Features
COLONIAL GALLE
by Hugh Karunanayake
The City of Galle was for many centuries the capital of the Southern Province. Until about the mid twentieth century it was self sufficient socially and economically. It had its own harbour, railway links, departmental stores, hotels, schools, a hospital, a golf course, a racecourse, and cricket esplanade. There was little reason for people of Galle to travel to the metropolis as the needs of all classes were met locally.
Travel from Colombo to Galle by steam powered train was a three hour journey and quite an adventure with a 15 minute stop for morning or afternoon tea at Alutgama Station, served by liveried stewards employed by the caterer to the railways, JAD Victoria. With the development of motor transport and the onset of digital mass communication the tyranny of distance was conquered, and the quaint city of Galle rapidly assuming a suburban character serving as a satellite to the metropolis.
A brief review of the history of Galle during the colonial era may provide some insights into the gradual metamorphosis of Galle from a Capital city to a suburban satellite town.
THE FIRST COLONIALISTS
As early as in 2000 BC, spices such as cinnamon from Ceylon, and cassia from China found their way along the Spice Routes to the Middle East. Other goods were exchanged too – cargoes of ivory, silk, porcelain, metals and dazzling gemstones from Ceylon brought great profits to the traders who were prepared to risk the dangerous sea journeys. Arab traders were an entrepreneurial class which risked the high seas in often unseaworthy craft to ply their trade and thus formed links between countries which had little connection with others.
The great navigators from Britain, Spain, Portugal and France made their sporadic links later, but their links were more lasting, with improvements in sailing craft and their ability to travel across the great oceans. It was in the early 16th century that the first conquistadors to Ceylon the Portuguese, arrived. The eminent historian Dr Colvin R de Silva described it thus “if the vagaries of wind and wave brought the Portuguese to Ceylon, the fragrance of cinnamon kept them here.”
At the time of the “unintended” Portuguese visit to Ceylon in 1505, the kingdom of Kotte held sway over the island. The King Vijayabahu had three sons who rebelled against their father and established three different kingdoms. The rivalry between the three rulers gave the Portuguese the opportunity to expand their influence within the island.
Being a maritime nation, Portugal found the island of Ceylon a useful outpost. Their attempts to conquer the island were however repulsed by the subsequent King of Kandy Rajasinghe 2 who inflicted severe defeats on them. Nevertheless, the Portuguese had in the meantime, set up fortifications around the island including Colombo and Galle. The main entry into the country at the time was through the harbour of Galle.
As a counter measure Rajasinghe 2 entered into a treaty with the Dutch with the aim of driving the Portuguese out of the island. Portuguese rule in the maritime areas were marked by their extreme cruelty and most feared systems of punishment meted out to the local inhabitants. The Portuguese reacted to the treaty by strengthening the fortifications in Galle and Colombo, more as a defence mechanism from a possible attack from the Sinhalese rather than from European nations. This theory was soon dispelled with the Dutch attacks on both Colombo and Galle. Colonial Galle very much centred around the Fort of Galle which was the de facto nucleus of the Southern Province.
The military campaign that ended with the Dutch laying siege to the Galle Fort and thereafter overrunning it, was led by Willem Jacob Koster who was the first Dutch Governor of Ceylon. With the King of Kandy Rajasinghe 2 getting exasperated with the doings of the Portuguese he opportuned the Dutch and a treaty “the Westerwald Treaty’ was signed at Batticaloa with Rajasinghe 2. Willem Jacob Koster signed on behalf of the Dutch and then led the onslaught on the Fort of Galle held by the Portuguese.
On March 13, 1640, the combined troops under the command of Coster overpowered the Galle Fort and took over the city. .As part of the agreement, Trincomalee was returned to the king. When Rajasingha learned that Coster was reluctant to return more of the conquered land, he had Coster and his seven companions killed near Nilgala on the way back from Kandy to Batticaloa—in August 1640. The Dutch ruled the maritime areas of Ceylon for the ensuing one and a half centuries until 1796 when it was ceded to the British.
Meanwhile it left behind a legacy of Dutch culture including western oriented social customs and a substantial addition of blue eyes and fair skins to the local population mix! Some of the well known Dutch families who lived within the Galle Fort and who continued to live there well into the British colonial period were the Anthonisz, De Vos, Ephraums, Bogaars, Arndt, Andree, Bartholomeusz, Jansz, Kalė, Ludovici, Colin-Thome,and Ludowyck families who have all contributed men and women of distinction who served Ceylon admirably in later years.
HERE COMES THE BRITISH !
The British conquest of Ceylon occurred during the wars of the French Revolution (1792–1801). When the Netherlands came under French control, the British began to move into Ceylon from India. The Dutch surrendered the island in 1796. The British had thought the conquest would be temporary and administered the island from Chennai (Madras) in southern India. The war with France revealed Ceylon’s strategic value, however, and the British consequently decided to make their hold on the island permanent.
In 1802 Ceylon was made a crown colony, and, by the Treaty of Amiens with France, British possession of maritime Ceylon was confirmed. Ceylon continued to be a colony of Great Britain until independence was achieved in 1948 and granted dominion status. In 1972 the island became an independent Republic.
BRITISH COLONIAL GALLE
Ever since 1815 when Ceylon came under total British rule, the customs and manners of the British including the widespread use of the English language took a dominant hold of the country. The language of administration, teaching in schools, were in English and social customs took a western oriented dominance. Although such circumstances did suffocate the development of indigenous culture especially the growth of social and religious activities and practices, there were elements of the local population who by reason of association with the British, or through their own entrepreneurial skills reached a level of near parity with the colonialists. Subsequent governmental policies and social pressures over the years have changed the fortunes of this class, and are mostly obliterated from the nation’s psyche.
It has been said that the legacy of the Portuguese in Ceylon was the baila or kaffringa music, and the Roman Catholic religion, the Dutch left the country a rich legacy of a new ethnic group the Burghers who during the days of Dutch occupation and later during British rule, dominated the country”s public service administration. As for the British, their legacy was indeed the English language, the judicial and administrative systems, the tea and rubber plantations, and of course the game of cricket.
According to Sri Lanka’s most famous sports journalist the late SP Foenander, cricket was played in Galle as early as 1875, the year in which the Galle Cricket Club met a team of military cricketers who were stationed in the Southern Province. It has since been a nursery for fine national cricketers. EM Karunaratne a former master at Richmond College, and later one of the best criminal lawyers in the country, was associated with the many outstanding achievements of the Galle Cricket Club up to the mid twentieth century.
A stalwart institution in the South which was established in 1885 was the Galle Gymkhana Club. Its first Secretary was Charles P Hayley co- founder of the firm Hayley and Kenney, and flourishing today as Hayleys PLC. Initially the Galle Gymkhana Club was limited to European residents, but with the increasing popularity of horse racing, Ceylonese participation was inevitable. The Ceylon Turf Club which was the umbrella organisation which sponsored horse racing throughout the island, had its headquarters at the Colombo racecourse, but the Christmas meet was always at Galle in the Boosa racecourse in Gintota.
Initially the Gymkhana Club had its meet on the Galle esplanade but it was restricted due to inadequacy of land available. The shift to Boosa took place in 1922 with the acquisition of over 70 plots of land from private ownership. The conveyancing and clearing of titles were completed by leading Galle lawyer RAH de Vos. The sweepstakes conducted by the Galle Gymkhana Club shoe horned many an impoverished person into a comfortable existence.
Both Aitken Spence and Co and today’s Hayleys PLC owe their establishment to Galle; EG Spence the founding partner of Aitken Spence and Charles P Hayley having established their companies originally in Galle. Walker Sons & Co had its branch in Galle. Another leading firm based in Galle was E Coates & Co which did not venture out beyond the Southern City. Arthur Ephraums who founded the departmental store A.R Ephraums Cooperative Co, Ltd Galle, was based in the Galle Fort. Its departments included wines, spirits, cigarettes, groceries, fancy goods, drugs, haberdashery, drugs, patent medicines etc all provided from its extensive two storied building in the Fort. Arthur Ephraums went on to become a leading hotelier having founded the New Oriental Hotel,in Galle and also owned the Grand Hotel Mount Lavinia, and several restaurants in the Fort in Colombo
The large tea and rubber plantations of the Southern Province used Galle as its centre of operations and many plantation owners were either based in Galle, or used the city for its commercial operations. Some prominent estate owners from the South include the Amarasuriya family, whose original family home (since gifted to the government) still stands at Unawatuna, the Perera/Abeywardenes of Closenberg, Mudaliyar Gooneratne of Atapattu Walauwwa, and many other prominent land owners too numerous to mention here.
As for Hotels and hostelry, there were many hotels within the Galle Fort and in the Wackwella area catering to tourist arrivals at the time the Galle harbour was the main point of entry into the country. Most of them were located within the Fort and included the Oriental Hotel, the Commercial Hotel, the Old Mansion Hotel, Eglington Hotel, Sea View Hotel, and the Talbot Town Hotel. Most of these hotels had to close down due to lack of tourist arrivals after the opening of the South West Breakwater in the Colombo Harbour in 1870.
The railway to Galle was established in 1894. The southern city was till then, only accessible from Colombo by the Galle Royal Mail Coach which carried mail and passengers from and to Colombo. There were four rivers to be crossed all by Ferry at Gintota, Bentota, Kalutara and Panadura. Life in the 19th and early 20 th Century Galle was slow paced, peaceful, and pleasant. Socially the city was stratified by class, caste, and skin colour, which all combined to form a “revolution of rising expectations’’ to hit the whole country in the 1950s.
Although this writer is tempted to use the much hackneyed phrase “the rest is history” he would urge readers to have an in depth and detailed account of Galle as it stood from the encyclopaedic work of Norah Roberts in ” Galle, as quiet as asleep” first published in 1993, and revised in 2005.
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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