Change !

Change is necessary, it is vital, but are our politicians geared to effect the necessary changes, are they capable or more correctly, do they recognise that CHANGE IS VITAL???  Change is important from the country’s point of view, for its very survival!!!  In the throes of pre-election fever, it is natural for us citizens to ask who will bring the CHANGE our country desperately needs!!!  The survival of our country hinges on the capability of our politicians to recognise and implement the necessary change!!!

From the time the common man in this country wakes up his thoughts are, how are we going to live, how are we going to get through this day??? HOWEVER,  YOU POLITICIANS are living a life of luxury, driving around in luxury vehicles, your wives wear diamond rings and your mistresses drive super luxury cars, you eat only the best of food, EVEN THE FOOD YOU EAT IN PARLIAMENT IS AT OUR EXPENSE; your children are educated abroad, expensive weddings for your children, medical attention at the best of hospitals, all this from the poor man’s money that you collect in taxes, isn’t it??? Therefore, you are worse, much worse than hitler  or any other dictator!!! Why don’t you come and live among the people and see for yourselves what their lives actually are???  When you leave your homes to go to Parliament, take a mirror with you and look at it on the way!!!  You will see HITLER complete with a mustache and all!!!  The poor children of this country can’t afford the money to go to a local school because the money demanded is so high and our Minister of Education has done nothing about it!!! Our politicians send their children to foreign schools!!! A poor man cannot find the money to buy clothes for his wife and children but it is in this same country that the politicians are giving their wives and mistresses diamond rings!!!  In this country, the poor man has to pawn everything he owns to give his son or daughter in marriage; while the politicians use only the new 5 star hotels to give their children in marriage!!!  No expense is too great!!!  Most often the poor man has no money to go to a pharmacy and buy the medicine he so desperately needs; but the politicians of this country fly to Singapore and America for their treatment!!!  The poor man sometimes cannot afford to even put the gasoline and oil he needs into his motorbike; but all of you roam around in your BMWs, BENZ, AUDIs and other luxury vehicles!!!  The salaries the poor people get today are meagre, totally insufficient to live on or put food on the table for their children, but you guys wine and dine in plush 5 star hotels!!! Aren’t all of you shameless people, even worse than the biggest dictators ever were???

The late Sir John Kotelawala was a man who practised what he preached and was a well-known pleasure seeker but he didn’t swindle the people of this country for his personal benefit!!!  He was a Minister for 23 years and Prime Minister for 3 ½ years.  When he lost the general election in 1956, he knew it was time to quit, not hang on like our politicians of today are doing, even when they are defeated!!!  Sir John and his father before him lived a fulfilling life, but certainly not at the expense of the citizens of Ceylon!!!  When Sir John reached 61 years, his advice to the other politicians was and I quote: “fitting in an imprecise proverbial saying, ‘there is no fool like an old fool’ he once affirmed his belief, “no man should be called upon to undertake an active part in the affairs of his country once he has passed 65, because ‘there is no fool like an old fool!!!  This is why we keep adamantly stressing that all the old fools of this regime would do well to let the young ones take on what the old ones are no longer capable of doing!!! Let the young ones take over, they are capable, smart and savvy!!!  

Talking of change, is there one single government institution in our country that parents with children who are handicapped or crippled from birth can take their children to for necessary attention???  Sure there are places where you have to pay to get a look in; what of the poor parents who cannot afford to pay???  Have any of our politicians given any attention to this desperate need; I am sure the thought has never even crossed their minds!!!  As long as the parents are alive, the child will be assured that he or she will be looked after, but what happens when the parents are no more???  Why can’t some provision be made for these parents to be given an allowance for these poor children so they can at least get the basic treatment they need!!!  By the same token, this allowance should also be given to the respective children especially after the demise of their parents!!!  The Ministry of Health should be held accountable for this!!!  Apparently, most of these defects occur at birth in the Castle Street Maternity Home, De Soysa and other small Maternity Hospitals!!! Unlike in other countries, these poor women and children have no one who they can hold responsible for the negligence that caused these defects at birth!!!

Change is also crucial in the Economy!!!  The government says that the Economy is moving upwards but the ECONOMIST says that what was said prior to the Budgets, for the past 4 years, has not been achieved!!!  The saddest part is that it has gone very much lower!!! Simultaneously, the debt to GDP is also escalating and we wonder if the country has sufficient funds to repay the debts when they fall due!!!  Some weeks ago, the State Minister of Finance said that over the past two years, the monies borrowed have been used for debt repayment!!! According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, ‘The Sri Lanka External Debt % of Sri Lanka’ and I quote:”In the latest reports of Sri Lanka, Current Account recorded a deficit of 815.1 USD mn in Dec 2018. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 352.2 USD mn in Dec 2018. Sri Lanka’s Direct Investment Abroad expanded by 17.0 USD mn in Dec 2018. Its Foreign Portfolio Investment fell by 761.1 USD mn in Dec 2018. The country’s External Debt reached 52,310.5 in Dec 2018. The country’s Nominal GDP was reported at 21.0 USD bn in 
Dec 2018.” 

Chart Courtesy Central Bank. 

 THE VOICE