You owe me some trees Mr/Ms Politician
It’s
more than two months since we got a new Parliament. Some were elected,
some re-elected, some thrown out, some dubbed ‘also-ran’ and some lost
deposits. Almost everyone who got elected spent bucks. Big bucks. Some
of course spent mega bucks and some campaigns, in contrast, were batta-sized,
or of ‘buddy’ dimension, shall we say?
All of them, except one or two, polluted the electorate, sorry
district, vandalized walls, broke our ear drums, made it impossible for
us to enjoy our surroundings and didn’t even let us have some peace in
our own houses, barging in with campaign-kaarayas and tossing leaflets
into the garden without saying ‘excuse me’.
I wrote in March this year, quoting the then Environment and Natural
Resources Minister, Patali Champika Ranawaka, that 300 big trees (which
would have taken decades to grow from sapling to green giant) need to be
cut to make the amount of paper needed for the poster campaign of any
big-spending candidate. Considering the fact that trees don’t grow at
the speed at which politicians’ wealth and girth expand, the restorative
ratio, conservatively estimated, would be to plant 300 trees for every
tree that had to be cut down to feed the poster-hunger of Mr./Ms.
Politician.
That’s 90,000 trees. I add to this a further 180,000 (the extra
90,000 is a conservative assessment of ‘inflation’ given the propensity
to destroy even as tragedy after tragedy is precipitated by destructive
human activity) as ‘advance’ for the next election campaign (few
politicians choose the option not to re-contest). So, by 2017, these
politicians have to plant 270,000 just to compensate society in general
and generations yet unborn for their callousness, greed, arrogance and
downright irresponsibility.
Politicians
remember elections and electors only after Parliament is dissolved or
when the relevant terms comes to an end. Remembering is our business, I
suppose. So let us remember and let us remind; maybe that’s what
responsible citizenship means.
I calculated. I took the number of days until the next election
(beginning from April 8 and assuming that this Parliament will also sit
its full term through. I divided the tree-dues by the number and came up
with 123. That’s the number of trees that each politician (winners and
losers all) have to plant EVERYDAY until the next election.
I am going to forgive them for not planting a single tree all this
time. Oh, I know, politicians are busy, developing the country, keeping
the masses happy, ensuring food security, resettling IDPs, vilifying Sri
Lanka abroad, facilitating foreign intervention, fighting each other,
robbing the people left, right and centre and enjoying the good stuff,
whatever ‘good’ means to them. Still, this is a non-negotiable as far as
I am concerned.
I will not vote for any politician who has not done his/her 270,000
trees. President Mahinda Rajapaksa can set the tone here. He is the
self-proclaimed custodian of all creatures, all plant species, heritage,
customs etc.
He must find a way to make sure that 123 trees get planted everyday
somewhere in this country. It would be a wonderful example for his party
members to follow and something that the Opposition would have to do as
well just to keep abreast.
If all Members of Parliament did this, we would be 60.75 million
trees richer come April 2017. Add the President’s 270,000 and the number
will reach 60.92 million. Throw in those who lost and it will more than
double this amount.
Add the Provincial Council Elections and the Local Government
Elections and we would have a Green Sri Lanka. Well, not really, because
what is grown will also be cut, but I think the act of planting (and
especially when you plant as many as 123, even if it is just a matter of
tossing a seed into a hole or pressing a sapling into a pot) has a way
of making it tough on heart to cut a tree or watch one being cut.
My guess is that if all politicians (well, let’s be realistic and say
10 of them) do this, I really wouldn’t care about who gets elected.
Anyone who can see value in a tree, will see the worth of conservation
and will be persuaded to lead a less destructive life.
Such an individual will recognize that human beings need one another
and more than this, are nothing if not for the presence of their fellow
creatures, plant-life included.
Years ago, President Ranasinghe Premadasa got very serious about
tree-planting. Take the Galgamuwa-Thambuttegama Road. Or the road to
Aukana. Tree-lined. A green tunnel. It’s a joy to travel on those roads.
This is a country where you throw a stick into the garden and it takes
root. This is true. It is so easy. The President, in his Mahinda
Chinthana policy document spoke of agriculture, api wawamu rata nagamu
(let us grow, let us build our nation). It is not about vegetables,
fruits, rice and other grains, pulses, roots etc. It is about forest
cover. Mangroves. Rain forests. And trees. Trees. Trees. Any. Wherever.
Everywhere in fact.
There are millions of trees awaiting planting. They are waiting for
you Mr./Ms. Politician. You don’t have to wait for His Excellency to
give the Green Light.
The Green Light was given by Arahat Mahinda two millennia ago. Not
that our ancestors needed such a go-sign of course. Make a song and
dance if you like, I don’t mind. But remember this, on the second Monday
of every month, I will come into your lives like a debt-collector and
tell you, ‘You owe me such and such an amount of trees, Sir/Madam’.
I am being nice. Just don’t make me angry. You won’t like me when I
am angry, Mr./Ms. Politician. Well, actually, I am just flinching lines
from the Incredible Hulk. It is no joke, though. I am waiting. Let the
blameless begin. How about you Mr. Moragoda and Mr. Champika Ranawaka?
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