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Posers from a train tragedy

The country has been rudely awakened to the possibility of our Railway Department having suffered serious decline over the years. Among the reports which emerged immediately after the recent railway tragedy in Rambukkana which, to date, has claimed 15 lives, including that of an infant, is one which indicates that the train engine in question had a seriously defective braking system.

Passengers who escaped the tragedy are being quoted as saying that the head guard of the ill-fated train had issued warnings to them about this danger, just before the incident.

Investigations are on and we hope that the truth about the train tragedy would soon be bared. However, if reports about the malfunctioning brakes are correct, we are compelled to raise the possibility of a failure on the part of Railway Department personnel to carry out proper maintenance work and other chores which ensure the smooth running of trains.

The public cannot be faulted, for being appalled by the possibility of a train engine being given the green light to run, without careful checks being carried out on its operational capability. Such negligence could be construed as a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the relevant railway personnel.

The Government, then, has quite a chore on its hands. It has to not only get at the reasons for the tragedy and bring to justice any wrong doers but also set right the systemic defects which made the disaster possible. Much has been spoken and written about the general inertia and apathy which gripped the country over the years.

Malfunctioning and dangerously defective transport systems are symptoms of this atmosphere of inefficiency and lassitude. This dangerous ethos has to be eliminated if the wheels of progress are to be set in motion.

One way of ensuring efficiency and diligence in the public sphere is to end the atmosphere of impunity in which some public servants have been permitted to function over the years.

All State employees, regardless of rank and position, should be brought to justice for any dereliction of duty or other shortcomings which undermine public institutions. Besides, the Establishment Code must be stringently enforced.

If such measures are carried out in the vast structure which is the public service, we could be certain that tragedies of the kind which occurred in Rambukkana, wouldn't occur. Efforts to depoliticize the public sector would also have the effect of eliminating inefficiency and disgruntlement in the sphere which means so much to the people.

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