FUNDS – Will it land on Economic Bermuda Triangle again?……..Hope not.
Posted on July 30th, 2009
Piyal Samarakone
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Waste ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Corruption ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Malpractice
Repetition of above will prove once more amount is only mere figures when they land on hands of political swindlers.
Over the years Sri Lanka as being developed or under developed country fell on mercy lap of developed rich world and enjoyed periodic loans & aids enough and more. We became badly behaved economic patient in South East Asia leaving most of the other similar states far behind in terms of the biggest fund receiver.
Unarguably decade of conflict may be the culprit of economic stagnation but the triangle of waste, corruption and malpractice credited to the same account without greed.
We, fortunate enough to get the biggest ever loan in the history at the eleventh hour, not only showing our desperate face in front the world but playing diplomatic roulette by showing the China Card in a very smart fashion. However significant feature this time or the clear signal to Sri Lanka by stake holders showing their utter reluctance to press the green button means ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-certainly not againƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ at least for the foreseeable future.
Staggering 2.6b US dollars is no piece of cake and prior to this loan people of Sri Lanka already owe Rs. 1,300,000mn to outside world according to the figures in mid 2008 and the domestic loans too hit sky high currently stands well over Rs. 2,000,000mn. The startling news is all these figures hovering on mere 20mn people of Sri Lanka and economy is nothing more than a bubble when debts become unbearable.
No war, no famine, no natural disasters with grace of god, its zero tolerance for the big guns at this time not to let them land on Economic Bermuda Triangle once again. Knowing generations in eternal debt by accepting something even more than expected, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-handle with utmost careƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ should be the spoken motto.
Maintaining a mammoth sized cabinet with more than half a dozen nation builders around, a mechanism which based on accountability and transparency a must. People of Sri Lanka not please to see the nation builders vying to cut the ribbon en mass just to open a bridge. Feeding the bureaucratic white elephants and already proved futile projects or ventures must not be pampered at the expense of future generationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rights, rights to live as decent citizens.
Through out the history politicians more keen on getting aids or loans than trying to find home grown solutions, as they come easy and easy to manipulate.
Economic first aid can be handy if we take the advantage in a positive and meaningful manner without seeing it as a must from well wishers.
The common secret is majority of these funds which vanished without a trace to unknown destinations over the years and later surface in different forms of individual assets. The worst scenario is those swindlersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ constant access to the funds once more is something unacceptable and unimaginable. Unsurprisingly, for the common man who deserves a better life cannot be convinced and find hard to conceive a change of ethics.
We as a nation struggling to come out of the economical stagnation and the great opportunity knocking our door today is more than precious and considering the fact that developed-labeled countries going through their worst economic down turn in worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s history therefore expecting any monetary push in future would be unwise.
The aid which entangled with conditions and implementation of them always brought negative results in general neither they pleased people nor they boost the economy in the long run. Getting out of the aids-umbrella and looking after our own business with a good economic strategy which benefit local products & service the best alternative to become a decent state without falling too deep in the debt trap, otherwise we will end up in a state where handful of swindlers who hold sway at the expense of future generations.
July 30th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
First of all, getting the biggest loan in the history of Sri Lanka is not something to boast about. This is not a handout or a donation. If we untimately get all these 2.6 billion dollars as agreed, our country will be in debt like never before in the history. Now, If the government does not implement the “conditions”(fact is that IMF would not give money without any conditions) they hide from the people, Sri Lanka may not receive all the installments anyway.
Now let me play the devils advocate about using this money wisely. Sri Lanka has recieved many loans during past decades. Only a fraction of it has gone to real development. Most money was used on wasteful projects or ended up in pockets of politicians and other officials who were corrupted. Under this government, that has not changed so far. In fact it has become worse. There are a lot of corruption in every level from the top. There are a lot of misuse of funds. So what happened us to believe that suddently these political swindlers become well behaved honest people. Only thing we achieved was militarily defeating a 25 year old terrorist problem for which our politicians are responsible too. Still, even after that nothing much have seems to change in respect to corruptions and mismanagement.
So given the history and the current conditions, it is most likely, this “biggest loan” will be mostly wasted too. That would leave the future generations in deep debt still in a under developed country. By that time, the current political swindlers would be long gone and their families may live in luxery somewhere. It will be the future generations who will have to bear an unimaginable burden.
My opinion may sound pessimestic, but given our track record so far, it is the only logical and realistic assessment I could arrive at. I truely hope some miracle would happen so these political swindlers will have a suddent change of heart or they will share the same fate of LTTE. Stealing peoples money is a sort of economic terrorism too.