By Upatissa Pethiyagoda –

Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda

Two matters which have recently, entered popular discourse, have been (i) The much-overdue local government elections and (ii) The measures proposed to deal with the disastrous losses of crops, and vandalism of houses and property by marauding pests – monkeys, flying squirrels, peacocks, and wild boar, and porcupines. Elephants are in a different class but causing spectacularly heavy losses of lives, crops and dwellings.

Much of the theatrics have been about dates for elections, symbols and party colours assigned, postal votes, and handling of deposits already made etc. Much of these are merely cosmetic matters of little concern or consequence for the voter. Much more relevant would have been, to assess how well these bodies have met the objectives that were expected of them. They have now been in operation for more than a decade. This gives ample time to determine how adequately they have met their expected responsibilities.

One must remember that the major justification for the introduction of the extra layers of power, created by the 13^th Constitutional Amendment. This was to provide easier access to government agencies, and for a simpler and more efficient service delivery. This major change was for the so-called “decentralization of power”. Can anyone honestly deny failure in the hoped for change by bringing power closer to the periphery, thus leading to improved service in providing a faster, less exacting, and better delivery of State services to the public? Their colossal failure, has been a massive cost to the taxpayer.

What we regularly see on TV, are disgusting examples of gross irresponsibility. Expensive buildings, generally abandoned or left half done and unoccupied, pot- holed roads, broken bridges, blocked irrigation channels and much else, bear eloquent testimony to the utter failure of those inexcusable lapses. All that remains are weed-covered and cynically grandiose wrecks.       

The majority are appalled at this mere imposition of additional layers of corruption, crime and reckless expense. Many see this as an added burden of conspicuous extravagance, with no visible change for the better. Despite this, the last government, saw it proper to double the cadres of these useless bodies to some unconscionable 8,000, – nearly double the existing number. In nature too, pests generally can multiply at huge speed.

This extravagance can only be matched by the extraordinary speed of the “Jackpot payments,” to some 70 odd politicians, mostly as urgent “compensation” (revealed as totaling some Rs,1,300,000/=) to repair their vandalized mansions, by rightly angered mobs, swiftly assembled and readied as response for a brutal assault by the Armed Forces on the departing “Aragalaya” from Galle Face, with suspiciously synchronized speed.

The second abomination is the proposed “census” of monkeys, flying squirrels (dandu-lenas). More ridiculously, also peacocks and porcupines, all of whom it is presumed, will oblige by emerging from their abodes and burrows, to stay still to be counted, within the government’s stipulated five minutes.

We are told that already some of the required Forms, costing a cool seventy million or some such, have been distributed. But there are many more situations where more pitfalls are likely to dim any hopes of providing useful information.

The futility of this nonsense, particularly in the monkey and peacock sectors, is easy to see. It is astonishing to note that this futile exercise is claimed to be “Scientific”. Contrarily, the hugely obvious defects in this type of clowning, have been pointed out in many instances.

The very large numbers of variables impacting on reliability, would validly argue against the use of such shabby and false data for any useful purpose, without seriously compromising its value. Unfortunately, coming so soon after the ‘wasa visa caper’ will laughable, and so soon after the much c ting monkeys and the natural shy ‘dandulenas’ or the tunnel living and nocturnal porcupines.

How would we seem in the eyes of fellow scientists outside our country? We have a right and duty to place on record, to protest at the damage to our peer colleagues else by the desecration of our accepted stature. Coming so soon after the ‘Wasa-visa” caper, costing a virtual collapse of our agricultural system, we have this added mess to combat.

We must remember that the futile attempts to effect an acceptable population number, for the largest terrestrial inhabiting the planet, the elephant, it is unlikely that smaller and more agile monkeys and peacocks will present themselves for the planned five minute census. Even if they provide a perfectly accurate number, accurate to the last monkey, (exempting the hiding, legendary Hanuman) what precisely do we do with the number?

Food for thought, surely.