Letters to the Editor
View(s):Why provide residences for past presidents?
Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, achieved independence way back in 1948.
Under the Soulbury constitution we had the position of a Governor General when Ceylon considered the King of England as the head of state and his representative was the Governor General.
Independent Sri Lanka, after its first election had D. S. Senanayake as the first Prime Minister and Lord Soulbury as the first Governor General. Lord Soulbury occupied the President’s House, then known as Queen’s House in the Fort, Colombo, and D. S. Senanayake occupied Temple Trees, the Prime Minister’s residence. But in actual fact D. S. occupied his own house “Woodlands” in Borella.
After the sudden demise of D. S., his son Dudley Senanayake who succeeded him, used Temple Trees as his official residence but continued to live at “Woodlands”. Sir Oliver Gunatilake who succeeded Lord Soulbury occupied the then Queen’s House now called President’s House.
Sir John Kotelawala who succeeded Dudley Senanayake as Prime Minister occupied his own house at Kandawela Estate, Ratmalana.
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike who succeeded Sir John Kotelawala occupied Temple Trees for official purposes but lived in his private residence at No. 63, Rosmead Place , Colombo 7, until he was assassinated.
W. Dahanayake who was Prime Minister after Mr. Bandaranaike for a short period, occupied Temple Trees during his term as Prime Minister, but vacated the official residence after his defeat and took a bus back to his home town in Galle, as all Sri Lankans know. Then came Dudley Senanayake, who was the Prime Minister for a very short time (a few months), who operated from his private residence “Woodlands”.
When Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike became Prime Minister from 1960 to 1965 she used Temple Trees as her official residence but resided in her own house. In 1965 she was defeated and Dudley was elected as the Prime Minister and as before, used Temple Trees as his official residence but lived at “Woodlands”.
In 1970 Dudley lost to Mrs. Bandaranaike who became the Prime Minister again, and occupied her private residence. However later she moved to Temple Trees as tight security was needed after the JVP uprising. Mrs. Bandaranaike was defeated in 1977 and J. R. Jayewardene came into power. He occupied his own house at Ward Place and used Temple Trees as his official residence. Mr. Jayawardene introduced the new Republican Constitution and became the first President of our country, but continued to stay at Ward Place.
Thereafter, Presidents were given houses after their terms of office were over.
Mrs. Hema Premadasa was given a house after Mr. Premadasa was assassinated by the LTTE while in office as president.
Now it is a sad state of affairs where the President who is elected has a choice of selecting a government house. Maithripala Sirisena has chosen to continue to live in the official residence he is occupying presently even after his retirement He has amalgamated his official residence with an adjoining government property to make it one house. It is widely believed that the government has taken a decision at a Cabinet meeting to allot this house to him.
My view is that it is unfair by the people of this country to grab government property in this manner.
What a difference from past national figures.
Sir D. B. Jayatillake donated his own house (presently the Public Trustee’s office) to the State.
A E. de Silva donated his house to be used as a hostel (Sravasti) for members of Parliament.
Sir John Kotelawala donated his house at Kandawela to the state, and it is presently the Sir John Kotelawala Defence College/University.
J. R. Jayewardene also donated one of his houses, presently the J. R. Jayewardene Centre.
We Sri Lankans must appreciate the stand taken by the JVP Presidential nominee Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his colleagues. They have taken up the position that retiring Presidents need not be given houses and other perks associated with the Presidency after their term ends.
It is my view that at the end of a term of Presidency, he or she can be given an allowance and an official car if he/she requests with a limited fuel allowance instead of giving a house belonging to the state. Particularly a sitting President should not be allowed to continue to live in the same luxurious residence after retirement at the expense of the ordinary people whom he/she chose to serve. A good example to emulate is the lifestyle chosen by the exemplary Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew.
Indra Wijayatilake Kandy
Dangerous state of Gongitota Road, Enderamulla, Wattala
The most disastrous road for pedestrians in Enderamulla is the Gongitota Road for the following reasons :
At the Enderamulla Junction, traffic at peak hours in the morning and evening is even worse than Colombo. The three wheel drivers use most of the roadway with trishaws parked on both sides of the road. It is so congested that it is dangerous to walk on this road. Where are the police? The police station is down this road. But a policeman is nowhere to be seen either in the mornings or evenings. The authorities should give their immediate attention to this matter especially the police headquarters as the police station is of no use if they can’t be at the junction at peak hours to control the traffic. Many people have complained about this as people are stranded at peak hours at this junction.
Generally when roads are dug up it is half done with no supervision or authorised person to check on this. The Gongitota Road was dug up to lay water pipes. This was left half done and the pedestrians are suffering daily with no room to walk other than in the drains on both sides. The sides of the road are filled with rock stones and the elderly and children and some blind people are risking their lives with every vehicle almost knocking them down.
The road is extremely narrow. Instead of extending the road on both sides up to the drains in front of the houses there are two drains on each side with potholes too. This road has to be widened as there is no way anyone can walk without being hit by a vehicle. These should be measured by proper engineers and knowledgeable personnel and not some pundits who think they know everything.
This is over to the Pradeshiya Sabha chairman and the minister in charge, for your immediate attention. The people of this country pay taxes and it is your duty to serve them. You can’t fool the people anymore.
Mothers and elders Gongitota, Enderamulla
A set of do’s and don’ts for the next president
This message is to the next President.
You have become the new President by giving various promises. It is your responsibility to achieve the targets that you have promised. This is not easy but it can be done. Leaders in many other countries have done this.
You cannot do this alone. You need competent, dynamic and honest people to do this. You may have to appoint new faces to the following important positions:
Chairpersons and Directors to government organizations, ambassadors to other countries, heads of departments, secretaries and advisors and consultants.
It is very important to make the appointments very carefully. We saw recently what happened to the country by appointing unreliable and corrupt people to important positions.
The following qualifications and requirements should be considered when making these appointments:
Educational qualifications, professional qualifications, experience in the relevant subject or field, past records, age preferably below 65 years and previous achievements.
We are waiting to see how the new President will make these appointments. If he appoints his political supporters, ignoring these requirements, he will never be able to achieve his agreed targets.
D. Weeratunga Via email