By Sardar Khan Niazi
Sri Lankan new president Ranil Wickremesinghe faces the task of ending the country’s economic collapse and restoring order after months of mass protests. In Sri Lanka nowadays, maximum people believe that a change in political leadership may solve current problems of governance.
Though it is indisputable that the political leaderships that Sri Lanka has had thus far, have been responsible for the present-day turmoil, the Sri Lankan bureaucracy has not played its part or has not been able to play its part, in guiding the uppermost leadership along the accurate path.
This could be owing to an assortment of elements, ranging from the outdated standards that govern boss-subordinate relations, incongruous and old-fashioned recruitment practices, the lack of necessary skills, and the lack of prospects for improving skills. There is no proper system of evaluation of work or a foolproof and just incentive system to lift the morale of public servants.
Dread of the costs of taking decisions stops public servants from taking bold initiatives that is why they play safe and maintain the status quo. The law may catch up with a minister ultimately, but the first to be detained is an ordinary government servant.
The Sri Lankan public service has important responsibilities, including development as well as routine administration, but it has become a catchphrase for insensitivity, procrastinating tactics, and corruption in complicity with political bosses. Generally, public service performance is low in Sri Lanka.
Twenty percent of the Sri Lankan population is in agriculture. The agricultural sector accounts for twenty-three percent of exports. Only forty percent of the information available to people about this sector is accurate, mostly invalid or imprecise. Finding information about trade regulations is a significant barrier to improving the economy.
This is because of the insufficiencies of the Sri Lankan bureaucracy. The unfortunate state of the bureaucracy is a graver problem than it is supposed to be, and Sri Lanka has not yet figured out how to make its bureaucracy more answerable.
Agriculture has enjoyed political importance over the years. Yet, its contribution to Sri Lanka’s economy has worsened, not enhanced. Agriculture’s contribution to the Lankan GDP has remained stagnant at under eight percent.
The bureaucratic procedures to be followed by exporters and importers are a labyrinth. In Sri Lanka, there are about 21 key government agencies and 23 key legislative Acts that govern the export and import of goods.
The difficulty in finding timely and reliable information about these regulations and compliance procedures is a significant barrier to trade. This is especially true of agricultural products that are generally subject to more strict regulations to guarantee the safety and quality of the products traded.
The imperfect accessibility of correct and appropriate information increases both the price and time of compliance. The absence of information and resultant delays in getting the cargo cleared are costlier for agricultural products, most of which are perishable in nature and require quick turnaround times to preserve the quality and commercial value of the product.
The complicated and excessive regulations generate opportunities for corrupt officials who could supply correct information selectively for a bribe. According to reports, many ministries do not give all the information they have on their websites and never update their content. For that reason, the solution is to make available perfect and up-to-date information on the internet.
Earlier, in 2007, Sri Lanka Customs launched the Customs Regulatory Database with the assistance of USAID. An important effort was made to collect, classify, and digitize information on laws, regulations, and Customs procedures. Nevertheless, no initiative was taken to maintain and update the database. For this unhappy state, successive political leaderships and the bureaucracy are responsible.
