By Rathindra Kuruwita

The commission appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa purportedly to simplify existing laws and regulations was his latest attempt to neutralise institutions that acted as a countervailing force against the state and private actors, Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda told The Island yesterday.

Jayagoda said such action will have a devastating impact on the general public.

“This commission headed by Adviser to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Chairman of John Keells Group Krishan Balendra has a lot of private sector people as members. The government is determined to allow the private sector to maximise profit at the expense of the people and the environment.”

The FSP Education Secretary said that this commission should not be taken in isolation. The vision of President Rajapaksa is one of deregulation and weakening of social contracts and ethics that prevent individuals from doing things that are harmful to the society.

“Former British Prime Minister and arch neoliberal Margaret Thatcher said that there was no such thing as society and that there were only individual men and women. The current President seems to have been cut from the same cloth.

“At the Cabinet meeting on 21 December 2020, there was a discussion on the role of various regulatory institutions, from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). The President was reportedly of the view that these institutions stalled development. No one said a word against it.”

A few days later the PUCSL was scrapped by a letter signed by Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera.”

The FSP Education Secretary said that the PUCSL had been established by an act of Parliament, which alone could dissolve it. To overcome that obstacle the government later asked the Commission members to resign.

“Soon, there will be no one to regulate the power sector, etc., and the sky will be the limit for crooked companies hell bent on profit maximisations.

Soon after the President came into power, and a new Cabinet was appointed, they said there was no need to get permits to transport granite, soil and sand. When many objected, the government said permits would be issued, but Police won’t check. How absurd! Later, the government backtracked due to pressure but in the 2021 budget proposals, it came up with a proposal to hand over the power of issuing extracting permits to an entity appointed by the President.”

Jayagoda said that currently, before allowing anyone to extract granite, sand, soil, etc., the GSMB first had to examine the site and approve it. Then the Central Environment Authority (CEA) examines the environmental aspect and the Divisional Secretary and the Grama Niladari look at social and administration issues of allowing the project.

“Now, all powers will be given an entity appointed by the President. This is not the end of this. At the Cabinet meeting I mentioned earlier, they spoke about scrapping or weakening all regulatory bodies, including the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA.) Yes, there are complaints that commissions that are there to protect people and their rights are inefficient. Successive governments have also promoted this idea that there is no point in even complaining. If these institutions are inefficient, they should be made better. They must not be done away with under any circumstances.