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DOES ANYBODY CARE ABOUT LANKAN PEOPLE?ASOKA S.Sri Lanka has 225 parliamentary members out of which 107 are ministers. In addition Lanka also have several dozen Provincial Ministers and Pradeshiya Sabha Members. I guess one can say these people constitute Lanka's leadership. But Lanka today is such a mess that one really is left to think Lanka is on auto pilot with nobody really leading the people anymore. The new passport office in Colombo is now at the Punchi Borella Bo Tree junction. No parking space or simply no space to walk (the road is tiny 2 lanes with plenty of tiny make shift shops). The building roof is leaking so bad that the tens of thousands of people who flock there have to jump over water puddles. But tens of thousands of would be Middle East employees go through this mess and the long lines to obtain a mere passport so most of them can become a maid for a $100 a month just to feed their families. When asked from a senior officer their about opening PP offices in major towns and using more IT to ease the mess, his answer was the Minister in Charge of Immigration & Emigration is too old fashioned and too old to focus on such things even though they have recommended so. The road network is ten or twenty times overloaded. The only traffic rules that apply on the roads anymore are just keep moving forward where-ever drivers can find room even if it happens to be the sidewalk or even the opposite direction lane. Intersections are all blocked from all directions as nobody cared enough to put a traffic light at least. The real rule setters are the big private buses who dictate how fast or slow you go as he can block the small roads at will. The police have simply given up on the traffic rules as there are too many violations to keep up with. The leaders are sleeping meanwhile. There are virtually thousands and thousands of sign board for shops, big, small and tiny. But nobody has thought if there is enough space for the shoppers to walk to these shops without invading whatever is left on the tiny roads. It is a mass mess of masses, trishaws, cars, trucks, vans all bundled into one big mess. When the real big leaders have to travel, all these human souls and vehicles are brushed into any nook and cranny or building and within minutes these tiny roads are made 100% empty so that the excellencies can whisk through unhurt and un-bombed. Even after they pass though, the average souls have to stay caged for another 10 minutes or so to make 100% certain that the VIP's are safe. Did any of the leaders think of moving out of busy Colombo to suburbs so that everyday life in the business hub of Colombo can function, creating the little wealth for the country. And fellow Lankans don't have to be chased into open drains and shacks houses. Noooooohh... no such common sense exists. The irony is that a new airport and a highway in the South is being built at billions of Rupees while the rest of the road infrastruture is almost in ruins. I would not like to be the unfortunate passenger to land in Hambantota airport and travel 6 hours more to get to Colombo.. Having said that mass infrastructure projects are always a good thing to open up economic activity so one can perhaps pardon ignoring the city roads. Some of these ministers are immensely powerful as much as they are immensely stupid. When asked about the mess on the roads and government offices, one very powerful minister told me that Lanka's Western Province construction growth rate is the highest in Asia and one cannot help the mess when so much of construction happens. I am not sure how China is building cities as big as New York every month or so and still lag behind Lanka's Western Province. This same politico told me once Lanka's middle class is sufficiently large most of the mess and indiscipline will disappear too. In the mean time he continue to drink the best Cogniac and Hennesey XO and be globe trotting regularly first class at the peoples' expense. Must be real Nice....!!!! The big Colombo hotels and even the hotels outskirts are running historical low occupancies and people are losing once lucrative jobs. But all the leaders go on carefree. For example the huge big Publicity Show held at the Torrignton Square to celebrate Toppigala victory took a good 5 or 6 hours of the administration time and half of Colombo was closed. All TV stations were forced to show this event live. Every ministers arrival in their huge big super luxury cars and motorcades were shown one by one. Many government owned TV station anchors went on glorifying the Leaders and their immense achievements. Unfortunately nobody saw the mothers and fathers of the soldiers who sacrificed their valued young lives to save Lanka. There was several billion rupees worth of payrolls sitting at the Torrignton Square idling away for hours. One could build a house for each of the dead soldiers families with a fraction of these payrolls. At least showing the soldiers photographs in a public display was not thought of but the big wig leaders went on hours with their rhetoric... In the mean time for these 5 or 6 hours country's business was put on hold. Ah the people can go to hell. who cares...such must be the thinking of these Politicos. The funniest thing is the hours long Political debates held on the government controlled TV channels at night. They would put a minister from the SLFP and the UNP to debate about issues. But wait a minute; not quite. The UP ire they would bring in is one of those who defected to the government while being a UNP ire. So it is indeed not a debate between members of the 2 leading parties but the same. But the TV anchor will introduce them otherwise. But I must categorically mention that Lanka's security forces and the Police are really to be admired for the dedication they display to their duties. I have seen them just as vigilant checking vehicles at 2AM as much as 2PM of the day. They would stand a security post in the blazing hot 35 degree sun and continue to protect the country. I am not sure though that the political leaders under whom they perform their heroic duties are worthy of their sacrifice. More than likely NOT as most of them must be at a 5 Star function wasting public money and their not so valuable time. Lanka's political culture has gone to dogs; I mean real dogs. Whether it is the UNP or the SLFP there is no difference in the culture except the color of their parties. One minister told me that you throw the people a bait of free money or free food at the election times they will vote for that party. That is how the Lankan electorate works according to him and he was pretty arrogantly amused about that. There is absolutely no hope of Lanka coming out of doldrums as long as the SLFP or the UNP have the same renegade, dishonest, opportunistic leaders. The entire political landscape need to be steam cleaned, disinfected, sterilized and fresh vegetation need to be introduced. In the mean time the War will be used as a big excuse for all evil so conveniently. Lankans, let us hope for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Lanka that the Mosses of Lanka will be there sooner or else we all will surrey lose this once gracious and dignified land to vicious crooks in the robes of leaders.
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