By Upatissa Pethiyagoda –

Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda

A night of fury followed the ascension to the Presidential throne, by its first non-elected, and un-elected President, (thanks to a peculiar provision In a flawed Constitution). One of the first acts of the lucky Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was also the ex-officio Commander of the Armed Forces, was to unleash a group of masked, heavily-armed men, who set about destroying the constructions of the commendably peaceful “Aragalaya.”

This was allegedly, despite an assurance given to the demonstrators of their “democratic rights to protest,” by the same Mr Wickremesinghe, just hours before this betrayal. It was also claimed by the demonstrators that they were preparing to disperse the next morning. So, it was only a few stragglers, left to clear the last few of their constructions, who were thus assaulted.

What followed was tragic, but not unexpected. Angry mobs set about an orgy of burning the mansions (mainly owned by MP’s of the ruling party). In most cases, the Police and Security guards on site looked on helplessly. Ironically, most of the OIC’s of the localities concerned, were those illicitly placed by the MP’s themselves. Of a total of some 176 (?) new OIC’s, only 2 or so were regular transfers, while the others were engineered on the insistence of MP’s. Is there a greater proof that “bought loyalty” is fickle?

It was casually revealed somewhere, that some 1.3 billion rupees (Rs.300,000,000/=), had been disbursed (at record speed), to some 70 politico-claimants. If this is correct, (to the best of my knowledge, not denied). This is simply scandalous. This averages to just under Rs 200 million per house! Bear in mind that this is just for Repairs of damage by vandals, with only a very few being reported as totally destroyed.

Who, one wonders, passed such wildly extravagant claims? were proper checks done? What about Tax and Wealth Declarations, if any? Can any of this stolen money be recovered? Does anyone care? Can the public know the identities of the beneficiaries of this extra-ordinary largesse? Has this uncommon official alacrity, any relation to pending elections at that time?

The judgements in the “Sil Redi,”and the “Easter Sunday Bombing” cases firmly established the principle that officials, complicit or negligent in such cases, will invite the charge of “dereliction of duty,” and incur heavy fines, payable from their personal wealth.

This should serve as a warning that the excuse of “orders from above” is not tenable. On the other hand, this and similar cases could be a powerful weapon in the hands of upright officials, to deter subservience to “orders from above.” There is no reason to doubt that when the hatchet falls, there will be no one else to share responsibility.

Further, have there been instances where these and similar strictures have not been observed? Do these not amount to contempt of Court?

Massive wealth has been accumulated by some Ministers and possibly shared by a chain of officials, who have been complicit. Obviously, these massive thefts could not have occurred without the knowledge of officials of varied ranks.

The reports of payments that have been made, without exercise of due diligence should amount to massive larceny, and be so punished.                                                                       

If true, and most elementary checks not been done, before disbursing these grossly excessive amounts, should be considered an essential part of the “Keep Sri Lanka Clean” exercise. If not, at least a genuine follow-up is warranted.