Ekanayake wants special hell for corrupt politicians

For politicians to speak against corruption is almost like the devil quoting scriptures.

Yet, there are exceptions. One such case is Nandimitra Ekanayake, Deputy Minister of Education.

He proposed that a separate " hell" should be set up to incarcerate politician bribe takers. Of course, that is not a subject on which the Cabinet can take a decision like setting up multi-billion rupee high altitude sports complexes or luxury amusement parks. Such a matter, one would say, is in the hands of God.

Speaking at a meeting connected with a road construction project in Dodamdeniya, Matale, Mr. Ekanayake said some politicians come up with a development project together with the name of the contractor who should undertake it. Though he was a politician, too, he said he had never resorted to the practice of naming a favourite contractor.

" I don't even know the contractor who undertakes construction work. At present there are politicians who name the contractors and everybody knows why this happens. As a result of this real development work in the country has being hampered," he said.

What Ekanayake says is no secret but one that is never spoken out by politicians from the ruling coalition. This is one of the reasons for the defeat of budgets in UPFA- controlled local councils. Must one say that these local bodies have become breeding grounds for local level corruption that is a vignette of the larger corruption at national level?