Gross negligence, manslaughter, criminal negligence and Easter Sunday bombings
Five children got into the CH & FC poll for training. They became sick immediately. They developed difficulty in breathing and were rushed to the National Hospital on May 12. Four were treated and discharged and one child was kept in the ICU. The pool attendant was charged by the Police and the Magistrate remanded him. Overdose of chlorine is said to have caused the problem. Luckily, no child died.
On April 19, 2018 an employee of a rubber factory fell into an ammonia tank. That employee and four other fellow workers and villagers who tried to rescue him died and 14 were hospitalised. The factory manager was arrested on the same day and was remanded.
On March 8, 2018 a 32 year-old man fell to the ground when an elevator malfunctioned at Gampaha Hospital. He died.
On May 14, 2012 it was reported that a 50 year-old man had his head stuck when a remote controlled gate closed on him, killing him on the spot in Gampaha.
This is our Sri Lanka. In the UK, Robert Churchyard, a 52 year-old engineer employed by a company to design, manufacture and install gates, was prisoned for three and a half years for gross negligence manslaughter of a woman, who died in 2013, after four years on October 30, 2017. The lady was crushed to her death when an electric gate that Robert had designed and installed collapsed on her due to lack of proper safety features, which were mandatory and should have been included in the design. His employer was fined £12,000 on the same day.
Whether the investigations and litigations on such incidents in Sri Lanka will result in prison terms is highly doubtful for many reasons. Relevant laws may have gaps; interpretation of laws may have to be established by precedence; training and orientation of the police and judiciary in conducting investigations may not be adequate; people who are responsible in the design and installation of systems and in charge of subsequent operation and maintenance may lack training, commitment and competence in adhering to relevant safety regulations and standards; professional institutions may be slack in administering professional code of ethics and safety standards etc.
However, factors such as lack of public awareness on gross negligence manslaughter and criminal negligence, political pressure after incidents to have the persons responsible to be dealt with leniency, lack of resources of the public prosecutor, influence due to bribery and corruption and inability of the victims or their families to litigate effectively make the culprits go scot-free.
All the above incidents are miniscule and negligible to the gross negligence manslaughter of 250 plus people and injuries suffered by more than 500 people due to criminal negligence of the Executive President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the members of National Security Council and others who ignored accurate and critical operational level intelligence repeatedly received and/or made available to them.
Since the April 21 Easter Sunday Bombings, religious leaders, writers and the public have been calling for those who have been entrusted with the important duties of national security and public safety and running the national economy to be held accountable. Such calls have not yielded any response as the persons who are accountable for Easter Sunday Bombings are in charge of initiating investigations as well.
Sure, the pool attendant may have been negligent when he added too much chlorine to the chlorination unit of the pool. Likewise, the others when they designed, installed and operated and maintained different systems that have caused death or injury. Justice must prevail against them – no argument.
However, such negligence appears miniscule when compared with the commissions and commissions leading to the Easter Sunday Bombings by the authorities. They cannot be allowed to hide behind curtains of collective responsibility, ignorance, not being privy to critical intelligence information, underestimating the potential disaster etc and go scot-free and continue to ruin the country.
What they have displayed is ‘CRIMINAL INCOMPETENCE’, ‘COLLECTIVE IRRESPONSIBILITY’, and ‘CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE’. By not admitting their responsibility and asking for the pardon of the nation, they have displayed the lowest traits such as deceit, lying, collusion and misrepresentation adding insult to injury.
It is unlikely that these persons would be investigated by any committee or commission that they will appoint, control and that will report back to them.
Hence, the relatives of Easter Sunday Bombing victims, the public, clergy, professionals from all walks of life must press for the establishment of an independent commission with full judiciary powers equivalent to perhaps those vested in the high court to call any and all witnesses or documents and investigate the Easter Sunday Bombings, estimate the social and economic loss, properly compensate the victims, punish the persons responsible for criminal negligence and gross negligence manslaughter and recommend preventive action.
Professionals and religious leaders must come together and draft a Private Members Bill and have that presented in Parliament, creating the Easter Sunday Bombings Criminal Justice Commission similar to the Criminal Justice Commissions Act (No. 14 of 1972) to put Sri Lanka back on the right path for national integration and sustainable economic prosperity.
(The writer is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Former Hon. Secretary of IESL and former Chairman of the Sri Lanka State Engineering Corporation. He can be reached at gratian.a.peiris@gmail.com).