Ceylon Today Editorial

Helmetless riding encouraged

23 November 2016

An often heard surmise is that the cause for the increase in road accidents is not necessarily an increase in motor-vehicles, but due to indiscipline.

"Indiscipline" is a perceptible cancer running through the social fabric of this country. It's amazing that this is so, particularly in the context that this island boasts of a 2,500 years old civilization.
It's one of the oldest civilizations of this world; surpassed only by the Mohenjodaro-Harappa civilizations of India, the Yangtze Kiang-Hwang-Ho civilizations of China and other East Asian civilizations led by Japan and Korea, the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations of ancient Iraq, the Egyptian civilization and the Hebrew civilization.

All of these civilizations were concentrated in the East. Those were civilizations which were much older than the Graeco-Roman civilizations, the cradle of the Western civilization, which followed millennia later. The period when civilizations in the East flourished, as stated by President J.R. Jayewardene, those in the West were climbing trees (tree climbers!).

But, in the 21st century, at least as far as discipline is concerned, except perhaps for East Asia led by Japan and Korea; and Israel, the cradle of the Hebrew civilization, the rest of those countries which were cradles of ancient civilizations, countries like India, Iraq, Egypt and Sri Lanka, lag far behind.

They have been overtaken, by more than a mile, as far as the yardstick of discipline is concerned, by the 'tree climbers' of the West. A possible reason may be that those ancient countries which were the cradle of the civilizations of the world subsequently became colonies, though it may be difficult to find that unbroken thread linking 'indiscipline' in and of a country, because that country subsequently became a colony, by force of arms, by a more powerful country.

'Indiscipline' in dictatorships is dealt with by inflicting punitive punishment on the offender. In democratic countries, offenders are taken to task, within the norms and behaviours within which civilized societies and states operate.

Sri Lanka is a democratic country and its operations of law and order and the dispensation of justice is done within the democratic norms and behaviour of how a civilized society and a State functions.
It may not be wrong to say, that Sri Lanka, after its economy was liberalized in 1977, opened up new avenues of wealth to its peoples. Wealth brought in luxuries, not least a flood of motor vehicles into the country.

Road indiscipline, complemented by supply constraints in the form of lack of expansion of existing roads to cope with demand and the slowness of adding new roads and even highways to the country's existing road stock, complemented for the increasing number of road accidents, post-1977.

According to available statistics, the Police Department on its website reported that it detected 2.89 million traffic offences in 2011. The Department further said that the number of reckless and dangerous driving cases was 34,386; violation of road rules (94,520); failure to obey Police signals and directions (20,783); drunk or driving under drugs (30,117); speeding (34,866); driving without driving licence (DL) and allowing to drive without DL (146,836); without protective helmet (129,109); un-roadworthy vehicles (1,030) and belching vehicles (6,990).

It further said that the number of casualties due to road accidents in 2011 was 2,721. They comprised driver/rider (1,203); pedestrians (898); passenger/pillion rider (531); passenger falling off vehicle (45) and passenger on entering/leaving bus (44).

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in his recent budget speech is reported to have said, '...discipline on our roads has deteriorated significantly. In 2015 alone, almost 40,000 accidents had occurred in which 2,800 deaths have been recorded.....scant respect for road rules also results in congestion which gives rise to significant economic loss...' (Ceylon Today of 22 November, 2016).

That article further said that fines up to Rs 25,000 have been slapped on seven traffic offences. Those are overtaking from the left side, driving under influence of liquor, driving without insurance, driving over the speed limit, driving without a licence, driving carelessly near railway crossings and assigning someone without a valid licence to drive one's vehicle.
It's however, significant that 'riding without a protective helmet,' the second highest number of road violations recorded in 2011, i.e. a number of 129,109; has had apparently being glossed over by the authorities, by not subjecting such violators also to this enhanced fine.

Is this due to politics at the expense of lives and targeting the local government elections to be held in April the cause? Appeasing helmetless motorbike riders and/or their dependents/pillion riders; by bartering their lives for their vote. What perverse and perverted logic.

Daily News Editorial

Enforce fine strictly

23 November 2016

The decision by the Transport Ministry to jack up the fines for selected traffic offenses to Rs.25,000, it is hoped would act as an effective deterrent to arrest the alarming rise in fatal road accidents in the country. It is a matter for satisfaction that the Private Bus operators too had agreed to fall in line and cough up the substantial fine. Chairman of the Lanka Private Bus owners’ Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne confirmed that his Association had agreed to the fine, to minimise traffic accidents.

This is also a tacit admission that private buses are the chief contributors to highway accidents, due to speeding, to overtake rivals in the mad scramble to enhance their daily collection. It is the self same Gemunu Wijeratne who once admitted that sixty percent of the private bus crew in the Western Province were drug addicts. It is not clear how many people lost their lives or were maimed due to the reckless driving of these drug addicts. Hence, it is advisable that the Ministry takes the additional precaution of devising measures to rid the private bus industry of these drug addicts. For, if indeed they are drug addicts, no deterrent would be too big for them and they would carry on in their merry way killing and maiming people with their daredevil exploits behind the wheel. Perhaps, the Ministry could enlist the services of the President of the LPBOA in this regard.

While the focus is on the private buses, it is pertinent here to note that many high ranking police officers are the proud owners of private buses. Will they condone the fine being imposed on their own vehicles? It is possible that the Traffic Police have been supplied with the numbers of these buses with “hands off “instructions. If such is the case the Ministry’s efforts to put the brakes on marauding private bus drivers will not bring the desired results and our roads will continue to be the death traps they are.

Be that as it may, reining in errant motorists by slapping the considerable fine of Rs. 25,000 is particularly welcome, given that the festive season is round the corner. This is the time that incidents of drunk driving on city roads undergo a spike, with young brats of the super rich, particularly, becoming a law unto themselves. There should not be any let up in this connection and the police should not bow to pressure from any quarter to go soft on any offender. It was revealed that last year alone there were 49,000 instances where motorists had been penalised for drunk driving. No doubt a majority of these cases would have been New Year revelers.

It would also be interesting to see how the police will conduct itself during the Big Match season when traffic and road rule violations by Big Match revelers are the norm. It should not hesitate to come down hard against the offenders although there are bound to complaints of a damper being thrown on the Big Match spirit. There can be no two sets of laws for different sections.

The authorities should carry out a survey, after a period, to ascertain, if indeed, the thumping fine has had its affect and the number of road accidents, particularly, fatal accidents had dropped. Like the Finance Minister said the death toll on the roads had even surpassed the wartime casualty figure of civilians. The death of a breadwinner can have severe repercussions on the families, particularly where the children are concerned. Hence road deaths in the present day have turned out to be a social problem. This is why the government’s decision to arrest this dangerous trend by whatever means has to be commended. Hence it should go all out to ensure that the fine acts as a sobering factor on our motorists, making them act more responsibly while behind the wheel.

Above all, the Traffic Police should be made to strictly enforce the fine, without succumbing to temptation, since Rs. 25,000 is a good incentive to look the other way in place of a hefty santhosam.

That Live telecast Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has gone the extra mile to set up an exclusive TV channel for covering parliament proceedings Live. This special channel will be ready in three months and until such time the Live coverage of the current budget debate will be telecast over a state run channel till December 10, the Speaker told the House. Live coverage of proceedings has its pluses and minuses. While some of our MPs will be on their toes, if not their guard, with the public focused on the contributions made by their erstwhile representatives, there will also be those who are bound to act the “showmen” to impress their electors, clowning themselves in the process. The Speaker, therefore, should introduce guidelines to be followed by MPs during the Live telecasts, particularly against slander and personal vilification. The Chair should not hesitate to name and shame such actors or take other drastic action, lest things get out of hand in the August House during the Live proceedings.

The Island Editorial

‘Old bats on Viagra’

23 November 2016

 

Monday’s parliamentary proceedings were so replete with risqué comments, double entendre and bawdy remarks that anyone who cared to watch them live on television may have wondered whether the debate was on the national budget or Kama Sutra.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, at the beginning of the session, exhorted the MPs to be on their best behaviour because a live telecast of the proceedings was on, but his plea fell on deaf ears as usual. His is a Sisyphean task, we reckon. It is popularly said in this country that ‘a canine tail cannot be straightened even if it is kept inside a bamboo’.

Snide remarks and insults were freely traded beside quick-fire, Rabelaisian repartee in the House. What took the cake, however, was Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s retort in retaliation for a barb from an elderly Marxist MP. "What can I do when an old bat happens to be on Viagra?" he asked rhetorically amidst peals of laughter. We knew every politician had bats in his belfry, but never did we know that there were old bats dependent on Viagra among our representatives!

The PM’s chiropteran reference reminded us of an incident reported a few moons ago. A minister, who hears time’s winged chariot hurrying near, perhaps in a bid to make up for lost time, put himself on an overdose of Viagra. Whether he succeeded in his endeavour, we do not know, but the effect of the potent aphrodisiac certainly overstayed welcome; he had to be rushed to hospital, where doctors fought quite a battle and thankfully managed to save a precious part of his anatomy. There seem to be more such old bats among lawmakers according to the PM’s innuendo.

Some politicians consider them lions, but we think all of them are brown bats. Maneka Gandhi, in a recent column in The Island, on the sexual behaviour of animals, wrote about those flying mammals: "The little brown bat is even more sexually deviant. When most bats are hibernating through the winter, hanging together in vast colonies, this bat works its way through raping males and females alike as they sleep." This is why people, with so many politicians around, must remain fully awake and on their guard lest something nasty should happen to them!

Politicians are usually notorious for paedophilia. But, on Monday, it was revealed in Parliament that there were also gerontophiles among them besides gigolos, Lotharios et al. Thanks to the live telecast of parliamentary proceedings the whole country is now au fait with our MPs’ sexual preferences.

Some parliamentarians with concupiscence oozing from every pore are like wild jumbos in musth and their female counterparts have complained of sexual harassment at their hands. A fish rots from the head down and the breakdown in discipline in society at large is something to be expected.

Now, we know parliamentarians use the President’s Fund even to gratify their carnal desires. (MPs are honourable men and women and they don’t make false allegations in the august assembly, do they?) It is also common knowledge that they receive staggering amounts of dosh from moneybags by way of campaign funds which go unaccounted for. They can sell their duty free vehicle permits for as much as Rs. 25 million each with impunity. In addition to their salaries they are paid for attending Parliament and various committees. Their medical expenses are taken care of by the President’s Fund while many poor patients including children on waiting lists at the state-run hospitals, are dying, unable to pay for their life-saving operations elsewhere. Most parliamentarians’ children receive best of education either here or overseas and their spouses and close relatives are rewarded with political sinecures. Gone are the days when politicians died in penury having lost all their wealth.

It is against this backdrop that the PM’s claim that MPs are in dire financial straits and, therefore, deserve better pay should be viewed. If those who sponge off the public while being paid handsomely by the state cannot make ends meet, how difficult it is for the ordinary people to dull the pangs of hunger goes without saying. But, the government keeps burdening the masses with heavier taxes and higher tariffs. While their so-called representatives are heating their livers with premium brand cognac etc and satisfying their taste buds with caviar people find it difficult to drown their sorrow even in Adam’s ale due to high tariffs.

Evo Morales, upon being elected the President of Bolivia in 2006, cut his salary by more than a half, saying he wanted to share the economic woes of his people. His MPs followed suit. That is true political leadership! Here, we have politicians feathering their nests while people are starving.

Long live Yahapalanya!