There is an irony that successive governments seldom acknowledge.
Every administration promises to reduce bureaucracy. Every administration speaks about efficiency, investment and faster decision-making. Yet somehow, government itself continues becoming larger, slower and more complicated.
Sri Lanka today suffers less from a shortage of ideas than from an abundance of procedures.
A business wishing to expand, an investor seeking approvals or even an ordinary citizen trying to obtain a simple public service often finds themselves navigating a maze of ministries, departments, authorities, committees and regulatory agencies. Individually, each institution performs an important function. Collectively, they often create paralysis.
Nobody argues against accountability.
Public money deserves proper scrutiny. Environmental safeguards matter. Procurement rules exist for good reason. Transparency is essential. The problem arises when the process itself becomes more important than the outcome.
There comes a point where excessive procedure ceases to protect the public and instead begins punishing it.
nvestment delayed is often investment lost. Businesses do not wait indefinitely. Capital simply moves elsewhere.
Jerusalem….
The world has become extraordinarily competitive, and investors comparing Sri Lanka with Vietnam, Indonesia or India rarely ask whether our paperwork is thorough. They ask how long it will take to obtain an answer.
Unfortunately, uncertainty has become one of Sri Lanka’s least attractive exports.
The issue extends well beyond foreign investment. Government departments themselves frequently complain that projects stall because approvals remain trapped somewhere else within the State. Ministries wait for agencies.
Agencies wait for Treasury. Treasury waits for reports. Reports await committees. Committees await meetings.
The file moves.
The country does not.
Digital government has undoubtedly improved some areas, but technology alone cannot solve a culture that often mistakes delay for diligence.
Efficiency is not achieved by purchasing better computers. It is achieved by trusting competent public servants to make decisions and holding them accountable when those decisions prove wrong.
The countries admired for efficient government are not those with fewer regulations. They are those with clearer regulations. Investors understand the rules. Officials understand their responsibilities. Decisions are made within known timeframes.
Predictability creates confidence.
Sri Lanka has spoken about becoming an investment hub for decades. Yet investment is attracted not merely by tax concessions or promotional campaigns. It arrives where governments themselves demonstrate confidence in making timely decisions.
Be that as it may, the greatest obstacle to Sri Lanka’s development may no longer be politics, geography or even economics. It may simply be the growing inability of government to get out of its own way.
