The greed of Corporate Elite has cost the Country Years of progress

It is accepted folklore in Sri Lanka that, the politicians have ruined this Country over a 70 year period and they continue to do so. Organized Crime, Compromising the Independence of the Police and Judiciary, Bribery and Corruption lie at the base of most of the stories of Government Excess.

Latterly, greed has taken altogether different proportions with the MPs voting themselves higher and higher duty free permits, and as if to salve their conscience is engaged in giving doctors, and all manner of public servants increased privileges on these selfsame permits. Isn’t it obvious that it is the Country that has been shortchanged by these actions of daylight robbery?

I would like to add another dimension to this problem, and that is of Corporate Greed to outstrip Government inefficiency and corruption.

Just to quote one example recently, the Government in their 2017 budget had allocated Rs5Billion for I pads for schools and teachers above a certain grade. The good intention was to make our students more computer savvy, and it was felt that they (the students) will not be able to purchase their own, so the State decided to call for tenders to enable a certain specified number of to be purchased.

The outcome of the tender was that the only company able to comply with the tender requirements as far as specifications were concerned, despite knowing the allocation from the Treasury for this purchase was Rs5Billion, gave a proposal that would have cost Rs7Billion. Of course it could not be awarded and so there was a lot of wrangling with bribes changing hands to get the Govt to accept this tender at the higher price.

The officers roped into put pressure were those within the Education Department a known den of thieves, who want to personally profit from the Education of our children, a wholly reprehensible quality in our Civil Servants.

The final outcome due to the delay was that whole project was called off, when by now all our youth above a certain age could have been enjoying I Pad privileges to equip them for the modern and changing world we live in.

If only the Company had bid at the Rs 5 Billion with no bribes and commissions to anyone, they could have got the tender, all the relevant kids would now be using their I pads and 200,000 students at least would be well on the way to enjoying a better insight into their employment prospects and their employ-ability in the marketplace.

I firmly believe that if this tender was placed at Rs5B, even if the company making the tender possibly could have lost on that contract, it was a worthwhile act of need they could have fulfilled and they would have won public praise for their generosity in subsidizing this contract, if they really were out of pocket.

The public adulation could be used as a marketing gimmick, that would be worth more than the loss of profit, if that was the case, and in the end it would have been a long sighted win for the Company anyway.

So why could it not be done? Corporate Greed, where they believe in order to supply the government and pay off the Government Servants and Ministers, they need to charge an additional Rs2B.

In the end all the citizens of Sri Lanka pay this bribe, whether we like it or not. It is high time the wealthy citizenry think not of today’s purse but tomorrow’s purse, as in the long run these same businessmen will gain, and perhaps get repeat business to cover any shortfall in the future.

Multiply this issue thousands of times over everywhere you go and you get the imprint of how business is done and explains the excess of Mercedez Benz cars and the ease with which new BMW I8 can fall into the Diyawanna with the owner driver merely walking away as if the new car just did not matter to him!

This ability to make unconscionable profits on the back of Government Contracts is something that is not highlighted in the media for a variety of reasons. If they did, I am sure the common occurrence would be stopped in its tracks and we may begin to see some accountability among our business leaders working honestly for the Country.

It is said that the Country’s growth rate that all share some part in is stunted by such high commission, high bribery rate economies and the speed with which these countries can develop are accordingly delayed.

All facts point to the state of a desperate need to reduce the level of this corruption if we are to make progress and it is imperative that though I have noted it is corporate greed, it is also Public Servants at higher levels, enjoying these permits who are ALSO engaged in demanding high bribes so that they give the necessary permissions for the private sector to supply state institutions.

I appeal to all Sri Lankans to understand that each bribe however large or small affects everyone who lives in Sri Lanka, and it is their duty to have a conscience if they even profess a religion, and are god fearing as most people in Sri Lanka are. How can you be that and take your country to the cleaners?