Columns

Plans to write about the recently concluded Anti-Corruption Summit that British Prime Minister David Cameron laid out at Lancaster House as his personal contribution to ridding the world of this “cancer” as he called it, went astray.
If Mr. Cameron thought that in one day he and US Secretary of State John Kerry who had similar thoughts on corruption, could persuade a scattering of foreign leaders and others gathered there to end the scourge to which their own countries had contributed and do so even now, it sure sounded like boundless optimism.

As much as I would have liked to dwell on the proposal of a few well-meaning participants that governments open up to public view their tender activities (no pun intended) and let a concerned citizenry scrutinise all of their government’s procurement processes, it would have been treated by corrupt politicians and some of their equally corrupt officials as an unfortunate joke.

It is true that Rome was not built in a day. But if anyone seriously thinks that politicians, business leaders and officials who have for decades employed corrupt means to stash away national assets abroad and thrive on this, are going to be transmogrified into sainthood because some western leaders have had a sudden desire to cleanse their now tortured souls, it is surely a heap of bovine rubbish.

Since there is no prospect of our own megapolis (mega police as one official website called it) being built soon or Cameron’s cornucopia of moral purity gestating in a year or two, it seemed pertinent to turn to more topical and interesting political happenings back in Colombo.

They always have elements of the farcical so that when crazy economics and the weather together put a damper on daily life, there are always the words and deeds of our politicians to inject some mirth to enliven those dreary evenings.

If ever a vote is taken on which politician provides most belly laughs then I know who would get my vote. True there will be several vying for the top spot though Wimal Weerawansa’s outbursts are now infrequent and the il professori has retreated to try and repair his reputation.

But without any hesitation my choice is Udaya Gammanpila, one time member of the JHU and now with some nondescript group with not many members to boast of some say.  Judging by the time he spends almost daily addressing media conferences one would not be entirely wrong in thinking that he has plenty of time on his hands. There is hardly a day one does not read about Gammanpila scattering pearls of wisdom with such abandon on any subject you might name that some might wonder whether he runs a pearl manufactory.

The last time I was in Colombo a friend who really knew his Shakespeare said even the Bard had a place for a Malvolio. Why drag Shakespeare into this, especially when the subject I have in mind is Udaya Gammanpila’s latest thoughts on Colombo’s garbage problem.

Speaking to the media last week he claimed that the roads in Colombo were flooded because the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development had failed to manage the garbage issue.

He demanded that the Megapolis Minister implement a “sound garbage management system in Colombo without talking of megapolis all the time.” Now if the Megapolis Minister does not talk of the megapolis, a sort of project not undertaken before, what on earth is he expected to talk about?

The trouble with local politics is that there are too many ministers and deputies talking of matters that do not come under their purview resulting in one contradicting the other and inconsistencies piling up that does neither the government nor the public any good. Anybody listening to Colombo’s cacophonous politics would not be wrong in thinking yahapalanaya means open- mouthed governance.

When Gammanpila talks of the Megapolis Minister everybody and his kussi amma know who he is referring to – Champika Ranawaka his current bête noire and one-time leader. That is until Gammanpila broke away from the JHU over political differences. It had to do with supporting twiddledee or twiddledum.

So Gammanpila piling it on Ranawaka like the garbage accumulating at Meethotamulla and elsewhere will come as no surprise to the average man and woman who are crazy enough to give much thought to our political gimmickry helped along by an accommodating media.

“Udaya the Loquacious” (like “Ivan the Terrible” or “John the Careless”) as he would probably go down in history (if minor footnotes dot the written works) laments the fact that Ranawaka’s ministry which is only nine months old if my counting is correct, has not so far produced a “sound garbage management system”.

Gammanpila is correct when he says garbage collection-or non-collection which is what it is all about — is a major problem in our capital city and its environs. But then we do not need Gammanpila to sound the alarm as though it is only yesterday the tigers arrived at the gate.

The fact is that the haphazard collection of garbage — if it is collected at all — has been a perennial problem as householders in several parts of Colombo will testify to without demur.

If people were really frank they would admit that the problem lies wholly or partly with politicians in the capital city and elsewhere, particularly those who represent second and third tier elected bodies such as provincial and municipal council and pradeshiya sabhas.

Cynics would say that it is those like Gammanpila who are part of the problem. If politicians stopped talking rubbish as most of them are prone to do and often on subjects they are hardly familiar with, there will be less garbage accumulating. But it is not only cynics who think thus. There are plenty of ordinary folk who are fed up of the promises made by politicians seeking their vote which end up in the rubbish dump once they get themselves elected.

At the same press conference Gammanpila paid his pooja to Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his garbage management system and what he called the “golden era” of urban beautification. That is partly true. Gotabaya brought down walls, created walkways and planted trees. But he failed to solve the garbage problem though there was more visible cleaning activity along the roads and streets.

That “golden era” has now turned sharply to dross as mountains of garbage collect, flies proliferate and the Colombo Municipal Council and its workers seem to care little about dengue or rubbish. There was once a private company contracted to keep the city clean. Whether the same enthusiasm is shown today is very much in doubt.

One can understand Gammanpila wanting to shore up Gotabaya’s performance as “Gota the Beautifier”. But he fails to mention what happened to the great garbage management system Gotabaya introduced and who dismantled it.

As far as my memory goes — and that is from the 1970s until I left in late 1989—Colombo streets such as Jawatte Road, parts of Havelock Road, Park Road and elsewhere were water-logged making some of them almost impassable during heavy rains.
Gota’s time, as some call it, not only saw the city come alive leading to something called the “Top Ten” calling Colombo one of the cleanest cities in Southeast Asia which was a load of rubbish as I wrote in this column in December last year, but there was much construction work.

How some of the builders and property owners got planning permission is another story. But this spate of buildings sprouting like mushrooms was partly responsible for drainage problems that also led to the flooding of our streets and residential areas. Who was responsible for this mess?

Udaya Gammanpila has a short memory convenient or otherwise. Perhaps he has forgotten the promises he made as chairman of the Central Environmental Authority in an interview with an English daily exactly eight years ago this month. The interview carried the headline “ ‘Pilisaru’ to make Sri Lanka’s garbage disappear by 2012.” Pilisaru was a garbage management scheme initiated by Gammanpila under the theme “Towards garbage free Sri Lanka by 2012.” The 2008 budget allocated five billion rupees for the garbage management programme.

Listing five reasons why garbage management has failed Gammanpila said there was no political leadership and that is the “most important thing”. Who were these political leaders he was referring to in 2008? Six years later with Pilisaru probably abandoned Gammanpila and the garbage is still with us.

I read the other day that flood waters from the Diyawanna Oya had found its way into parliament. It would be wise if our politicians considered this purgatorial water that would wash away the millions of words of rubbish that have emanated from there over the years.

Some believe that if the exuberance of our parliamentary orators is reduced by half would it go a long way to solve our rubbish problem. I’m not so certain. Would half be enough?