Special Assignment

Spill on the hills

- Central Provincial Council- a look at the system

– Ugly scenes behind the picture postcard

By Faraza Farook, Nilika de Silva and Ayesha R. Rafiq

With five more prov inces gearing up for elections on April 6, The Sunday Times investigators visited these areas to find out what the provincial councils have done for the people in terms of development and upliftment of living standards during the past ten years. 

We did this in Wayamba before the terrible election there and found that for most people, the provincial councils meant little or nothing, serving mainly as institutions of privilege for second string politicians.

We began our latest investigation with a visit to the Central Province where both main parties are having not one but two aspirants each for the chief ministerial posts, showing the extent to which it had become largely a matter of personal gain or glory with more trouble and burdens for the people. 

Life in the Central Province is generally better and the situation less complicated than in Wayamba. But it is no indication that all is well in this province. We saw huge social disparities.

For some, this province located in picture-postcard surroundings has turned out to be a living hell. We often think that up in the hills is a clean and healthy atmosphere but that is not the case. 

We heard complaints about a poor public transport service on bad roads which are hardly motorable and haven't been attended to since the last provincial council elections. Many were the stories of pollution with garbage collection and waste disposal being in extremely bad taste, much in contrast to the paradise pictures that are portrayed of the historical hill country.

While the provincial councils were introduced to make people's lives better, for many, the system seems to have only become more complicated and living has got not better but worse.

Even the little work done was half-baked because of the tug of war between the province and the central government. 

Voicing the sentiment of many people, 55-year-old A.H.M. Farook, an umbrella vendor said the PCs had brought more rain than sunshine. 

He was among those who were often stranded by the poor bus service. Investigations revealed why public transport was often inadequate and inconvenient. Largely due to petty politics, the Kandy district which requires a minimum of 650 buses for a proper transport service, falls short by some 150 buses. If the town service is bad, the rural areas are worse hit.

M.B.A. Wahir who lives in a rural area of Kandy complained there were hardly any buses after 5 p.m. 

After 7 p.m no buses travel from Kandy to Kadugannawa. "Buses don't run on by-roads, so people have to walk for miles while people who can afford to do so use a trishaw. There is a depot in Kadugannawa but it is of little use," one resident lamented. 

Like in Colombo, bus stands and buses are heavily over-crowded. Traffic jams are seen all over. Hawkers occupy sidewalks, causing chaos and danger, especially to school children who have to risk their lives walking on the roads. 

Hawkers, such as 28-year-old Gamini Senevirathne, said they had been warned by the police not to operate on the sidewalks, but they had no option as life was so difficult. 

We contacted municipal officials but they as usual said the provincial council was responsible. It's the same old story. Even to repair a road, people first go to the pradeshiya sabhas, then to the municipal council, then to the Road Development Authority, then to the provincial council and finally end in the drain. 

On our investigation, we found rickety bus shelters by the sides of roads, unlit and almost hidden by bushes. They were cramped with people trying to catch a bus home, as late as nine in the night. 

The problem of inadequate transport facilities has been aggravated by the poor maintenance of the available buses. When buses break down due to engine failures, leaving the passengers as well as the bus crew stranded, the excuse the Provincial Council gives is, 'we do not have the money to replace'. We saw during our visit several such instances. 

As we said about Wayamba, the Central Province also an utter administrative mess. Take for example, the maintenance of drains. The system is so complicated with a large number of institutions and councils wallowing in the mud. No one is really sure whom to approach for repairs. 

If roads end up in the drain, people wonder where the drains would end up?

The system of administrative cross roads and cross currents causing more confusion and conflicts, is brought out on the road itself. 

A main road falls under the purview of the central transport ministry, other roads under the provincial councils and by-roads under the Municipal councils. Ultimately, people make complaints to all and finish at a dead-end.

A businessman from Akurana complained that when roads were dug up for various purposes, they were not properly repaired. Unfinished work is left for months posing a serious hazard to the public.

He was also a victim of the uncovered and unhygienic network of drains in Matale town where his shop is located. "This drain was dug five years ago but still has not been repaired, and it stinks. Most people in the area have connected their drainage system to this drain," he said.

Another major problem is the water supply or the regular interruption without any inadequate notice, residents of Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya complain. Sometimes the interruptions last not just for days but even for weeks. 

The province has traditionally given an important place to agriculture but many farmers today are facing serious irrigation problems. 

The provincial council plays a relatively minor role in the bigger picture of agriculture, where the only active participation seems to be by way of educating the farmers in new techniques.

Although marketing plays a pivotal role in the success or failure of the toil of the farmers and cultivators in the central province as elsewhere, this power is not devolved to the province. Guaranteed prices are decided on by the central government.

Competing against imported commodities becomes the fate of our farmers. "From the government's side we cannot stop imports because we have to look after the customer also," said Mr. Polgolla, secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Central Province. 

Irrigation plays an important role in this province where a large percentage of the employment is agriculture based. 

Yet once again we saw that the Central Government wielding most power with respect to projects while only the maintenance work or minor irrigation schemes are handled by the provincial ministry.

"Major irrigation comes under the Central Government. Even regarding minor irrigation only maintenance and rehabilitation work is handled by the Provincial Ministry. We don't construct new schemes," Mr. Polgolla said.

Of the 3,000 abandoned irrigation schemes in the province, only 1000 have been rehabilitated.

In case of a crisis, the provincial ministry is in no position to help the farmers, other than recommend them for bank loans. Thus the very purpose of having such a ministry is being questioned. 

Couldn't an agriculture board do a more productive job than such a ministry?

We also investigated the health sector. Although entrusted with a lot of responsibility, the sector hardly seems competent enough to handle its task.

A senior health official commenting on the confusion of the present PC system said it was a case of treating only the symptoms and complicating the ailment. 

Even the simple transfer of medical staff done in just two or three steps in the previous system, now involves a lot of bureaucratic red tape and inevitably results in long term delays. Leave alone inter-district transfers, the problem becomes more complicated when they have to deal with inter province transfers.

Earlier they had to go to the Superintendent of Health Services/Regional Director Health Services in the Province and then to the Health Ministry Colombo to be transferred to another province. 

But now, to get a transfer from Matale to Ratnapura, they should go through the Deputy Provincial Director Health Services (DPDHS) Matale, Provincial Director Health Services (PDHS) Matale, Provincial Secretary Health (PSH) Matale, Secretary Provincial Public Service Commission (PPSC) Matale, DPDHS (Ratnapura), PDHS (Sabaragamuwa), PSH (Ratnapura), Secretary PPSC (Ratnapura), Secretary PPSC (Matale), PSH (Matale), PDHS (Matale )and DPDHS (Matale). Some thing somewhere is sick. 

Payments are another stumbling block. Although frequent reminders are made to the PC to get the allowances, staff often have to wait many months to get their overtime payments, etc. 

"Earlier the Regional Director had all the powers, but now this has been scattered to the provincial director, deputy director, provincial secretary etc. And the process involves too many people, which often results in long delays and more frustration," he said.

This has resulted in conflicts between decisions taken by the provincial authorities themselves. There is sometimes a tug of war in the hierarchy of the provincial ministry, for example between the minister and the director.

For instance, if the provincial director takes disciplinary action against a staffer, but if the staffer is able to convince the provincial minister, the punishment can be withdrawn. The minister may then ask the Provincial Director to cancel the decision which undermines the authority of the Provincial Director. "It's an authority restricted to paper," the official said. 

There was also a long delay in the drug supply from Colombo to Matale this year, in addition to a shortage of certain drugs. 

He said that although many hospital buildings have been put up by the Provincial Council, they cannot be maintained. Many of these are not strong. During a heavy shower, the roofs and walls leak. This is because they are built on a low budget which results in low quality materials being used.

The main Matale hospital is a sick giant, understaffed and ill-equipped in most sectors. 

Patients appear to have little confidence in this 600-bed hospital. " Most patients get themselves admitted to this hospital, only as a transit point before they were transferred to Kandy or elsewhere," a doctor said. 

At this hospital many are left on the floor, Matale resident Lal Udawatte said.

Residents accuse the provincial council of doing little and caring less about what happened in the main hospital. They did or pretend to do something only at the time of election.

We learn there is no proper sewage system in the hospital. The drain outside one of the wards carries faecal matter to the main sewers and is a breeding ground for germs and diseases. The flies swarming give testimony to the claim that the treatment at this hospital is often worse than the disease. 

In addition the hospital is plagued by a dearth of nurses and a shortage of drugs. 

Often poor patients are expected to buy basic antibiotics from private pharmacies, said M. V. Karunathillake, a patient we met at the hospital.

The hospital has only one generator and that too cannot be run for more than one hour, the doctor said.

Operations scheduled here are often postponed owing to delays in supplying cylinders of oxygen. 

The health sector in rural areas of the province is in an even sorrier condition. 

An old man from Kiribathkubura said that Public Health Inspectors (PHI) have never visited his village. During the Gam Sabha (Village Council) days things were done properly. But of late, things have been a mess.

If transport, health and public utility services are in utter chaos with allegations of inefficiency, the education sector seems to suffer from a lack of guidance.

Adding to its many problems, including the cumbersome transfer procedures, were the recently introduced reforms.

S. B. R. Edirinayake, primary school principal of Vijaya College, Matale said, "The department is not handling transfers. There is a Transfer Board which is usually headed by the Zonal Director. The people who are appointed to the Board can make things worse. Trade Union people sit on these boards and the board's transfer policy defies logic. Graduate science teachers are transferred to rural schools where no laboratories exist while no teachers are appointed for some other subjects," he said.

When we visited the Zonal Education office in Matale, several teachers from outlying villages were there to discuss their career related problems.

"Sometimes we receive letters informing us of a transfer. We give farewell treats and exchange gifts. A few days later, we receive a letter stating that the transfer has been cancelled," one teacher said.

"Only teachers from national schools which come under the purview of the Central Government are transferred to other national schools, therefore we never get an opportunity to teach in one of these schools."

An official said the provincial education system was really bad. "Teachers cancel classes at their discretion. They cancel classes on the pretext that there were absentees.

"Soon after school, teachers rush home, for they have their tuition classes to conduct. Nothing is taught in school, it is only in the tuition classes that students are taught," he said. 

He also said that many of the older students go to school only to get their attendance marked and then they go for private classes.

It seems the practice of education inspectors visiting schools has been long forgotten. Another problem that the official talked about was the change in the curriculum. The education system suffers with curriculum and exams being changed in the name of progressive reforms every time a government changes.

On a more positive note however, Mr. Edirinayake said that the Provincial Council system was convenient for the teachers as far as their salaries and pensions are concerned.

H.K. Gunaratne, the Deputy Director Education, at the Matale Zonal Education Office said "through decentralisation it is possible to focus attention on a particular area and therefore monitoring has been made easy. A regular scrutiny to see what is lacking in schools, like, buildings, libraries and teachers is also facilitated by decentralisation."

The majority of the people in the Central Province who spoke to The Sunday Times feel that the Provincial council system has done little in concrete terms to help improve their standard of life but only complicated matters. 

Editorial/Opinion Contents