A mobile service?

Wednesday 29th July, 2020

he manner in which President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is stumping for the SLPP candidates reminds us of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s presidential mobile service, which was launched to provide quick solutions to problems the ordinary people were facing, at the village level. Wherever President Rajapaksa goes, people jostle to submit a myriad of grievances to him, and he redresses some of them, then and there, and undertakes to address the others later. It is heartening to see the President giving ear to the hapless people, but, sadly, SLPP supporters blatantly flout the health regulations such as physical distancing. (Where are the police?) The blame for this situation should go to the organisers of political events and the SLPP leaders.

Sri Lankans are known for seeking political patronage. Even ordinary MPs have a large number of people waiting in their offices and seeking various favours in return for their support. However, many of the problems people bring to President Rajapaksa’s attention have remained unsolved for years, and they make one wonder what the MPs, Provincial Councillors, local government members and bureaucrats have been doing all these years. It is an indictment on the so-called people’s representatives and public officials that the President has to intervene to have school playgrounds developed, roads repaired and students who pass the Grade Five scholarship examination admitted to ‘popular’ schools.

Most of the people who gather at public events appeal to President Rajapaksa to eradicate the drug menace and ensure the safety of their children. The proliferation of dangerous drugs has caused a grave concern to all parents, and it is only natural that they expect the President to solve this problem once and for all. People also urge the President to eliminate organised crime and neutralise threats to national security. These public appeals bolster the argument that the President, who is also the Commander-in-chief, should be able to hold the Defence portfolio. Other ministerial subjects, especially Finance, are best left to members of Parliament. One of the serious flaws in the 19th Amendment is that the President, who is the Head of the Cabinet, cannot hold a ministerial post. The Ministry of Defence, we believe, should be brought under the Head of State, who is directly elected by the people.

When the next Parliament is elected, President Rajapaksa as the head of government will have to tell the ruling party MPs and ministers to go to the people and address their problems. Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Mayor must pay

The government has reportedly decided to restore a historical building partially demolished by the Kurunegala Municipal Council (KMC), the other day. The structure is believed to be a royal pavilion. Whether it was built by a king or not, the fact remains that it is of archaeological value and should not have been damaged.

The cost of restoring the building is said to be somewhere in the region of Rs. 9 million, and the project is to be jointly funded by the KMC, the North Western Provincial Council and the Road Development Authority (RDA), we are told. The Provincial Council and the RDA had nothing to do with the demolition work, and it defies understanding why they should be made to share the cost.

Public funds must not be spent on the restoration project. Why should people pay for it? It has been alleged that the demolition work was carried out with the blessings of Kurunegala Mayor Thushara Sanjeewa. In fact, he held a media briefing, where he sought to justify the dastardly act. He must be made to pay for restoration work with his private funds; his political masters including Minister Johnston Fernando, who has taken up the cudgels for him, can share the cost. After all, the Mayor boasted, in a recent television interview, that he was a member of a well-heeled family and had owned a vehicle even as a schoolboy. So, the SLPP ought to make him fund the restoration project.