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Wielding the strike weapon callously

The crassly dishonest motives of those private bus operators' organizations which have chosen to wield the strike weapon could be judged by their disquieting sense of timing. This time around they have chosen to strike when students in their hundred thousands are sitting the crucial GCE Ordinary Level examination.

That they are jeopardising the well-being and future of these helpless students, doesn't seem to be the concern of these striking busmen who are now notorious for their Shylockian tenacity. Come what may, they would have their "pound of flesh".

In the pursuit of their selfish gains, it doesn't seem to be bothering the striking bus operators that they are standing accepted trade union policy on its head. First, the strike weapon is wielded only when negotiations with the authorities fail completely. Second, the national interest is strongly considered before work stoppages are effected. If the national interest is going to be irreversibly harmed as a result of the contemplated strike action, it is usually postponed or even done away with.

None of these time-honoured principles seem to be weighing with the striking private bus operators. Immediate selfish ends seem to be their only concern.

So, not a care is spared for even those youngsters who need the transport facilities to get to and from their examination centres, leave alone the commuting public, the majority of whom are poor and are wholly dependent on public transport facilities. The fact that their children and offspring could be among those affected by these strikes, doesn't seem to be causing any guilt and discomfiture among the striking operatives.

That the waning decline in civic awareness among some of our striking interest groups is now hitting rock bottom, leaving them bereft of all moral scruples, is evident in this strike by private bus operators. Callousness of these proportions among these sectional interests bespeaks an abysmal moral bankruptcy. That the future of the country is beclouded as never before is proved by these sad events.

But then, declining civic-consciousness and morality is a social phenomenon that has ripple effects. It usually has a top-down tendency. Once displayed at the upper echelons of the power structure, it tends to travel downward. If remedied at the top, therefore, this could have a salubrious impact at the lower levels of society. This truth needs to be contemplated and acted upon. The overall impression created by Lankan society at the moment is that it is tearing apart as a result of multiple selfish tendencies.

We hope that the appeal made by the Minister of Education for a resumption of private bus operations at least in consideration of the affected students is heeded.

However, it should be noted that the majority of our secondary school students just cannot obtain alternative modes of transport. They are wholly dependent on public transport facilities.

Perhaps, at least now, the dire consequences of not having a robust State-run transport sector will be realised by the authorities. This is the only answer to the threat of ransom brandished by the privately-run transport sector.

The challenge of poverty

World leaders meeting in September 2000 at the Millennium Summit gave a solemn pledge to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger from the earth. They set a target to reduce by half the number of people living on less than $1 a day by the year 2015. It was estimated that more than a billion people fall to this category.

Eradicating poverty from the developing world is not a case of providing charity. These countries should be assisted in their efforts to achieve sustainable economic development. What often happens, as experience has shown, is that by abiding to the conditions set by the multilateral donor agencies and donor countries they fall into an eternal debt trap. Consequently, instead of getting out of the abyss of poverty they sink further and further into the abyss.

Discriminatory tariff structures of the developed countries against imports from the developing world and subsidies provided to farmers in the developed world stand as a huge barrier that nullifies any gains the developing countries make in economic development.

The discriminatory nature of world trade is witnessed by the fact that the share of exports of the less developed countries in world trade is diminishing. Further, their share in global investments is les than 1 percent.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)'s annual Conference, which is currently progressing in Geneva, has given priority to poverty alleviation. What matters more than charity is a program that helps the less developed countries to raise their productivity levels to global standards. It is hoped that the current UNIDO sessions would address this issue.

In this context, a proposal put forward by former Malaysian Premier Dr. Mahatir Mohamed to establish a world corporate tax on multinational corporations to fund infrastructure development in poor countries is quite appropriate.

Also important is relevant technology transfers to developing nations so that they could make use of opportunities provided by globalization and the modern scientific and technological revolution to bridge the rich-poor gap among nations.

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