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| Sunday, 26 January 2003 |
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Editorial |  |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 Living Peace may have tentatively dawned on our island but living conditions in the North and living costs in the South of the country confront the Government and the people with that other source of discomfort - the economy. With both the Government and the LTTE working hard to end the ethnic war permanently and already showing some success, that other struggle to better social and economic conditions and develop the economy is necessarily coming to the fore. While the war has been partially responsible for the economic doldrums, the socio-economic inequities are less to do with the politico-military upheavals and more to do with the nature and dynamics of the Sri Lankan economy itself. After a quarter of a century of neo-liberal economic policy, Sri Lankan society needs some respite from textbook-style economic management. Given the serious socio-economic disparities that have arisen in the past two decades and, the degree of deprivation suffered by large numbers of Sri Lankans, it is time that economic management moves away from a singularly business-friendly outlook and towards a multi-pronged approach that fulfils both economic as well as social needs. It is important that measures for rapid economic growth continue. But growth-stimulation strategies must be tempered with carefully targetted measures to ameliorate economic and social stresses on large sections of the population whose living conditions are adversely affected by volatile prices as well as other economic pressures such as higher productivity requirements, limits on income and employment uncertainty. It is simply not enough to open the floodgates of laissez faire capitalism and hope that some kind of wealth would "trickle down" to the masses. Nor is it enough for successive governments to go through the same neo-liberal experimentation as their predecessors and experience the same negative results. Rather, it is time that the UNF regime learns from the lessons of the past and ensures that it does not ignore the social impact of economic policy and market dynamics. The Government will do so only at its peril. That is why every effort must be made to provide consumers protection from unfair trade practises and rising living costs. Even as the Government moves to cushion citizens from oppressive economic pressures, it must also acclimatise the business community to a necessary regime of sensitivity to social needs and expectations. While it is certainly unrealistic for our people to expect an economic paradise simply because military hostilities have ceased, it will also be unrealistic for our economic managers to attempt to proceed purely in accordance with economic theory at the expense of basic and immediate social needs and interests. Thus, both Government and Business must jointly address issues of poverty as well as social rights and facilities. To put it simply: not only must living costs be held down, but the conditions of livelihood and employment must not be allowed to deteriorate to any level that has been previously shown to be socially unacceptable. Ransom News reports that a businessman of the Colombo region has been kidnapped and a ransom demanded prompts questions about promises made by the Police force last year of a major 'war on crime'. If such an offensive on crime has indeed been launched by our toiling officers in khaki, then the underworld has yet to feel the heat, judging by yet high levels of criminal activity. Kidnappings, armed and violent robbery, house-breaking, contract murders, extortion, child pornography and sex abuse, and numerous other criminal depredations - the list is long and varied - continue with a vigour. Worse, a survey by a prestigious research institute has revealed that corruption in the institutions and processes of law and order is a major contributory factor to the failure of the judicial system and the Police to combat crime. It is time that the country's political leadership at the very highest levels gave attention to this problem. |
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