Harvard training for Sri Lanka’s development drive officials – Niranjan De\va Aditya
Posted on January 26th, 2016
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
I read above statement made by an Ex Eurpean Parliament MP Niranjan Deva Aditya in the Island New paper on 7th January .and recent news about plans by he governmnet to undergo training in Harward to enhance development dribe in Sri Lanka
It amazes me to observe that we Sri Lankan who have an inherent home grown management style and political culture to accept some American educated ,youngsters with half American accent and touch-of- arrogance and hire and fire practice to be kept at the helm of the hierarchy to guide the country into a accelerated development drive .
I myself personally know , being as ex head of state corporation and a blue chip company that ,placing such characters to initiate on a high gear of development phase in the country will not help to achieve the target
Need of the hour is to streamline the management of organizations like BOI.Inland Revenue,Central Environment Authority ( CEA) ,Marine Pollution Agncey ( MEEPA ) Coast Conservation ( CCD) ,CEB Water Board ,Government Surveyor ,Government Value to expedite arrovalof foreign and local investments
We need to eradicate the the involvement of politicians during the implementation program so that appointed officers can execute the jobs entrusted
What we need is honest politicians who have inherent love to the country to be armed with some local talented young managers with a vision to serve the nation.
They should be paid well and remunerated with a target orientated bonus for fulfilling their duties
I reiterate the fact that Harward Training will hardly do any good to accelerate the development drive
How can 5-10 people being trained in Harward be the liove wire of the development drive of the whole country ??
I am confident that country does not need Harvard or Sorbone educated people to be imported to run the country
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January 26th, 2016 at 4:26 pm
Finding a Politician who have inherent love for the country, is like finding the proverbial needle in a hay stack. Just not possible in Sri Lanka right now.
January 27th, 2016 at 7:48 am
Harvard or any other training should be a long term plan. Like in Singapore the state should select the talented young men and send them for training to some developed countries. They should be able to gain knowledge not only on the subject they learn but also the whole structure of governance in those countries. The state should also ensure that those blokes return after the training. I am sure they will return when they see the country progressing. We have a golden opportunity if there are no distractions from defeated politcos.
Back home, all state officials should be able to see their rulers do their job in a just and fair manner. We like to see our prez keep to his word on ‘yahapalanaya’ rather than trying to save a rotten party; the mandate given by the people is not that. He should not try all the time to consolidate his power. He promised that he is going to stay only one term as the president. I am sure there will be enough support from the progressives for him to stay in power for the next five years.
January 27th, 2016 at 1:42 pm
Aloy,
You talk about Singapore again and again.
We built Singapore. We didn’t go Harvard.
January 28th, 2016 at 12:03 pm
Nanda,
LKY built Singapore. Wasn’t he a Harvard product?.
January 28th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Not that I want ours to be another Singapore. But that country has shown how to do things right and to exploit the opportunities to the maximum. My main concern is the second para of my previous post. We had lot of hope on this government. Are they doing things right?. In their budget only the first sentence was right; they had to change every thing else.