Making Central Province the best, our target - Sarath Ekanayake

by Ranil Wijayapala

Sarath Ekanayake, who was three times the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council has got the opportunity to run it for the fourth time following the recently concluded Provincial Council election. He says that he has not made his post a 'jewel' at any time and can work keeping his head high even if he loses the post tomorrow. In an interview with the Sunday Observer at his office he said that making the Central Province the best province in the country is one of his dreams and he believes that his appointment as Chief Minister will enable him to achieve this target. Following are the excerpts of the interview.

Question: You have been appointed as the Chief Minister of the Central Provincial Council for the fourth time. How do you feel about it?

Answer: Although I was appointed the Chief Minister in 1999 I lacked experience in the Provincial Council system at that time. But when I was appointed the Chief Minister in 2004, I took a decision to launch a better program for the province. So we introduced a theme for the Central province and lined up all the ministries in the Council to work towards a target oriented program. That was how we selected the theme Saubagyamath Medarata Abhimanayen (Prosperous Central Province Proudly Forward). We also introduced a theme song, and a flower for the province. We also set targets to the council to become the 'best' provincial council by 2015. So we were marching towards achieving that target for the past few years and my appointment as the Chief Minister gave me strength to achieve that target.

Q: Can you guide the council to become the best from all provinces?

A: One can argue that the Central Provincial Council is not the best Provincial Council in the country. That decision is based on achieving the highest position among the councils.

But our criteria of calculating the performance is different. For example we say the literacy rate in the province is only 20 percent but we can achieve 100 percent progress in improving literacy to up to 40 percent, that is our achievement.

Our position among other councils may be lower but we would have achieved our targets. For instance through the implementation of the ' Nenoda Education program' we could improve the education level of the province. In 2007, Vilgamuwa education zone was placed last among other educational zones in the country as it was having 23 percent pass rate in examinations.

Through the Nenoda program to improve the education system we increased the pass rate to 46.4 percent by 2011. That is how we are saying that we are becoming the best Provincial Council in the country. But it is not to defeat all other provinces.

Q: Although you were appointed the Chief Minister you could not obtain the highest preferential votes at the election. There may be groups displeased with your appointment. How do you see this situation?

A: If someone talks about the preferential votes system within the Provincial Council system, I am of the opinion that it should be more defined. Provincial Council is not one district.

Therefore, in each district we are having candidates with the highest preferential votes.

There could be a problem of selecting a Chief Minister among them. In this provincial council history Chief Ministers have been appointed not only by considering highest preferential votes.

In 2004 I came third in preferential votes in the Kandy district. But that time the Government decided to appoint me as the Chief Minister considering my political experience.

That time also a young candidate took the highest preferential votes in the district and took the highest percentage of preferential votes. This time too a young candidate from Matale took the highest percentage of preferential votes. Despite my coming third in preferential votes I was appointed as the Chief Minister.

I am working in this post giving due respect to that post and protecting the dignity of that post. Even if I lose this position tomorrow I can work anywhere keeping my head high. Nobody can point a finger at me.

I have been appointed as the Chief Minister by the President as he is confident that I will continue the good work done so far. My duty is to work without making mistakes and damaging the confidence the President placed on me.

Q: What kind of program do you have to gain the support of all groups in the Council?

A: I am getting the support of all the groups in the Council. I have worked as the Chief Minister of this council when we were facing difficult situations. For instance, in 2007, nine JVP Members who contested the election along with us left.

At that time the balance of power was at risk and that situation was there in the central government also and government was also facing difficulties in passing the budget. We were also facing similar problem in the Central Provincial Council and we were short of one vote to pass the budget. Then I discussed with the Muslim Congress Member and explained our position and obtained their support to pass the budget.

Q: It seems there are divisions among the UPFA members as well in the Council.

A: The opposition is facing a difficult situation selecting an Opposition leader in the Council. Even the top level leaders of the UNP are not in a position to take a decision in this regard. Out of the 18 Members in the Opposition 12 are not supporting the Member nominated by the party leadership as the Opposition leader.

They are supporting another Member as the Opposition leader. It is a disturbing situation in the Council meeting also. There are so many divisions within the party and they cannot even raise their heads.

The divisions in their top level leadership are now flowing to the grassroots level membership. Our party position is different.

When we selected the Chairman of the Council we did it in a democratic manner allowing everyone to take their decision. We are conducting a disciplinary inquiry against them for violating the party rules.

But we have not forced them to take decisions. The opposition is facing a difficult situation as decisions are imposed on them.

Q: The Chief Ministers are having representations in the Cabinet of the Central Government also. How do you see this situation?

A: This is a very good step taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa some three years back. We are participating in the monthly Cabinet meetings. In these meetings we can discuss the issues relating to our province.

We bring fruitful results to the province through these meetings. For instance the appointment of teachers, appointment of non academic staff, have been vital decisions.

Those decisions were not approved for years. The cadres in the Provincial Council system and Local Government Bodies have undergone big changes during the past few years. So that has to be changed and create new position in our cadres. We explained this situation to the Cabinet and took approval from the Cabinet.

The Cabinet instructed the Management Department to implement that decision. We also discussed the matters relating to salaries of our employees and the Cabinet has given instructions to implement them.

As individual Provincial Councils also we could obtain solutions to our problems also through these Cabinet meetings. Therefore we think that this Cabinet meeting is very valuable in rendering our service to the general public.

Q: What kind of program have you to work with other Provincial Councils?

A: We have our Chief Ministers Conference. Only the Northern could not participate in this meeting.

I think very soon he will also join us at the inaugural Chief Ministers Conference with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

That is a forum to exchange our experiences and knowledge and discuss the problems faced by each provincial council. We also can find ways to share our resources among the Councils. I have initiated a program with the Northern Provincial Council under Uthuru Mithuru program.

We are hoping to join hands with the medium level businessmen entrepreneurs in that province and share our experience with them. We have decided to display the products in the two provinces and share our knowledge with each other. That will enable the entrepreneurs to share their knowledge and create more job opportunities. I think this is very important for our country because we all are living in one country. The Northern Province is having Palmyra and we have Kitul. They all come under one family and grown in one country. They are Tamil and we are Sinhalese but we are all Sri Lankans.

Q: When you continue as the Chief Minister for a long-period you may also be subjected to allegations of corruption and misappropriations. How would you respond?

A: We should check whether they are baseless allegations or not. If there is any allegation on financial matters the final decision comes through the Auditor General's Department. Recently, there was an opinion about the financial management of the Central Province by the Auditor General's Department.

The Auditor General's Department mentioned that Central Provincial Council was the best Council having the best and transparent financial management system. So there is no need for a character certificate from others. But there may be audit queries which our critics show as complaints against us. Therefore, we should reach the final decision after careful examination.

Q: What are the priority areas for the next four years?

A: There has been a massive infrastructure development in this country during the past few years. The road sector has undergone tremendous improvement. For instance the travel time from Hasalaka to Kandy has been reduced from four and half hours to one and half hours.

But when people are travelling to get something done there is no use of having reduced travel time if they have to spend a long time at offices. Therefore, I am determined to implement a program to deliver our services more effectively and efficiently within shortest possible time enabling them to make use of their spare time for development of the country.

If a person from Hasalaka comes to Kandy for an official purpose gets his work done in lesser time than usual, he can return home early. I am planning to have an effective program to reduce the waiting time parallel to reducing the travel time of the people.

Q: To which position are you planning to take the Central Provincial Council in future?

A: To achieve our target, we have to overcome our shortcomings. By overcoming all these weaknesses we want to work as one team with determination.