Features
Across the Atlantic to Mexico and Venezuela and visiting disabled people
(Excerpted from Memories that linger:
My journey in the World of Disability by Padmani Mendis)
My main finding was that the Manual had been adapted and translated into Spanish before the project started and this was a distinct advantage. Community health workers appeared to make use of it in the homes visited. I was particularly impressed with the use they made of the package on play activities. They taught mothers how to give extra stimulation to their children who had disability, involving the whole family in the process. In this way they were careful not to show a difference to the disabled child.
In one home, we met a three-year old child who had multiple disabilities with difficulties in learning and moving. He had not been able to sit unaided. Now after some weeks he was walking, pushing a home-made cart. The father said he had made this by adapting the drawing in the Manual.
In another home we met a five-year old child with cerebral palsy who also had difficulty moving. When the community worker found her she could only sit up. She was now walking with minimal help after the same period of time. In both homes, all the children in the family sat together with their parents to talk with us.
Another finding was that the packages on communication for both children and adults brought poor results. Individuals and families found these difficult to use. Although with most individuals with this disability, learning to communicate does require time, it appeared to me that this first draft did not contain enough specific material. We revised these extensively when we prepared the second version of the WHO Manual “Training the Disabled in the Community”. We used our field learning such as this to make significant changes that would bring better results for users.
I was happy that I had the opportunity to experience this project in which Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) had, within this time frame, been included in Primary Health Care apparently successfully. On the whole, the disabled people being visited at home appeared to show early and rapid improvement. The Manual, it seemed to me, showed the individuals and the families what can be achieved in spite of disability. When this had been realised it provided the motivation called for to work on the tasks that the disabled member could not yet do.
Venezuela – an adventure on arrival in Caracas
From Mexico, Dr. Hindley-Smith had arranged for me to go to Venezuela. Here I was to meet with persons in rehabilitation and in Primary Health Care. My task was different – in Venezuela I was to assist in planning a project to introduce CBR and to field test the Manual.
My counterpart was Dr. Jose’ Arvelo, the Chief of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. This is the first time I met him. I was to meet him again soon when we participated as members at the Meeting of the WHO Expert Advisory Committee on Disability and Rehabilitation held in Geneva the following February. The expert group was small, five to six members as such meetings usually are. We talked often about what was happening in Venezuela.
My arrival at Caracas Airport was something of an adventure. The WHO office in Caracas and Dr. Arvelo had not known about my flight and expected time of arrival. All due to difficulties in communication at that time which was by fax. These were not always to be depended on. Further, Dr. Arvelo had no idea where I was coming from.
Added to that the flight was delayed. Dr. Arvelo had meanwhile gone to the airport to meet three flights in the hope that I may have been on any one of them. I was not. He had given up in desperation not knowing what to do. Eventually my flight arrived at Caracas that night at 3 a.m. There was of course no one to meet me. Nervous and afraid, I approached a taxi and asked the driver to take me to a hotel. Fortunately, the driver was a good man. He took me to a small hotel in the city and I checked in. The room was rather dirty. The bathroom was no better. But the room, once locked, gave me safety.
Dr. Jose’ Arvelo
The next morning I contacted the WHO office in Caracas which in turn informed Dr. Arvelo where I was. He told me how worried he had been and how relieved he was to see me safe. He was sorry I was in such a sordid hotel. And one, apparently, with a “reputation.” He had me check out immediately and took me to one that was larger, newer and safer. It was moreover situated in the heart of the city.
It was in this hotel that I experienced my first earthquake. I awoke in the early hours one morning to feel myself on my bed, in my room, swaying from this side to that about five or six times. It really did not last long enough to frighten me too much. When I told Dr. Arvelo about it the next morning, he told me there had been an earthquake across the border in Columbia.
It had caused some damage locally, but no deaths. I should have mentioned that I was on the 20th floor of a very tall hotel.I experienced another earthquake not much later when I was on the 12th floor of the Holiday Inn Hotel in Manila. That shook more and really scared me. Many years later I experienced tremors while staying in a hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It was very mild. There have been a few since then in the Kandy area. Are these a prediction of earthquakes to come?
Dr. Arvelo’s concern for me throughout my stay was most touching. He and I spent a great deal of time together during my three weeks in Venezuela. Because it was he who took me everywhere, driving himself. As the Chief of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare he held a very important position in the country.
Within a few days of my arrival in Caracas, Dr. Arvelo took me home to meet his wife and three lovely young daughters. We got on well – there was so much they wanted to know about me, my work and my country. After that I became a frequent guest in their home. I had no time to be lonely and homesick in Caracas.
What I liked most about the hotel was that it had a Juice Bar situated just across from it. So in the morning for breakfast I would walk across for a deliciously fresh, cold, large fruit juice. And the same in the evening after a tiring day. In the mornings I would have avocado or guava, both heavy on the stomach. In the evenings something lighter, may be orange or pineapple. I can still taste those delicious flavours. Nalin and I often wonder over breakfast why it is that fruit does not have the same particular flavours that they did when we were young.
Collecting information for a CBR development project
Dr. Arvelo had arranged a programme for me with two broad aims in mind. One was to inform me of the present availability of rehabilitation services for disabled people. In the urban areas, Venezuela had a wide network of rehabilitation services staffed by well-trained professionals. From this we could ensure that selected project areas will have technical support.
The second was to enable me to know the pattern of Primary Health Care that was being developed in the country. This would enable us to decide on the feasibility of incorporating the field trial into this system. And the where and the how of doing it.
With these aims in mind we met and talked with people at all levels of the two systems. Professors, managers, disabled people, specialists, medical officers, therapists, social workers, teachers, consumers and others. We covered the areas of cerebral palsy, mental retardation, psychiatry, psychology, paediatrics, rehabilitation, physical medicine, visual impairment, hearing and speech impairment, leprosy, cardiac and chest disorders, drug addiction, mental health and psychiatry.
We also met the presidents and members of the National Associations of Physiotherapy and of Occupational Therapy, the Permanent Presidential Commission for the Care of the Mentally Retarded, and the National and Regional Institutes for Dermatology which looked after Leprosy. We had meetings with officials in the Ministry of Education and in the regional directorates of education. Sometimes we met these people singly, often in small groups.
To meet a selection of these people there were times when we travelled by road such as to Maracay in Aragua State and Barquisimeto in Lara State. At other times we flew as we did when we were headed to the Andes Mountain areas.
Primary Health Care
The urban – rural population ratio at that time was said to be 80:20, the opposite of ours. The country had a good hospital-based health care system for the urban population. Primary Health Care (PHC) was being developed for the 20% rural population. At the grass roots, it was being delivered by auxiliary nurses based in rural dispensaries. These served a population of 100 – 1,000 persons.
Auxiliary nurses were supported through visits by medical officers or registered nurses. Both worked at health posts, each serving a population of 10,000. They in turn were supported by health centres which had some specialised services and about fifty beds for in-patient care. The health centres in turn were supported by hospitals, each with up to 300 beds and more specialised services. PHC was also called simplified medicine just as CBR was called simplified rehabilitation in many South American countries.
I am still asked the question as to why CBR went into Primary Health Care in many countries. The answer is simple. It was the only development strategy at that time that reached people in their homes. Which had a support and referral system. WHO’s visionary Director-General Halfden T. Mahler made clear the difference between medical care and health.
Medical care is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Health care is much broader. It was at that time defined as having four components, namely promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Through this fourth component disabled people were clearly recognised as partners in the PHC strategy.
Selection of Project Areas and introduction
Under this project CBR was to be included in the Primary Health Care system in Venezuela. Within a few days, we had visited Aragua and Lara states and had spoken with people there. They had already made plans for the project. It was to start with training PHC personnel in their states. The Manual was available in Spanish from Mexico so this was no problem.
Training in PHC in most countries at this time used the “trickle down” effect. We met professionals from the rehabilitation institutions and other training centres for school teachers and the local administrations to discuss their role in training and implementation. We returned to Caracas to inform the people there as regards how and what the States of Lara and Aragua would do to initiate CBR in Venezuela. The projects had the support they required from Caracas.
Rehabilitation of people with leprosy
At this time Leprosy was very prevalent in Venezuela. Dr. Arvelo wanted me to experience how people who had leprosy and leprosy care were included successfully in the community. We flew to the Andean region and visited the capital city of Merida in Merida state, San Antonio and rural areas of the state of Trujillo. In these areas, we were at the northernmost part of the Andean Mountain range that ran down the coast of South America through seven countries.
I could not imagine that I was here, so far away from my own country. It was often windy and quite cold. I was not prepared for this either and Dr. Arvelo often lent me his coat to keep me warm. He told me potatoes and tobacco had originated in these parts of the Andes. I asked him about the rubber plant because I knew it came from South America. He told me it would have come to us from Brazil.
Leprosy was endemic in these states. In these areas, rehabilitation departments worked closely with leprosy services to provide comprehensive care to individuals and families. There had never been special centres for leprosy in Venezuela. All people who had leprosy were treated as they continued their normal lives within their family and community.
The visit to the home of one particular family comes to mind. The mother came out of her home to greet us. She was wiping her hands on her apron. It was apparent that she was attending to her housework. She was happy to talk with us about her condition. She related to us how she found herself having leprosy on a routine visit to her doctor.
She did not know how she had got it, but there were many people in her town who had leprosy before she did. That was some three or four years ago and she had been on medication since then. A person from the health service visited her regularly at home. At first the health visitor told her what care she should take of herself, and also when she looked after her family. Now the health visitor had become a friend and came routinely to make sure she was keeping fit.
As she talked with us, her children, about four or five, came running to where we were, appearing, as it were from nowhere. They clung to their mother as she spoke. They said they had been playing in the yard of a neighbour’s home.
There were indeed many lessons to be learned here by countries in Asia and Africa. We had, when leprosy was diagnosed, isolated and segregated our people in institutions located far away from their communities. To such an extent that stigma and fear was propagated and myths were created by the condition. As in my country, many people with leprosy were imprisoned in these institutions for life. Their families, fearing the disease refused to take them back. These were and are, forever their homes. Still isolated. Still segregated.
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 . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
