{"id":96113,"date":"2013-07-19T13:51:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T08:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=96113"},"modified":"2013-07-23T14:28:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T08:58:25","slug":"bribery-real-estate-and-cheap-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/bribery-real-estate-and-cheap-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Bribery, Real Estate And \u201cCheap People\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/strong>\u00a0Ravi Perera<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ravi Perera<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHonesty is a very expensive gift. Do not expect it from cheap people\u201d Warren Buffett<\/p>\n

The story doing the rounds in the Colombo circles about a large bribe solicited from a foreign Real Estate developer is a sobering\u00a0\u00a0 reminder that\u00a0 the \u201cmiraculous country\u201d, the much used\u00a0 unction for\u00a0 our self-image notwithstanding, those\u00a0 reputed\u00a0 evils of the third world ,\u00a0 bureaucratic buffoonery and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 corruption\u00a0 are still very much part and parcel of our system. We may speed on Sri Lanka\u2019s one and only (southern) highway in our European made Lamborghinis (with their V12 engines!) but that does not mean that everything else on the way is top of the pops.<\/p>\n

If the story is true, a high-up\u00a0\u00a0 public servant has solicited a large bribe from the prospective developer as an inducement to fast-track the approval processes for the project.\u00a0 Large commercial\/condominium developments require several standard approvals which most of us are familiar with now.\u00a0 And as we all know the government of Sri Lanka is eager to have such foreign investors in the country and are in fact offering several concessions to lure them. In the circumstances it is ironical that so called servants of the government are asking for bribes to expedite a process which in principle the government is committed to expediting!<\/p>\n

It is in the nature of such things in this country that the actual culpability of persons concerned and the amounts involved are hazy. Invariably the tale is spiced\u00a0\u00a0 up or toned down according to the political sympathies or animosities of the teller. The amount currently being mentioned in this transaction is an astounding 400 million rupees, a figure which perhaps suggests a much larger margin of profit than other similar projects. On the other hand the largeness of the bribe raises a suspicion of huge regulatory issues which otherwise would fail to win the approval of the regulators.<\/p>\n

If we were to be guided by the\u00a0\u00a0 folksy wisdom of Warren Buffett, in normal circumstances even a hundredth of this figure, i.e. Rs.\u00a0 4 million would have ensued results with a \u201ccheap \u201cperson. The largeness of the bribe may, while creating a grandiose image of the scope\u00a0\u00a0 of our economic activity, would also be unintentionally\u00a0\u00a0 honouring the bribe taker\u2019s threshold level. Many moons ago they used to say that a former minister in charge of the Mahaweli Development project was among the three richest men in Asia! Of course, his exact rank\u00a0 and the\u00a0 facts and figures\u00a0 of his estate were sketchy ,to say the least. Most times the unlucky victims of raids by the so called Bribery Department are guilty of seeking inducements in the range of Rs.10, 000-100000!<\/p>\n

Be that as it may, for sake of argument let us assume that our bad boys are big players when it comes to bribery\u00a0 and that\u00a0 3 million US $ is kind of standard today. The offer of the bribe\u00a0\u00a0 apparently came from an Indian company. Although in this era of political correctness\u00a0\u00a0 generalizations may be frowned upon, it is perhaps not too off the mark to say that the business culture in the Sub-Continent leaves much to be desired. Maybe a culture inclined towards an obtuse bureaucracy invites corruption. So many hands reaching out for a small pie could create\u00a0\u00a0 an attitude of wanting to win by fair means or foul. Whatever the cultural reason for the strong\u00a0 inclination towards unethical business practices, the fact is that not many eye brows will be raised in surprise on account of the ethnicity of the so called culprits in the present case.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if it is true that senior figures\u00a0\u00a0 in the Sri Lankan administration are\u00a0\u00a0 soliciting or accepting bribes and kickbacks it is a very serious matter. For decades we took pride in the \u201crelative\u201d honesty, save for a few departments like the Customs and the Police, of our public sector. Even where the named departments are concerned, there were undoubtedly a large number of proud officers in\u00a0\u00a0 these departments who worked in a spirit of service. But since of late it is evident that there is a massive deterioration\u00a0\u00a0 in the level of integrity in almost all public institutions in this country.<\/p>\n

Sometime back it was reported in a newspaper that a political appointee who was tasked with developing business contacts in a neighbouring country was praised by his boss for taking the initiative by way of\u00a0 gifting\u00a0 gold coins to his counterparts in that country. The assumption was that Indian bureaucrats will accept the gold coins and do the needful.\u00a0 We apparently had no ethical qualms about that approach. On the contrary the boss apparently was exultant about the \u201coriginal approach\u201d of his bribe giving underling.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, we are troubled by a gnawing sense that the country is slowly but surely drifting towards a moral precipice. A sure sign of the social decay is the manner in which we now trivialize evils like corruption, abuse of power, nepotism and deceit. These are no longer seen as threats to a civilized way of life but only provide a subject for inane jokes among the rich and powerful. The rot is not confined to the powers that be. Even the so called opposition is obviously bankrupt politically as well as morally.<\/p>\n

A fundamental question that we face as a nation is whether the mere fact of election gives\u00a0\u00a0 a blanket\u00a0\u00a0 license to our politicians to do all that they presume to do.\u00a0 Obviously in any society for the\u00a0\u00a0 idea of democracy to work meaningfully, a certain culture must prevail. In the absences of that culture the idea rings hollow and the\u00a0\u00a0 machinery of democracy can easily become a mere tool in the hands of unscrupulous politicians. A few politicians who get themselves elected to leadership positions can use a flawed democratic system to act with impunity and then easily cover their sins. Numbers do not always sanctify. A large crowd cannot simply veto the truth of a scientist for example. A mob cannot decide to hang a person likewise. There are ideas and principles which transcend political manipulations.<\/p>\n

Recently there was a picture in a newspaper which is a fitting metaphor for what passes for politics in our country. The main character in the picture was the provincial politician who forced a female\u00a0\u00a0 teacher to kneel before him as a punishment for daring to discipline the politician\u2019s daughter. That incident is only a few weeks old now. In the newspaper picture the man is all but kneeling before his party\u2019s nomination committee. He obviously wants re-nomination and has ambitions of continuing his political career. And the way to ensure re-nomination is by toadying.\u00a0 Unlike the unfortunate teacher, his obsequious conduct before that nomination committee was all voluntary.<\/p>\n

What happens when the wielders of power are \u201ccheap\u201d characters as defined by Warren Buffett? As we can see around us many things can happen when power ends up in such hands. One thing for sure, we cannot expect honesty from cheap people!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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