Remembering President Premadasa
84th Birth Anniversary falls today:
B. Sirisena COORAY
President Premadasa
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During the days of President Premadasa this was the Gam Udawa time.
It was a time of hard work and worry but also a time of excitement and
fulfilment. With each Gam Udawa we had a huge target to be met -
building houses, bridges and roads, ensuring water and electricity
supply, taking care of other infrastructure facilities.
The days and weeks before Gam Udawa we would be in a fever of
excitement wondering whether we will be able to complete all the work on
time. Each year somehow we did. It was a rewarding experience because we
were able to serve the people and win the appreciation of our leader.
President Premadasa valued discipline more than anything else. He
believed that a given task should be fulfilled within the stipulated
time. He did not tolerate delays and postponements; he did not like
excuses either.
And when he has allotted a task he would always check back, not once
or twice but many times; often he would get me to do the checking for
him. He knew the value of follow up and feed back. That is why he was so
successful in Gam Udawa and other development programmes.
In my Parliamentary condolence speech on President Premadasa I
referred to how the people will remember ‘the extraordinary adventures
of an extraordinary man”. Of those extraordinary adventures Gam Udawa
was the first and I think the most important to us and to him. It was
not for nothing he referred to Gam Udawa as his child.
Young people today regard building a house as a normal thing. They do
not know that this habit was inculcated by President Premadasa through
his housing programme. Before that most people did not build houses;
they rented them.
Through his housing programme he not only built houses for the poor;
he also made it easy for the middle class to get housing loans and build
their own houses. Organisations like the Building Materials Corporation
made other facilities easily available.
Thanks to all this, building a house became a normal thing for most
people. That psychological change was one of his greatest achievements.
Discipline and hard work
We commemorate President Premadasa twice a year, on his birth and
death anniversaries. But I think the people of this country remember him
every day and remember him with nostalgia with each passing day.
They remember him when there are broken roads and unmade bridges;
they remember him when they suffer from indiscipline and delay; they
remember him when promises are not kept and standards drop.
They remember him because during his time he did his best to minimise
delays and indiscipline. They remember him because they miss his hard
work, his attention to details and his commitment.
Hard work was nothing new to him. No one had to try harder to get to
the top. He had no family to back him, no money and no powerful backers.
But he had other things - his extraordinary qualities and character
and the backing of the poor people of Colombo Central. No challenge
would be too big to a man like that. That is why he did not hesitate to
undertake gigantic development programmes and finish them on time too.
With his work and his commitment he gave a sense of hope to this
country. Even when times were hard there was a belief that things would
improve. And the time of the second JVP insurgency was such a hard time.
But even during that time people had hope of a better tomorrow. That was
why he was elected. And even during that time of violence he built
houses, had the Gam Udawa, gave Janasaviya and had Presidential Mobiles.
This was despite the violence. No wonder people had hope. And once
the Insurgency was defeated no time was lost; all development programmes
were implemented at full speed and new ones were introduced and
implemented at full speed.
Garment industry
Think of the 200 Garment Factories Programme. Once the initial idea
was given to him he developed it into a viable programme and implemented
it in a very short time. Factories were opened all over the country,
even in the North and the East. Infrastructure facilities were built and
loans were made available.
When you think that all that was done in just a year or so, then you
begin to understand how extraordinary it was. He would have faced the
food crisis in the same way. He would have shown the same commitment and
ensured that there were results. The way he worked is an example to all
political leaders.
There were those who said he tried to do too much. He tried to do
such a lot because so much needed to be done. So much was left undone
that needed to be completed and so many new challenges were cropping up.
That was why he had to undertake so much. It was also because he was
completely committed to this country and to its people. Therefore he
found poverty and homelessness, lack of development and lack of progress
intolerable. He wanted to face up to those challenges and overcome them.
That was why he tried to do so much.
The people appreciated that commitment. They appreciate it even more
now. During the years without him we all had enough time and opportunity
to realise how valuable, how rare his commitment was.
You can appreciate something properly only after you have lost it.
When President Premadasa was around the people took him for granted. But
now that he is no more, they realise his worth far more completely than
they did when he was alive.
History
That is why I was correct when I told during the Parliamentary
condolence vote, “The history of our time would record how the common
people valued Premadasa. The verdict of history would grant him the
special place that is reserved only for those innovative and courageous
leaders who dedicate their lives to serve the people amidst innumerable
obstacles.
In time even those who failed to recognise him would agree that he
had a remarkable ability to guide our country along a difficult road”.
I think history has proven him-and me-right.
(The writer is Chairman, The Premadasa Centre)
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