The head and members of the Rajapaksa government have done many imprudent things due to a very shallow understanding of values. They have made a show of their self importance and resorted to their temporary political power to enjoy the highest of comforts of high class air travel and occupy expensive luxury class hotel rooms. They have been eating the choicest and costliest of food, costliest beverages and lavishly amused themselves and entertained their family and friends at the expense of the taxpayers of the country mired in hugely incalculable debts incurred due to their rash, imprudent and badly planned borrowing that run into hundreds and thousands of billions of dollars.
They borrowed money and incurred debts to engage themselves in questionable development projects that have ultimately turned into white elephants that yield no income and yet necessitate continuous expenditure to maintain them.
All this has been due to their disability and incapacity of economic planning to develop the country. Economic planning, execution of related infrastructure development and management of large enterprises are complex matters. Before venturing into such projects that involve very heavy expenditure and often affecting the livelihood and displacement of hundreds of people, wise initiators of mega projects do a feasibility study to be done by experts in several fields who could coordinate their research and work in such a way that a prudent decision could be arrived at to undertake the planned project. The gains and advantages of the project should greatly outweigh the problems and dislocations that are inevitable. When the project is completed and springs to life, the incomes and returns would be more than sufficient to pay back the borrowed money in instalments.
Very often the investors who come forward to invest in such big projects are institutions of the United Nations and financial institutions of friendly countries, international banks and such authorities among whom are also international authorities founded to help the development projects of countries like ours. They veto some plans of our politicians as they foresee to some extent the doubtful viability of the planned project that could waste money. On the other hand there are also some countries who lend money at a profit to themselves while keeping our country in their pocket as it were for their own greater advantage. So with the poor knowledge of geo-politics, our politicians whose intelligence and knowledge is very shallow and meagre on many matters fall prey to the plans of others and unknowingly get trapped in other people’s plans. Also, some countries are not beyond bribing with huge sums of money our politicians who bank corrupt earnings in secret accounts in ‘tax havens’. In order to get a firm foothold in Sri Lanka which is very strategically placed and would be of great benefit to them for diverse reasons, for their special reasons some countries like to lend money even on low interest.
Also narrow party politics play a big role to the disadvantage of the country. The party in power delays or does not pay the bad loans taken by the defeated government. And the interest on the loan increases from year to year. It is the country’s burden that gets heavier. And the vindictiveness and hate of the party in power does that. In this regard the politicians of the UNP, SLFP, SLPP seem to be of the same quality of poor and low character.
UNWORTHY OF HONOURABLE POSITIONS
Some projects are white elephants and remain of doubtful benefit to the country. When billions are involved, the value of the benefits from the money borrowed should make sure economic gains, visualized by experts in the scientific, technical and other fields who assess the viability of the projects, after having studied their feasibility from many angles. But our selfish politicians in power become rich overnight by entering into contacts mainly advantageous to themselves, betray the country and its people especially the poor.
When millions of dollars are offered to our politicians, who is the politician who refuses it? Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Secretaries of Ministries have numerous occasions to make a lot of money by illicit, illegal and corrupt ways. It is the rare person who does not succumb to the temptation because most of the politicians are men and women of fragile character. They are not worthy of being placed in prestigious and honourable positions of political power.
Our country’s politicians are very interested in mega projects with borrowings from other countries, even when venturing into such projects are very imprudent because the costs are extremely high and the conditions applicable to us are also indiscreet. Anyhow they carry out their plans. Which President, Prime Minister, Minister, Deputy Minister, Secretaries of Ministries could publicly declare that they have not made selfish gains on the numerous occasions they had to make a lot of money by illicit, illegal and corrupt ways when often they dealt in billions.
Most of the politicians are men and women of fragile character. It is the rare person who does not succumb to financial temptations. Though they publicly proclaim they have refused to take huge bribes, they neither report bribe givers to the relevant authorities nor do they explain how they can account for the vast wealth they and their family members have accumulated which far exceeds the sum of their legitimate earnings. They are not worthy of being placed in prestigious and honourable positions of political power.
The top most politicians are not only corrupt, they protect their fellow politicians by delaying investigations into their misdeeds, by blocking investigations, by transferring investigators who do their job conscientiously or by saying that there are law’s delays. But when they want anything done, no other authority could stand in the way.
HOPE IN SOME UP-COMING YOUTH
The present possibility of limitless spending on elections is also another means of corruption. They spend money that they could somehow recover .through various means after they are seated in positions of power.
If after the religio-cultural and civilizational heritage of over two thousand years, this country cannot produce a few hundred absolutely honest and virtuous people in public life, one could ask legitimately as to what quality is the civilization, culture and religion that prevail in this country and what have they inherited therefrom.
For the needed new political culture to come about, the whole civilization background and the moral environment among all the people of this country should undergo a radical transformation. Exemplary leaders in religions, the teaching and other recognized professions have to give the lead.
There is some hope in the up and coming youth who have got an all-round integral education with a social conscience and a strong character from some good schools and homes in the country. They may be the real patriots of this Land and the benefactors of the poor.
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