Sunday Times 2
Corruption thrives in the silence of ‘good men’
View(s):Coal scam: Investigate and punish the culprits
By Charitha P de Silva
About two weeks ago I wrote an article under the heading “Sacking a Whistleblower”. It was strongly critical of the leadership of our government for undermining the battle against corruption by allowing the sacking of a whistleblower (Maithri Guneratne, the Chairman of Lanka Coal Company) who had had the audacity to expose a colossal scam.
In terms of the Right to Information Act which was passed by this government and which became operational from Friday, it is an offence to punish or persecute a whistleblower. It is indisputable that the spirit of the RTI Law is that whistle-blowers must be protected; commonsense in any case dictates it.
I, therefore, expected some reaction from the public to my article — either condemning the Government or supporting it. However, there was nothing; other than a full page article in last Sunday’s Leader criticising the Minister and the Secretary of the Ministry. It is a tragedy that the educated middle classes (who are the “good men” Edmund Burke spoke of when he said “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”) are utterly apathetic. They will stay silent when the country is collapsing around their ears. After deep reflection I have come to the shameful conclusion that the root cause for their failure to write or say anything that may be considered critical by the authorities is fear; fear of some harm that may befall them if they rouse the ill-will of the powerful. Cowardice is corrosive; it can destroy a country.
Assailed by all these sad thoughts, I was astounded when I heard that the same villains responsible for the coal scam had brazenly and illegally approved another tender (involving a 60-megawatt power station) after sacking Maithri. I do not know the details of this but they are bound to be reported shortly by the newspapers. If there is any truth in this story it can only mean that anarchy rules today. Impunity has so emboldened fraudsters that the Law is held in contempt. And we cannot put the blame for this on Mahinda Rajapaksa. It lies squarely at the door of those who have been in charge during the last two years. After all, we brought them into power on their promise that they would root out corruption.
Why are they not acting? The coal scam would be much easier to unravel than the Central Bank issue that is full of uncertainties. It is taking place before our eyes and much less arcane in nature. There is even doubt as to what, if any, losses have taken place in the Central Bank issue.
Our leaders should investigate scams that are taking place before their very eyes, and punish those who are robbing the country of its money and the leaders of their reputations. Quick action and condign punishment would salvage (to some extent) the lost reputation of this government. In this latest scandal it would also save some money.