Economic development balanced with rights
View(s):A popular story doing the rounds is the corruption involved in the massive road development taking place in Colombo city.
The story goes that some favourite politicians and business buddies of the regime have been given the contract for road marking at Rs 25 per foot. The contractor then assigns the task to another at Rs. 10 (keeping Rs. 15 for himself), who in turns hires another contractor to handle the markings at Rs. 6 per foot. Thus the work could have actually been done at Rs. 6 whereas the Government is spending Rs. 25. How far this is true … only the authorities or their ‘buddies’ can confirm. However it reflects one key issue that the ruling regime is finding hard to tackle: credibility.
At this week’s economic summit organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the country’s most influential officials – Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivaard Cabraal and Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera – while involved in a rare public display of camaraderie and warmth towards each other -, also took a dig at the administration’s political opponents and those who criticise the development taking place.
While Jayasundera slammed opponents of the Sri Lanka success story, saying it was being distorted and under –played, Cabraal said some people are ignoring the positives in post-war growth – new roads and highways, massive GDP growth, growing tourist arrivals and massive infrastructure development.
Another story told is how top foreign government officials and investors visiting Colombo look out of their hotel window or drive around the city and are amazed at the level of development coupled with clean roads. This is akin to multinational development experts who drove on the A9 highway to Jaffna soon after the war ended and recommended village development – without stepping out of the car or driving through villages!
The fact is that such a glimpse of a country doesn’t tell the true story. Amidst the visible development there are many visible and invisible problems with corruption (often hard to prove as white collar criminals smartly cover their tracks with political support) and threats to democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
No country can progress without these fundamentals. People’s freedom is sacrosanct in the pursuit of economic development, creating equitable wealth and jobs.
Thus while a rosy economy picture was painted at the economy summit, society is constrained by the freedom to hold meetings and discuss issues confronting the country. The recent storming of a meeting by a group of persons, as the police watched, in which the US Political officer was present was unprecedented while workshops for Tamil journalists were disrupted on four occasions. Adding insult to injury, journalists who were stopped at a northern checkpoint allege that some narcotics were planted in their van by the authorities.
While the economic story must certainly be told, any objective media outlet must also tell the other side of the story, in fact all sides of the story as the public has the right to know.
Yes, economic progress is there – there may disagreements – nevertheless, roads are being developed, new highways built, etc. However at what price – massive corruption, foreign loans, action against democratic forms of protest and agitation? Where is the public trust that the executive and all its arms, must fulfill in all these transactions? The fact that the war was won doesn’t give anyone carte blanche power to do as they please and use public money as they wish.
Honest media and purveyors of ‘all sides of the story’ look at issues objectively, passionately – with the country’s interests at heart. Corruption and corrupt officials must be weeded out; instead these are hidden under the carpet and officials protected (continuing to hold high positions).
The latest COPE report says the total loss incurred from the oil hedging deals, exclusively exposed by the Business Times, was US$75.28 million. Corruption buster Nihal Sri Ameresekere says this is just the tip of the iceberg; that COPE was not fully informed of all the facts (what a tragedy if a parliamentary committee is fed a half-baked story) and no action taken against corrupt officials. Billions of rupees have either been swallowed by corrupt officials or forced to be paid to banks that benefited from one-sided hedging contracts.
While the chamber chairman Suresh Shah, a forthright official himself but working in a business community environment where everyone pays ‘pooja’ to the authorities rather than losing a contract, flagged some issues of concern saying the development success should be shared by all sections of the people not only the higher classes, conferences like this tell only one side of the story. It’s like the proverbial three monkeys – see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil!
On the other hand, one cannot fool all the people all the time. Some weeks ago, the British High Commissioner raised the issue of promoting foreign investment under a regime of transparent tenders and the rule of law. Similarly concerns are raised regularly on the basic fundamentals of a society where freedom of speech and assembly are rights as much as food, clothing and a house for every individual.
In the absence or unwillingness by the business community and sections of society to raise issues owing to threats and intimidation, then one can only look to others to act on their behalf. Last week, prominent law teacher and public rights activist Dr. Deepika Udugama raised the same concerns saying that one must add to the voices of concern for the authorities to take note. More voices of reason bring more attention.
Unfortunately the voices of reason have been swamped by a malady of criticism without reason, giving the authorities a reason to strike hard.
Voices should be objective, pragmatic and non-political. These voices should while raising issues also acknowledge the good (if there is good) done by the administration. The sense of balance and reason should not be lost in the chorus of voices.