Features
How I made good in Australia, some reminiscences
Dr. Harold Gunatillake
In 1969, I returned to the island with my fellowship degree and intensive training with one of the famous surgeons in London, Mr Norman Tanner, having served as Senior Registrar at Queen Mary’s Hospital Orthopaedics. I still recollect the interview for the selection for this post, sitting in front of a panel of professionals and administrators and over 50 applicants sitting in the waiting room waiting for their interview for a single position. Many of them were locally qualified Britons. I was asked, “Mr Gun, what are your plans coming from Ceylon seeking positions in hospitals in the UK?”
My prompt reply was that I have been sent to the UK for specialized training to obtain the fellowship degree, return to Ceylon, and spread the ‘Gospel of the training obtained’ to serve my people. Further, I have been sent on a government scholarship to do so. Among many other eligible candidates, mainly Britons, I was selected for the position.
My dream then was to return and serve my people and aspire to be a top surgeon, hopefully following my gurus’ footsteps like Dr Anthonis and Dr Gunewardene, visiting Surgeons at Colombo Hospitals. After returning from the UK, I served as Resident Surgeon in the Accident Service, Colombo, followed by a short period as locum in Kandy and then transferred to Badulla Provincial Hospital as General Surgeon in 1970.
Something unique at the time I served as a Surgeon in Kandy was that when you are on call, the hospital sends the ambulance to your residence and drops you back at your home after attending to the surgical emergency. That system does not exist today after the invention of mobile telephones.
I recollect the 1971 Revolt (insurrection) when the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection against the Socialist United Front Government of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. The decision to revolt was taken by nine senior members of the JVP when they met at the Sangaramaya Temple of the Vidyodaya University on April 2, 1971, seeking to capture State power by attacking all the police stations in the country on the night of April 5, 1971.(Rohan Gunaratna: Sri Lanka: A Lost Revolution? The Inside Story of the JVP)
One Sunday morning, people with many gunshot injuries were brought to Badulla General Hospital (where I was stationed), and I spent a whole day in the operating theatre attending to the casualties. It was like a war zone. Some seriously head-injured patients were dispatched to General Hospital in Colombo.
During this grey period, the hospitals were short of most disposable items, including antibiotics like penicillin and saline transfusions among other essentials. Our wives had to queue up to purchase clothes from the CWE cooperative shops. Even for the essential provisions, there were long queues at the CWE. There were even bread queues at a later period. Private practice after hours was banned, and we were given Rs 500 per month as a non-pensionable allowance in lieu.
Life became hard and I was gloomy about the future; then the decision was made to leave the country for greener pastures. During this period I was offered a Senior Surgical Registrar’s position in the main General Hospital in Singapore. Dr N.M.Perera was the Minister of Finance during at the time. He stopped giving foreign exchange to anyone leaving the country to stop the ‘brain drain’ during that grey period. I resigned from government service and left for Singapore with my family with no money in my pocket. Still, we were lucky that Prof Kanaks, Anatomy Professor in the Teaching Hospital in Singapore, our one-time senior lecturer in Anatomy in Colombo Medical Faculty, was there to receive us at the airport and welcome us.
After serving for three years as Senior Surgical Registrar in Outram Road General Hospital, we decided to settle down in Australia. One incident there must be mentioned here, a most unique and exciting episode. As Senior Registrars, we got a date monthly to perform minor surgery under local anesthesia on outdoor patients. On one of my days on that duty, there was a shortage of ‘trolley boys’ – young boys coming from Malaysia to earn some pocket money.
As there were very few trolley boys on duty, I walked to the outpatient department, placed the patient on the trolley, wheeled him to the operating theatre and wheeled him back after the minor surgery to the OPD and wished him good luck. The next day this was highlighted in the Straits Times newspaper with the story that an Indian trolley boy had operated on a Chinese patient!
The high-ups in the department of health in Singapore were shocked and disturbed. After making inquiries, the hospital’s medical superintendent reported to the authorities that I had done the operation on this patient. I was summoned to the office where many officials from the department of health were present and I feared I was in trouble. I explained what happened and the circumstances and their faces changed and they thanked me.
Our migration to the ‘Lucky Country’
We were passed to come to Australia and in February 1975, we settled in the suburb Jannali in New South Wales. How we settled in Jannali, then mainly a white Australian suburb, was interesting. Through an Act of 1901, a White Australia policy effectively stopped all non-European immigration into the country contributing to the development of a racially insulated white society.
Mr Bates, the ex-Mayor of the Sutherland shire, was holidaying in Singapore with his partner. His travel guide was known to me; and when his partner had a medical emergency, the guide contacted me and I promptly attended to the need. Then, we hosted them to lunch in a nearby restaurant, the normal tradition in Singapore for entertaining visitors.
Mr Bates was very happy and asked me what he could do for me. I said we had been passed to come to Australia and were preparing ourselves for the change. He said, “please let me know if you are coming to Sydney.” He was waiting for us in his limousine when we landed at Sydney. We were taken to Jannali where he owned the ‘Bates Arcade,’ a commercial and residential block.
He introduced me to the bank manager and other important officials in Jannali, and our settling in was smooth and comfortable. I then had to find a surgical job in a hospital. The same week, I made an appointment with the Medical Superintendent of Sutherland hospital, three railway stations from Jannali. I was interviewed and was lucky to start work the following week as the Surgical Registrar to two surgeons. It was easy then to find a position with a British qualification without further local training.
The United Kingdom provides the largest source of overseas doctors or International Medical Graduates (IMGs) working in Australia. Of course, no doctor coming from another country, including Sri Lanka, is guaranteed work in Australia. I was privileged to get jobs in this hospital for Sri Lankan surgeons visiting Australia for extended holidays. At that time, we were registered as specialist surgeons with the right to private practice. Sutherland Hospital staff was friendly, and my working there was most pleasant. My two bosses loved me.
I must now relate a story of an experience working in that hospital. An affluent lady was admitted for surgery with a popliteal aneurysm. Popliteal means the back of the knee and the aneurysm is a bulge arising from the main artery there. This appears as a pulsating bulge and needs early surgery. In the seventies, we had no vascular surgeons and general surgeons did such specialized work.
One of my bosses got the retired Professor of Surgery from Sydney Hospital in the CBD to perform the surgery on this lady. It was fixed for a Sunday morning. My boss requested I assist this professor, and I was introduced to the professor as the best registrar to help in the operation. The professor did not look at me when my boss paid me that compliment; I realized he might not like ‘Indian-looking’ assistants. We scrubbed together before the procedure, but no word from him. I confidently assisted him in the surgical procedure without his saying anything during the operation.
At the end of the procedure, I wondered whether he would take an essential step in the last bite of the stitching in the closure of the incision in the opened blood vessel. In vascular surgery, before you take the last bite to close the cut, the distal clamp must be removed for the blood to gush through the wound to prevent air from getting into the vessel. Such air bubbles entering a blood vessel can travel towards the lungs and lead to an imminent death from air embolism.
I waited for that moment when he was attempting to close the last stitch without releasing the distal clamp in the vessel. I got my chance and shouted, “Sir, may I release this clamp”. He looked at me for the first time and nodded. After the operation, while leaving the operating theatre, this racist professor put his arm around my shoulder and politely asked, “tell me who you are?”
We sat in the lounge and became the best of friends. One piece of advice the professor gave me was not to waste time as a registrar and get into the private practice and “make your money.” I accepted his advice and got a position in a private practice group in the suburb of Cabramatta, occupied by primarily European migrants.
I did my surgery in Fairfield Heights Private Hospital. Everything was smooth, and the staff was most cooperative. Three months later, one of the staff nurses in that private hospital came to consult me professionally. She said while conversing that she was sent by the hospital matron on my first day in the operating theater there to check my competence.A great opportunity I enjoyed in Australia was that we could go for conferences overseas and claim a tax deduction for ourselves and our partners. In Sri Lanka, that is once in a lifetime event. I used that opportunity by attending cosmetic surgery conferences in various parts of the world and workshops on cosmetic procedures in Paris, Rome, and London.
I developed my technique of operative procedure for an operation called ‘Abdominoplasty’ to remove excess fat and skin from the flap that hangs like an apron in your abdominal wall. This technique was named after my name, “Gunatillake technique of abdominoplasty”, and I had the opportunity of describing this procedure at many conferences in cities like Paris, Rome, Florida, Los Angeles, Japan, Peru and Bangkok.I was the first cosmetic surgeon who performed liposuction- a procedure to suck fat out from redundant areas of your body. My first patient was a Mrs Elliot, and I remember my anaesthetist asking me whether I was performing “jungle surgery.”
During the past 20 years, I have engaged in writing health articles and publishing a health newsletter named “Health & Views”. I have produced over 75 YouTube videos on various topics, such as health, Sri Lankan historical events, and the present crisis in Sri Lanka, among others. I have written over 400 health articles which you can view most of them on my website: www.Doctorharold.com. I have written health articles for the now defunct Sunday Leader and the Sunday Island.
I have engaged in community activities among the expat Sri Lankan community in Australia, mainly in New, South Wales (NSW). I was the president of the Sri Lankan Association of NSW for two consecutive years-1997 and 1998. I was the first treasurer of the Sinhalese Cultural Forum. I have been engaged in giving public talks to our community on health topics and showing my videos on the LTTE war and the historical sites of Sri Lanka.
I am happy that I migrated to Australia as the healthcare system is high quality, timely and affordable. It is a very safe and stable country to live in, with a friendly, relaxed culture that makes it easier to achieve a comfortable lifestyle. It is a multicultural society and no more a whites-only country. Aboriginal people are well recognized and honored as the country’s first people. Their cultures, religions, and traditions are respected and they now participate in the celebrations of Australia Day on the January 26 each year.
I received an ‘Order of Australia’ medal last May. The award for medicine and community services to the Sri Lankan people is an excellent example of how foreign people are recognized for their achievements in this country. Australia is a country of opportunities for young people, whether locals or migrant youth with an open government with an ever-growing economy.I want to tell those young people who wish to leave Sri Lanka for a better life and higher education that they must think of Australia as a destination for achieving their dreams of improving their future.
About the author: Dr Harold Gunatillake, Health Editor, is a Member of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. Member of the Australian Association of Cosmetic Surgery. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (UK), Corresponding Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. Member of the International Societies of Cosmetic Surgery, Fellow of the International College of Surgery (US). Australian diplomat for the International Society of Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery. Board Member of the International Society of Aesthetic Surgery. Member of the American Academy of Aesthetic & Restorative Surgery. Life Member of the College of Surgeons, Sri Lanka. Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (Cey). Government scholar for higher studies in the UK.
(This article is prepared as requested for the 75th Annual Celebration magazine of the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra, Australia)
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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