My dear Anura sahodaraya,

I am writing to you as you criss-cross the country, visiting landslide affected areas, meeting with officials, asking them questions and urging them to come up with urgent solutions. Much has been said about what happened- and the response afterwards. That is what I wanted to write to you about.

As you must surely be aware, there is a big debate about whether the damage from this disaster, the worst ever the country has faced in terms of extent and property destruction, could have been less? Of course, the landslides cannot be prevented, but could we have saved more lives, if we were warned?

What we see now, Anura sahodaraya, is a blame game being played out for political purposes. Those in your camp insist they did nothing wrong. Those opposing you want you to take the blame for the disaster. The truth, we suspect, is somewhere in between. That is what we would like to know.      

It is both in your interests and that of the country to find out. Some in your camp may not agree but that is the only way you can prevent this from becoming what the Easter Sunday attacks were for Aiyo Sirisena. Already, some are saying ‘they knew it will rain but they didn’t think it will rain like this’.  

The time for that investigation may not be right now, when the priority is to address the needs of the families of those who have lost loved ones and those who have had their lives disrupted. Still, it will be best if we are assured of an impartial inquiry, once the first steps of the recovery effort are in place.

Please don’t misunderstand, Anura sahodaraya. We see you, day in and day out, travelling the length and breadth of the country and doing your best. We really appreciate that. However, it also tells us that that there is no one- or only a precious few- among the other 159 who can deliver at a time like this.

That is why you have to shoulder most of this burden and do it yourself. That is not a great situation to be in. While you do that, can you at least ask some of your comrades to keep their mouths shut and keep their thoughts to themselves? For, whenever they speak, they undo all the good you do.  

We do appreciate the unprecedented compensation you have announced for those affected. It will cost a lot of money. Those such as Rajitha have already said we cannot afford it. We do hope you can meet those commitments because, if you don’t, the opposition will be very quick to say ‘we told you so’.  

You must be grateful though to their leader Sajith. He is also touring the country, note pad in hand, doing the grama sevaka’s job. He asks people on Monday whether the relief you announced on Friday was received. They say ‘no’ and he promises to intervene. With rivals like this, who needs friends?

Also, be thankful to Namal. He too is playing the ‘voice cut’ game, visiting those affected, handing out ‘buth’ packets or dry rations, then posing for the cameras and telling us that the relief effort has failed. Well, it is certainly better than what happened to the Tsunami relief and ‘Helping Hambantota’!

Indeed, there are many- Uncle Ranil, Vajira, Champika, Gammanpila and Dayasiri, to name a few- whose only aim is to criticise you. It is sad that, in this crisis hour, they have chosen not to rise above petty politics and help in the relief effort, and ‘leave politics for later’, as you pleaded with them to.     

That is why you should be very grateful to Satellite for giving them all a virtual slap in the face by donating a massive amount of money from the Foundation that bears her name. It is very rarely that we agree with Satellite or what she says and does, but on this occasion, she must be commended.

With what she did, Satellite sends two messages. Firstly, she implies that she trusts your government, unlike others, with that money. Secondly, by working with a party once accused of murdering her husband and a government which recently asked her to leave her house, she has risen above politics. 

You must be grateful to that Cabraal chap too. He says he was ‘acquitted and discharged’ from the Greek bonds case. He was discharged on the condition that he pays over a billion rupees, much more than Satellite’s donation. If he doesn’t, he will back in the dock. Is he in contempt of court, I wonder?    

As you continue your efforts, Anura sahodaraya, we all know that a long and hard road lies ahead. We hope that the Thambuththegama Ranbanda’s ‘kolla’ succeeds, not because the ‘maalimaawa’ is the best team to deal with this disaster but because, of the options available, you seem to be our best bet!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha.

PS- You visit areas ravaged by massive landslides but have you paid attention to the ‘golden hole’ that your government seems to be sinking into? That gentleman was your government’s first scandal. You should have got rid of him then. You did, but only partially. For own your sake, it’s time for him to go.