Experience vs. Inexperience

The Opposition has blamed the severity of recent floods that devastated many areas, such as Gampola, on the controversial appointment of some engineers loyal to the NPP government to oversee the Kotmale reservoir in place of senior, experienced engineering professionals who could have responded to emergencies swiftly.

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It has claimed that if the experienced officials had been allowed to operate the reservoir, they would have begun releasing water early to prevent flash floods, without waiting for the sluice gates to open automatically.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been on a whirlwind tour of the cyclone-hit areas during the last several days. Obviously, his mission is not only to speed up the ongoing relief and rebuilding programmes but also to mitigate the adverse political fallout from the disaster. He however has his work cut out. The dash of the Leader of the Red Comrades across the country reminds us of the Red Queen's remark to Alice: "It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place."