Politics of clusters

Wednesday 18th November 2020

The government is of the view that the Minuwangoda garment factory cluster of coronavirus infections has been brought under control, according to a news item we published yesterday. This particular cluster, which triggered the second wave of COVID-19 in the country, may be over, and the health workers, the military, the police and the Civil Defence Force deserve credit for neutralising it. However, the Minuwangoda cluster may have given rise to a number of sub-clusters, which may expand, with the passage of time, pushing the country further towards the much-dreaded community transmission.

Interestingly, an attempt was made to merge the Minuwangoda garment factory cluster and the Peliyagoda fish market cluster, a few weeks ago; some government officials went on record as saying that the two clusters had to be considered as one. The government drew heavy flak for having allowed scores of garment factory workers flown from India to go to work before completing the mandatory 28-day quarantine period. The amalgamation of the aforesaid two clusters was arguably aimed at having the public believe that the second wave of infections was not solely due to the alleged government intervention to cut short the quarantine period for the Brandix garment workers who were responsible for the explosive spread of COVID-19 in Minuwangoda. It was also claimed in some quarters that the infections that caused the second wave of COVID-19 had come all the way from Ukraine, of all places! Such were the propagandistic attempts to muddy the water.

A few weeks ago, Attorney General Dappula de Livera ordered the police to investigate the circumstances that led to the formation of the Munuwangoda garment factory cluster, and institute legal action against those whose lapses caused the second wave of infections. The police did not act swiftly. Nobody expected them to do so. They trotted out lame excuses for delaying the probe, and one of them was that some investigators had contracted COVID-19. The pace of most police probes is politically determined in this country, and it is obvious that the long arm of the law has baulked at launching the probe due to political pressure. There have been instances where the police even refrained from executing arrest warrants as the suspects concerned had political connections; they did not arrest some bond scam suspects despite arrest warrants on them, and allowed the latter to obtain interim injunctions from the Court of Appeal, suspending the execution of the arrest warrants. The police also dragged their feet when they were directed by the AG to arrest the Kurunegala Mayor who allegedly demolished a historical monument, and the Negombo Prison chief, who had allegedly helped wealthy criminals lead luxury lives in prison.

Even if the garment factory cluster is over, as the government claims, the police probe ordered by the AG must be conducted to find out how it came about and who is responsible. Were some garment factory workers allowed to skip part of the mandatory quarantine process, as alleged? If so, who helped them? The police can easily gather information about these workers and find out whether they were properly quarantined or the factory concerned adhered to the health guidelines. It is alleged that the garment workers were made to work despite being sick. All these allegations must be investigated thoroughly and the truth got at. There is no need for the CID, or the Colombo Crime Division or any other special police units to conduct this investigation. A team of raalahamis led by an experienced sergeant will be able to conduct it, provided there is no political interference. One can only hope that the AG will resist political pressure and ensure that the probe will not get derailed even though the government says the garment factory cluster is a thing of the past.