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Mark Williams

INTERVIEW

In Sajith Premadasa's  mind, the Boxing Day tsunami picked Sri Lanka up and unceremoniously dumped it in the middle of a crossroads.

'I believe the disaster marks a critical turning point in our country's history,' the MP said at his Colombo home. 'It has afforded us the opportunity of implementing a developmental leap. Conversely, it could also spell disaster. If the huge global outpouring of support is not transformed into practical policies that achieve the nation's interests then ... the trend towards further underdevelopment will continue.'

Mr Premadasa is well qualified to judge. He is one of Sri Lanka's most promising young politicians and is gaining popular support for his work on poverty alleviation in his southern Hambantota constituency.

He is also the son of former president  Ranasinghe Premadasa -  assassinated by a suicide bomber in 1993 - who was perhaps the only post-independence leader to take seriously the welfare of what his son calls 'the silent majority'.

The views of his son will strike a chord not only with those whose lives remain blighted by the greatest natural calamity in their nation's history - but also with the countless millions who feel increasingly alienated from the running of the country.

An elite drawn from a handful of families has dominated Sri Lanka's post-independence history, and their personal agendas have all too often assumed  priority  over the nation's best interests, critics say.

No lesser figure  than President Chandrika  Kumaratunga  said recently that 90 per cent of MPs were in politics to further their business interests.

Her brother, Anura Bandaranaike,  the minister for tourism,  took two weeks to return to Sri Lanka after the disaster struck, preferring to continue a holiday in California.

Sajith Premadasa, who spent 14 years studying in Britain and has a degree from the London School of Economics, is disparaging of the way tsunami relief has, he says, been used as a 'political football'. Yet he admits  the overly centralised nature of the Sri Lankan bureaucracy and a lack of planning would have resulted in a slow response, whatever party was in power.

A month after the disaster, the head of the presidential taskforce supervising the relief effort said that more than 70 per cent of the homeless were still waiting for any sort of aid.

Supplies were caught in a bureaucratic web and there were allegations of corruption. Things improved, but many Sri Lankans say they have international NGOs to thank for that and not their government.

'The [way aid was delivered] was based on prioritising the needs of politicians, not the requirements of the tsunami victims,' Mr Premadasa said. 'For example, there is open competition between the president and the prime minister [Mahinda Rajapakse]  over the monopolisation of resources.'

He admits that the country's two major parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party  of Mrs Kumaratunga, which is currently in power, and his own United National Party  have an 'elitist streak' and are too often 'aloof'. Both have failed to look out for the majority of Sri Lankans.

This neglect could cost them dearly. The rise of the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna,   or People's Liberation Front - which is opposed to concessions being made to the northern Tamils - could continue, Mr Premadasa said, as long as the mainstream parties fail to engage 'the have-nots'.

Working in tow with the prime minister, Mr Premadasa said that the parties have united in his constituency to provide aid to the 60 villages seriously affected.  But such collaboration is an exception, he said. For the most part, he accuses authorities - both central and local - of making ill-informed and insensitive decisions that have stalled the recovery.

The move to impose a blanket ban on reconstruction within 100 metres of the high-tide line, backed by Prime Minister  Rajapakse, is especially contentious, threatening a major impact on key industries, such as tourism and fishing. Tourism Minister Mr Bandaranaike has described it as 'stupid', a comment that brought a tongue lashing from his sister. Mr Bandaranaike and Mr Rajapakse both have their sights on presidential elections due within the next 18 months.

'It's not the distance involved I have a problem with,' said Mr Premadasa, 'but the way the decision was arrived at ... tsunami victims were not even asked. There needs to be a recognition of the different geographies and needs of each community. It's still not too late for the government to say, 'we got it wrong, we are sorry about it, we'll get it right this time'. But knowing the Sri Lankan political culture, I very much doubt it will happen.'



Are politics taking over at victims' expense?