Curiouser and curiouser: Public officials in wonderland

We are reminded daily by ruling party politicians and certain powerful public officials — I have given up referring to them as ‘public servants’, since they seem to serve only a chosen elite — that Sri Lanka is on the up and up in all spheres of activity. This upward trend is certainly evident in the most curious actions or inaction on the part of supposedly responsible officials, depending on who is involved.

While this type of behaviour is endemic and surfaces repeatedly, I wish to draw the attention of readers to some dangerous precedents in recent times.

There was a time when no one would have dared to interfere with the investigations conducted by the Customs and action taken in preventing loss of revenue to the State; investigations and actions which were clearly the sole responsibility of the Principal Collector of Customs, the powerful and officially recognised head of the Customs Department. While the designation of the head of department may have changed, it does not diminish his responsibility towards the people of the land.

In recent times, on two occasions (reported in the mainstream and responsible media and not contradicted to date), two ongoing investigations have been called off by the Secretary to the Treasury, with no explanation offered. People naturally ask: Who is the actual Head of the Customs Department?’ Curious, indeed.

Then we had the ‘curious’ incident of the non-arrest of the son of a Deputy Minister by the police, again without any valid explanation.

So Sri Lanka boasts of another record; in creating a breed of ‘untouchables’, not of lowly status, but of the highest status, completely above the laws of the land which certainly operate in the case of those ordinary mortals who do not belong to these charmed circles.

How ‘curious’ can this progressive island in the sun get? Mark Amerasinghe

Kandy