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| Sunday, 7 May 2006 |
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The 'Enjoyos' gather forces for major ops Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake The topic of a recent TV discussion on ITN was the role of NGOs in the current national situation. Those participating were politicians of the government and the opposition. The representative of the UNP made a very strong plea on behalf of NGOs. The JVP member said that when he once asked an MP of the TNA about the Tsunami relief and the NGOs, he was told that "NGOs were 'enjoyos'. They were having a great time".
"All nonsense," he said. "These allegations are by those who do not work for the people and don't want others to work for them either." "But what about funds not accounted for or the need for accountability in your work?" "We are only accountable to donors who provide funds, and not to anyone else." "But one charge is that the leading members of NGOs have got rich overnight, and that at least forty percent of the funds some of these organizations receive from donors abroad for relief work here, goes for the purchase of luxury vehicles and administrative costs or the huge amounts paid to key personnel, with only sixty percent going for actual relief, with part of that too being siphoned off to friendly contractors. What do you say to that?" I asked. "How does it bother anyone here as to how we spend the money we receive, if it doesn't bother the donors. We are only accountable to them, and we produce details of expenditure to them, with proposals for needing funds from them. How does all this affect the government or the people?" was his response. "But should you NGO people enrich yourselves with funds that come to serve the people? "We have only taken a leaf from politicians. How many of them use all the money allocated to them for the service of the people. Don't they refurbish office rooms at huge cost? Don't they go for more than one luxury car? Don't they launch projects with large salaries paid to friends and relations as management or consultant charges? The problem is that many politicians see us in the mirror and not themselves". No doubt Kaputu Kaak had given me a point to ponder. My next call was to Veda Vardhana aka Salli Malli among NGO circles. "What about all these allegations that many NGO activities posed a threat to national sovereignty?" "We will fight them. We are determined to carry on with the valuable work we do here." "Valuable to whom - the people, the country or yourselves?" "What does it matter as long as it is valuable to someone? After all if the money comes from abroad, why should the government or any others worry about the number of vehicles we use or the luxury of those? People should be glad that we don't burden the government or the public." "Apart from your rapid enrichment with NGO funds what about allegations of being a threat to national sovereignty and even national security?" "Don't forget that we are here because of a crisis that prevails. We have explained to our donors how the North East is neglected, lack of development there and the tragic condition of the people. So we have received funds to work in those areas. What's so wrong about that? In fact the government must be happy we are making it easier for it to develop the other areas." "You may be working for the people in those areas, but what about your support for the terrorists and their cause? It is said that NGOs are ever willing to condemn any fault of the government, but nothing of the Tigers." "How can we condemn the Tigers when we work together with them, and also use their own organisations to channel funds and resources to the people?" "It is said that you keep preaching to the South about the need for consensus and a political will to end the war, but don't make any serious proposals to the Tigers as to what they should do to help end the war." "Well, achieving peace in the country is the task of the government. It is not the job of the Tigers, who want a separate state. So how can we make any comments about their policies and methods of achieving their goals? "Our role is to use foreign funds to serve the people and ourselves. We consider that as our mandate. That is why many of the leading NGO people are living in luxury." "You said you will fight the current moves to curb your activities, how will you do that?" "Don't ignore the fact that we have many friends here and abroad. We are engaged in a whole range of activities from women's rights and the empowerment of women to rural development, education and religion too. So we have a huge support base among the people. We are just now in the process of mobilizing them against the planned moves against us. In fact we enjoy doing this as much as we enjoy all the perks of the NGO world." |
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When the government representative said steps are under way to bring in
early legislation to curb the activities of NGOs operating in the country, I
rushed to the phone and got at Kaputu Kaak aka NGO Kaakka, to discuss the
situation with him. "What about all these allegations made about NGOs
today," I asked. 
