A welcome gavel blow
April 6, 2013, 6:58 pmRoads are more than hard surfaces constructed for vehicles as pedestrians to travel along. They also serve as indicators. They reflect the national psyche of a country and help judge how civilised it is. Nothing represents the chaotic state of affairs in Sri Lanka than its roads. The situation has obviously taken a turn for the worse since the huge, unroadworthy contraptions that are private buses with sick elements at the wheel, appeared on them.
Private bus operators have, by virtue of their wealth and political connections, become a law unto themselves over the years with successive governments too timid to tell them where to get off. This is the price people have had to pay for voting for those who allowed the state run bus and train services to wither on the vine.
The only institution equal to the task of taming the private bus mafiosi is the judiciary. The Kurunegala High Court has sentenced to death the driver and the conductor responsible for the Alawwa train-bus collision where 41 passengers were killed and 35 injured in 2005. This judicial gavel blow has brought much relief to the hapless public whose lives are in danger because of the private bus Mafia.
The Alawwa disaster occurred when the ill-fated bus tried to wriggle through a closed level crossing barrier in spite of warnings by the gate keeper and onlookers. It had been racing with another bus. The rest is history. We editorially called it mass murder and urged the government to rein in the asphalt cowboys. The judiciary has done its part but unfortunately the death penalty does not get implemented in this country where judicial executions are not permitted by self-righteous political hypocrites who, however, have no qualms about condoning, if not ordering, extrajudicial killings.
In the immediate aftermath of the Alawwa tragedy, no less a person than President of the Sri Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association (SLPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne called private bus workers 'thirisannu' or animals who had no concern for human lives. Subsequently, in May 2010, this newspaper quoted him as having said that about one third of the bus crews in the Western Province were addicted to liquor, cannabis etc. He said a survey commissioned by his organisation had revealed that startling fact; he called upon the police to deal with the errant bus workers who had, he said, brought the private bus industry into disrepute. He should be thanked for such bold statements but he and other bus owners cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for the offences bus crews commit. The onus is on them to make their workers fall in line.
Fatal road accidents average 2,000 per year in this country. In other words, about five or six people die a day on roads. According to a study conducted on road mishaps between 1977 and 2007, there were 1,120,848 accidents, 40,000 deaths and 68,440 serious injuries. The war is a thing of the past and nobody is dying today because of separatist terror. But, highway terrorism continues to snuff out innocent lives. Unfortunately, precious little is being done to remedy the situation. Private buses continue to wreak havoc on roads with the police looking the other way either for fear of strikes or because they are on the take. Some high ranking police officers and powerful politicians themselves own buses and it is only natural that the private bus operators are in a position to call the shots.
The Kurunegala High Court deserves praise for its path-breaking judgment which, we believe, will keep the maniacs behind the wheel reminded that the sky is not the limit and they, too, have to pay for their crimes. That is the way to deal with highway terrorism which has rendered all roads unsafe for the voiceless public.