In search of a leader who loves discipline

3 April 2019

Sri Lanka is guilty on many counts like committing war crimes, aiding the narcotics industry and squandering state funds and as of now not being committed to solving its power crisis. This could be why Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the other day said that Sri Lankans should be provided with military training. The Premier took Singapore as an example for a country which used this method and said that this could be the last chance Sri Lanka gets to develop.

The Premier’s call to discipline ourselves has been long overdue. We have a sea surrounding us and plenty of rivers and lakes, but we are known as a country which prefers to import a good amount of the fish we consume and in some instances the water we drink. Benefiting from commissions and deals has made our decision makers love the green notes they get more than see a country become self-sufficient.

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• For the record as many as 10 mega generators are being allowed to rot
• Recently we heard of a brawl at a lawyers’ get-together where one invitee had broken a bottle and attempted to stab others
• The Government expects to discipline the people, but doesn’t wish to tighten their belts

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Just days ago we heard of the country’s cricket captain Dimuth Karunaratne being nabbed by the police for driving under the influence of liquor and being involved in a road accident. There was also a statement made by minister Ranjan Ramanayake that there are several lawmakers who attend parliament sessions after being intoxicated with narcotics. What a joke this bunch of clowns have turned this country into.

When on drives from Borella towards Lady Ridgeway Hospital there is a huge billboard which sports a saying by JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. It reads ‘Politics is a license to steal”. The Marxist lawmaker sums up the political set-up here quite beautifully using such few words which make us ponder about the future of our next generation.

Now it seems that the country would not benefit from this method because the authorities don’t support the users of solar power

Minting Money

Right now the country endures a three hour power cut in the morning and plunges into darkness for another hour during the night. This is not solely due to the breakdown at the Norochcholai Power Station as the government points out. Insiders reveal that the power cuts are the result of a mafia and also due to political revenge.

We have now come to know that the authorities are minting money through deals where electricity is bought from the private sector at a high price. To aid these dubious deals the authorities have discouraged the use of generators and solar power plants. For the record as many as 10 mega generators are being allowed to rot while 50 substandard generators were bought later on, but to no avail. The engineer who opposed the buying of these substandard generators was ‘shown the door’ by the authorities.


Critics point out that the governments both in the past and the present have not come up with a comprehensive plan to sort out the power crisis between the period 2014-2019.

The solar power units were becoming popular, but it hit the purses of those who were engaged in the buying of electricity from the private sector. Those who introduced the solar power plants were expected to add 1480 Mega Watts to the system. Now it seems that the country would not benefit from this method because the authorities don’t support the users of solar power.

Most houses in Madiwela enjoyed an uninterrupted service of water and electricity; thanks to the presence of ministerial quarters in the area

Apart from the extended power cuts the country’s citizens also had to endure water cuts. Some houses in Kotte area survived without water for 48 hours or more, when just a few blocks away, most houses in Madiwela enjoyed an uninterrupted service of water and electricity; thanks to the presence of ministerial quarters in the area. What the people in the country can’t stomach is when lawmakers enjoy perks in abundance when the folks who cast their votes and brought them into power suffer untold hardships.

The Government expects to discipline the people, but doesn’t wish to tighten their belts with regard to the use of water and electricity. Insiders point out that 49% of the water diverted for use in Colombo drips to the ground as a result of leaks. The authorities must have an eye on such leaks with the same interest they have in being vigilant of the dropping water levels in reservoirs.

More than the rains, the citizens of this country await the arrival of several drug lords in Sri Lanka after they were nabbed in Dubai.

Already the Sri Lankan authorities have taken onto custody one Kanjipani Imran who was deported from Dubai. The drug lord had made arrangements, according to newspapers, to board a flight to Maldives the moment he landed in Sri Lanka. Such stories leave us wondering whether these drug lords and traffickers are surviving with the help of politicians.

Sri Lanka is a nation which much learn fast the way to discipline its citizens who have scant respect for the law and valued principles. Recently we heard of a brawl at a lawyers’ get-together where one invitee had broken a bottle and attempted to stab others. Separate complaints have been lodged with the police regarding this incident. What can we expect of ordinary citizens when educated lawyers behave in such a questionable manner?

Just days ago we heard of the country’s cricket captain Dimuth Karunaratne being nabbed by the police for driving under the influence of liquor

When power fails during the late evening and we can do nothing about it, those with their thinking caps on do think of bringing to power a politician who can put the country on the path to prosperity. For this we have in mind a ‘mediator’ who has a clean track record as a politician and promotes democracy, a fearless personality whose pastime is beautifying Colombo city and the man from Hambantota who loves building homes for the less affluent, but not his personality as the future leader of the country. But whoever assumes power must make disciplining this nation a top priority.