Sudath Gunasekara 27.5.2016
The way we have experienced it since the establishment of the Provincial Councils in 1987 under the 13th A there appears to be already two Governments in this country; one central and the other Provincial. This is more so in the North and the East where separatist communal politics is active although in other parts of the country such trends are not yet perceptible.
In these two Provinces the Central Government has already virtually ceased to exist. In the South on the other hand they are more than happy with the windfall they are blessed with thanks to the system, for no work they have to do or nor qualification they need to have to enjoy such fabulous benefits and perks, which they would have never dreamt of in this life if these piggeries called Provincial Councils were not there. I do not propose to go in to details of the miseries of that system as you all know what they are and what a tragedy it had been over the past 30 years.
You just imagine as to what service people get from these Councils for the colossal amounts of public funds annually wasted and sent down the drain to maintain these white elephants on salaries of over 700 politicians and an army of superficial officials, palatial red carpeted buildings and other facilities like luxury vehicles, fuel, office equipments bla bla.
The 13th A imposed by the Indian Government with powers exceeding even the Indian system was invented by India to destabilize the Sri Lankan State and with the ulterior motive of uniting the NP, EP and the CP to carve out an independent Tamil State within Sri Lanka which they named as EELAM. That is a Tamil Kingdom within the Kingdom of the Sinhalese as 70 million Tamils in Tamilnadu in India failed to establish their Dravida Raj there.
Thanks God it has not happened so far in Sri Lanka as well. But the overlapping, duplication, District vs Provincial clashes and confusion that was brought about by the introduction of the Provincial Council system has resulted in no governance at all in the country. There is a serious brake down in Governance which has very badly affected the delivery of services to the masses. As a result the purpose of the State and the Government is totally lost. Service to people is almost a dead notion in Sri Lanka now. Today the Government in this country has got transformed in to a veritable self-service by the politicians, for the politicians and of the politicians of course at the expense of the people. My question is as to why we maintain these people and institutions by spending so much just to maintain a heard of ruffians and thugs like the Chief Minister EP and a traitor like Vignesvaran in the North who enjoy fabulous salaries and unlimited perks for doing nothing for the people. Other than in the North and East where they only set fire to communal politics in other areas they are a bunch of parasites who draw royal pinpadi for pimping their masters in Colombo.
Just think for a moment in retrospect as to how much the country has lost for 30 years on these disastrous and useless piggeries, from 1987 to date with zero benefit to the country. How many super highways, how many houses for the poor, how many hospitals and schools and how many jobs could have been provided for the jobless and how many development projects we would have completed with that money.
On the other hand more than this Augean mess they have created in Governance and colossal and criminal wastage of national resources this system has already done, they have already brought the danger of disintegration of the country almost to our doorstep. Rome is on fire. Our political Neros are playing the fiddle. They are drinking, dancing and singing at five star hotels. None of these idiots seems to have realized the gravity of this imminent disaster. As I said at the outset the government at the moment is having serious problem only in the north and the East. Troubles in the South are yet to come. Had Mahinda not blundered by handing over the SLFP leadership to Sirisena by now the yahapalanaya perhaps would have ended? But we cannot be complacent taking for grant that things will last long as the political atmosphere in the country is changing very fast. No one can predict as to what will happen tomorrow. THE DAY the prodigal sons come home due to frustration with the Yahapalanaya and the opposition capture power in the Provincial Councils, the Government will come to a standstill.
The clashes between the District Administration, which usually runs by the central Government in the periphery, and the Provincial Councils will increase by thousand fold in time to come. Though I concede the Kachcheri system had its weaknesses it did a wonderful job before the PCC came in to being. Even now in any emergency it is the District Administration that has to come to rescue the Government in all emergencies. Like an octopus it has the administrative hold over the entire country through the Divisions and Villages via Divisional Secretariats and Grama Niladharis. These are time tested age old institutions familiar and accessible to people. In my opinion as an officer with experience at all levels, that is Village, Divisional, District and National, the District Administration is far superior and effective in governance as well as in delivery of services to people than the superfluous and amorphous Provincial Council system which is only a recently introduced unfamiliar appendix to our Administrative system
So why have two institutions when you can do a better job with one at a lesser cost. This is utter idiocy in good governance on the part of our political ticks and disregard and disrespect for public good that has disappeared for good from politics in this country long time ago.
This is why I call upon every patriotic citizen to force the Government to scrap the Provincial Councils along with the 13th Amendment.