SL: GOOD GOVERNANCE.....!!!

Good Governance - The Need of the Hour
By Walter Rupesinghe/ dailymirror.lk

The land mark judgment of the Supreme Court in the LMS case has highlighted once again the crying need for the restoration of good governance in this country. All right thinking people will agree that with the increasing politicization of every aspect of activity in this country, whether they be administrative, economic, financial, development or social, good governance has been reduced to a farce.

Having been a public servant myself for many years I make bold to say that by and large left to themselves public servants take .pride in doing an honest job of work. What is happening today is that a large number of public servants are wilting under the strain of inescapable political pressures and doing things against their conscience for survival.

All that does not absolve public servants from deviating from established rules, regulations and procedures. They must remember they are the servants of the people and not of politicians and are answerable to the people who pay their salaries and provide them with the other perks of office. This fact was recognized at colonial times when letters to the public ended with words "I am sir, your obedient servant''.

Politicians likewise are servants of the people who elect them - a fact which is often forgotten until the time comes to go around once again and beg for their vote. Once elected they behave as if the people are their servants and the politicians are a law unto themselves.

Secretaries of Ministries and heads of National Institutions must always remember the vital fact that under the financial regulations they are the Chief Accounting Officers of the departments under them and are vested with the sacred responsibility of ensuring that public funds and the assets of the people are prudently managed. I read in the newspapers the other day that after the LMS judgment Ministry Secretaries and Heads of Departments are reluctant to sit on Tender Boards which lack transparency and subscribe their signatures to irregular awards dictated by their political masters who watch and wait in the shadows while the public servants put their neck on the block. They have made representations to their respective associations and sought their guidance. At least now if they adopt a united and principled stand the political hierarchy will have to do something about it.

After the LMS judgment of the Supreme Court which exposed the sordid irregularities that had taken place politicians and public servants should remember that the national wealth of the country belongs to the people and cannot be the subject of questionable deals. The court has indicated that wrongs should be righted and that the wrongdoers should not be allowed to go scot free. Thanks to Wijedasa Rajapakshe who has been described as the knight in shining armour and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and also the ever vigilant Vasudeva Nanayakkara several irregularities in some other institutions have been exposed. The people have a fundamental right to require the Government to take meaningful action, right the wrongs that have been committed and punish the wrongdoers. Any attempt to sweep them under the carpet would seriously damage the image of the government.

As a first step on the high road to Good Governance I would make a most fervent appeal to President R to implement the provisions of the Seventeenth Amendment without any further delay.

If he does this the people's faith in him will be enhanced. What is important to remember is that without good governance this country which has been hallowed by the visit of the Buddha, the noble and the enlightened one, will end up in anarchy and chaos from which we will never recover.

Let us remember the Chinese saying -

"Even a journey of a million miles begins with the first step"