Columns

The recent tragedy in Kinniya where several passengers including schoolchildren lost their lives when the ferry carrying the passengers toppled over highlights one of the biggest drawbacks in governance—a misplaced set of priorities.

Last Tuesday, a ferry which was carrying at least 25 people, including children, toppled drowning six people including four children. The children had started going to school after several months of lockdown.

While Governments over the years have enthusiastically rushed to commit large sums of money on projects that generate little or no income and are of doubtful benefit to the public, the same degree of enthusiasm has not been generated when it comes to other projects where lesser sums of money could have yielded almost immediate results benefitting the public immensely in their day to day lives.

There are several places in the country where ferries are still used to transport passengers on their way to work, school and for health emergencies. How many of these ferries are regularly tested for safety and how many of these can be replaced with bridges or safer forms of transport is a moot question.

There are many places in the country where apologies for bridges make commuting for members of the public a daily hazard. These substitutes which have tree trunks or wooden poles tied together as makeshift bridges pose great threats to those who use them on a daily basis.

While many roads are carpeted even in instances where it is not absolutely necessary, there are several roads in rural areas which are uneven and cannot be used by any vehicle. In the event of a health emergency the public is greatly disadvantaged because they cannot access transport because of the poor condition of roads.

Only when a tragedy of the likes of the Kinniya incident takes place that the country and the authorities sit up and take notice. Once the heat dies down everything is forgotten and the authorities get back to their unconcerned ways.

Failure to commit small sums of money to ensure safety for transport such as unsafe ferries and uncared for roads is not the only instance in which lapses occur.

Unprotected rail crossings have claimed the lives of many people over the years with little done to improve the situation. There have been various solutions proposed over the years to ensure the safety of commuters at such rail crossings scattered all over the country but very little is known how many such rail crossings have now been secured. Again in this case too the amount required to be spent in order to ensure that these unprotected rail crossings are made safe for the public is insignificant when compared to other grandiose projects.

Another area in which Governments have been remiss is dealing with what is now commonly called the Human Elephant conflict. As a result in the absence of adequate planning with regard to various projects initiated by respective Governments without considering the impact on the natural habitats of elephants, innocent rural folk have been left to the mercies of these wild animals.

With the increasing encroachment of human beings into the lands habitated by these animals, these animals invariably end up looking for food in the closest villages posing danger to life and limb of the villager.

Most often they are compelled to take take turns keeping vigil in the nights in order to chase away these wild elephants. Often one hears of even such villagers being attacked by these animals or damage being caused to the properties occupied by them.

There does not seem to be any coherent plans on the part of the authorities to manage the human elephant conflict which is an indication of the indifference to the suffering of the helpless populace. Any plans to provide adequate protection for the people is unlikely to cost much. What is required instead is the will to do so and innovative approaches to addressing the problems faced by the populace.

Yet another area where the public are compelled to face difficulties is as as a result of floods that occur at regular intervals in various parts of the country. Here again the authorities have over the years hardly showed sufficient interest to develop flood development plans that will prevent or mitigate floods in the areas that face these natural disasters from time to time.

For example the lower banks of the Kelani Ganga rise due to heavy rains resulting in floods that engulf the homes of those who reside in these areas. The impact is mainly on the poorest of the poor who apart from facing the inconvenience of being displaced from their homes even at times lose some of their bare essentials that they have for their existence.

Schoolchildren often find their text books and school notes swept away adding to their misery. Often government and charitable well wishers do chip in to minimise the inconvenience. While such benevolence is welcome, what is more important is to formulate and implement plans to improve the quality of life of these human beings who have a difficult enough struggle to make ends meet without having to face additional challenges from natural disasters.

All of the above problems largely impact on the poor and marginalised. When large sums of monies are spent on vanity projects which do not result in any tangible benefits to the citizens, it is a damning indictment on the country and successive governments that could have made life easier for the citizenry if sufficient care and concern was shown over the years to ease the burdens of the public.

Failure to do so amounts to negligence of the duty that is incumbent on all those who assume office in Government and are vested with the authority to formulate and implement plans in relation to these matters .

 (javidyusuf@gmail.com)