Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) Former Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaaranaayaka, President Sri Lanka Administrative Service (1991-1994) and President Mahanuwara Sinhala Bauddha Jesta Purawwesiyange Sanvidhaanaya.
An open letter to the President, the Prime Minister, Minister of Public Administration, the Minister of local Government and Provincial Councils and all patriotic Members in this Parliament if there is any?
Abolish the white elephant and the national curse, The Provincial Councils” and its root cause, The JR/ Rajiv Accord of 29th July 1987 at least now, if you love your Motherland.
To save Mother Lanka from the following four disasters
*1 First, from running into total bankruptcy due to wasting nearly Rs.331 billion (2020) annually on this white elephant for the past 35 years that has brought zero benefit to the country and the people. (the first disaster)
(it benefits only the parasitic politicians as stated in detail below) on the one hand and on the other depriving the central Government of that colossal sum of revenue that could have been used for meaningful development in the country to alleviate mass poverty in the country)
*2. Second, from overall breakdown of the time-tested District Administration system together with the well set Divisional and village network and resulting in total collapse of governance in the whole country. (the second disaster,).
due to chaotic duplicity, confusion, overlapping and inter-institutional and inter -personal conflicts created by this Indian political intruder in to a deeply rooted traditional District Administration system like un to a fatal virus, that kills it.
*3. Third, the inconvenience, confusion, delay in delivery of services to the people and additional expenses due to centralization of services from the district to the provinces, in contrast to the promised decentralization under the 13th Amendment (third disaster)
*4. Finally, To, save the motherland from disintegration into ethnic enclaves eternally fighting each other for resources like land, water and the disappearance of a 2500-year-old Sinhala Buddhist unitary Kingdom from the surface of this planet (the fourth disaster)
6.9 million people expected Gotabahaya and his Government to abolish this white elephant
The 6.9 million people who voted Gotabahaya in Nov 2019 and the SLPP in May 2020 demand this Parliament to abolish the white elephant and the curse that is Provincial Councils and its root cause, the JR/ Rajiv Accord of 29th July 1987.But it never happened. Therefore, they now demand the present government to abolish this curse to the nation at least now to amend the 35 years of political, economic, social, and administrative confusion and destructions it has already brought about to this country and to stop any such further devastation tomorrow, before this Indian made political time bomb completely destroys this Island nation and its 2500 year old great Sinhala Buddhist civilization, the envy of the whole world and the pivot of the emerging Indo-Pacific World of the 21st century.
I am addressing this note to this Government to lodge a demand on behalf of the whole nation to abolish the Provincial Council system together with the 13th Amendment and the Rajiv/JR Indo Sri Lankan Accord of 29th July 1987, that gave birth to Provincial Councils before they do any further damage to the 2500-year-old unique Sinhala Buddhist legacy in this country with a pinch of Tamil, Muslim and Catholic culture existing in tandem in harmony for millennia past.
The crying need to abolish these two veritable political, economic social and cultural cankers forthwith that gave birth to Provincial Councils and brought about many more inconsistencies and historical travesties in the Island’s long and checkered history (explained in detail below), in order to rescue this unique tiny Island nation from disappearing forever from this planet earth in few years due to ethnic disintegration, disunity and infighting between Bhoomiputra Sinhalese and intruder Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups, resulting from this well designed Indian political Atom bomb called the Provincial Councils, planted to destroy this 2500-year-old Glorious Sinhala Buddhist civilization, an all-time pride and a priceless jeweled crown for human civilization on this planet.
Now, let us identify the following catastrophes that have already resulted from these two Indian political conspiracies.
1.Complete disintegration and division of the Sri Lankan State into 9 different ethnic and religious enclaves set at loggerheads fighting for its ownership and resources like land and water and threatening its unitary status and sovereignty as a nation that had been defended and protected at very high cost by our ancient Kings, numbering 196, (from 543 BC to 1815 AD) and its patriotic people for 2500 years.
2. A complete breakdown and disruption of the native District, Divisional and Village administration system, that had been our legacy from the distant past and efficiently used even by the British up to 1948.
3 Destabilization of governance resulting in complete anarchy due to breaking down in the day-to-day civil administration and development and maintenance of law and order thorough out the country due inter-institutional and inter personal conflicts arising from the multiplicity and duplicity of governmentinstitutions created especially after 1987 and the proliferation of mushroom political institutions manned by uneducated, unprofessional and unsuitable political henchmen not concerned about the welfare of the citizens but concerned only about their own wellbeing and protecting ill-gotten privileges and perks and the interests of their political Masters in Colombo.
4 Colossal wastages of public funds to maintain these parasitic institutions for 35 years from 1987, with no benefit to the country or the people. For example, out of 331 billion tax collection, 316 billion that could have gone in to the revenue of the Central Government has been wasted on PC in 2020 (source CB Public finance). No wonder the country is gone bankrupt.
5 The emergence of a new political culture under the direct control of everything beneath the sun by a new breed of political supermen called Governors at the Provincial level appointed by the President and who are not answerable to the people of the provinces, but have the power to control all political institutions, Government and semi government and all their staff at Provincial, District, Divisional and Village levels. This includes the Government Agents, former Administrative Heads of the Districts, who formerly were directly answerable, accountable and responsible to Colombo for the implementation of all programmes and policies of the government within their respective districts in pre 1987 era who commanded authority over all public institutions in their districts including the Divisional Secretaries Heads of Divisions and Grama Sevakas the bed rock of good governance in the country who were only answerable to the GAA of the Districts before the PCC came in in 1987. The behaviour of most Governors reminds me the famous story of the Bull in the China shop”
Today all the officers in a district have to serve two masters resulting in waste of their time attending useless and frequent meetings organized by the Governors and Provincial staff and provide reports, thereby increasing their volume of work resulting in a big break down and inefficiency in public service in the country, in addition to unprecedented increase in public expenditure and wastage including a complete breakdown in the delivery of services to people.
6.The JR/Rajiv Accord was a complete travesty of accepted history of this country, it has laid the permanent foundation for the division of the country in to 9 quasi-Federal states that threaten the sovereignty, and the security of the country.
Since the first elections for Provincial Councils took place on 28 April 1988 this is how public funds have been spent or rather wasted on their upkeep.
Sri Lanka Provincial Councils: Expenditure
1996 – 2017 | Yearly | LKR millions | Ministry of Finance
Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils: Expenditure data was reported at 286,031.000 LKR m in Dec 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 276,147.000 LKR m for Dec 2016. Sri Lanka’s Provincial Councils: Expenditure data is updated yearly, averaging 103,769.000 LKR m from Dec 1996 to 2017, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 286,031.000 LKR m in 2017. So, with an average of almost 104 m per year, you can visualize how much national wealth has gone down the drain for the past 31 years, which is guessed approximately 3224 m or 3.2 billion rupees. What a colossal wastage and a pathetic and unpardonable misuse of public funds, these councils have wasted under the patronage of self-seeking politicians at the center whose only concern was to collect votes by using these councils and the local politicians who man them as their proxies.
The other important aspect is that much of this money has gone for unproductive items like salaries and remunerations of Politicians and public Servants, buildings, vehicles, meaningless regular and luxury tamashas in five start hotels, foreign joy trips and other activities unrelated to development in the country. Once the Secretary of the Ministry in charge of this subject told me that only 10 % of voted funds are spent on capital work and the balance 90 % is spent for recurrent activities which do not contribute anything for development.
Salaries and allowances to be paid to Governors
According to the Act, No. 37 of 1988.
Salaries and allowances to be paid to Governors. chief Ministers Members of Board of Ministers and to member of Provincial of Councils are given below.
(a) of a Governor of a Province, such Governor shall be entitled to the payment of a monthly salary and allowances equal to the monthly salary and all other allowances currently payable to a Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers;
(b) Chief Minister shall be entitled to the payment of a monthly salary and allowances equal to the monthly salary and all other allowances payable to a Governor of a Province under paragraph (a), less a sum of fifty rupees;(Isn’t this ridiculous)
(c) Member of the Board of Ministers of a Province. such member shall be entitled to the payment of a monthly salary and allowances, equal to the monthly salary and all other allowances currently payable to a Deputy Minister; and
(d)Member Provincial Council, such member shall be entitled to the payment of a monthly salary and allowances equal to fifty per centum of the monthly salary and all other allowances currently payable to a Member of Parliament.
(Salaries and allowances to be expenditure charged on the provincial Funds of a Province.)
This was the situation in 1988. Surely after 35 years things must have changed very much. Probably these payments must have been even doubled in keeping with regular changes that have taken place in respect of politicians at the national level. In addition, the 9 Provincial Councils are also given 9 Chairmen and 9deputies with the same facilities.
Now you will see how public funds have been pilfered and wasted by the politicians at the Provincial level over a period of 35 years. It must also be mentioned that in addition to these privileges’ other benefits such as official Bungalows and servants, vehicles with drivers and unlimited fuel allowances and duty-free vehicle permits are lavishly provided for all these persons.
With all this wastage of public funds, the billion-dollar question the people of this country should ask the government is, what benefit PCC have brought to the Country since 1987. Besides the colossal financial loss to the country, the political, and administrative and institutional mess, chaos and confusion by way of duplicity of mushroom institutions, and increase of an utterly unproductive and lotus-eater set of politicians, and public servants, what benefits they have brought to the country over the past 35 years other than maintaining a set of parasitic Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers and Council Members, additional office staff, and offices, a fleet of vehicles paying rents for buildings and vehicles, wasting lands and new and unproductive buildings etc. As a result, public expenditure has increased exponentially in the ratio of 1 to 15 times with zero benefit to the country. It also has brought about a complete breakdown of the once highly efficient and economically frugal District Administration in this country. Thus, the Provincial Councils have come to stay as a veritable Huniyama for this country’s peril.
Devolution of power and Decentralization of Administration and enhancing Efficiency in delivery of services that never saw the light of the day.
The promised devolution of power and decentralization of administration to facilitate a better service to the people has never taken place. Instead in practice what has happened is more centralization of authority to the 9 Provincial Councils in 9 Provinces. As a result, today a client has to come all the way to the Provincial Council office of the province to get a jo done which earlier he could have got done at the Divisional office or the District Kachcheri. What a colossal wastage of money and time and a right royal mess in administration and governance resulted from this ill-conceived political experiment done at the instigation of the Indian Government imposed at gun point in 1987. Besides enjoying the ill-gotten benefits for no service rendered in return to the country, the only service the provincial politicians do is acting as political pimps by servicing their political masters in Colombo.
In this backdrop. I ask the question as to why we should have Provincial Councils at all
In this backdrop, the most pertinent question I pose to all politicians, both in and outside the Parliament is as to why we should have Provincial Councils at all in this country; to maintain a useless set of lotus eater politicians and tens of thousands of additional so-called public servants, including 9 Cabinet Secretary level Secretaries and nearly 100 Ministry Secretaries. Today this is the biggest question the whole nation asks? Who asked for Provincial Councils? Was it a request made by the people of this country or by some genius political theorists for better governance? It is interesting to note that California 6 times the area of Sri Lanka has only 1 Governor where as we have 9 Governors to cover only 26,323 sq miles
No one at Home asked for it. It was India who proposed it first, to appease the Tamilnadu electorate to consolidate power in Delhi by imposing it on the Sri Lankan President by force, almost at gunpoint, well-timed when there was an old and weak President as the Head of Government. I still remember how India invaded our air space in1987 with their war jets and dropped Parippu? to the north and how arrogantly and undiplomatically their Ambassador Dixit behaved in front of the elderly Statesman JR, the Head of the State and the Government of this country, with his right leg on his left leg and a puffing a tobacco pipe in his hawkeyed mouth, at his Ward place residence as if Dixit was the viceroy of India conveying the message of the Indian ‘King,’ threatening a Head of a Vassal State of India of an imminent Indian invasion of the Island, if he refuses to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 29th July 1987
The Accord was strategically designed by India to divide and destabilize the country by giving more power to Tamils and destroy the Sinhala Buddhist civilization on this Island.
First, the Accord was strategically designed by India, to give equal and even more power over the native Sinhalese who constitute 75 % of the total population of the Country and who were the Bhoomiputras of this Island nation who found it and built up the civilization over a period of 2500 years.
Second, to divide and destabilize this country on an ethnic basis giving Tamils full power to own and rule nearly half of the country including the North and East Central Sri Lanka (inclusive of Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces), although India did not clearly specify these three Provinces. which together form more than 3/5 of the area of the Island leaving the balance 2/5 in the South West for the native Sinhalese together with Tamil, Muslim and other minority communities who will outnumber the Sinhalese in no time.
This was nothing but an extension of the same divide and rule policy started by the colonial British in 1832 by the creation of the provinces more or less on an ethnic basis. This Indian conspiracy becomes crystal clear when we analyze the following impositions India made in this country by the Rajiv/JR Accord of 29th July 1987.
1 The declaration of the Northern and Eastern Provinces comprising 1/ 3 the land area and 2/3 of the coastal lines together with the maritime territory of this Island with its resources as the Traditional Homeland” making Tamils who are less than 5% of the Islands population, the sole owners of the land and other resources of that part of the Island. This was gross discrimination against not only the Sinhalese who are the Bhoomiputras of this island at least from 543 B.C. but even other communities like Muslims. It was also a complete travesty of the Island’s authentic history. These two Provinces have never been a traditional Tamil land at any time of known history. On the contrary, this whole Island had been the traditional Homeland of the Sinhala people at least from 543 BC and it is a historical fact accepted by all historians the world over, other than the Tamils and Indian politicians. It was also a blatant betrayal of all Sinhala Kings, that will make them rise from their graves who have fought against all South Indian invaders to defend their motherland from 543 B.C. up to 1815.A.D.
First, this Accord enabled the Tamils to claim 1/3 of the land area of the country for a mere 5 lakhs Tamils and thereby depriving any Sinhalese or Muslims being settled there while Tamils can settle down in any part of the Island
Second, giving Tamils 2/3 the coastal belt as given in the EELAM map and nearly 3/5 of the marine territory and its resources including the Trincomalee harbor, the best natural harbor in Asia and the second-best in the world together with the British made Oil Farm with 100 oil tanks with an astonishing total capacity of over 1.2 million tones.
Thus, this Accord deprived the Bhoomiputras, the Sinhalese their birthright over their Motherland, which their ancestors have protected against all foreign invasions, both Indian and European for 2500 years and enjoyed for millennia as their beloved motherland from the dawn of history. This Accord was designed by India in order to fix the last nail on the Sinhala nation, with a vicious plan to annex the Island to India in the future.
Third, made Tamil also an Official language of this country, nullifying Sec 18 of the Constitution of the Republic whereas even in India Tamil is not recognized as an Official language in spite of the fact that there are over 70 million Tamils in Tamilnadu alone.
Fourth, forced Sri Lanka to give Citizenship to all estate Tamils of Indian origin in the Central, Sabargamauwa and Uva Provinces and even Indians living in all other parts of the country even if they are illicit immigrants, disregarding all internationally accepted norms and our own laws on the subject of granting citizenship to foreigners in any country with a future plan to annex the Central, Sabaragamuva and the Uva Provinces to be merged with the merged N & Eastern Province under the Accord.
Fifth, imposed that the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be merged to form one Tamil Province with provision to merge with two or more other Provinces as one in the future.
Sixth, these two provinces to have their own laws with regard to Land, Police and Legal Administration and the power to have direct dealings with foreign countries bypassing the Government in Colombo and thereby to enable them to have de facto and de jure EELAM as dreamt by Prabhakaran.
Thus, in sum, the Accord completely destroyed the Independence, sovereignty, the Unitary status and the freedom of this Island Nation and the 1987 Constitution as well, within few minutes, by one man, called Junias Richard Jayawardana, apparently who had an Indian origin, the then President of the country, against the wishes and the will of the people marked by Island wide protests organized by the Opposition and the objections by some of his own Ministers, reducing this country to a veritable vassal State of the Subcontinent of India and declared those two provinces as the historical and traditional Tamil Home land, making it a blatant travesty of accepted history of the island, without any resistance. This was a meek submission on the part of JR he committed for survival. This is no surprise for a man who once declared in the State Council days, that Sri Lanka has to be a state of India if we are going to be developed.
Therefore, We, the Sinhala Buddhist Bhumiputras of this Island nation demand this Parliament to abolish this Accord immediately.
JR was forced to accept the Accord almost at gunpoint and India laid down these conditions reducing the 1987 Constitution to mere paper scrap. Adding to this JR created PCC to all other Provinces as well accelerating the process of division and disintegration and leading to future political and administrative confusion, that we see today in this country. This Accord was signed under Island wide emergency and after confining all his MPP to a five-star Hotel having obtained their undated letters of resignation. Thus, it was illegal, unconstitutional, immoral and unethical from ab initio.
The implementation of this Accord, to its logical conclusion will definitely wipe out the Sinhala Buddhist nation from the surface of this planet in the long run. Therefore, the crying need, to abolish it immediately, with no delay what so ever. ere the curtain is drawn on the 2500-year-old (from 543 BC. to date) Sinhala Buddhist civilization on this Island for good.
It is in this dangerous and disastrous backdrop that I urge all patriotic people to rise against this Accord and the disastrous Provincial Councils and force the President PM, the government and all political parties to abrogate it immediately as it constitutes the foundation for the division of this small country into 9 small and antagonistic pieces and finally fall into the hands of India. (As you all know a scrambled egg can never be un-scrambled). I also suggest that people should send all political parties who stand for PCC to the political wilderness.
This is exactly what the people of this country have been agitating and demanding every government, for the past 35 years. But tragically it has not fallen on the deaf ears of our selfish and timid and power-hungry politicians who have no concern for the country or the future of the people. The SLFP under Sirimavo, then Leader of the Opposition, protested against it right from the beginning although later her unworthy successors also embraced it without realizing the inherent dangers that underlies these clauses of the Accord. If I can remember well, I think the present Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardhana and Mahinda Rajapaksa MP and ex-President were also there in that historic 1987 Peta protest against the Accord where several patriotic people laid down their lives in the name of the country. So at least these two take the leadership in this struggle against the JR/Rajiv Accord and the Provincial Councils
Let us abolish this PCC monster that is gobbling the whole country and the Sinhala Buddhist nation immediately together with the 13th Amendment
As such why talk of PCC elections now, instead of abolishing this national curse and disaster immediately? This is a crucial political decision long overdue that has to be taken by a patriotic Sinhala Buddhist statesman, who loves this country and its people, in order to save this country from total political, economic, social and cultural disaster that has already dawned. In fact, this is a priority one decision that has to be taken as early as possible by this Government. Once the Accord is abolished, the 13th A and the PCC set up under that will also get abolished automatically. The whole country wants it to go. But none of the politicians support it, first, they fear India and second, none of them love the motherland, its people and their legendary civilization,
We all expected Mahinda Rajapaksa to do this immediately after 2009 historic victory over the LTTE when he had all the powers including a 2/3 in Parliament. Had he done that then no one could have dared to contest it? But unfortunately, he did not do it. Instead, he promised the press that as soon as the 2020 General election is over, they will have the PC elections. I do not know whether he said so to garner the 2/3 and abolish it thereafter. If that was his plan the whole nation will admire him more that his victory over the LTTE. But as usual of all our politicians he too committed the same mistake, after the 2010 Election.
Another reason why I argue for the abolition of PCC is the need to avoid a total disaster in District Administration that will make any retrieval of governance in this country in future impossible, which has already paralyzed it over the past 35 years. Furthermore, that will put an end to all divisive political manipulations such as federal status, self-determination, self-rule of Muslims and EELAM dreams of the Tamils. It will also save billions of rupees now being wasted for the upkeep of these monkey cages and piggeries called Provincial Councils infested with monkeys and goats, a political appendage and a dead weight around the nation’s neck that has burdened the country for the past 35 years and destabilized the total administration almost beyond recovery.
Finally, it will also relieve us from any future subversive Indian or Arabian invasions and conspiracies hatched to divide this country on the ethnic basis with a dream of Indianization of this country or converting it to an Arab land called Kalisthan, as Hisbulla has already done it in the Eastern Katthankudi area, with the support of the then governments infested with unpatriotic vote hunting Sinhala leaders.
Once the PCC are gone all superficial Office holders such as the so-called 9 Governors, 9 ‘Cheap’ Ministers, 45 Provincial Ministers, Presidents of PCC and all such parasitic politicians, who bleed the nation to its bones for 35 years will also go home, relieving the sad burden they have overloaded on this country. Thereafter every one of them will at least plant a manioc stem that will do some service at least to a wild boar.
The professional public servants presently attached to these Councils will have no problem as they could be accommodated in suitable places in the public service until they retire.
I call upon all Patriotic people to make this demand in one voice from the new President and the Prime Minister to abolish these monkey cages and the dens of thieves that have exponentially increased waste and corruption and completely ruined the decent political culture of this country for the past 35 years and multiplied separatist tendencies and communal agitations dragging the nation to complete disintegration in future on ethnic lines with no chance of redemption in future
I know it very well that no political party, even the UNP that invented it under J.R. or even those who were against them in 1987 ask for their abolition, as they use these Councils members to net votes at all elections for their political survival. and they also use them to provide employment for those who support them at elections. As we all know politicians are only concerned about their power, luxuries of office and perks. None of the present-day politicians has any love for the country or the Sinhala nation. They love only power and money. As, such they will not abolish PCC voluntarily. That is why I call upon all the patriotic Sinhala people to rise up in unison demanding them to abolish them immediately, if they want to remain in politics in this country any more in future. If they don’t do it, then it is high time for the masses to find out a Sinhala Buddhist leader or a group of such patriotic men and women who are prepared to do it and install them in power.
For the general public, these Councils are a veritable eyesore when they see the way how public funds are been wasted criminally on the upkeep of these useless lotus-eater Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers, Members, a plethora of officials and the institutions that that serve their selfish and ulterior ends. None of these politicians in the PCC are concerned about the country or the people. Also none of them do any worthwhile service to the people, other than enjoying the luxuries of office, attending openings, weddings, funerals school functions like sport meets, temple functions, and various other private things, roaming all over the world on pleasure trips and running all over the country at public expense to show their loyalty to their political masters, misusing public funds, and collecting votes and funds for their political leaders in Colombo and herding people for their meetings like Mayday rallies and propaganda meetings of their masters in Parliament. They all together, ruin the whole country, as it has become obvious now, and throwing their weight on the innocent and helpless masses, on the other hand, I ask these parasitic creatures as to what service they have done to the people of the country that pay their salaries and ill-gotten fabulous perks, other than ruining the country making it another Ethiopia or even worse than that too
Why can’t the SLPP, as a group who constitutes the majority who opposed the 13th A in 1987 at least now agitate for the abolition of this tragic national curse? The people hate this system and curse them too. Now that the SLPP already has the Pradesiya Sabhas, the live wires of Local Government in its hand to organize the election campaign for them at the village and the local levels there is no need for a Provincial apparatus in between for elections either, other than trying to have their appointees as Governors. Meanwhile President Wickramasinha will have his own men to be appointed as Governors very soon.
Now that the country has functioned smoothly without these parasitic and wasteful institutions, almost nearly for the past 4-5 years and has proved beyond all doubts their uselessness there is no justification for their retaining.
A reorganized strong District Administration headed by professional administrators of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service supported by other technical staff as it was donein1960s and early 1970s will ensure better governance as it had been the best system of administration in the districts, in the past. Even the British adopted certain aspects of this system to run the country very effectively and efficiently for 133 years. You need to have only 25 efficient GAA for the 25 districts under this system. It will do away with about 12,000 excess PC employees and nearly 8oo politicians at that level including 9 Governors, 9 Chief Ministers 455 Provincial Council Members, 9 PC Chairmen and a pretty large number of Provincial Council employees may be totaling to about 20,000 of whom none is engaged in any productive service to the nation.
The District Administration will deliver the good as they did especially during 1960s and1970’s
The District Administration will deliver the good as they did especially during 1960s and 1970’s when the food Production drive was inaugurated and the country was made self-sufficient in rice and many other food items. They only had a small number of DROO and Graama Sevakas to implement the programmes in their districts. Of cause the technical and marketing aspects were handled by an efficient team of officers from the Agriculture, Agrarian Services and Cooperative Departments in the districts under their district Heads coordinated by an able set of GAA. All that success were achieved without Provincial Governors Cheap Ministers and Provincial Councilors and provincial staff as we have today who only mess up, delay the work and contribute to enormous wastage of Billions of Public funds.
Therefore, with my firsthand experience in district administration in1960s and 1970s I strongly recommend the immediate abolition of the wasteful, overlapping, cancerous and useless provincial Councils paving the way for the division of this small island in to a number of antagonistic ethnic enclaves, that will destroy the unitary state and the unity of the Sri Lankan nation. That will strengthen the district Administration. I can guarantee its effectiveness, economy and efficiency of delivery of services to people, both cost wise and time wise.
The only parties who get the benefit of the Provincial Council system are the politicians at the top and the provinces, their families and supporters who does not contribute a red cent to the country’s development. Very often defeated candidates at parliamentary elections, favorites of party leaders and their families and close friends or politically disabled men and women without any experience in public service are appointed as Governors who function as the direct representatives of the President with fabulous privileges and luxurious perks paid for no service at all to the country or the people when the districts could be administered much better by the 25 GAA without these expensive and wasteful political appendages.
The Provincial Councils have already died and become redundant
The Provincial Councils have already died and become redundant and dysfunctional now nearly for 5 years. The general public, at least 90% don’t want this wasteful and useless political Bermuda Trough to continue as they know that it will finally drag this Island nation to the bottom of the Indiana Ocean. As such if this government can get them abolished, it will definitely bring handsome political dividends. The vote base of the party or parties who support the abolition of PCC and the JR/Rajiv Accord will rise up exponentially at all future elections. Therefore, the government will not lose anything by getting them abolished. Instead, people will definitely rally round it, as a mark of appreciation and gratitude for relieving them of this 35-year curse and disaster. In this backdrop, if the present government does this, I can assure that the grateful masses who have suffered for the past 35 years under this curse will rally round it in a manner nobody would have ever imagined. Besides increasing its vote base, it will also be doing a yeoman service by this country and the nation, for liberating this country out of this wishful Indian trap that has already done enormous political and economic damage to this country
I can assure you that the abolition of the Provincial Council curse and its umbilical code, the Rajiv/JR Accord will not be second to liberating the country from the LTTE in 2009 and it could be even a bigger achievement of higher historical significance. It will definitely go down in history as another historic landmark in political reforms in this country.
India also cannot contest the abolition of the JR/Rajiv Accord as it had already been unilaterally broken by India at the very early stages, by not complying with its obligations in the Accord. As such it has ceased to have any legal validity as an international agreement signed between two countries
1833 The British divided the island into 5 Provinces in 1833 viz N, S.E, W and P. Subsequent additions include 6.1845 NWP Kurunegala and Puttalam, 7. 1873 NC, 8. UVa 1886 and 9. Sabaragamuwa 1897 the last. India did with one stroke of the pen on 29th July 1987 what the British could not do for 133 years.
