Black Friday for disaster victims; Rs 369m for MPs

Rs 1,200 million since March for luxury vehicles; Rs 1,000 million to reconstruct houses destroyed by floods, landslides in Kegalle District in 2016

To say it is ironic would be an understatement, that, on a day the country is faced with a huge natural disaster, the Govt appeals for international assistance to deal with it, while presenting to Parliament a Supplementary Estimate for a hefty Rs 369 million, of which, a large component will be for vehicles for lawmakers and to renovate their official residences.

And that is exactly what happened on Friday, when Parliament met for a few hours, adjourning early, so that, “MPs can assist in rescue operations and distribution of relief to victims of the floods and landslides,” but, not before the Supplementary Estimate was presented to the House. This would put at a total, the amount allocated this year to buy vehicles, mainly for ministers, deputy ministers and senior public officials, at over Rs 1,200 million, a luxury which a debt- ridden and natural- disaster-hit country can ill afford.

This is followed up with a mayday call by the Government to the UN, International Search & Rescue Adv i s o r y G ro u p ( INSARAG) and neighboring countries to provide assistance to affected people, especially, in areas of search and rescue operations, while some in the Corporate sector were seen scurrying to collect assistance to hand out to the victims. All this is well and good, but what it exposes is the unpreparedness on the part of this Govt, to move swiftly and provide the necessary relief and assistance to citizens faced with natural disaster.

Parliament has largely paid lip service to the subject of how the country deals with natural disasters and with what seriousness it views environmental degradation, which has led to worsening natural disasters in the country.

Let’s take, for example, the attention Parliament had paid, by way of Budgetary allocations, to institutions tasked with dealing with natural disasters. Under the Ministry of Disaster Management ( MDM) come the National Disaster Management Council, the Disaster Management Centre ( DMC), the National Disaster Relief Services Centre, the National Building Research Organization ( NBRO) and the Meteorology ( Met) Dept, all of which need to work together in the event of a natural disaster.

Floods and landslides are not entirely new phenomena to Sri Lanka and, according to the MDM, 151 persons died and over 2,000 homes were damaged due to floods and landslides in 2016. Additionally, the MDM claims to have 77 early warning dissemination towers, 25 disaster management coordinating units, in addition to seven Meteorology observation units. Of the Rs 4,600 million allocated to the MDM in 2017, 46% is earmarked for disaster relief. Of this, Rs 1,000 million has been allocated to reconstruct houses destroyed in the floods and landslides in the Kegalle District in 2016, which is less than the Supplementary Estimates to purchase luxury vehicles for those in the Government.

In keeping with 'time-honoured Parliamentary traditions', MPs, on Friday, were keen to speak on the floods and landslides, given the nationwide attention the matter was receiving.

Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had given instructions to take all steps to assist the flood victims, while the Tri- forces, too, were deployed with boats in rescue efforts and to provide relief.

Joint Opposition Parliamentary Group Leader Dinesh Gunawardena urged the Govt. to provide prompt emergency assistance to the victims. With all the concer ns being expressed, Parliament was adjourned at around 2 pm. But it is more than likely that, by the time the House next meets, this will be forgotten till the next natural disaster strikes, which, in all probability, is round the proverbial corner.

From Meeriyabedda in 2014, to Aranayaka in 2016, and the Meethotamulla garbage-slide and the landslides in Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts, the intensity with which, both man- made and natural disasters strike the country, have intensified.

But the lack of direction by the Government. and failure to allocate sufficient funds to put in place emergency response units to deal with such situations, continue, and, other than knee jerk reactions, each time a disaster occurs, long term solutions will remain elusive.