Editorial

Editorial

Toll of poll
The Local Government elections are coming up -- as if Sri Lankans are not already fed up with elections. Thousands are going to be disenfranchised at this election, partly due to their own disinterest in registering and partly due to some well-orchestrated scheming, while party organisers were napping.
These elections are what democracy at the grassroots is all about. Whether directly, or indirectly, your local council and how it works (or doesn't) affects the lives of ordinary people, and the way they live, in a way that a President or Member of Parliament may not touch.

The advent of proportional representation, with its merits and demerits, is not a good thing at a local government-level. At this level, the rate-payer or man-in-the-tenement should know his Ward Member. He must be able to take his complaint before that Ward Member, and apply pressure on him to solve his problem.

Today, these councils are full of people unknown to the people they supposedly represent, and smaller wards never get to have a representative in these councils because of the monstrous cut-throatism of the proportional representation system.

Sometimes one wonders whether the kind of democracy practised in these councils is nothing but sham democracy, with those in the big league and having big bucks calling the shots, and having 'their nominees' appointed so that they can get 'their work' done at the expense of others. Is a little bit of totalitarianism perhaps the answer for the efficient management of these councils? But then again one cannot ignore the reality that a little bit of totalitarianism almost inevitably leads to unhealthy authoritarianism. Which brings us to the issue of the Local Government elections in the North and East.

The EPDP has already announced its intention to contest these elections and the two mainstream parties seem to have heeded and succumbed to the LTTE signals and will probably not contest in most of the councils where the TNA is to contest.

The race for the Batticaloa Municipality will probably be a one-horse affair with the TNA contesting and the EPDP and JVP putting up some resistance.
Some will argue that the Batticaloa Municipality must not be run by the LTTE by proxy. But you cannot ask the LTTE to come into mainstream politics and at the same time say the TNA cannot take control of a Municipality, though, of course, the question of whether such an election is free and fair and is a true test of the will of the people, would remain a nagging issue.

The same goes for the Jaffna Municipality, and several Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas in these areas. This is the paradox the country faces as attempts to wean the LTTE into the democratic process are made. It looks like the guerrilla organisation wants to eat the cake, and have it; i.e. to oppose a unitary state while taking maximum advantage from it in the process.

In the 'south' -- it is an entirely different story. Local Government Councils have become dens of vice, corruption, abuse, mismanagement and inefficiency. While a few honest and hardworking City Fathers and officials surely exist, the reeking corruption matches the stench from the mountainous garbage piles there for everyone to see, smell -- and fall sick.

The rise of dengue, illegal constructions, issue of CoCs (Certificates of Conformity) for completed buildings, sewerage etc are all part and parcel of local government inefficiency -- not just in the capital, but in every town throughout the length and breadth of this country. While the honest are hauled over the coals, the unscrupulous get away with rank bribery and political abuse of power - and CoCs are given on telephone calls by elected Councillors.

These Councils are not without their own problems -- a growing population to cater to with limited resources at their disposal. High-rise apartment complexes are approved -- but where's the infrastructure to sustain them?
Our propensity to produce garbage, especially with the emerging throw-away culture among city-dwellers, and the cooking and eating habits of the local populace in the villages contribute to the growing problem -- not that corruption in garbage-disposal contracts have also not been highlighted in the press.

The calibre of contestants for Council posts leaves much to be desired and these officials have to deal with corrupt souls, backed often by big-business in their day-to-day work with the worst possible interference.

And last -- but not least -- these cash-strapped Councils have to earn their living with the meagre financial resources given to them. On that last (but not least) front there is at least one immediate solution. Abolish the Provincial Councils and divert those wasted, squandered funds to these more meaningful Local Government Councils -- the hundreds of Municipal, Urban and Town Councils (Pradeshiya Sabhas).

They were introduced to this country in a bid to stem the cry for a separate state. It has done nothing for that cry, nor passed muster as a useful arm of devolution to bring power to the periphery. Rs 80 Million has been passed for the running of these Provincial Councils -- the Local Government Councils can do that much more with that money to help urban and rural residents alike.

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