Clean Sri Lanka 4 – By Oscar Fernando
Cleaning up this country seems a huge task, larger than what meets the eye; the mayhem caused by the recent bankruptcy showed the enormity of the gathered dirt over the years and the need to clean up and clean up fast to avoid a similar fate; it was frightening to think that we would have been in the same plight as some of the countries that got bankrupt recently-this is perhaps due to the resilience of our people and the maneuvering skill of the then government!
It is welcoming to see the present regime following the same path with only a minimum of change revealing to the world that the so-called Extreme Right and Extreme Left can get together in a middle path giving up extremes of both.
The three-tiered polity to govern this small country is another area to clean up; do we need the several political authorities; should we have three tiers of political authority to govern this small country-Parliament-Provincial and District where the Citizen has to go from pillar to post and post to pillar to solve a problem?
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Instead, can we not govern this country with the Parliament and a vibrant Public Service scheme headed by say a Government Agent responsible to the Minister in Parliament? A bit of imagination will show the cleaning up needed to avoid Palm Oiling with three tiers in Polity-passing the buck from one to another.
Another area needing a cleanup is corruption at all levels from the laborer up to Mr Ten Percent!
The President in a Call to the nation observed the following
- To reinstate the Rule of Law as some people acted above the Law quoting that some Presidents were found guilty of constitutional violations by the Supreme Court.
- That the Attorney Generals Department has a critical role to play in the endeavor to clean up
- President quoted that The CID bear responsibility for transforming our country into one free from corruption and fraud.
- That economic reforms ensure benefits reach rural communities and not be concentrated in the hands of a few-leading to big-time corruption.
All observations made above show the qualitative cleanup needed both within and without to avoid further pitfalls.
Oscar E V Fernando
January 2025
