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Some
sanity, at least They have made some important decisions - to have all Provincial Council elections on the same date - to hold the election preferably on a Saturday - and most importantly, not to increase the number of Councillors by 76. Mr. Gunawardene has been able to commendably reach agreement on these issues, and now these recommendations are before the cabinet, in President Kumaratunga's executive hands. Last week, The SundayTimes sent some of its reporters to study the benefits the decade and a half old Provincial Council system has provided to the people of the north-western province of Wayamba. After several blood-splattered, rigged 'elections' the worst perpetrated by the PA last time round, the people of Wayamba have been left with an administration reeking of corruption and inefficiency and sucking the limited resources of the province to run a white elephant of local government. These reporters spoke to a cross-section of people and came to the conclusion that there is confusion between the Central government and the Provincial administration, and that in many areas, the people were left stranded and in the lurch. As a simple example, they cited a case of the construction of a bridge in the village of Kottukachchiya in the Puttalam district, where there is a rural hospital and the tug-o'-war as to who should repair this broken bridge. The hospital's ambulance cannot take this bridge, and it has to travel another 16 kilometres to reach the hospital by another route. That is rural Sri Lanka for you! This is not peculiar to Wayamba. One will find this is so in whatever Province you may be in. Administration has been duplicated in many areas, and the sheer wastage of money financing the Provincial Councils is something that all parties will need to have a serious look at. This will be outside the mandate of the Dinesh Gunawardene Select Committee because that is largely limited to elections, but if all political parties represented inside and outside Parliament are genuinely interested in the welfare of the people whom they say they are selflessly serving, then they must look into the functioning of the Provincial Councils. Esoteric discussions on power-sharing; on devolution; the Swiss-model; and the Canadian Federal system at Colombo workshops and study tours overseas is one thing. The suffering that has to be endured by the 2,500 families around Kotukachchiya because of what is actually happening on the ground, is another. No doubt, these political parties and their leaders will be under some pressure from the party rank and file who benefit from this system. Sometimes, the party itself stands to gain with vehicles and the ability to distribute funds to its supporters. That is why the parties that opposed the introduction of the PC system in 1987 now opt to remain silent and make the maximum of it. But nearly 17-years later, as these same parties tuck their clothes gearing for another battle for the posts - it begs for a National study before the dire consequences that the country is facing as a result, get worse. |
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