Features
A woman has to be ‘stronger than a lion’ to cross the sea
Mediterranean Sea – On the open sea, thousands of kilometres from land, on a flimsy blue wooden boat, 21-year-old Linda* from Daraa, Syria, didn’t care if she lived or died.
She and 125 other refugees had left the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha in the dark of night, and her only goal was to get her sick mother to safety – away from the war back home, away from the freezing sea they had been drifting in for nearly two days with no food or water.
Then their boat was intercepted by German search-and-rescue vessel Humanity 1 – and Linda, her mother and the others were saved.
In the first chaotic hours after the rescue, she walked around the open deck, crying. Dressed in a black tracksuit with white stripes, she zigzagged between people queuing for a change of clothing and a long line of frozen survivors waiting to see the ship’s doctor.
![The blue boat [Nora Adin Fares/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-blue-boat1-1708686236.jpg?w=770&quality=80)
Linda travelled with her mother on the open sea, thousands of kilometres from land, before being rescued by the Humanity 1 [Al Jazeera]
Some of them were wrapped in shiny aluminum emergency blankets. When they moved, the sound reminded her of opening candy bags when she was a little girl.
Grabbing one of the crew members, her eyebrows furrowed in an effort to hold back tears, Linda whispered in Arabic: “Can I please charge my phone? I need to send a message.” She held out an iPhone with a cracked screen and traces of salt dried onto it.
She had been out of contact for 22 hours, so her fiancé of three weeks – still stuck in a Libyan smuggling shelter – did not know if she was dead or alive.
When she was told she would have to wait a few hours, her tears spilled over.
Two days later, Linda was sitting cross-legged on a blue mat in the women’s area on the Humanity 1. Above her head, yellow and purple letters read “Welcome on board” in Arabic and French.
The women’s area comprised two large rooms on the main deck, one with 12 bunks and the other a children’s playroom with a mural of fish swimming towards a moon and teddy bears.
This would be the temporary home Linda would share with eight other women and 11 children who were rescued from the boat.
Five toddlers ran around, playing with rubber surgical gloves they had blown up into large, white, waving hands. A seven-year-old girl named Sarah* stopped to run her hand along Linda’s long, dark hair, lying in a thick veil down her back.
“You have to drench it in olive oil; that’s how you get it long and healthy,” Linda advised the little girl as she parted her hair with light fingers and braided it.
That morning, the survivors had been told the ship was heading to Taranto in southern Italy to drop them off safely. Linda cheered at the news, but that feeling had subsided.
![Linda showing their bags that never made it across the sea Women, Humanity 1 [Nora Adin Fares/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Linda-showing-their-bags-that-never-made-it-across-the-sea-1708686114.jpg?w=770&quality=80)
Linda shows a photo of her bags that never made it across the sea [Al Jazeera]
Just over a month beforehand, Linda and her mother had sold their home in Syria to begin the journey to Germany to join her older sister, fleeing the war and famine that have torn the country apart since 2011. They are now among five million Syrian refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).
Linda felt heavily the responsibility of getting her mother, who has limited mobility and impaired speech after falling and hitting her head, there safely. They flew to Libya and then spent a month in two different smuggling dens in Sabratha.
After paying some $17,000 – their life savings – for the dangerous crossing, Linda felt duped.
“What did we pay for?” she asked. “It’s gone and we got on a boat that didn’t take us anywhere.”
In the smuggling den, more than 100 women and children, mostly from Syria and Eritrea, were crowded into small rooms, waiting to leave the country.
The grey building and its yard were fenced by a high brick wall. It was impossible to leave, and some of the women had been there for as long as a year and a half.
In the evenings, when they were putting their children to bed on mats on the floor, Linda heard the women’s stories about how smugglers exploited women and girls in the shelter. They lured them out with offers of special treatment, promising they would leave Libya before everyone else, and dragged them into a haze of drugs and alcohol. Some were sold; others were raped. It was known that the men guarding the shelters did not have pure intentions. Some would get violent, Linda explained, rubbing the back of her hand against a fading bruise along her upper lip.
Linda was beaten by one of the smuggler [Al Jazeera]
“I got it from one of the smuggler’s men,” she said. “He wanted me, but I rejected him. This is nothing compared to what it looked like the first week.”
The memory sparked something, and Linda’s desolate expression from the first day was replaced with one of fierceness and determination.
“Travelling … as a woman, means I have to be stronger than a lion,” she said, clenching her fists. “I have to be furious, so nobody dares put their hand on us. I can’t stop being angry until I know we’re safe.”
In the smugglers’ den, the men’s and women’s quarters were separated by a big brown gate that was opened occasionally for the groups to mix. They would gather in the common space to smoke shisha and socialise.
Kamal*, a 21-year-old also from Daraa, was on the other side of the gate, and he was smitten.
“The first time he saw me, he immediately went to my mother, asking for my hand,” Linda said, smiling at the memory.
Falling in love with another refugee was not part of Linda’s plan. She had promised to take her mother to Germany then return to Syria; she did not feel that life in Europe was for her.
But she fell for Kamal – he was kind and handsome and made her feel seen amid the helplessness of her situation.
Their love story can only be described as brief. Because of the gate between the quarters, they only saw each other a few times a week. In the meantime, they kept in touch via messages and phone calls, planning their future away from the shelter.
“The gate separated us, but when they would open it, I would run to him. My heart was torn to pieces every time we had to say goodbye,” Linda said.
Then news came late one evening – after a month of waiting, departure for Italy was within hours. Linda and her mother packed the few belongings they still had: clothes, some photographs of their family, and the old house key that Linda wanted to keep as a memory.
Just as they were about to leave the shelter, one of the smuggler’s men – the one who had bruised Linda’s lip – decided not to let Kamal go.
“He pointed at him and said: ‘Not you, not today.’ We were one second from leaving together,” Linda said, her eyebrows furrowing again as she tried to control the tears.
“He was punished because of me; I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” she cried before silently staring at the floor, waiting for the tears to stop.
The children stopped playing and fell silent when they saw Linda crying. Three-year-old Amira*, a girl with golden curls, tried to comfort her by climbing onto her back.
When the girl’s mother entered the room to see what the silence was about, she darted away.
Rania, the 23-year-old mother, smiled at her little girl’s receding back.
“One of her legs is shorter than the other. She’s had surgery twice in Syria, but it hasn’t helped. Hopefully, they’ll be able to fix it in Germany,” she said, tucking a few strands of hair back into her headscarf and sitting beside Linda.
Linda and Rania became friends in the smuggling shelter, where Rania had already been for two months with her three daughters, her 10-year-old sister and her 12-year-old nephew when Linda arrived. Rania says their time there was a constant cycle of hunger, humiliation, lice and filth.
“We’d get small food deliveries every two or three days. My girls were crying for bread. And we weren’t allowed to leave the shelter’s walls, not a single step outside,” she said, holding up her index finger in warning.
When Rania’s husband was killed four years ago, shot 15 times in crossfire between Syrian regime forces and fighters in Daraa, she found herself alone with two daughters, pregnant with the third, and no job. She had to rely on relatives to send her money from abroad.
Every month, her mother – who relied on government benefits in Germany – sent $100. But eventually, Rania decided to try to join her mother. There was nothing left for them in Syria.
“My mother took out a loan of $4,500 so we could flee … as soon as I land, I’ll start working to pay every dollar back.”
Travelling alone as a woman comes with its rules, Rania explained, noting the first rule is that no matter how nice the men you meet along the way are, they will try to take advantage of you.
Sometimes this has meant that she has had to play dumb, acting like she didn’t understand their advances and was so struck with worry for her children that she could grasp nothing else.
![One of Rania's daughters, comforted in the cold. [Nora Adin Fares/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/One-of-Ranias-daughters-comforted-in-the-cold1-1708686153.jpg?w=770&quality=80)
Rania talked over her three daughters running around the room, playing exuberantly. One of them dropped a packet of BP-5 bars, a high-calorie, vitamin-enriched emergency food that they were given on board. The young mother opened the package carefully and gave each girl a bar.
“On that boat, I was thinking over and over again: ‘How did I do this to my daughters? Am I crazy to risk their lives?’ I left because I wanted to keep them safe, but on that wooden boat, I couldn’t stop questioning what I was sending them to,” Rania said.
Linda added: “Those hours before we were rescued, she held her youngest and wailed.”
“All my daughters want to become doctors when we get to Germany,” Rania said, smiling proudly and pulling her youngest closer. Amira* giggled in her mother’s arms and shook her head.
“I dream of making kebabs and selling shawarma,” she announced, stamping her foot to punctuate her sentence.
The next morning, as the ship accelerated towards Taranto, Rania walked around barefoot. Her feet were pale against the deck’s cold surface, the harsh wind cutting through her black tracksuit.
Her shoes were left on the wooden boat when they were rescued, leaving her embarrassed to meet Italian land authorities barefoot.
“We have nothing left. The most important thing is my girls. I want to dress them, feed them, and see them live in peace. I don’t ever want to have to ask anyone for money again,” she said before going to thank the crew for helping her with her children.
![Rania and her children leaving the vessel [Nora Adin Fares/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Rania-and-her-children-leaving-the-vessel-1708686179.jpg?w=770&quality=80)
Rania and her children leaving the vessel [Al Jazeera]
Sitting in rows with the other survivors, wrapped in grey blankets, Linda and her mother huddled close together, watching the small coastal town grow larger on the horizon.
None of the women were at the end of their journey, but Linda said she had regained her strength after the harrowing sea crossing.
The only belongings she had left were a small black purse containing their passports and her phone. She had lost the house key she brought from Syria.
“Everything is gone,” she said. “The days, the memories, every remaining part of our family.”
Linda finally managed to contact Kamal; he was still with the smugglers, and she worried about him.
Gazing out at the grey industrial harbour on the heel of Italy, she said that if he decided to return to Syria, she would be prepared to follow him, adding “I hope he’ll join me wherever I end up.”
* Names have been changed to protect the respondents’ identity.
(Aljazeera)
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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