Self delusion?
Editorial, Sunday IslandOctober 6, 2012, 5:21 pm
We do not know what the result of yesterday’s talks between representatives of the government and Federation of University Teachers Unions (FUTA) will be as this is being written. But like all people of goodwill, we do hope that some sort of solution will be forthcoming. This imbroglio has dragged on for too long and President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government cannot be unaware of what it is costing students already in universities and those aspiring for entry. Their parents and families also are greatly agitated. Politically too, the Executive knows very well that sections that had supported the regime have become disillusioned about the way this whole business has been handled. Along the way FUTA has won the support of many who feel strongly that the issues are much broader than salaries of academics and the State spend on education; and they have been snowballing in a manner that was least expected. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has been enlisted to play the role of honest broker and Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake, whom the university community regards as an adversary, were due to be present at yesterday’s meeting. Dr. P.B. Jayasundera from the Treasury would most likely have been there.
Both FUTA and the government appear fatigued over the long-drawn dispute. Opposition forces dreaming of regime change have also climbed the bandwagon although it is unclear how they would have handled the problem if they were in the saddle. The academics have not been paid for three months and it is likely that they will draw back pay as part of any settlement that might have hopefully emerged yesterday. FUTA must understand that Sri Lanka is a highly indebted country and resource constraints are many. Also, the academic community is not the most deprived sector of the population. Nevertheless, when the resources that are poured into the political Establishment, the mindless extravagances that are very much a part of State expenditure, the brazen use of tax money to ensure the perpetuation in office of political functionaries at various levels, poor governance and all that it costs the country are taken to account, who can blame the academics for demanding a fair slice of the cake? Tagging on State expenditure on education to their demands obviously struck a resonant chord among the people. While being sufficiently worldly wise to see this as a `demand of convenience,’ the disgust about what has been happening over the years to what we had in the areas of free education and health certainly strengthened the FUTA cause.
We do not know how the various factors in the equation will be balanced during the negotiations. Apart from the limits of what is possible, the government cannot shut its eyes to anomalies that will be created in the salary structures of various similar services that will trigger more demands at least on grounds of equity. As for committing six percent of GDP on State-funded education, it is likely that an assurance that the government will work towards this target will suffice for the time being. Meanwhile the government must take serious note about widespread disaffection in most segments of the population on the way this country is being run. Thinking that winning elections, whatever the means employed for that end however dead the opposition, implies that the president and government continues to enjoy the support they did when the war was won in 2009 would merely be an exercise in self-delusion.
To hell with the rules
Yesterday’s The Island report of a vehicle of a deputy minister copped for speeding on the Southern Expressway would surely have raised eyebrows – not for the fact of speeding which is far too common, but for the high handed manner in which the politician and his driver, alleged to have clocked 165 km. per hour, had departed from the exit gateway without completing the consequent formalities when appraised of the offence. It must be said in fairness to Deputy Minister Duleep Wijesekera that he did not throw his weight saying he was Assistant God Almighty. He had asked what the fine was, proffered the penalty of Rs. 1,500 to a policeman on duty, asked the cop to pay it and driven off saying he was in a hurry. Since he did not wait for a ticket or a receipt, possibly the policeman could have pocketed the money and that could have been the end of the story. Perhaps that was not possible as the speeding detection was made by a surveillance camera and the offence was on record; that may have meant trouble for the policeman if the fine was not accounted for. In any event the driving licence was needed to issue the receipt and that was not forthcoming.The deputy minister, apparently, was in a hurry to get to his son’s birthday party and that perhaps was the reason for the excessive speeding. In any case the errant vehicle had been traced and the police spokesman is on record saying the driver would be prosecuted for the offence once the required statements are recorded. Both the speeding and leaving the exit point without completing the paper work is the responsibility of the driver rather than the passenger. But the chances are that both offences were committed on the instructions of the deputy minister with the driver most probably followed his boss’ orders. Issuing such orders was obviously irresponsible, if such was the case, and Wijesekera must take the rap morally if not legally. The police must be commended for acting correctly regardless of the offender, something they too often don’t do as some people are more equal than others in this democratic socialist republic or ours. Wijesekera whose official functions relate to disaster management would or should surely have been aware that excessive speeding, even on a clear highway, was inviting disaster not only to himself, his tax-payer paid driver and vehicle but also to other road users as well.
We hope that when VIPs travel on the expressway, there are no advance and back-up cars with white-gloved security personnel in attendance creating an unnecessary hullabaloo. We have repeatedly said in these columns that these so-called `security’ measures are both an annoyance to motorists and pedestrians alike and also create needless risks as was done by such a convoy brazenly driving on the wrong side of the road in Colombo the other day. Admittedly such convoys are less in evidence now than before but the sooner we see the end of them altogether, the better for all or us, our country and its image. There is very little security flowing from such arrangements that merely give some people and inflated sense of their own importance and maybe some relief from the rigours of traffic that is the lot of ordinary mortals.
