Get priorities right
Just before the Presidential election in 2015, politicians in the current “Yahapalana” government talked about white elephants in the Rajapaksa government. When they talked about Hambantota harbour, Mattala airport, Suriyawewa cricket grounds and Hambantota International conference hall, all of us understood that the last government had built those white elephants out of borrowed money and put the country in trouble. It was an image building exercise for the Rajapaksa government.
Immediately after coming to power this government realized that the country was highly indebted. They also said that there were undisclosed debts and that when debt repayments and interest payments were made, the country’s income was not sufficient to meet the day-to-day expenditure. Therefore they said that they would have to borrow to bridge the gap. When they said to get out of this debt trap, we have no other option, but to increase the country’s revenue and cut down waste, we got the feeling that this time we had got the right people to do the right thing. Alas, within a few months we heard about the biggest robbery involving the Central Bank.
The Yahapalana government saddled with a mountain of debts, should have carefully chosen their priorities immediately after coming to power. They promised a salary increase to Government servants, therefore they had to do it and they did. They know that our staple food is rice and to be self- sufficient in rice the government should continue with the fertilizer subsidy (under the previous UNP government the fertilizer subsidy was removed and as a result the UNP lost the following election. Unfortunately the UNP economic advisers have not heard of “once bitten twice shy”).
Without managing the economy with meagre revenue while taking steps to improve the country’s earnings and attracting foreign investments, the government embarked on the Central Highway project. Do we have funds to do such a mega project? The government that talked about a mountain of debts is borrowing heavily to build the Central highway. Certainly that is not a priority of a country sitting on a volcano of debts.
Our schools in rural areas do not have basic facilities such as desks, chairs, lavatories and drinking water. Teachers have no proper places to reside in difficult areas and hence do not like to go to rural areas. There are many villages without proper access roads. There are no bridges to cross the waterways to go to the villages. These types of difficulties faced by our own people are highlighted almost every day. Are our politicians blind to these things?
At the just concluded election, the opposition brought only three main topics to the voters’ attention against the government. They talked about the Bond issue, the Central highway and the fertilizer subsidy. What the government should do is to expedite the court cases against culprits of the Bond issue and recover the full amount stolen. The government should suspend the Central highway until the country settles most of its debt and the economic situation of the country improves; why borrow money and pay interest on unnecessary image building projects when we cannot reduce the prices of essential items.
The government should give all the assistance to the farmers who produce our staple food. Do not talk about giving tabs to children, give them school buildings, desks, benches, lavatories and most needed drinking water. If you do these things that require no fortune, you will be victorious at the next General Election. Please prioritise your work, because we do not want a highly corrupt, and undemocratic government once again.
H. de Silva Via email