බස් අවුල සහ මොළේ අවුල
After twelve people were killed by private buses in two weeks and crowds began stoning buses, Ivan describes a transport system in which passengers, owners and crews are all aggrieved and senior police officers, including former PSD director Nihal Karunaratne, own buses. He proposes extra licences and free training for drivers and conductors, uniforms, state compensation if fares are held down, night-time movement of heavy vehicles in Colombo, standard models and a single livery.
ජීවන බර සැහැල්ලු කිරීමට ඉක්මන් පියවර ගත යුතුයි
Fuel, telephone and electricity prices have risen, with food, bus fares and postal charges following. The editorial says the new UNF government, like its predecessors, blames the previous regime rather than acting, and that while business relief in the first budget is justified, business has been the main driver of price rises. A government must at least cushion the burden, and should not use the peace effort to cover popular discontent.
බලශක්ති අර්බුදය හා පිරීමැස්ම
With five-hour daily power cuts crippling the economy, and the energy minister promising a solution within 180 days, Ivan notes that households use 30 per cent of electricity. He proposes making energy-saving bulbs compulsory, paid for in instalments through electricity bills, which he estimates could save 22 per cent of consumption and two hours of cuts, and suggests generating power from urban garbage.
නරින්ට කුකුළන් බාරදිම
Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge has said the management agreement for SriLankan Airlines should be reviewed. The editorial notes that since management passed to Emirates there are no direct flights to Germany or Italy, key tourist markets, and that Sri Lanka cannot change this despite majority ownership. Handing the airline to a regional competitor was like giving Lake House to a rival newspaper, and those who criticised the deal in opposition must now correct it.
උපාධිධාරින්ගේ රක්ෂෂා ප්රශ්නය
About 30,000 graduates are said to be unemployed, and police reportedly attacked a group protesting at Temple Trees, while the government blames the JVP. Ivan points to a mismatch between university education and the job market, calls for rapid vocational training, notes the World Bank condition limiting the public wage bill, and argues that job growth depends on peace, so graduates should support it while the government hires on merit without political influence.
The dilemma of independence
More than five decades have passed since independence, and the fifty-fourth anniversary has to be marked with sadness rather than pleasure. What the country has done with its freedom, measured against the neighbours who started level with it, is the subject.
නිදහසේ උභතෝකෝටිකය
On the 54th Independence Day, Ivan laments that freedom won without struggle left Sri Lanka without the attitudes or institutions to hold its communities together. Contrasting its record with Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and India, he cites negative growth, 15 per cent inflation, war costs and some 100,000 deaths, and argues that no leader since 1948, Sinhala or Tamil, has won the respect of all communities.
Dirty politics undermine sovereignty of people
The rule of law is essential to the survival of a democratic political system, and when the rule of law is broken the system is damaged with it. What follows is a list of the specific breakages, with figures.
හවුල් ආණ්ඩු දේශපාලනය
The editorial argues that the People’s Alliance government will be remembered for arrogance, inefficiency and corruption. It contrasts the hopes placed in Chandrika Kumaratunga with elections won by thuggery since 1997, development stalled and the Electricity Board’s savings turned into debt, and a one-woman government in which she took the finance portfolio and alienated her own cabinet.
රට බිංදුවට වැටීම
With the services and manufacturing sectors collapsing, economic growth has fallen to zero and may turn negative, bringing soaring prices and job losses. The editorial says the rulers are absorbed in the political crisis, investors are pulling back and state institutions barely function. It argues that an early parliamentary election is the best way to end political instability, which is a precondition for overcoming the economic crisis.