mayor, known for his brashness. Focussing on individuals, distracts from the much deeper problem we need to confront and lead us to the false belief that if we find ‘better’ people (more educated, professional, from ‘good’ families etc.) to fill these positions the situation will improve. If we truly want to understand and change this way of doing things, then we need to dig a little deeper.
What we are seeing today is a total and utter breakdown of any kind of system and the lack of even a trace of a proper plan for the vaccination programme. This is all the more shocking in a country that has earned recognition for its public health programmes. Neither do we have a proper plan to manage the lockdown or the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. For instance, how do we ensure an uninterrupted supply for food and other essentials? How do we take care of those dependant on a daily wage or whose incomes have been affected by the lockdown? How do we support children to continue their education? What do we need to have in place to look after the mental health of people under lockdown conditions? What systems do we need to have to be able to respond to domestic violence which is on the rise during such times? Today, there are no clear lines of authority and decision-making and the basis on which decisions are made appear arbitrary and purely self-interested. When some decisions are clearly bad (such as allowing one day for people to leave their homes for obtaining essential goods or using all the vaccines at hand to give more people the first dose without a proper plan for obtaining the second dose), there is a mad scramble to either reverse the decision or take other decisions to respond to the fallout from the first decision. Such a situation can only be described as chaotic at best and criminally incompetent at worst.
And in times of chaos, humans revert to survival mode – and that means survival even at the expense of others. Relationships of care, collaboration and cooperation – or even kindness are not purely instinctive – they must be nurtured and the right conditions be created to encourage collaboration and cooperation. The exhausted PHI who refuses to answer yet another late night call; the nurse who ignores the despairing cries of a scared patient; the shopper who hoards as much of the limited produce in the shop as possible; professionals who insist that their union leaders negotiate preferential treatment; the ambitious politician who strategizes how to use this pandemic to gain an advantage at the next election – they are all products of the chaotic conditions within which we are forced to figure out our daily lives. And these conditions were not created overnight. For years, no, decades, we steadily chipped away at the systems and infrastructure that held our society together. Our education systems, entertainment industry and media kept telling us that humans perform best when motivated by self-interest and competition. Anyone who doesn’t survive in such a society are weaklings we were told. If necessary, such weaklings can be looked after through philanthropic acts or even better Corporate Social Responsibility projects. Systems must be built not to support the ‘losers’ but the ‘winners’.
And here we are today. Many of us are scared and unsure about our wellbeing and that of our loved ones. Even those of us who thought we were well-connected or connected enough to live a privileged life, are gradually realising that we require even better connections to survive this pandemic. Each of us has a story to tell – of a friend, a relative, a loved one, who has been affected. Each one of us has worked all the connections we have to try and mobilise help for someone we know. And each time, as it has become harder and harder to mobilise those connections we are coming to the realisation that perhaps we are not as well connected or as safe as we thought we were. The network of the truly privileged seems to be tighter and smaller and more distant from us than ever before.
In such a situation can we be surprised at Saman Lal Fernando and his chit system? There are many Saman Lal Fernandos in our midst today – each one operating at their level; each one setting up their own system of patronage and favours. And they are not to be found only among politicians – they are everywhere. How many of us can say with any assurance that there isn’t a bit of Saman Lal Fernando within each one of us or that we haven’t called upon a Saman Lal Fernando when we have needed something? Many of us take virtuous stands against lowly public officials for minor misdemeanours, but how many of us are willing to stand up against the large-scale abuse of power and corruption, especially if we have a school tie, or other connection with those involved in such crimes?
While talking to someone who lost a loved one to COVID recently, I was told: “Make sure that his death was not in vain”. I was told, “Remember he didn’t die a natural death – he was killed”. Yes, he was killed by an under-resourced and over-stretched system and by a leadership that didn’t have a plan in place. I could understand the anger and the anguish.
Standing in line in a vaccination queue, I sensed the anxiety among people: would there be enough vaccines to go around; did they have the right documentation to prove that they were eligible for the vaccine; will they get the second vaccine on time? I noticed how tense they were when luxury vehicles drew up and when ‘important’ looking people stepped out, anxiety that somehow those people would be afforded a privilege while those of us in the queue would be denied our right. How obscene is it that citizens have to experience such anxiety over what should be a basic right?
If change is to come – and it MUST come – remember we all have a role to play. Most importantly we have to look beyond the individuals and support the establishment of systems that work for all and not a few. We must realise that the more civilised we become, the less we should rely on instinct and the more we should rely on systems that work. That each one of us is safer when we can collectively be safer, together. Let us learn the bitter lessons COVID is teaching us. We have already had one death too many due to COVID. Let none of those deaths have been in vain.
By Harini Amarasuriya As I write this article, the Supreme Court determination on the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill has been made public. The SC has found 25 of the 74 clauses (almost 1/3rd of the Bill) to be inconsistent with the Constitution with 9 clauses requiring a referendum as well as special majority in […]
By Harini Amarasuriya
As I write this article, the Supreme Court determination on the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill has been made public. The SC has found 25 of the 74 clauses (almost 1/3rd of the Bill) to be inconsistent with the Constitution with 9 clauses requiring a referendum as well as special majority in parliament, unless amended. The Government has declared that it will make the proposed amendments at the Committee stage of the debate scheduled for 19 and 20 May. Opposition groups while cautiously welcoming the SC determination has asked for the debate to be postponed arguing that the public needs more time to consider this Bill and also that given the current COVID situation, the Port City Bill (as it is commonly known) should not be a priority. As things now stand, by the time this article goes to print, the most likely scenario is that the amended Bill would have been passed. Only a complete turnaround from the Government from its current position, heeding the many requests to delay the vote on the Bill, will stop this Bill being passed as things stand now.
There are some extremely important issues that we as citizens of this country need to make note of with regard to this Bill: most significantly, this Government has drafted a Bill that according to the SC determination, contains 25 clauses that are in violation of the Constitution. The constitutional clauses, the Bill violates are as follows:
What does this mean? This Government has thought it fit to draft legislation that violates two of the most important principles enshrined in our Constitution: equality of all before the law and exercising and enjoying our sovereignty as citizens. Let us not forget that the current President and Government came into power on campaigns built around the importance of ‘one country, one law’ and protecting the sovereignty of the people. While it was quite obvious that the ‘one country, one law’ slogan was a convenient cover for spewing racism, nevertheless, there were considerable expectations and enthusiasm built around these promises. However, it is not only the content of the Bill, but also the manner in which this Bill was placed before the people, that exposes the true intent of this regime.
The people of this country were effectively given only one day to challenge this Bill in court because the Government deliberately tabled it in Parliament just before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year holidays. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution reduced the period given to challenge a Bill from two weeks to one, signalling a limitation to a key method in which people could exercise their sovereign rights. This Government made sure that limited time was further reduced. Of the seven days that followed the tabling of this Bill, three days were public holidays and two were the weekend. If anyone wanted to challenge the Bill, they had to do so on the day after the Bill was made public (practically impossible) or just one other day after the New Year break. Lawyers representing the parties that challenged the Bill, worked frantically during the holidays, through auspicious times and family traditions in order to meet the deadline. Then, this entire drama is being performed during a time when public attention is distracted by the COVID epidemic. The debate is scheduled at a time when daily numbers of COVID deaths are increasing, as are infections. Public representatives are inundated by requests from anguished constituents seeking vaccinations and treatment. Public gatherings are not allowed and public discussions and engagement with this Bill are severely limited. The people of this country are in no mood for even thinking about such a Bill, even though it has huge implications for the country. Media too cannot give enough screen time to discuss the Bill in detail because the priority right now is survival. The timing of this Bill is obviously not accidental – the Government wants to get this through with minimum consultation and review. So in effect, this Government is stating loudly and clearly their complete lack of respect for constitutionally provided space to exercise people’s sovereignty as well as their utter contempt for broader democratic principles and values.
Why we need to seriously protest at this deliberate limiting of public engagement, review and discussion of this Bill is when we consider its content. While there are many problematic areas, I would like to focus on the development model being promoted through this Bill. The Port City is being touted by the Government as the answer to all of Sri Lanka’s economic woes and that somehow any delay in proceeding with it would irreparably damage Sri Lanka’s economy. The establishment of special economic zones is not new either in Sri Lanka or in the world. The Board of Investment was established in Sri Lanka for that very purpose and the free trade zones for example that are already functioning in the country, allow precisely that. There is also the Strategic Development Project Act, which was brought in to further provide for incentives and other measures to attract investments. The significant difference between these Acts and the proposed Bill is the role of the Parliament. While both those Acts must submit to the oversight of the parliament, the proposed Bill outlined an extremely powerful authority that would function with minimum parliamentary oversight. This was an aspect of the Bill, to which the SC took strong exception.
When presenting the Bill to Parliament on 19 May, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that high quality health, educational and financial services were required in Sri Lanka to attract investors. He and others also pointed out to the delays, culture of corruption and inefficiency in the bureaucracy which impeded development. Now, there is no doubt that ALL of us would benefit from high quality health, educational and financial services, and an efficient, corruption free bureaucracy. Yet, this Government is not talking about providing these services for the people of this country: rather, the urgency is to ensure that these are in place for foreign investors. The irony of this would have been less cruel, had it not been said at a time when the citizens of this country are experiencing the deficiencies of our health care system (thanks to years of neglect by successive Governments) and when the lack of political leadership necessary for tackling a dangerous health crisis is being daily exposed.
Special economic zones, in the form of free trade zones, or financial cities are built on a premise that is fundamental to globalised financialised capitalism: deregulation. Such a model relies on market forces to provide necessary corrective measures and then assumes that the economic growth that will follow will ‘trickle down’ to different layers of society. This model has now been subject to severe criticism. It is also established now that this economic model exacerbates inequality between and within countries. Once again, the COVID crisis we are currently experiencing has exposed that inequality in the harshest of ways – in terms of vaccine inequality, access to care, and ability to cope with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic etc. Yet, ignoring all these lessons that this global health pandemic has been rubbing in our faces for the last one and a half years, this government is proceeding on a path that even by its own admission is meant to establish a zone, that by its very nature is exceptional and unequal. In doing so, it is also admitting to the failures of the last so many decades: the failure to put in place effective and efficient systems that work for people of Sri Lanka – whether in terms of the economy, health, education or administrative services.
This shows the extent to which this Government is out of touch and even more, simply insensitive to the needs of the vast majority of people in this country. No wonder it has no respect for people’s sovereignty: it simply does not care! This is not a Government of the people, for the people – this is a Government, with the intent of using its mandate and power to establish an oligarchy. It uses patriotism and racism as rhetorical devices to maintain its power base – but in my view, there is limited shelf-life for such tactics. What other means it will choose to remain in power is already evident – as the despicable strategies it chose to push through the Port City Bill which has such major implications for the country has shown us. This is the time for all of us to remain alert, critical and engaged however much this regime may try to stop us.
https://ceylontoday.lk/news/colombo-port-city-economic-commission-bill-priority-for-whom
By Harini Amarasuriya Indian author Arundhathi Roy, writing to the Guardian newspaper described the Indian government’s failures in the face of COVID-19 as a “crime against humanity”. Certainly, the news and images from India are heartbreaking. When a society has reached a point where whether you are able to access lifesaving treatment or not, whether […]
By Harini Amarasuriya
Indian author Arundhathi Roy, writing to the Guardian newspaper described the Indian government’s failures in the face of COVID-19 as a “crime against humanity”. Certainly, the news and images from India are heartbreaking. When a society has reached a point where whether you are able to access lifesaving treatment or not, whether you live or die, whether you are able to grieve properly when you lose a loved one, depends on your position in society, your connections and your wealth – that society has hit rock bottom. These are consequences, – make no mistake, these are not accidents – of deliberate actions and policy choices, of callous and in Roy’s words, coldly indifferent leaders. Sri Lanka today is also at tipping point.
For several successive days, the number of COVID positive people has been a little under 2,000 a day. Since, this is based only on the numbers tested, we can only assume that the numbers are in reality higher. Reports from health personnel on the frontlines are not good – hospitals are reaching full capacity and people, even after testing positive, are forced to stay at home since intermediate treatment centres and hospitals are both at full capacity.
For those who are asymptomatic or showing mild symptoms this may not be a problem, but worryingly, this particularly strain of the virus seems to be more vicious. Therefore, the demands on the health sector are increasing. This is not just in terms of infrastructure but also human capacity. For example, providing a patient ICU care is not simply about provisioning an ICU bed – but requires a team of specialised doctors, nurses, equipment and medication. These, especially the human resources are much harder to deploy suddenly.
Increase in maternal morbidity
One of the greatest threats of COVID is the pressures it places on the health sector and its consequences not only in terms of managing the epidemic, but for managing other health issues as well. As all attention, resources and capacity get diverted to COVID, other equally pressing and urgent health issues are neglected and overlooked. Already, health personnel have warned that there may be an increase in maternal morbidity due to the pressures wrought by COVID on the system. This is why health and medical experts have been stressing the importance of not letting the COVID situation overwhelm the health sector. This is of course an incredibly difficult thing to do. It means managing the spread of the virus while simultaneously increasing the capacity of the health sector.
Strict implementation of health regulations is paramount
More than a year on, what we know is that as of now, we have not been able to strengthen the capacity of the health sector to deal with this ongoing crisis. ICU units have only increased marginally, quarantine centres, treatment centres, testing facilities and laboratories etc., and are still insufficient. It is evident that the government lost focus demonstrating either ignorance or disregard for the nature of this virus. What the world has learned over the past several months is that this virus mutates resulting in a cycle of infections. No country will be able to drop its guard until at least 70% of the world population is vaccinated.
This means, that creating awareness among the public of the need to continue following health regulations such as masking, hand washing/sanitation and maintaining social distance for the foreseeable future, is paramount. But most importantly it means steadily increasing the capacity of the health sector to cope with the epidemic. It requires prioritising health requirements and realigning all other policies at least for the next two years in anticipation of managing an ongoing global and health epidemic. Then what of vaccinations? Certainly, vaccination is important – but once again, a proper roll out plan for vaccination must be in place.
What we saw with the first round of vaccinations in this country was completely unacceptable. The priority list agreed to by health experts was quickly disregarded and the heavy political hand was evident as connections and position rather than need became the criteria for vaccination. Now, there also seems to be uncertainty about procuring vaccines even for the second dose for those already given the first. It is on this issue that the global inequalities in the health sector and the power of the pharmaceutical industry is most evident. While rich countries are hoarding vaccines, the industry is making billions in profit.
Poorer countries are falling way behind in vaccinating their populations. The head of WHO has said that the world is on the brink of a ‘catastrophic moral failure’ due to vaccine inequity. It is not only in the vaccine roll out that the inequity is evident: the ability to engage in health seeking behaviour – whether as a country or as an individual – is intimately tied up with socioeconomic conditions. The poor and the underprivileged are the hardest hit.
TRIPS waiver
At the moment, there is a growing lobby demanding a Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for COVID vaccines. In a major policy shift, the US (home to some of the biggest pharma companies including Modena and Pfizer that is manufacturing COVID vaccines) has agreed to a TRIPS waiver. Yet, working out the modalities of how this will work will require more lobbying, negotiation and hard work. The pharmaceutical industries have already started lobbying against the waiver and countries such as the UK, the EU, Canada and Australia have resisted this move. Also, it’s not only on the vaccine per se that a patent waiver is required, but on the technology that accompanies its production and roll out.
All this means that as important as the vaccine is, it will be some time before its impact will be felt. The time has also come to seriously take stock of the impact of decades of policies that encouraged privatisation of health care putting profitability over social justice. This ethos has also had huge consequences for research and development, where competitiveness and profit drive research agendas rather than collaboration and need. TRIPS waivers of medication and vaccines should not be simply about responding to ‘exceptional’ circumstances. The morality of TRIPS in areas especially relating to health, education, innovation and research must be questioned.
Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, our challenges are far more fundamental. Our problems are primarily at the level of leadership – whether in politics, business or education. We seem to be saddled with leaders of incredibly narrow vision, with petty and selfish agendas. Combine that with incompetence and insecurity and you have a recipe for disaster. This country does not lack in experts, efficient administrators or competent professionals. Yet, they are being side-lined today.
COVID must be managed by health professionals and those experienced in disease control. From briefing the public to taking the final decision on measures for quarantine – it is paramount that we allow those who know to be in charge. It is worrying when even the State Minister for COVID prevention, herself a health professional hints at being undermined.
It is shocking when a senior Minister brazenly admits that he influenced a decision on lockdown in his constituency when the health personnel in charge of the area go public saying a lockdown is essential. What is worrying is not that the Minister interfered with a decision made by those in charge – but that he was allowed to do so.
This reflects the breakdown of the system of decision-making in the health sector which is the worst possible scenario we could have at this moment. People currently in power in Sri Lanka are still battling charges of war crimes. For the sake of the people of this country, let us hope that crimes against humanity in the face of COVID will not be added to their list of charges.
https://ceylontoday.lk/news/the-leadership-we-want-in-covid-times
Media notification