Ceylon Today Editorial

Unabashed waste

 

02 September 2016

Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe has allegedly set the tone to fight waste and corruption in the country. As reported on these pages yesterday, Wickremesinghe has called for an explanation from the Sports Ministry Secretary as to how 40 officials had accompanied a team of a mere nine athletes to the recently concluded Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Whereas, probably a manager and a physiotherapist would have had been more than sufficient to have had accompanied this contingent, which returned home medal-less!

In this regard, the Pakistani Press has been criticizing its own officials, comprising some 17 who had accompanied a squad of a mere seven athletes. Pakistan, like Sri Lanka too returned home, medal-less.

In Sri Lanka's case, a total contingent of 49 comprising 40 officials and nine athletes works out to a figure equivalent to 81.63% of the party consisting of officials and 18.37% of athletes.

In Pakistan's case, a total contingent of 24 comprising seven athletes and 17 officials works out to a ratio of 70.83 (70.83%) officials to 29.17 (29.17%) athletes, still better than Sri Lanka's comparable ratio of 81.63 officials: 18.37 athletes.

Sri Lanka's giant and closest neighbour India sent a contingent of 118 to Rio and finished with two medals: a silver and a bronze. It's however unclear how many officials accompanied the Indian players.

Nonetheless, the Indian press has been critical about some of the officials who accompanied the contingent. They have been critical of their Sports Minister, the two medical officers who accompanied the contingent; and the Haryana Sports Minister who led a nine-member delegation to Rio at a cost of Indian Rs 10 million to the exchequer, that cost being what was incurred by only that 'Haryana contingent'.

Accompanying Sri Lanka's delegation to Rio was also the island's own Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara.

Meanwhile, during the 'dark' era of the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, at the immediately preceding Olympics which was held in London in 2012, Sri Lanka had sent a contingent of seven athletes and 30 officials, the latter number being the figure quoted by the then UNP's Media Spokesman Gayantha Karunathilaka, as reported by 'The Island' on its 31 July, 2012 edition.

This means the ratio of local officials to competitors at the London Olympics comprised 81.02: 18.92; marginally better than the Rio Olympics ratio of 81.63: 18.37; better, because higher the ratio pertaining to participating athletes, better does it mean that misuse, abuse, wastage and corruption are relatively minimal in respect of such events, though in both these instances, i.e. Rio 2016 and London 2012, the overall representation of officials comprised more than 80% of Sri Lanka's contingent, whereas the number of athletes comprised under 20% of the total contingent.

With reference to the 'officials' contingent', it may be moot to quote what Karunathilaka had then said, as reported by 'The Island': 'Sri Lankan officials, at the ongoing London Olympics, should be given gold medals for being the highest contingent at the games, percentage wise," the UNP said yesterday.

Only seven athletes were representing the country, but thirty officials had accompanied them, the UNP's Media Spokesman Gayantha Karunathilaka, MP, told a news conference in Colombo.

He said that the fiasco being enacted in London was nothing but an extension of the 'Mahinda Chintana' which propagates the squandering of public funds.

The sports officials attending the Olympics are following the example set by the President and his jumbo Cabinet, who frequently travelled abroad on tax payers' money, while the poor were struggling to make ends meet, Karunathilaka observed.

The government, he said, had instituted disciplinary action against some Pradeshiya Sabha members while ignoring the corrupt and lawless conduct of persons holding higher positions.

The MP noted that the "Big Fish" were allowed to go scot free, because they have the capability of embarrassing the Rajapaksa regime.

After the war had ended President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the country would occupy the first three places in precedence. But, today the first place has gone to high interest loans, the second to imposition of taxes and the third position to lawlessness, Karunathilaka said, adding that the nation had been mortgaged for generations to come and it was the future generations who would have to pay the price and not the President, his Ministers or officials who were the decision-makers.

Now that Wickremesinghe has called for an explanation, the nation may probably be looking at what the Premier who co-heads the current Yahapalana regime along with incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena, would afterwards do?