Better education, a pre-requisite for Nuwara Eliya district:

UPFA will be victorious in hill country

S.B. Ratnayake, the brother of Minister C.B. Ratnayake entered the Provincial Council politics in 1999 from the People's Alliance and continuously represented Nuwara Eliya district in the Central Provincial Council. He feels that the Provincial Council is a very good system to serve the people in the Nuwara Eliya district as many of their problems cannot be reached by the national level programs alone. He has a strong commitment to uplift the education level in the Nuwara Eliya district as he feel that is the best way of improving the living standard of the Nuwara Eliya district. During a visit to the Central Province the Sunday Observer had the following interview with him at his office in Nuwara Eliya.

Q: As a person who engaged in Provincial Council politics since 1999 what kind of change could the provincial Council do in the district during the past few years in the Nuwara Eliya district?

A: Nuwara Eliya district is a very special district where all three communities Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims living harmoniously. I was elected to the Provincial Council in 1999 as second Member of the district obtaining 19,000 votes. In 2004 I became first in the UPFA list with 28,000 votes and again in 2009 I was elected second with 37,000 votes. If we take the population in the district there is 743,000 population in the district and out of that 298,000 are Sinhala, 422,000 Tamil people and 23,000 Muslim people. There are so many problem faced by these people.

The most remote parts of the country are located in the Nuwara Eliya district. Walapane is a very remote area and Ambagamuwa Kkorale in the Maskeliya electorate is also very remote part. Hanguranketha, Kothmale are also very difficult areas.

There was huge problem regarding the infrastructure facilities of these people and we could do big changes in all sectors in the district during the past few years through the Provincial Council system.

The infrastructure facilities that were in very primitive stage by 1994 was improved systematically throughout the past two decades. They were using very primitive type of transport and there were no roads in those areas. Starting from 1994 we have come a long way in developing the district.

Q: Improvement of the health sector is considered a huge challenge in the district. How could the provincial council contribute towards the development of the health sector in the district?

A: We had a very big problem relating to the health sector facilities in the Nuwara Eliya district as the main hospital in Nuwara Eliya also came under the Provincial Council and it had no ability for the Provincial Council to provide those basic health facilities for the people. There was huge health crisis in the health sector in the estate sector in the Nuwara Eliya district. Only dispensaries were available for them to take medicine and the medical officers were not fully qualified doctors. The maternal deaths were on the increase and malnutrition was also increased among the children.

Through the Provincial Council we were able to address those issues effectively during past the few years by having enough facilities and health officials to cater to the health requirements of the people. I am not saying that we are hundred percent perfect, but we have done our best to cater to the health requirement of the people without fail.

Q: How do you explain the development of the education sector in the Nuwara Eliya district? What kind of programs have the Provincial Council launched to improve the education in the Nuwara Eliya district?

A: There was a huge vacuum in the education sector in the district. The Tamil education in the district was in a very low standard and we were able to address these issues after having many discussions within the Provincial Council system.

To address this issue we took the stance that we should bring teachers from South India to be deployed in these schools. When C.B. Ratnayaka was appointed as the Estate Infrastructure Development Minister and the Livestock Development Minister he was able to do improve the education in the estate sector schools. We recruited 3,000 teachers from the estate sector itself and that was the start of improving the education in the estate sector.

Through that process we have been able to increase the number of students passing the examinations such as O/L and A/L examinations and lot of students are entering universities after obtaining their education from the estate sector schools.

We had problems regarding the Sinhala medium schools also since we have very few national schools in the Nuwara Eliya district.

All the other schools comes under the Provincial Council. With the involvement of former Chief Minister we were able to improve the education sector by introducing Nenoda schools program.

We also focused our attention on the improvement of the primary education also and now the students are getting benefit of these programs launched by the Provincial Council system. The overall performance of the Nuwara Eliya district was recorded at 14 percent in 2005 and it has now been increased upto 44 percent.

We cannot change the education sector hastily. The promotion of education has to be done systematically with a very good vision.

Q: The Provincial Council may have done a very good service to improve the basic requirement of the people in the district. But there is a perception that the Provincial Council system is not delivering good service for the people. What is your opinion on this issue?

A:I firmly believe that the Provincial Council system is a very good place to serve the people and to improve the basic infrastructure facilities.

But some people who are enjoying all the perks from the Provincial Council system are saying that it is not an effective body to serve the needs of the people.

They are showing their hypocrisy because while saying so they are contesting the election also. If the central government is involved in all these projects that will be a big issue for the people.

The Provincial Councils and the Local Government bodies are also working parallel to the central government programs. All the community based programs are being implemented by the Local Government bodies.

The provincial councils also join hands with those programs. The role of the Provincial Council is not clearly visible. But it is doing a big role in the province. If we take the government servants in the province, more than 90 percent of them are from the Provincial Council system.

Q: The Nuwara Eliya district is contributing immensely to provide basis requirement of the country such as fresh milk and vegetables. Is there any program in your mind to improve those industries effectively within the district?

A: When Minister C.B Ratnayake was given the Livestock Development Ministry he took measures to popularise fresh milk among people. He could provide fresh milk for the people at railway stations and bus stands and other public places.

He expanded that program countrywide. We also had some proposals to improve the government farms in the district. We can improve the fresh milk production in the district. We have to bring latest technology for the industry and transfer those technology for the individuals who are interested in dairy industry.

Q: There are lot of conflicts among the UPFA candidates in the district as there are so many political parties within the UPFA representing different communities. How you all manage these situation?

AThere were some clashes among Tamil political party representatives. But there is no problem among the Sinhala candidates. Since there is a lot of political interests within the UPFA it is natural to have conflicts within the Alliance. But we can manage this situation within the party as we have only one goal, that is to make the UPFA victorious at the forthcoming election.

Q: There is a big request to have Chief Ministerial post to the Nuwara Eliya district this time. How do you justify this request?

A: In the Nuwara Eliya district there are nine MPs and out of them seven are Tamil and two are Sinhalese. One is Minister Naveen Dissanayake and the other is my brother Minister C.B. Ratnayake the district leader and the Deputy Secretary of the SLFP. Out of the nine MPs seven are representing Nuwara Eliya Maskeliya seat.

Minister C.B. Ratnayake as a Minister representing the entire district has to do all the things for the district. There are a lot of problems faced by the people in the district.

The land issue stands out in the district and those issues should go to the President.

In the Nuwara Eliya district we have only Minister C.B. Ratnayake to take those problems to the higher level. But that problem is not there for the people in Kandy district as they have lot of Ministers Deputy Ministers and other MPs to take that message to the higher level.

Therefore the people in the Nuwara Eliya district is severely affected by this situation.

The Chief Minister of the provincial council was also appointed from the Kandy district and the Kandy and Matale district were given this post by both parties in earlier occasions.

To change this situation we request the President to give the Chief Ministerial post to the Nuwara Eliya district. We are ready accept the decision of the President. To get that post to the district the people have to accept us. I am sure that people in the district will do their best to get that post to the district.

Q: What kind of result are you expecting for the UPFA in the Nuwara Eliya district?

A: The last time we won 10 seats in the district out of 16 seats in the district. There is a large number of people joining with us. We are confident that we will be able to secure more than eleven seats this time.

Ranil