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Dangerous and daft decisions in the dark

10 Mar 2022

Changing the pillow as a cure for a headache is not at all a new practice for Sri Lankan politicians. They are famous for taking decisions to deal with situations, not issues, and when those decisions lead to detrimental results, politicians try to deal with those who point out those results, rather than dealing with what they pointed out. The latest such decision was taken by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who has instructed the heads of local government (LG) bodies to turn off all streetlights until the end of this month, in a bid to save power. While the intention of this decision is good, there is a serious question as to its practicality and effectiveness, especially regarding how much power this move will help save. In addition, there has been no clarification as to who will turn off streetlights located on byroads which get power from individual electricity posts, and whether a study was conducted to gauge how much power could be saved. This decision has already attracted widespread opposition from several parties, including politicians, women’s rights activists, and motorcyclists’ associations, and they all point out a plain fact which the Government appears to have overlooked – the safety of the people travelling at night and what assurance the Government could give regarding the people’s safety. Streetlights have been established for a reason, i.e. in order to ensure public safety from accidents and illegal activities such as robberies, and this move is likely to increase such cases, which is the concern of those who are opposing this decision. This short-sighted decision is not surprising when we look at the decisions taken by Sri Lankan Governments over the past few decades. However, the audacity and power that the politicians possess to make imprudent decisions that affect an entire nation, with no regard for the obvious risks of the likely results of such decisions, makes them extremely disturbing. We cannot dispute the fact that saving power is now more important than ever, and that it is something every citizen must take seriously. However, regardless of the magnitude of the steps we take, they have to be effective, and in this case, the benefits of turning off lights should far outweigh the risks associated with this move. At the same time, the responsibility of saving some amount of power should not supersede the responsibility of ensuring the safety of millions of people. However, if the authorities have found that turning off streetlights would help save a considerable amount of power, what a responsible Government or authorities must do is share that information with the people and, based on that, encourage the people to turn off streetlights whenever possible. A request to the people or action by the authorities to turn off streetlights a few hours a day when they are least used, or to turn off a few streetlights where there are more streetlights than necessary in one place, appear to be more sensible steps. What is more, despite the power and fuel crises prevailing for some time now, other than imposing power cuts, the Government has not yet taken the initiative to raise awareness on saving power, introduce alternative methods to save power, or educate the public to manage their activities without being affected by power cuts. A responsible Government should help and prepare its people to face difficult times, not force them to follow any and all decisions the Government thinks are right or ask people to rely on power cut schedules which do not help the people. Furthermore, when government politicians themselves are running up massive electricity bills and leaving them unpaid for months on end, it hardly sets the example that is necessary for the public to follow when conserving energy. Against a backdrop where various parties have expressed opposition regarding this decision, the Government must re-evaluate and pay more attention to introducing practical and effective solutions, not attractive and ineffective suggestions.  


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