Features
‘BLOODY’ PROBLEMS & ‘EXCITING’ OPPORTUNITIES
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca
Troubles in Paradise
Sri Lanka is often described as ‘Paradise’ and is poised to do well in tourism. It is tropical island with a coastline of 1,562 Km. The inland region of gently rolling hills, wildlife and cultural heritage has a recorded history of 2,600 years. It has an impressive eight UNESCO world heritage sites which all enhance its value as an amazing tourist destination.
However, the country has faced many major challenges and setbacks in the last seven decades, since gaining independence in 1948. This was after three centuries of ruthless European colonial rule of parts of the island by the Portuguese, Dutch and then by the British, who eventually ruled the whole country for 133 years. Since then, the nation has faced Hartal and racial riots in the 50s, two (one alleged) military coups d’état in the 60s, and two armed revolts by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the early 70s and late 80s. These were just the beginning of a series of major challenges that affected the economy and the progress of an independent nation.
From 1983, a 26-year long separatist war of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was marked with gruesome incident such as political assassinations, random killings, terrorism and suicide bombings. All of this affected peace, economy, the nation’s image and tourism. The UN estimated over 80,000 deaths resulting from this civil war.
Despite short-lived ceasefires and the government’s attempts to encourage extremists to enter peaceful elections, by the late 1980s the government of Sri Lanka was fighting two wars – the LTTE civil war and the second wave of JVP insurgency. Stakeholders of tourism and hospitality industries were resilient and optimistic, but by 1989, the situation had plunged from bad to worse.
LTTE Civil War
Suicide Bombing was a deadly tactic of the LTTE to maximize casualties of their enemies, the army and innocent civilians. The first, prominent suicide bombing by the LTTE occurred in 1987 when a suicide bomber drove a truck laden with explosives into a Sri Lankan army camp killing 40 soldiers. After that, the LTTE carried out over 200 separate attacks on civilian and military targets.
On April 21, 1987, I heard that the largest bus station in Sri Lanka – the Colombo central bus station was attacked by the LTTE. The government declared a 24-hour curfew on the entire district of Colombo. In spite of appeals by my family for me to stay at home, I rushed to Le Galadari Meridien Hotel where I worked as the Director of Food and Beverage. Roads from Colombo to the suburbs had bumper to bumper traffic as most people were attempting to return home before the curfew and fears of further terrorist attacks. Only a very few, including me, were driving towards Colombo.
On that day, an 80-pound (36 kg) bomb killed at least 113 people and left a 10-foot (3 m.) crater in the ground. In the immediate aftermath, Sinhalese mobs rioted across the streets of Colombo, pulling over cars to see if there were Tamils inside. The LTTE expected such a reaction. This would help them to create deeper hatred between the two main racial groups of the country and to recruit more to their cadre. Sri Lankan police led a massive intervention against rioters after some started stoning Tamil-owned stores, leading to a heavy police presence on every corner of the city.
Although it was totally unsettling, I focused on doing my job to ensure that over 350 guests at the hotel were looked after and essential food and beverage services were provided as best as we could manage, under the circumstances. I stayed at the hotel for a few days with a few other executives to manage the crisis by leading from the front. We allocated two floors of five-star rooms for staff accommodation and provided all meals.
As we had only a small number of staff working, I closed all food and beverage outlets except the coffee shop and the lobby bar. As the guests were frightened, with a view to keeping them a little occupied, we operated the night club with DJ music. That night, I wrote a contingency plan to face similar crises in the future. I quickly mastered the essence of crisis management, but not by choice. As the LTTE suicide bomb attacks in Colombo became common, that contingency plan was regularly updated, and used.
Nine years after that, on January 31, 1996, during the LTTE suicide bombing of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka killing 91 people, I nearly lost my life. At that time, I was living in Jamaica. I was in Sri Lanka on holiday and to attend my elder son’s 10th birthday. My life was saved by an old vendor in the Chatham street, by delaying my walk towards the central bank by a minute by trying to sell me his wares. I was lucky.
On October 15, 1997 a group of six LTTE’s Black Tigers drove a truck laden with approximately 350 kg (770 lb) explosives into the car park of the Galadari Hotel (formerly Le Meridien), where they shot and killed four, unarmed security guards. The blast destroyed 30 cars in the Galadari Hotel parking lot and shattered all of the hotel’s windows as well as the windows on all of the nearby buildings, including Colombo Hilton. The terrorists, armed with assault rifles, dispersed and made their way into nearby government buildings where they fought security forces for several hours until they were either killed, blew themselves up or swallowed cyanide pills.
JVP Insurgency
Founded by a Russian-educated communist, Rohana Wijeweera, the JVP was known for its revolutionary youth background. The organization was banned more than once when the group was first involved in riots of the early 1970s. Since then, the movement was called the ‘Che Guevara clique’ by the Sri Lankan government and international media.
The insurgents led by the JVP resorted to subversion, assassinations, raids and attacks on military and civilian targets. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government reacted through counter-insurgency operations to suppress the revolt. The 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, like the 1971 JVP insurrection was eventually unsuccessful, but after deadly consequences.
For over two years, the state saw mass militancy of youth and workers, mass execution and terrorism. Anti-JVP militias also caused violence. The assassination of the charismatic movie idol and political party leader, Vijaya Kumaratunga on February 16, 1988 was one of the turning points of the JVP insurgency. Some estimates indicate a total of 40,000 deaths resulting from the JVP’s second armed insurrection between 1987 and 1989.
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF)
When the government of Sri Lanka agreed with the government of India to deploy a peace-keeping force from the subcontinent, that decision drew the anger of the JVP base. On July 30, 1987, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was it on the shoulder with a rifle butt by a Sri Lankan navy rating while inspecting a naval guard of honour before leaving for India. Just before that, Gandhi had signed an agreement with President JR Jayewardene to send the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka.
That evening, my colleague, Chandra Mohotti, Director of Rooms Division of the hotel and I went up to the roof top of Le Galadari Meridien to watch dozens of rapidly spreading fires set off in Colombo by JVP mobs protesting Indian interference in Sri Lanka. Chandra and I were deeply saddened to watch those ugly actions. The Indian community in Sri Lanka were shocked and angered in the wake of the JVP’s anti-Indian campaign. From that point on, the JVP also focused on crippling the tourism industry in Sri Lanka and forcing many of the tourist hotels in Sri Lanka to close.
Four years later, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the LTTE while he was attending a public meeting in Tamil Nadu, South India. A female member of the LTTE approached Gandhi in public to garland him. She then bent down to touch his feet and, in cold blood, detonated a belt laden with 700 g (1.5 lb) of explosives tucked under her dress. The explosion killed Gandhi, the suicide bomber and at least 14 other people. The Supreme Court of India determined in its judgement that the killing was carried out due to the personal animosity of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran towards Rajiv Gandhi, arising from Gandhi sending the IPKF to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKF atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.
Shattered Dreams
My plan was to work with Le Meridien in Colombo only for a total of three years. The previous General Manager and my mentor, Mr. Jean-Pierre Kaspar had suggested that by mid-1989 I should be able to get a transfer to a Le Meridien in the Far East or the Middle East for three years at the same level, but on an expatriate contract. With that plan in mind, he kindly arranged excellent management development exposures for me with Le Meridien in Singapore, Paris, Tour and London.
When I mentioned my career plan to the new General Manager, Paul Finnegan, he informed me that there were no such opportunities at that time. He then suggested that I should continue in Colombo for one more year, but I was in a hurry to embark on my global career. I was disappointed and placed the goal of becoming a Le Meridien General Manager within five years, on a back burner. I eventually achieved that goal, in the Caribbean in 1997.
Multiple Job Offers
As I made a name for Le Galadari Meridien, for my team, as well as for myself, I often was offered various jobs around late 1980s. The most interesting opportunities were:
= General Manager – Mount Lavinia Hotel, Sri Lanka: I was offered the post in 1988, but when the outgoing General manager and my friend, Prasanna Jayawardene decided to postpone his leaving for Sweden, I decided not to accept the offer.
=Manager & Executive Chef – A new restaurant in London, UK: I was sent to London to search for a suitable location and gather information for a feasibility study, by businessman Wasantha Basnayake. After doing the feasibility with input from a well-known Chartered Accountant, he wanted me to open the restaurant, but I declined.
=General Manager & Executive Chef – A new South Asian restaurant chain – Melbourne, Australia: A visionary entrepreneur with business experience in Singapore and Australia, Mr. Nalin Pathikirikorale discussed with me about setting up a chain of restaurants with a product similar to Singapore’s ‘Banana Leaf’ restaurant. I was tempted, but accepted a five-star hotel job in the Middle East instead.
=Director – Ceylon Tourist Board London Office, UK: Mr. Asker Moosajee, Chairman of the Ceylon Tourist Board prompted me to apply for this post. I was a finalist for the job, but they selected a sales professional from Lever Brothers. as he had better qualifications, training and experience in marketing, than I did at that time.
=Sales Manager – Informatics Software Company, Dubai, UAE: I was surprised when I was approached by the well-known entrepreneur Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe. He wanted me to join his company to sell software systems to hotels in the Middle East. It was an interesting offer, but I decided not to accept it as it was beyond my expertise.
=Director of Catering & Entertainment – Colombo Hilton, Sri Lanka: I was pleasantly surprised when Gamini Fernando, the General Manager of Colombo Hilton asked me to see him in his office. I was a fan of this great hotelier. He said that if I would like to join Hilton, he would create a new post for me with a fancy title to manage entertainment, special events and special banquets. I was tempted, but declined as I wanted to work as an expatriate in another country.
=Director of Food & Beverage – Hotel Lanka Oberoi, Sri Lanka: Two of our most regular diners at the Palme D’Or French Restaurant at Le Meridien were the General Manager of Hotel Lanka Oberoi – Mr. Kaval Nain and his Egyptian wife. He was fond of me and was impressed with the operation I ran. He would frequently hint: “Mr. Jayawardena, you deserve a better hotel! Please join us at Hotel Lanka Oberoi.”
=Food & Beverage Manager – Hotel Babylon Oberoi, Iraq: One day, Mr. Nain told me: “I understand you don’t want to work for me! Mr. Jayawardena, today I will make you an offer which you cannot refuse!” He was right. He offered me a job at a sister hotel in Iraq as an expatriate manager, on five times the salary I was earning in Colombo.
Joining Oberoi
Mr. Nain introduced me to Mr. Madan Mishra, Vice President for Oberoi in Iraq, and General Manager of Hotel Babylon Oberoi in Baghdad. He gave me a glowing recommendation. After the formal interview, Mr. Mishra invited me to an informal discussion at the London Grill at Lanka Oberoi, where he hosted my wife and me to dinner.
After the Iran–Iraq War ended in August 1988, with the killing of 500,000 people over a period of eight years, there was some optimism about the future. “As the operator of the three largest and best five-star hotels in Iraq, Oberoi has an important role to play in training hospitality workers and developing tourism in Baghdad and Mosul. Welcome to my top team.” Mr. Mishra shook my hand after I signed a two-year contract with Oberoi.
As at that time in Iraq they did not like to use the term ‘Director’, my title would be ‘Food & Beverage Manager’. “You would be overall in charge of 10 food and beverage outlets and banqueting, kitchens and stewarding. You team will include 160 employees from 10 countries. Most of your team of restaurant managers would be graduates of the Oberoi School of Hotel Management,” Mr. Mishra said. He then added, “Out of 50 Lankans I have recruited for Babylon Oberoi, you are the only person not from Hotel Lanka Oberoi. My friend, Mr. Nain thinks very highly of you, and I respect his judgement.”
Good Bye, Colombo!
I was sad to leave Le Galadari Meridien Hotel after spending exactly three years there. Our French Executive Chef Emile Castillo who commenced work in Colombo on the same day as I did in mid-1986, told me confidentially, during my farewell party, that he would also leave Colombo in a few weeks’ time. “I am joining Mr. Kaspar at Le Meridien in the Bahamas” Emile told me. We agreed to keep in touch, and we did so for the next 34 years.
In 1997 Emile visited me at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus hotel, to assist me with the hotel opening events. A couple of times during his 27 years as the Executive Chef of Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York, USA, I stayed with Emile and his family. He and his Sri Lankan wife visited my family during their last visit to Canada, a few years ago. Last week, Emile sent me an e-mail and mentioned: “Your articles about our three years at Le Galadari Meridien, has reminded me of what a memorable time we had, Chandi! Thank you for the nostalgia! Your friend, Emile.”
FINAL ‘CONFESSIONS…’ ARTICLE
On March 5th, 2023, the concluding article of the weekly column: ‘Confessions of a Global Gypsy’ will be published by the Sunday Island. Thank you for your readership over the last two years.
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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