Features
CONCLUSION: MISSIONS OF A GLOBAL PROFESSOR : 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
Struggling with Doctoral Studies
By 1998, I was struggling with my doctoral research. By then I realized that doing a Ph.D. in the midst of a busy hotel career, at times demanding 16-hour work days, was nearly impossible. I was thinking of a way to find the time to continue my doctoral research, but could not figure out a practical way to manage my busy schedule in order to do all the things I loved doing.
Every Wednesday, I hosted a carefully selected dozen VIPs from Jamaica for an informal cocktail reception at the General Manager’s apartment at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. That type of PR with a personal touch, worked well in Jamaica. One day, an invitee for a such reception was an old friend of mine from my time in Guyana, Professor Dr. Kenneth Hall. He had been recently appointed as the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of West Indies (UWI), and the Principal of its main campus. Later he became the Governor General of Jamaica and was knighted by the Queen of the United Kingdom, as Sir Kenneth.
During that reception in 1998, having accidentally noticed the five books I had co-authored or edited up to that time, Professor Hall was amazed. “Chandi, I did not know that you, in addition to being a busy hotelier, also had been an academic, researcher and writer!” I casually mentioned to him about my post-secondary full-time and part-time teaching in Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland and Guyana. He also asked questions about my time in four European countries, 16 years prior, on an UNDP/ILO Fellowship on Pedagogical Teaching and Training Methodology.
The very next day, Professor Hall sent one of UWI Deans with an excellent offer for me to join them as Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Tourism Management. They offered me an excellent salary and benefit package including a four-bedroom bungalow near the main campus, and lot of free time to finish my doctoral studies in UK. I negotiated two years of sabbatical leave from Forte PLC in England, and accepted the offer from UWI.
In addition to doctoral research in England, I also enrolled for a second Ph.D. in Sustainable Tourism Development at UWI. With that, I became a full-time educator and doctoral researcher, at the first regional university of the world – UWI, which had been established by University of London, UK, as an affiliated institution in 1948. Professor Hall became my new mentor and helped me to progress rapidly in the academic world. I co-authored two significant articles on ‘Caribbean Tourism’ with Professor Hall and the Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) – Dr. Jean Holder.
Developing the first Master’s Degree in Tourism in the Caribbean
Within three months of joining UWI, I was given an exciting additional job – to develop the first Master’s degree in Tourism & Hospitality Management in the Caribbean. It was funded by the European Union, and required me to travel around the Caribbean. I was able to do research and interview leaders of tourism in most of the 32 countries in the Caribbean. Within a year I launched the master’s degree as the founding Programme Leader/Academic Director. In addition, I also worked as the Coordinator of the Tourism Stream of their MBA Program, and the Marketing Course Coordinator for the School of Management, which had 2,000 students.
Through my new research focus, I gradually became an expert on Caribbean Tourism. In 2000, soon after I completed my doctoral studies in UK, UWI awarded me a prestigious post-doctoral research fellowship on ‘Caribbean Tourism’. After that, I resigned from Forte PLC, in spite of an attractive offer to become the General Manager of a 750 roomed Le Meridien Hotel by the Red Sea in Egypt.
To improve my teaching, I did further studies in 2000, and became a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) in USA. I firmly believed that, “those who dare to teach should never cease to learn.” I also spent time studying visual art at the University of Guyana, and Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica. Finally, I gained two qualifications in fine art and painting from George Brown College in Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed those study programs.
During my five years at UWI, I edited six books on ‘Caribbean Tourism’, while presenting regularly at Caribbean academic conferences. UWI was pleased with my contributions to the body of knowledge in Caribbean Tourism, the main industry of this most tourism-depended region in the world. I became very active in scholarly publications, with over 100 journal articles, and in 2022, I published my 23rd book in the UK.
Moving to Canada as a Professor
The academic world opened many new doors for me. In 2001, I went to Canada on an UWI-Ryerson University one-year faculty exchange special agreement, as a Visiting Professor of Ryerson University. There, apart from teaching, my key contribution was to create a research and publication culture within the university’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (established in 1946 as the first hotel school in Canada). I organized a couple of round tables with the tourism industry and education leaders of Canada, and focused on publishing articles and journal issues dedicated to tourism and hospitality management in Canada.
Developing ‘In-company’ Graduate Programs for Senior Managers
I also did part-time concurrent work for an amazing consortium of leading business schools around the world – International Management Centres Association (IMCA), headquartered in UK. Their non-doctoral degree granting hub was set up in Boulder, Colorado, USA. It was an early virtual university. As doctoral programs were accredited by the British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education, those were awarded in UK.
I learned a lot about the business of higher education from IMCA, and from two of their subsidiaries – IMCA Socrates Limited in UK and the Canadian School of Management. I commenced with them in 1998 as an Associate Professor and by 2001 was promoted as a professor. In addition, by 2003, I was promoted as a Vice President of both organizations. I was responsible mainly for market development and setting up ‘in-company’ graduate programs for managers in large organizations and trade associations in the Tourism and Hotel Industry in Jamaica, Barbados, Canada etc. I also did some part-time on-line teaching for University of Surrey in UK. The icing on the cake was a few prestigious awards in recognition of my contributions.
Elected President of HCIMA, UK
From 2001, for five years I was elected, through an international vote, to the executive council of the world’s largest, professional body for hospitality managers – Hotel Catering International Management Association (HCIMA) in UK. HCIMA was also the largest accrediting body for education programs in hospitality management in the Commonwealth. The Leadership team of HCIMA was responsible for 15,000 members (Hospitality Managers) from 104 Countries. Towards the end of my five years in the executive council, we initiated a re-branding of HCIMA to the Institute of Hospitality, UK. Throughout an 85-year history, I was the only non-European to be elected as the President of HCIMA. I was also the Chairman of the company – HCIMA Ltd., UK.
Joining Ontario Community College system
In 2005, I joined the Ontario Community College system which has 24 colleges as degree granting institutions. Initially I worked as a Professor and Program Coordinator at Niagara College. As teaching at colleges is much different from teaching at universities, I completed a ‘College Educator’ training program over three summers.
During my time at Niagara College, I was released for a short period to undertake a high-level consulting assignment offered by the government of Guyana. In this assignment, my main contribution was opening the largest hotel in Guyana – Buddy’s International (today, Ramada Georgetown Princess) as the General Manager in 2007.
Becoming a College Dean
In 2007, I was recruited as a Dean to George Brown College in Toronto. There, for five years from 2007 to 2012, as Associate Dean, I was responsible for all academic aspects of the largest faculty of Tourism, Events, Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts in Canada. I was trained as a Dean by an experienced and highly innovative Dean – John Walker.
My responsibilities included leading three schools with three Academic Chairs, 60 full-time Professors (and 200 part-time Instructors) and an academic budget of $30 million. Within five-years we increased our student enrolments from 2,400 to 3,300 full-time students and 8,500 continuing education registrants (equivalent to another 1,700 full-time students) in our centre. At George Brown College I improved my knowledge about innovation in post-secondary education. I was responsible for applied funded research and publishing.
In addition, I also held responsibility for the centre’s enrolment plans, business plans, academic strategies, key performance indicators, student success programs, 17 program advisory committees (with over 155 industry partners), program portfolio analysis, program development, program reviews, program pathways, faculty development, and editing annual innovation reports. I was also involved in some aspects of 10 academic partnerships in China, India, Brazil, Panama, Italy and France.
Visions of a Global Citizen – Consulting
In 2012, I was recruited as the Dean for Business and Hospitality at the Vancouver Community College, British Columbia. Due to family commitments, however, we decided not to move from Ontario to British Columbia. I decided to set up my consulting firm in the same year, while spending more time with the family and on my hobbies of academic publishing and visual art. I held a large number of solo art exhibitions and took part in many group art shows.
Since 2012, my consulting firm has handled over 40 assignments. Including the consulting assignments I did prior to that, I was fortunate enough to have contracts with over 50 organizational clients. These clients included the European Union, USAID, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Amazon Corporate Treaty Organization, Government of Guyana, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association, Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Heads of Hospitality & Tourism Ontario, Canada, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management, Forte Hotels, UK, Sandals Resorts, Jamaica, Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados, and a few community colleges in Canada and many hotels in Sri Lanka.
Since 2014, I have co-chaired a highly successful, annual event – The International Conference on Hospitality and Tourism Management (ICOHT). I continue to write and publish and to also serve on the editorial advisory boards for two British and South American academic journals. I also teach the masters’ degree students of the Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management program at the University of Colombo. These activities help me to keep busy and do work that will benefit many others.
Team Building Through Art and Keynoting
Some of the seminars I conducted, commenced with my new concept of ‘Team Building Through Art’. I used this as the ice-breaker, and encouraged the participants to create group art work using the talents of team members. This concept has been very popular and useful.
Mastering Bridge
I also learnt to play bridge nine years ago, and progressed rapidly in this Olympic-recognized sport. I managed to earn four North American qualifications in bridge – Certified Club Director, Accredited Bridge Teacher, Diploma in Duplicate Bridge, and Silver Life Master. I regularly run bridge courses for beginners and intermediate players. I also organize various Bridge events and act as a Tournament Chair. I direct two games a week and compete at bridge clubs three times a week. As the old saying goes: “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”.
Learning, playing, winning, directing, teaching and leading in my new hobby – Bridge
Change of Life’s Purpose
From early 2020, due to the pandemic, my consulting business activities were drastically reduced. While the world was struggling to comprehend the danger of COVID-19, my wife Mélaine was rushed to the hospital. She had never been sick in her life before that. A few hours later we heard the results of the CT scan at the emergency room. The doctor who came into Mélaine’s hospital room knelt down before giving us the shockingly bad news. Mélaine had pancreatic cancer and would have a maximum of eighteen months to live. That changed my attitude about life and priorities. During the next one and half years, I realized that my new role as the key caregiver to my dear wife would be the most important job I have ever done. Everything else were dropped or placed on a back burner.
I have realized that life should not be about working in a rat race, but doing things you love. I now lead a simple life doing what I like, when I feel like doing it. These include painting, writing, poetry, coaching, teaching, cooking and playing Bridge. I re-commenced my global travels in December 2022. This year I am hoping to reach my long-time goal of visiting 100 countries. I plan to visit two more countries, to tick that item off my bucket list.
Thank You!
Last week’s 90th episode and this final 91st episode of the ‘CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY’ column, provided the concluding narration. In addition, during the last 27 months, I also published nine other special feature articles on Sunday Island. I thank you for reading those 100 articles. I enjoyed sharing my personal stories with you.
“The World continues to be my Oyster…”
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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