Don’t exploit a disaster

The ugly side of relief distribution is now becoming more evident with various political actors trying to show their faces in these programmes. One individual succumbed to injuries as a result of a fight with a local councilor. Complaints by Grama Niladhari groups highlight political interferences that are disrupting the distribution of these services. One cannot understand why political actors are trying to tarnish the government’s image  which has already come under scrutiny for not taking actions to mitigate the disaster. One opposition MP claimed that this govt. hasn’t received at least 1% of foreign aid when compared to the post-tsunami situation where the then govt. received over 80% foreign aid for rebuilding efforts. People don’t have selective amnesia to forget how certain politicians flourished following the tsunami. When a public fund is being opened,  it certainly paves the way for corruption. So it is up to the govt. to ensure the transparency of these transactions. The govt. has in fact done a good job fixing certain roads and making them commutable. But the disaster also exposed years of neglect that eventually resulted in accessibility issues. A greater part of the railway network should be reconstructed. Therefore, rather than exploiting the disaster, government officials mainly at grassroots level have many responsibilities on their shoulders and they have no time to waste. 

Supun Ranaweera
Dehiwela