Opinion

The People’s President

23 Jun 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Today we commemorate the birth anniversary of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, a visionary leader of our time, who, during his entire life worked indefatigably to improve the quality of life of the people of his country, especially of the poor and the disadvantaged.

President Premadasa was a man with a singleness of purpose. He devoted his whole life to serve the people and to realize his vision of a prosperous Sri Lanka. He never faltered from his chosen path in spite of all the obstacles he had to face and all the challenges he had to overcome. One of the greatest qualities that the late President had was his determination - the determination to carry through his mission for the country and her people. He was always in a hurry because he felt that there was so much to be done but only so little time to accomplish them. In his effort to accomplish the tasks envisioned by him, he became the most motivated leader of his time, a leader who set targets and achieved them, a leader who inspired all around him, a leader who was methodical and disciplined, and above all, a leader who kindled hope amongst his people.

The Government which came to power in 1977, on a platform of modernization and economic liberalization, launched an unprecedented human settlement development effort under the initiative of the then Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, which reached all sections of the people even in the remotest areas of the country. This effort earned great credibility especially amongst the rural and urban poor and eventually received high international acclaim for its commitment, equity and innovation. Its hallmarks were courageous leadership - the leadership provided by the then Prime Minister and afterwards President Premadasa, political commitment, innovation, decentralization and competent implementation. This commitment of Sri Lanka to human settlements development, was recognized by the international community and on a proposal mooted by President Premadasa, then Prime Minister, the United Nations declared the year 1987, as the ‘International Year of Shelter for Homeless.”

This unprecedented human settlements development effort launched throughout the country, led to one of the most remarkable achievements by President Premadasa, the ‘Million Houses Programme” (MHP). The MHP was a radical departure from the conventional shelter programmes of the past. It was one of the first programmes in the world to adopt an “enabling strategy”. The ambitious goal of the President in this programme was to reach greater numbers than ever before - a million or more mainly poor families - at a lesser cost to the nation, but with greater satisfaction to the communities. In launching the Million Houses Programme, President Premadasa expressed his confidence in the initiative of the people, rather than continuing with a politically attractive direct construction programme. The abandoning of the conventional direct housing programme, which would have provided enormous opportunities to serve political supporters, was a rarely seen act by a political leader in the world.

When we think of President Premadasa’a achievements, what comes to the fore is his housing development programme. Most people little realize that it was only the core of his effort in rural development, which he termed the “Village Re-awakening Movement”.

He believed that successive Governments had followed urban centered policies and villages in the country had been neglected. The lion’s share of development benefits went to the urban areas. The slogan he adapted, “build the village and then build the nation’, was therefore not a mere propaganda jargon, but his vision for a better future for the poor people. His other development efforts like the “Janasaviya’ and the garment factories programme carried his same vision for the improvement of the quality of life in Sri Lanka.

The annual “Gam Udawa” progamme at that time, was not adequately understood or appreciated, and was often mis-interpreted. It consisted of the implementation of a comprehensive development programme embracing a selected district. The general objectives of the “Gam Udawa” integrated development programme, as President Premadasa envisioned, were to accelerate the improvement of the quality of the life of the people. Urgently needed infrastructure and services were provided in these under-developed areas. The participation of the Government, and mobilizing of available resources within the selected district towards this objective was his principal strategy.

Much has been spoken and written on President Premadasa’s successful people oriented programmes, decentralization of the administration to divisional secretariats, etc., but it is essential that he also be remembered for the legal and institutional framework he created to take Sri Lanka on the road to development. He is the founder of most of the present institutions in the human settlements sector. He realized that there is little point in developing sophisticated policy instruments which cannot be implemented because of the lack of organizational capacities required to do so. He established for this purpose, the National Housing Development Authority, the Urban Development Authority, the Central Environmental Authority, the “Janasaviya’ Trust Fund, the Housing Development Finance Corporation and the Institute for Construction Training and Development amongst others. He was never hesitant to amend laws, introduce new legislation or set up innovative new institutions in his quest to usher in developmental benefits to his people. Today, his contribution to the protection and management of our environment, seems to have been forgotten. When the 1977 Government came to power, serious environmental problems was a relatively new phenomenon in Sri Lanka. While there had been certain expressions of concern for issues relating to the environment, it was only with the massive development effort launched by the new government in 1977 that fresh problems arose and others which existed before, took on an entirely new dimension. President Premadasa, then as the Prime Minister, provided the leadership and pioneered the framing of legislation and establishment of the institutional framework for the protection and management of the environment in this country.

President Premadasa was particularly concerned about religion, culture, arts and sports. He directed the establishment of a large number of sacred cities, notable of which were in Kandy and Kataragama and personally co-ordinated the Cultural Triangle activities. The old Tower Hall at Maradana was renovated and the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation was established by him to foster theatrical arts. A very significant task carried out under his direction was the raising of the fallen and shattered giant Buddha statue at Maligawila. The late President was instrumental in the renovation of the then dilapidated Sugathadasa Stadium, the construction of the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium and an international cricket stadium at Kettarama. President Premadasa was an extraordinary human being whose sole ambition was to lead this country on an unprecedented path towards prosperity and a higher quality of life. He was committed to safeguard the country and the dignity of the people. The lasting tribute that can be paid to this exemplary leader is to contribute selflessly towards realization of his vision for the people of our country.

Opinion

The People’s President

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