In campaigning for regime change in a country burdened by a culture of impunity and militarisation, we wanted a new regime where people could enjoy a higher form of freedom and stability with a democratic leadership. We also wanted leaders with greater receptivity to the needs of common people. That was not through any form of modernisation at the expense of the people who were struggling for their basic needs.
With the cry for a regime change made possible in 2015, the urgent need was democratic socio-political, economic, cultural and moral transformation. Within this mandate, those responsible for corruption and murder should have been prosecuted without delay. This remains a key obligation of the present regime towards the people who elected them. Otherwise those who allegedly killed and robbed would end up seeking State power.
While achievements of this regime in favour of democracy are creditable, people everywhere see enormous promise in the leadership of the Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs Minister and Deputy Leader of the UNP, Sajith Premadasa. His strength is his passionate commitment to provide a dignified lifestyle for the ordinary people, inspired by his social democratic imagination.
He has proved with his mandate in Housing, that nothing could stop him from completing the unfinished mission of his late father Ranasinghe Premadasa known globally for his address to the United Nations on ‘Shelter for the Homeless of the World’ and for his contribution to poverty alleviation.
Housing, a human right
For Sajith Premadasa, this is a revolutionary movement that expands the Rights Based Approach; a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human dignity. Here the people are recognised as the key actors in their own development, than being passive recipients.
What Premadasa through his ‘People Centered Vision’ believes in is secure, habitable and affordable homes which will guarantee the inhabitants peace of mind. He does not believe in forcibly evicting anyone as practised by the previous regime. For those acting with impunity at that time, forced evictions was the norm. Our countrymen forget these realities of not so long ago. Let us not be simpletons who easily forget the past, as practices of the past should never be permitted again.
The right to be in one’s own habitat, maximising one’s own human potential is a fundamental tenant of ‘Premadasaism’, to be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans even in the future. We are happy that the present regime respects it.
First, the present regime guarantees protection against unplanned development, displacement, forced evictions, harassment and other threats. It is not that things are perfect, but the people now have the assurance under the present regime that they need not have a fear psychosis, of being evicted with the least apprehension about their needs. With such principles, the present government is not only providing relief to those of the South, but also to the North and the East, as they deserve proper shelter, as part of true reconciliation and peace in post war nation building. Unlike in the past, the strength today is people’s participation in the development process.
Secondly, it is a shame for us as a people living in an Open Market Economy if the government and the private sector cannot ensure the availability of raw materials, and physical infrastructure needs for housing without cronyisms. A major obligation for a responsible government is to ensure checks and balances against exploiters and those who become rich at the expense of the people.
Today, this need by the people for quality building products as well as expertise that the poor won’t easily possess in house building are fulfilled by the Building Materials Corporation (BMC) and the National Housing Development Authority of the Ministry of Housing.
At a time that many believe that our country is a dumping ground for low quality building products and buildings, it is a matter of great consolation that these institutions value the obligations of the State towards the people.
Thirdly, in a country where the great majority of people still live under the poverty line, it would be of no earthly use if the housing costs are going to be a great burden to the people, making them surrender or jeopardise other basic needs. For instance, one should not have to choose between paying rent and buying food as no basic human need should be fulfilled by denying oneself of other fundamental needs. The Premadasa Principle is known to many as Hisata Wahalak; Hithata Niwanak. (Roof over one’s head without jeopardising ‘Peace of Mind’). It is only those with neo-feudal minds who fail to appreciate this thinking.
Fourthly, housing policy development should not be culturally insensitive, imposing the will of power holders down the throats of people with least consideration towards the culture that prevails within a community. The habitat is a key factor. A greatly cherished concept at present is to ensure freedom for beneficiaries to be innovative on factors like housing design with guidance from expertise provided by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) and the Urban Settlement Development Authority (USDA).
Social Mobilisation Unit
The USDA carries a special mandate to empower beneficiaries with a new set of development values rooted in democracy and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Towards this end, the USDA has established a Social Mobilisation Unit to ensure that key development values are perceived correctly and that the recipients would commit themselves towards democratic attitudinal transformation when living in the new settlements. Mutuality and mutual respect are key expectations.
The key assumption that proper housing should be accessible to all segments of the community becomes a fifth major factor in the present housing policy. This is at a time when a sizeable segment of the population specially in the North and the East of the country had their houses destroyed due to the war between the armed forces and the Tamil Separatist Guerillas. These houses today need to be built with adequate sensitivity to the real aspirations of the people as against settling according to the wishes of the government.
The Housing and Construction Ministry is sensitive to such needs and it believes that this is a crucial stage of post war reconciliation and peace that will determine the future of unborn generations as well. It is not a project to please party supporters either.
Shelter for all
Finally, as one of the most formidable development programs of the present Good Governance regime, the Ministry of Housing has won the admiration of the international community for its overall objectives, holistic by nature. This is proved by unprecedented financial assistance from democratic countries such as India that respect equality and equity among people. There is hope today that there is a fresh commitment to holistic development of a battered people, burdened by acute socio-economic, political and cultural incompatibilities that remained dominant throughout post independent Sri Lanka.
As stated by Amartya Sen, the Indian Nobel Laureate, development as we understand becomes meaningful with freedom, and development without freedom is not development at all. The present regime has a clear mandate for development inspired by democracy and not authoritarianism.
The commitment of the present Housing Minister is to pursue this revolutionary housing program to a logical conclusion on a democratic value centered framework of development. We as academics believe earnestly that Minister Sajith Premadasa will be able to get the present regime practise this ethos in all sectors of national development in the days to come.
Towards this end, Sri Lankans alone should make the right choice in future elections to prevent development processes through authoritarianism.
The writer is Senior Lecturer, Social Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka