Heed the people's voices

The Daily News takes immense satisfaction from the encouraging response its 'People's Voices: To whom it may concern' column is drawing from the general public.

The fundamental criterion of success of a newspaper is its effectiveness in advancing the legitimate interests of the people and from this point of view this newspaper's 'People's Voices' column is a stitch in time.

Judging by the number of complaints we are receiving on the issues confronted by the general public, the new column is proving a useful forum for the airing of the people's grievances.

We only hope that the State organisations and other bodies referred to would be as prompt in addressing public needs as the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights in repairing the damage caused to the Kelani River bund at Gonawala. This problem was exposed by us and the Ministry's positive response to the request for some kind of remedial action was almost immediately forthcoming.

We call on all the organisations referred to in complaints, to model themselves on the Disaster Management Ministry in this respect. For, the public are no parasites. They are not asking for the moon and stars but are merely requesting that their basic needs be met.

In this respect the people are a far cry from the average politician and holder of public office who leads a life of comparative luxury. The power elite leads a princely existence but not so the people who usually lead a hard life.

Therefore, it is only fair that the people's needs are met by particularly their "representatives" in the numerous law and statute-making bodies of the country. While on this subject we also wish to call for increasingly accountable or responsible governance.

We possess the machinery or the institutional infrastructure to crack down on sleaze and corruption but these bodies need to register a more visible and vibrant presence in public life. We urge them to go after the "sharks" too because these elements live greedily off the wealth of the country.

We call on the people to be forthcoming with their information on these parasitic elements. They could always count on the 'Daily News' to help them with their exposes on wrong-doing in the so-called top positions in public life.

We would also readily cooperate with the public in acquiring for them their legitimate needs.

Considering the unresolved hardships of the people, it may seem that those wielding public office have never given serious thought to the concept of citizenship and its implications.

A citizen enjoys rights as well as duties. Inasmuch as a citizen needs to discharge his duties towards the State and his fellow citizens, his rights have to be dutifully met by those enjoying office. If the latter task is not carried out the public could be considered as wronged very gravely. This should not happen in a functional democracy.