The Sri Lankan Foreign missions are detached from the cross section of the Sri Lankan communities and are guided by the extremist sentiments that prop up hatred and Sinhala extremism. These non-carrier diplomats are stooges to the extremists and they have no clues about the proactive diplomatic role they have to play.
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By Rajasingham Jayadevan
(July 22, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the past few years Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service has become the employment opportunity for political pandangkarayas (tail wagers) that it is draining the state resources enormously. If one wags the tail strongly with the rulers, they are sure of getting posted to a diplomatic position. The traditional and able career diplomats remain sidelined as a result of these political appointments and the Sri Lankan state has to pool in extra resources to engage specialist consultants to substitute the work of our diplomatic officials.
Persons from military background, media men, retired judges etc. are being appointed to diplomatic positions and they do not have any clues or acumen of what they have to do and by the time they are able to get some idea about their work, their terms too ends. These political appointees are major hindrance for continuity of high profile functioning of Sri Lankan missions and they leave behind gape holes in the missions for any succeeding carrier minded professional diplomats to over the difficulties left behind.
In this backdrop, news appeared in the Sunday Leader headlined: ‘US lobbyists making a killing of killings in Sri Lanka’. The news went on to state: ‘the Government of Sri Lanka is paying the Washington firm Patton Boggs $35,000 a month to provide guidance and counsel to the Embassy of Sri Lanka regarding its relations with the Executive and Legislative Branches of the US Government.’ This is in addition to the claim ‘that in 2008 another firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP (BHFS) was contracted, for an annual fee of $600,000 by Sri Lanka's Washington Embassy to advise and assist the government with issues relating to Sri Lanka and the United States of America.'
The claim in the Sunday Leader is tip on the iceberg. It is claimed there are many such scandals involving other diplomatic missions as well. According to well informed sources, even the Sri Lankan High Commission in London is trying to engage an expert consultancy firm to undertake lobbyist work in the Whitehall and in the British parliament.
The government that is highly critical of the LTTE, accusing of engaging Mr Bruce Fein as its legal representative in the US, has lost its senses by following the very same strategy. Having appointed nincompoops to the missions who lack the ability or acumen to undertake serious tasks on behalf of the state, the government is engaging subcontractors as external agents to provide them with the service the pandankarayas are unable to fulfil.
The amounts spent are so colossal that the sums involved are in addition to luxurious facilities provided to these nincompoops. This money could be well spent in investing in serious socio-economic projects to benefit the people in Sri Lanka.
These revelations comes at the time when the UN representative Dayan Jayatilleke’s service has been terminated for his comments about devolving powers to the minorities and the scandal involving lavish spending by the Foreign Minister in throwing a birthday party for his daughter in New York.
The Sri Lankan Foreign missions are detached from the cross section of the Sri Lankan communities and are guided by the extremist sentiments that prop up hatred and Sinhala extremism. These non-carrier diplomats are stooges to the extremists and they have no clues about the proactive diplomatic role they have to play. The host governments too are finding it hard to communicate with these incompetent political appointees.
Notwithstanding the status quo, it is claimed the government also funds some nefarious websites in the west managed by Sri Lankans to prop up its image by publishing exclusive news but unfortunately the well informed western structures are averse to the state sponsored propaganda.
Home Unlabelled Nincompoops callously wasting state financial resources
Nincompoops callously wasting state financial resources
By Sri Lanka Guardian • July 22, 2009 • • Comments : 1
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Herein lies the tragedy. While an ordinary clerk in govt. department earns Rs10,000 to fend for his family the politicians voted to safeguard democracy are living a life of luxury at the expense of ordinary citizens.
If UK ministers are billing for duckhouses and adult movies the ordinary citizen does not take it lying down.
In UK, democracy is practised whereas it is cool and even permissable to squander loans received at 0.5% interest first to pander to SL politicians.
The chutzpah is almost unbelievable. I spent a few days with a former journalist turned information minister in a European country and I was amazed at the perks this mortal received from SL govt.
Duty free vehicle. Duty free permit to import another vehicle, sauna, plush residence in the European capital. Visas adn free air tickets for the entire family not to mention the housemaids needed to look after the household.
Talk about living beyond our means.
All the while the ordinary Sri Lankan including those Tamils behind barbed wire concentration camps are lucky to get one rice meal a day.
Sri Lanka is riddled with debt but the politicians and govt. bigwigs are living it up like there's no tomorrow.
What would happen to the recent IMF loan approved. Mark my words, some businessmen close to Mahinda will get contracts to rehabilitate North and East. Tamil MPs who are kowtowing to the govt. will get some contracts to develop North and East.
But not a single civilian would be better off.
Do you wonder why civil unrest is not a sporadic happening but the norm.
Clearly there is an urgent need for SL to clean up its act. Otherwise we are looking at a situation like Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Somalia.
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