Of that paper pyre

Editorial-August 19, 2013,

Several Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) officials are up the creek, having burnt a slew of files at, of all places, the Borella Cemetery. It is believed that they tried to wipe out the evidence of some rackets. Thankfully, some files were saved and Colombo Mayor A. J. M. Muzammil has promised a probe into the incident.

Opinion is divided on the burning of CMC files. It is being claimed in some quarters that permission had been obtained to destroy some documents, but many others, had been smuggled out of record rooms and offices with the papers to be incinerated. Others claim there had been absolutely no need to destroy any files at all. However, what really matters is that CMC members are confident that irrefutable evidence has surfaced that there was a sinister attempt to obliterate evidence of a racket. They should know. Councillors of both the UNP and the UPFA have, in a rare moment of unity, joined forces to have the incident investigated.

That cemeteries are used for various illegal activities is only too well known. The dead are not allowed to rest in peace. Some crematoria along the littoral are, according to anecdotal evidence, used for drying fish at night while it has been established beyond doubt formalin is widely used to ‘embalm’ raw fish. After nightfall, some cemeteries become havens for druggies, prostitutes and bootleggers as our provincial correspondents point out from time to time.

Time was when cemeteries were used to destroy the bodies of senior JVP members in their numbers. The lesser ones were just shot dead and burnt on tyre-pyres on the roadside to send a chilling message to one and all in the late 1980s. Founder leader of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera, was executed and cremated at the Borella cemetery as confirmed by a municipal worker interviewed by our sister paper, Divaina, a few moons ago. However, this is the first time a graveyard has been used to ‘cremate’ evidence of municipal rackets which are usually swept under the carpet.

Burning CMC files to cover up crooked deals, in our book, is as futile as the proverbial squirrel’s desperate attempt to empty the ocean with the help of its fluffy tail. For, given the high incidence of rackets at the CMC, all its files would have to be burnt, if racketeers were to cover their tracks.

CMC members who acted fast enough to prevent some of the vital documents from going up in flames are to be commended. Thanks to their efforts, we now know that among the files being burnt were some documents pertaining to issues such as questionable recruitment of drivers and security guards to the CMC.

If the mayor goes ahead with the promised probe, he may be able to bring the culprits to book. However, such action will amount to scratching the surface as everything is rotten about the CMC which, in our view, is an Augean stable, the cleaning of which requires a Herculean effort. The challenge before the mayor is to prove that he is equal to it.

The public perception is that the CMC is one of the most corrupt public institutions though the advocates of good governance and transparency haven’t mentioned it in their reports. Nothing gets done there unless several palms are oiled as is common knowledge. Besides, it has earned notoriety for inefficiency and colossal waste of public funds. There have been calls for setting up a permanent internal mechanism to probe allegations against CMC officials as an antidote to corruption. It is hoped that the mayor will give serious thought to this while probing the ‘cremation’ of documents.