Ceylon Today Editorial

Colombo Question

04 December 2016

The seemingly waning popularity of the Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe Unity Government is underscored by the indicators thrown up by the political barometer such as the rising cost of living (CoL), a proposal to hike MPs monthly emoluments by Rs 100,000; apparently in order to ensure that Budget 2017 currently being debated in Parliament is passed and alleged political partiality of the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), seemingly sealed by a suspicious telephone call received by IGP Pujith Jayasundara.

It's in this backdrop that local government elections which were due this year is in limbo, having had been postponed by a presidential directive allegedly due to the fact that the Unity Government is afraid to face the masses at the poll.

It's also in this vortex, that the Unity Government, in under three months time from now, will have to face a vote, not at a local election, but before a world body, namely the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)'s 34thSession due to be held from 27 February to 24 March 2017 at Geneva, as to what progress it has made to prosecute alleged human rights violators, especially during the closing stage of its war against the LTTE which was prosecuted to a successful finish 7½ ago in 2009?

Colombo, together with the USA, a little over a year ago, gave a commitment to the UNHRC to investigate such charges, even with the assistance of foreign judiciary. The pressing for the investigation of such charges is led by the West, with the USA at the driving seat.

A popular saying in the 1980s was that when the USA coughs, Europe catches a cold, while the rest of the world gets pneumonia. Little has changed even after 30 years, despite the rise of China as a new economic and military powerhouse; it's still the USA which calls the shots at the world stage.

President Sirisena, quick to realize the negative changes in the local political climate, though not even only two years in office, mainly driven by the rising CoL, has realized that the 'Colombo Question', once more to be raised before this world body in another three months time, will make it even more unpopular among the island's 70% Sinhala-Buddhist majority, who consider the UNHRC move as a step towards prosecuting those whom they consider to be heroes, responsible for successfully checkmating Tamil/LTTE terrorism that killed and maimed thousands and destroyed public property worth billions of rupees, if action against Colombo is voted for, at Geneva.

The Unity Government may have got a mandate from the people in August 2015 to govern for another five years, but so did Sirisena's former leader Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike get, and an overwhelming mandate as that, from the masses of this country on 27 May 1970, to govern the people of this country for five years.

But that didn't prevent a section of the Sinhala populace, led by the Marxist JVP to launch a Sinhala terrorist warfare, hardly a year later in April 1971, similar to Tamil terrorism that enveloped the country, leading to the events that led to the July 1983 riots and to become fully blown afterwards, because their economic needs, led by unemployment and a stagnant economy, remained unfulfilled and provincial disparities remained.

If, 'April 1971' was caused by youth unemployment and a stagnant economy, 46 years later, a possible condemnation of Sri Lanka by the world body for not taking steps to prosecute alleged war criminals at the February/March Geneva sessions and possible punitive actions threatened on Colombo thereafter, may well give rise to laying the seeds for an 'April 2017' on the island.

Nonetheless, what may be pleasing to Colombo's ears is US Ambassador Atul Keshap's recent statement that Sri Lanka-US relations are at an all time high, especially after 8 January 2015, the year Sirisena was elected to power. (See 'Ceylon Today's' editorial of 1 December, 2016)

It may be in that context one may have to look at Sirisena's phone call with US Vice President-elect Mike Pence, as reported on these pages yesterday and an invitation extended to visit the USA. Sirisena, if he wishes to defuse Geneva, should seize this opportunity. It was only recently that he had written to President- elect Donald Trump to rescind alleged war crimes investigations on Colombo. Trump is scheduled to take office on 20 January. It may be good if Sirisena, for a start, presents himself at the inauguration, i.e., if it's possible for him to get an invitation for such.

Weekend Nation Editorial

Reforms, protests and the future

04 December 2016

Reforms are vital to any country or society. It’s because everything has to change with times. As a country grows and population multiplies priorities have to change. It is through reforms that we adjust ourselves to face tomorrow’s problems.

As much as they are vital the reforms are often resisted by the people concerned irrespective of whether they are necessary for wellbeing of the people at large or not. Today we see in our country a wave of protests over a wide spectrum of issues in areas ranging from transport to health and education. Hardly a day goes by without some protest or threat of strike over something.

Take the education sector for example. There is an imbalance between what is produced and what is in demand. Our state higher education sector over the years has been producing the graduates with lesser skills who are often not employed by the private sector of the economy. Private sector higher education institutions affiliated to foreign universities have come forward to bridge this gap. Those who are able to afford made use of the opportunities and nobody has protested.

However, whenever the government steps in to reform the State-owned university system either by reducing the intake of students into areas where there is no demand or by effecting other changes whereby students would be directed to technical skills which are in demand,usually there is a lot of pretest.

In the field of medical education the opportunities are limited in the government universities despite many students obtaining high marks in relevant subjects at the university entrance exam. Still there is a shortage of doctors if we go by the WHO standards on doctor-patient ratio. However, any attempt to award medical degrees through the private sector higher education institutions is much resisted by doctors and medical students almost as a matter of policy although issues about standards are often cited by those who are opposing.

In the transport sector any attempt to discipline the bus operators, the three- wheeler drivers or the motor-bike riders despite their massive contribution to fatal road accidents are often resisted in an organized manner with transport strikes. Despite massive losses and unutilized potential for future development in the railway department any idea of modifying it is resisted in the most severe manner as all employees are complacent with its current status whatever the burden it adds to the economy.

The same situation prevails in all other state institutions that require reforms. If there are issues with the way the reforms are done, the employees concerned have a moral right to oppose. It would also be justifiable for other political parties to take up these matters at the right platforms. But what is often happening today is opposing the very idea of reform looking at things from a narrow angle.

However, the fact remains that we as a country cannot go forward without these important reforms. Successive governments who understood these issues have often postponed such reforms for reasons of political expediency. Now we have come to a situation where we cannot afford to postpone these reforms any longer.

Question remains how we can go ahead with some reasonable reforms in the face of growing protests. The government also has to be cautious and methodical in dealing with these issues. Sadly the actions of the government in this regard have not been in that direction. Taking some haphazard steps and retracting in the face of mounting opposition will only allow protestors to earn some brownie points in the eyes of the people. It’s much better to study the issues properly and take informed decisions than doing half-right things in a hurry.

Our future success as a nation will, to a great extent, depend on our ability to implement these social and economic reforms. The best approach to achieve these reform targets is to create sufficient public awareness before trying to implement them so that most of the negative public reactions can be avoided. Protestors will protest, but the public at large will not sympathise with them if public awareness is created beforehand.

Sunday Times Editorial

MPs must lead by example

04 December 2016

Come hell or high water, Parliamentarians have served themselves yet another allowance and the Government has found the money for it by raising the price of diesel sending food prices of common folk still higher.

It is a widespread belief that MPs no longer live in a pecuniary state and that they don’t live by their salaries and allowances alone; not surprising when one sees their lifestyle – and those of their brood. To say that MPs need more cash in hand to pay for wedding gifts and funerals of their constituents is a pathetic justification for an increased allowance. A better move might have been to give MPs some Research Assistants who can prepare them to make more substantial contributions to Parliamentary debates.

Ask any old-timer interested in Parliamentary affairs and they would tell you how Advanced Level students and undergraduates were often encouraged by their teachers and professors to read Hansard, the official record of Parliamentary proceedings, to widen their horizons in the field of economics, agriculture, world affairs etc., Today, in Parliament, most contributions are a mere cacophony of voices and carbon dioxide, often bordering on the unprintable.

If Parliamentarians wish to give to themselves a ‘living wage’ which takes into account their spending obligations vis-a-vis their constituents, there has to be a quid-pro-quo; a corresponding cap on allowing them to accept so-called party funds and campaign contributions (which are IOUs), and kickbacks for liquor licences and stop them making a quick buck by selling their duty free car permits. This week’s additional allowance is on top of all of this. MPs are now given all the allowances under the sun, and permitted to make hay while the sun shines as well.

While it is true that low pay packages for MPs leave them vulnerable and in situations where they can be easily influenced, if MPs are to be considered leaders of the people, they must surely set the example in frugality. Jumping the queue and serving more and more onto their plates first when senior-most judges, public servants and the ordinary public sector workers have to wait their turn to fill their empty plates, is not leadership by example.

Human rights chief versus Trump

World Human Rights Day falls on December 10 with a pall of gloom descending over several United Nations agencies in New York and Geneva with the widespread belief that US President-elect Donald Trump is going to give Human Rights a kick up the bottom and just do what is best for the American people.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) chief, a Jordanian Muslim prince who has been the bugbear of Sri Lanka as well, shot himself in the foot by publicly demonising Mr. Trump as a “populist, demagogue and political fantasist” before the billionaire businessman was surprisingly elected. Now, the UNHRC is bracing itself that if it does not call out its most powerful member-state for straying from universally accepted Human Rights principles, the rest of the world will be emboldened to ditch them. (See ST2 Page 8).

Not that US double-standards are prevalent even today and now Sri Lanka is seeking to get Mr. Trump to drop the UNHRC jointly sponsored resolution against the country. Given that it might be Mitt Romney who famously called Mr. Trump a “fraud” who may be his Foreign Minister, the UNHRC chief’s words too may be just water off his back.

ADIOS AMIGO
The passing away of Fidel Castro, the charismatic Cuban leader signals the end of an era. As a young revolutionary, he and his idealistic band of guerrilla fighters overthrew the US-backed dictator, General Fulgencio Batista who had turned the Caribbean island-nation of Cuba into one big corrupt, decadent state. The revolutionaries then established a Marxist state in 1959. Backed by the former Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, Cuba confronted the mighty United States next door eyeball-to-eyeball to see who would blink first. Too close to the end of World War II, neither of the Super Powers wanted by then, a possible nuclear fallout.

That moment in history; that stand-off by the young Cuban leader and his later crusades together with his even more charismatic comrade-in-arms, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara to spread their brand of revolution is modern history. In Latin America their moral power continues to live. In Africa they backed Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid African National Congress (ANC) to the hilt; he sent his troops to defend Angola and also embraced Yasser Arafat and his anti-Zionist PLO. Asia was not immune to this mesmerising influence and left-wing, mostly bearded young University students and workers, cynically called ‘cardboard Castros’ paraded the streets shouting the slogan; “Cuba-wata atha thibboth gori godai” ( Hands off Cuba or face the consequences).

The so-called ‘Imperialist pigs’ as the socialist camp called the West at the time got ‘Che’ killed in Bolivia, but several attempts to have Fidel assassinated came to naught. No different to his predecessor though in persecuting opponents, Castro went on to rule with an iron fist purging ‘counter revolutionaries’ by the hordes, eliminating some, throwing others in jail while thousands fled as refugees to nearby Miami, USA in ramshackle wooden boats. Those who survived, and their families hated Castro’s guts, cursed him each day, and finally, celebrated his death last week at street parties in Miami’s district known as ‘Little Havana’. They even oppose efforts at rapprochement between the US and Cuba, a process initiated by the Obama Administration.

Castro turned Cuba into a model Marxist state, but it was a model of failure no different to its mentor, the former Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991. A ruthless decades-long economic embargo imposed by the Unite States as retribution, slowly but surely took its toll on Cuba. With sole mentor and provider, the Soviet Union in ruins and then no more, Cuba too fell on hard times.

The country’s education programme and even more so, its health system were the only example of a successful socialist welfare state in a nation that was otherwise gasping for economic survival. Castro’s successor, Raul his brother, saw the writing on the wall. He was forced to be more pragmatic and opened a window to better relations with their bête noir, the US.

With the passing away of the legendary Castro, doors not windows will open but only if the President-elect of the US agrees to bury the hatchet. This will then be the last chapter of yesteryear’s Cold War.

Reviled by the West, and revered by those in the so-called Third World, Castro headed the Non Aligned Movement taking over from Sri Lanka in 1979. The late President J.R. Jayewardene while handing over the mantle in Havana told Castro that Sri Lanka’s tea mixed well with Cuba’s sugar. At each turn when Sri Lanka was in need of help, were it to fight malaria and dengue, doctors during the tsunami of 2004 or more recently at the UNHRC, Cuba under Fidel Castro always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sri Lanka and her people.

Many Sri Lankans who paraded those streets in support of Castro have long abandoned the Revolution themselves, and wisely so. What remains is a romanticised memory of a proud revolutionary David who stood up to Goliath, who spread the revolutionary zeal around the world, but eventually was not able to deliver all the goods to his own people.

Sunday Observer Editorial

Solve this problem soon!

04 December 2016

“For want of a nail… a kingdom was lost” goes that old European adage (Shakespeare uses it in ‘Richard III’). Last Thursday and Friday, national productivity lapsed severely, even if it did not come to a grinding halt, entirely due to a dispute over motor traffic fines. People were unable to do many things, including their main livelihood, due to the lack of the principal means of transport as a result of the private bus operators’ work stoppage in protest against the sudden, steep hike in traffic offence fines.

Public bus services, whether state or private-run, has been the principal means of public transport for Sri Lankans almost since automotive road transport began in this country a century ago.

Thus, when the private bus operators halt their services, much public life also halts. While the SLCTB is no longer big enough to meet public demand on its own, Sri Lanka Railways only serves limited stretches of the country’s main travel routes. Many people had to stay away from work or, arrive very late and wanted to leave early due to the lack of transport. So did students. Many other domestic and private matters were also put on hold due to the bus strike.

All of this due to the 2017 Budget’s requirement to steeply raise police fines for motor traffic rule violations. Some of these traffic violations will be punished by fines up to Rs. 25,000! Even those who do not drive or use their own motor vehicles will blanch at this huge hike as compared with the current set of fines that number in the hundreds or a few thousand rupees per offence.

A general principle of justice is that the punishment must be proportionate to the offence. If a motorist attempts to overtake another on the wrong side and, kills someone in the process, then that offending motorist will suffer not just a traffic fine but, far more severe punishment in the form of jail for either serious criminal negligence or manslaughter.

The punishment for simply overtaking on the left of another vehicle is imposed, solely, to deter wrong road behaviour. This is to avoid all negative repercussions ranging from a disruption of smooth traffic flow, to hitting another vehicle, to hitting other road travellers or pedestrians, to crashing into roadside installations.

It is the first ‘repercussion’ on the list above that is the most common, if not inevitable, repercussion of such wrong driving behaviour. And, in addition to disrupting traffic flow, such wrong behaviour will add to the stress of other motorists. Worse, such constant slowing down and gear-changes add to fuel usage which, in turn, adds to the national fuel import bill.

All other traffic fines are similarly intended. The punishment for the lack of a driving licence is to avoid the risk of bad driving due to ignorance of driving technique and traffic law. The lack of valid motor insurance is also punishable to ensure that the vehicle conforms to insurance requirements.

Thus, it is not ‘just’ for the justice system to impose punishments for road driving offences which are more severe than for other violations of law that are relatively bigger crimes.

Leaving aside judicial proportionality, an added immediate dimension is the inability of many, if not most, motorists to pay up such very high fines. While a fine of Rs. 700 or even Rs. 2,000 may be manageable to a trishaw or bus driver, it still eats in to his/her daily income, which, for almost all this type of motorist, is a crucial, daily, challenge in livelihood. Raise these fines to several thousands and even tens of thousands, and one can see why it is the private bus and trishaw taxi driver who complaining loudest and protesting most militantly.

Far more importantly, there must be a serious acknowledgment that there are other factors that contribute greatly to motorist offences. Firstly, roads remain too narrow or poorly planned to cope with the current traffic load. Worse, successive governments – including this one – have allowed lavish imports of vehicles despite the basic lack of road space. On our ridiculously packed roadways, is it surprising that motorists constantly bend rules not just to have their own way but also to circumvent other, even more selfish, motorists?

Another factor that promotes driver misbehaviour is the lack of detailed regulation of the bus service system itself. The urban bus operators are not firmly bound by rigorous service rules such as that which prevents one bus from overtaking another on the same route except at specific points – standards typical of developed urban bus services, which ours is supposed to emulate. Hence, the maniacal road races between private bus operators whose daily income depends on their passenger volumes.

Yet another factor is the poor supervision of the issue of driving licences and, the concomitant poor standards of motorist competence due to poor training and corrupt practices in licence tests.

To its credit, the Government has been sensitive to the cry of the private bus operators and, the President, as well as relevant ministers, has engaged with this issue.

Thanks to the President’s offer to discuss matters, the bus strike is suspended. Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has quickly agreed to make concessions on a range of ancillary matters that will, once implemented, ease the fine burden somewhat.

It is also up to our national-debt-burdened Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, to achieve a finer balance between that criminally enormous (‘criminal’ because it was wilfully imposed by the previous regime) burden and the ability of the people to bear the weight of repayment. With international financial institutions breathing down his neck, our Finance Minister can be forgiven for attempting desperate measures. Minister Karunanayake has to soften the blow of the debt burden at least on more vulnerable sections such as the average motorist.

Sunday Island Editorial

The bus strike

04 December 2016

 

The vast majority of the people of this country condemned – we use the word deliberately – to use our public transport system would have surely heaved a massive sight of relief that Friday’s bus strike is over. It is ironical that strikers, be they doctors or bus drivers, hold to ransom ordinary people who depend on their services to win their various demands whether they are reasonable or not. There is no word other than ‘abominable’ to describe this country’s public transport system. Buses are too few and infrequent. They are overcrowded during peak hours with hapless passengers packed like sardines into the proverbial tin. The bus drivers are a law unto themselves, careering down the roads with their hands almost permanently on their deafening air horns to bully other road users out of their way as they race each other to the next bus stop to pick up passengers. Crowded road conditions are of little concern to these madmen; overtaking on the wrong side is not uncommon and other road rules are paid scant attention. Making a buck is the name of the game and to hell with the safety of other road users.

The railway does take some pressure off the buses as far as public transport is concerned. But the train service cannot be described as adequate or satisfactory. Overcrowded commuter trains amply testify to this. Let us also not forget that when the bus strike loomed, railway men too tried to extract the last possible ounce of advantage by threatening a strike of their own. The less said about three-wheeler drivers the better. While they do provide an essential service to those who do not own vehicles as well as a convenience for many who do who’d rather not wrestle with traffic and parking, they too are a menace on the road weaving in and out of traffic, darting across the path of other vehicles with inches to spare and engaging in all manner of devilry that we are all familiar with. Many of the meters they are supposed to be equipped with are rigged or too often claimed to be not working. Ripping off passengers on fares is far too common. It is a never-ending struggle for those who must use public transport to get to work with the ever-present road congestion adding to their travails. There is very little prospect of light at the end of the tunnel in the short or even medium term. The only solace is that motorbikes have become options for many more people today than they were a couple of decades ago.

At the time of writing we do not know on what terms the bus strike had been settled but it looks as though the concerned authorities have back-pedaled at least to some degree. If the bus drivers conform to road rules, they have no reason to fear enhanced fines. But we must say in fairness that bus owners often demand so many trips a day or some minimum collection and drivers cannot crawl in traffic and meet rapacious revenue targets. Also, it is not only they and three-wheeler drivers who are undisciplined road users. There are many other motorists including some swanking about in high-end Benzes, BMWs and SUVs of sundry makes, who also break road rules and call various police high-ups of their cell phones when they are detected. How many motorists can, cross their hearts, and swear that they have never taken the wheel after a drink, crashed a red light, not stopped for a pedestrian at a zebra crossing or been guilty of some offence not conducive to road discipline? Very few in any at all we would wager. The reality is that whether we drive a bus or three-wheeler or not, we are far from a disciplined society.

Thankful as we are that the strike is over, it is appropriate to raise the question why the concerned authorities, if they were willing to give way on at least some of the demands of the arm twisting by strikers, did not do so before the strike began? That at least would have saved public transport users of Friday’s inconvenience. It must of course be granted that give and take will always be part of any negotiating process and various compulsions would have applied on both sides. The wellbeing of ordinary people must necessarily dominate the government’s approach while the bus operators will have the money they are losing foremost on their minds. Let us hope that that the safety aspects of the enhanced fines have not been compromised. Questions have been asked why these were part of the budget proposals if they were not imposed for revenue reasons. Traffic fines, we would think, should be part of amendments to the Motor Traffic Ordinance rather than the budget. Also, as cogently argued by Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, President of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG) last Sunday, there is no sense in slapping huge fines/penalties on technical offences but serious offences like drunken or dangerous driving etc. cannot be countenanced.

Getting a decent public transport system for this country is long overdue. Obviously this cannot be achieved in the short term and is unlikely even in the medium term. So the suffering public will have to make do with what is on offer, wrinkles and all. The buccaneers driving buses and three-wheelers dangerously will continue to be in business come hell or high water with three-wheeler drivers, particularly, commanding political influence commensurate with their large number. We suspect that private bus drivers draw more attention from traffic police than their counterparts in the SLTB who get their salaries paid without collection targets and have no compulsion to get to the next bus stop first. That is perhaps why state-employed bus drivers didn’t seem overly worried about enhanced traffic fines. Or is it that they don’t get copped? We are aware that a lot of lenience is shown to traffic offenders who are government servants! What happened on Friday endorses the growing perception in the country that the government caves in easily to muscle flexing. That can only mean that there will be more of that as we go into the future.