Ceylon Today Editorial

MORE EFFECTIVE DENGUE PREVENTION A MUST
06 December 2016

 

Every year we experience at least two dengue outbreaks. Both of which are accompanied by the monsoon rains. This year, sticking to its strict schedule, it has turned up again to cull our population.

This year the last dengue outbreak was reported in July where 10,636 cases were reported, by and large the highest number of cases reported this year. During the last 11 months of this year, 44,535 suspected dengue cases have been reported to the Epidemiology Unit from all over the island – among them 13,806 cases were from Colombo, while Gampaha came in second with 5,766 cases. Approximately 50.58% of dengue cases were reported from the Western Province.

Last November, we predicted that the second dengue outbreak is expected during November and January. The pattern of increasing number of dengue cases, correlated with the monsoonal rains (from May to August and November to January) has allowed the local health sector to come up with a battle plan against the disease. Accordingly, the Colombo Municipal Council's Health Department issued a notice to all hospitals and medical institutions in and around Colombo, advising them to be prepared for another dengue outbreak this month.

Recently, Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senaratne announced a motion to increase the fine for facilitation of mosquito-breeding places in their environs up to Rs 25,000.

Minister Senaratne had noted that the present laws should be amended to control and decrease the dengue from spreading. More appropriately, he suggested making it a legal obligation to pay compensation to the immediate relatives of a dengue victim, by those who maintain dengue breeding sites in the area.

Extreme as it may sound, this is in fact, a rather plausible approach to spreading awareness through stricter laws. Citizens who negligently maintain dengue breeding sites are currently being fined, but the fine is insignificant and therefore, can be ignored. There are many who do ignore the fine. However, once the fine system is reinforced and the fine increased, people will finally start noticing.

Similarly, the government should also take immediate steps to strengthen the dengue control programme in certain areas. Dengue, being an urban disease, is mainly contracted by citizens in city areas such as Colombo. Fumigating dengue breeding sites takes place almost regularly in Colombo, but not so much outside of Colombo. Thus, measures should be taken to address this and strengthen the procedure.

Similarly, the Colombo Municipal Council has initiated a plan to identify potential dengue mosquito breeding sites in the city of Colombo. This Anti-Dengue Drive has already issued red notices to the owners of 623 residences following inspection by officials, earlier this week.

According to the Dengue Control Unit, so far 76 people have died due to the dengue this year. The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry noted that so far, 47,182 suspected dengue cases have been reported to the Epidemiology Unit from all over the island. Approximately 49.73% of dengue cases were reported from the Western Province.

The dengue outbreak is a recurring case and easy to predict. The most deadly animal in the world is the mosquito. It might seem impossible that something so miniscule can kill so many people, but it's true. According to the World Health Organization, mosquito bites result in the deaths of more than one million people every year – meaning that these tiny insects kill more humans than human murderers. The majority of these deaths are due to malaria, with dengue in the second position.

It is not just the authority's responsibility to prevent this bug from killing more humans. It is also our responsibility to protect ourselves as well as others.

Daily News Editorial

Drastic action called for

06 December 2016

The authorities should come down hard against those responsible for last Friday’s mayhem where the private bus operators, three-wheel drivers and others virtually crippled the country’s public transport sector causing severe hardship to the travelling public. As much as 128 SLTB buses, among the 6,000 plus deployed, to fill in the void, albeit inadequate, came under goon attacks in Colombo and the provinces, injuring 28 bus crew and eight passengers, including an Army Corporal, who is still lying in the ICU in a critical condition (will the JO take note?). Over 20 arrests have already been made while a hunt is on for more perpetrators, it is being reported.

That the SLTB increased its profit share, almost two fold, is small consolation, given the overall damage. The government should immediately carry out an investigation to ascertain who was behind the private bus strike. Because, it is obvious that unlike other strikes we have seen in the past, this one was well organised and executed to a well set plan, with a view to causing extreme embarrassment to the government. That a lot of money had been pumped into the project was obvious, given the extensive poster campaign that was witnessed, with almost all private buses in the country and three wheelers pasted with posters announcing dire consequences to the government if it went ahead with the Rs. 25,000 fine. The language used by certain leaders of the private bus trade unions and the militancy displayed, also showed that what was being planned was more than just a public transport strike, but a much bigger campaign to bring the government to its knees. It is inexplicable why the private bus trade unions were adamant that their strike went ahead, when the Rs. 25,000 fine, which was at issue, was announced only tentatively and no finality reached.

It is pertinent that the Jathika Hela Urumaya, which, although a partner of the government, has not been hesitant to be critical of some of its actions, has this time around urged the government to rein in the private bus mafia. Addressing a media briefing on Sunday, Jathika Hela Urumaya National Organiser Nishantha Warnasinghe alleged that certain defeated Joint Opposition politicians were behind the private bus strike. Not stopping at that, he went onto call for the arrest of the leaders of all private bus associations, who participated in the strike, and cancel their route permits.

While the government will, certainly, not at this stage go that far in taking such a drastic step, it nevertheless should wake up to the machinations of saboteurs, in the garb of trade union leaders, who are doing the bidding of bankrupt politicians, bent on stirring the pot, hoping for a return to power. The extensive poster campaign that was witnessed is a sure sign that the ill gotten wealth of politicians are being used to place the government in difficulty. The government is not without the means to identify who was behind last Friday’s disruptive campaign. The sooner the identity of the backers of those who crippled the country’s transport service is made known to the public, the better it will be for the political health of the Yahapalanaya government.

It (government), should not for a moment underestimate the capabilities of these sinister forces who are well heeled to organise any campaign to put the government on the back foot. It should be prepared for all eventualities. Now that the private bus operators have had their way it won’t be long before another crippling strike is organsied on the same lines as that witnessed on Friday, the President’s assurances to the union leaders notwithstanding.

Already there are murmurings of a hike in world fuel prices. The private bus operators are bound to seize on this, if and when, the price hike materialises and apply pressure on the government for an increase in fares. It is in this light that the decision announced by SLTB Chairman Ramal Siriwardena to import 250 small buses and another 1,000 two door buses, by next year, for the SLTB, should be viewed positively. Apart from de-fanging the political teeth of the private bus mafia, the only other way it can be effectively countered is by augmenting the SLTB fleet, to match the numerical strength of the private buses. In this way, the government will not only have leverage at bargaining but also be able to call the shots on many matters, including fare hikes.

True, the roads will be clogged with more vehicles and there will also be a spike in the fuel bill. But desperate situations call for desperate measures. The government can ill afford frequent paralysis of the country’s public transport sector. No one has still quantified the economic cost to the country as a result of last Friday’s private bus strike. Maximum damage to the economy is another motive of those behind the bus strikes. The country witnessed the enormous loss to the economy brought about by the JVP’s crippling of the transport and other services during its second uprising in the late 80s. The government should not allow for a similar catastrophe to visit the country again. Drastic action should be taken where it is demanded.

The Island Editorial

Polls, dysentery and loincloth

06 December 2016

 

The Joint Opposition (JO) has taken the government to task for a right royal bath some of its MPs had near Parliament on Saturday. They were meeting a group of former local government members engaged in a protest march, demanding that the LG polls be held without further delay when the police trained their water cannon on them and liberally fired teargas.

There is nothing wrong with the JO MPs getting a shower free of charge once in away. When people asked for water they got bullets and tear gas from the Rajapaksa government at Ratupaswala in 2013. Today, those who demand elections receive water plus tear gas! However, the fact remains that water is much better than bullets and goon attacks.

The JO members had no qualms about justifying repressive measures the Rajapaksa regime used to crush Opposition protests led by the UNP while they were in power. Pro-SLFP goons, armed with clubs and bicycle chains, used to operate alongside the riot police openly to attack Opposition protests. The then Police Spokesman had the chutzpah to claim those goon carried ‘sticks’ to ward off stray dogs! The boot is now on the other foot.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has condemned the police action against the JO MPs and former LG members loyal to him. But, UNP MPs received far worse treatment at the hands of his backers on several occasions on his watch. The brutal crackdown on a UNP protest on Feb. 04, 2011 is a case in point. Many UNP activists and MPs including Dr. Harsha de Silva and his son had to run for cover when a group of SLFP thugs set upon their protest march in Punchi Borella. Vehicles of the UNP MPs were smashed up and the underworld figures responsible for the attack went scot free. Where were the JO MPs who make a song and dance about getting their kapati suit wet at present?

That either the JO or former President Rajapaksa has no moral right to condemn attacks on protests does not mean the repressive methods the present government resorts to in a bid to counter dissent are justifiable. Two wrongs do not make a right as we have learnt in school. The present-day leaders obtained a popular mandate last year to govern this country by promising to usher in good governance. Sadly, what we are made witness to is the antithesis thereof. Racketeers are openly protected and the IGP has unwittingly made it public that he is no better than his predecessors who were mere puppets on strings. His assurance to a politician over the phone at a recent public event that the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) wouldn’t arrest a certain person has betrayed the fact that the police have not yet been liberated from the clutches of political potentates.

The dog is said to be man’s best friend, but a canine afflicted with rabies becomes man’s worst enemy. The same goes for a government which develops what may be called polls-phobia, which causes it to be a threat to democracy. Anyone who postpones an election does a great disservice to democracy. Nobody will buy into the government’s claim that the LG polls cannot be held owing to delimitation issues. Most of the political parties including some constituents of the ruling coalition want the mini polls held under the old electoral systems without further delay.

It was announced last Thursday that the work of the Delimitation Review Committee had been completed. That does not mean the government is going to hold the LG polls shortly. It will do its damndest to postpone them indefinitely on some pretext or another as the public is resentful due to its unfulfilled election pledges, inefficiency, extravagance and arrogance of power as well as the ever increasing cost of living. Perhaps, it will cause objections to be raised again and appoint another committee to review the Delimitation Review Committee report!

The original delimitation report prepared by the Jayalath Committee was accepted by President Maithripala Sirisena, endorsed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and duly gazetted. Moreover, the President praised the Jayalath committee for a job well done. Then, suddenly, the government ordered a review of the report to postpone LG polls as it was not prepared to face them.

The government is making a fatal mistake if it thinks it can overcome political dissent and crush protests against the postponement of elections with the help of the police. It is left with no alternative but to hold the LG polls forthwith without provoking mass protests. Using the police to neutralise political dissent is tantamount to an attempt to control dysentery with a loincloth as a local saying goes. It ought to learn from the mistakes of its predecessor.