Features
Country situation deteriorates, Sir Oliver takes charge, Phillip resigns and PM shot
(Excerpted from the Memoirs of a Cabinet Secretary by BP Pieris)
That is the furthest that S.W.R.D.’s Committee was able to go (on the matter of human rights provisions in the constitution). Similar Committees have been periodically appointed by Parliament for the same purpose and they have all failed to complete their task for the obvious reason that Constitutions cannot be discussed, determined and drafted within the lifetime of a session of Parliament, which is approximately twelve months.
S.W.R.D.’s steering of a motley crowd of intellectual political colleagues, assembled as a Joint Select Committee of Parliament, to the signing of a unanimous report, showed much tact and great ability. As Chairman of the Committee, he restrained himself from displaying that greatest quality of his oratory. He was an orator born. Oratory has been defined as a graceful management of the voice, countenance and gesture.
With arms stretch’d forth, of folded, or at rest,
As will’d the power by whom he seem’d possess’d,
With features augur’d all his tongue alleged,
And tones wing’d home each barbed shaft they edged,
And with spontaneous sallies bright and bold,
Resistless streams of oratory roll’d.
On his way back home from the United Nations, he addressed the Diplomatic Corps in New Delhi, where my brother G. S. was Counselor in our Mission. He had spoken without notes as usual, and the general consensus of opinion among the diplomats was that S.W.R.D.’s speech was the best they had ever heard in that hall. My brother thought that this compliment ought to be conveyed to the Prime Minister. When he did so, S.W.R.D. had said, “I’m not surprised, my dear fellow, did you know that I am one of the five best speakers in the World?”
The financial position (of the country) was not improving. With an anticipated budget deficit of nearly Rs 200 million, further loans were being raised. Apart from this and the rising cost of living there was, again, unrest and violence in the country. An emergency meeting of the Cabinet was summoned on May 27, 1958, and at 11 a.m. the Ministers adjourned to Queen’s House to tender advice to His Excellency the Governor-General that a State of Emergency should be proclaimed with effect from 12. 15 p.m. that day under the Public Security Ordinance.
It would be interesting to find out whether the addition of that odd fifteen minutes was for reasons astrological. Probably it was, for no Prime Minister appeared to take a step without consulting the stars. Sir Oliver Goonetilleke now took complete control of the country, obviously with the consent of his weak-kneed Government. He was an excellent man for the job and was, I believe, virtual Dictator. Emergency Regulations were pouring out of the Government Press. Ministers were meeting almost daily, not to transact business, but to be kept informed of what the situation, changing from day to day, was. Violence and arson was everywhere.
In the midst of the Emergency came S.W.R.D.’s third Speech from the Throne. Both Houses of Parliament had to be summoned on June 4, 1958, “in order that you may be informed that a State of Emergency had been declared under the Public Security Ordinance. Both your Houses have had an opportunity of discussing the subject fully.
“I have pleasure in stating that the position continues steadily to improve. My Government is taking all steps necessary to maintain law and order. My Government will also take the measures required to restore peace, goodwill and confidence amongst various sections of the people of the country. In accordance with its Policy, my Government will introduce legislation early for the reasonable use of the Tamil language.”
This last sentence upset the whole of the Tamil community because it was not quite clear that Tamil was to take second place and the Tamils were not prepared to accept that inferior position. They were determined to fight for their rights and eminent leaders to do the fighting were not lacking. They insisted on parity which the Government was not in a position to grant, having made an election promise that, if returned, they would make Sinhala the one official language of the country.
Reference was made in the Speech to the rising cost of living and the Government promised to take certain effective measures to bring it down. I was not aware what these measures were to be. The cost of living continued to rise. All I know is that the Cabinet never sat down to give serious consideration to the problem. The poor man found it difficult to obtain his foodstuffs at reasonable prices within his means. He lived normally on free rice and dried fish, or rice and sambol.
The dried fish was obtainable only at exorbitant prices. To make a sambol, one had to have lime, Maldive fish, chillies, onions and coconut, all of which were obtainable only in the black market. The Cabinet took no effective steps to bring the prices of these essential commodities, essential to the poor man who had put them into power, down to a reasonable level.
The promise in the Throne Speech was implemented and the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill introduced. The uneasiness thus caused in the country made it necessary to extend the emergency for the third month. It was now September and the emergency was in its fourth month, followed later by a fifth month. The import and export of goods through all the ports of the Island and their distribution were declared to be essential services under the emergency law.
The end of 1958 saw the emergency still in operation. 1959 opened with strikes in the Port of Colombo, the Shell Company and the Banks. A token strike by certain sections in the Government as well as in the private sector was threatened. A Committee of Ministers was appointed to keep in day-to-day touch with the situation. It was my experience that these committees never worked because it was impossible to get all the ministers on the Committee together for a meeting. They dilly-dallied with the situation assuming always that, having been returned by the ‘People’, they would be in office for the rest of time. Nothing was done.
Notice was given by unions in the Government as well as in the private sector that there would be more strikes in sympathy and the Secretary to the Treasury drew the attention of all public officers to Administrative Regulation 262 which read: “No officer is allowed to call a public meeting to consider any action of the Government of Ceylon or the Government of any other country or take an active part in such a meeting unless he is authorized to do so in his official capacity with a view to discussion and settlement of points in issue with associations representing special interests etc.”
Officers were reminded that participation in any public meeting called in connection with the Public Security (Amendment) Act would be a breach of this regulation and render those taking part liable to disciplinary action. The Act, which gave rise at the time to a deal of controversy, gave the Prime Minister power to call out the armed services for the maintenance of public order if it was felt that the Police were inadequate to deal with the situation in any particular area. Power was taken to seize and remove guns, explosives and other offensive weapons. Except with the sanction of the Attorney-General, no prosecution was to lie against any officer for any act done by him in good faith. In February 1959, the emergency was still continuing.
At about this time, an entirely new scheme of taxation was introduced according to certain proposals made by Professor Kaldor. Apart from income tax, estate duty and the bank debits tax, there was introduced a personal tax, an expenditure tax, a wealth tax and a capital gains tax.
The rich man and the not-so rich man were to be skinned for the sake of the poor man, but the poor muggins did not realize that they were getting precious little out of the carcass. Their essential commodities were almost unobtainable. Very little was left to a taxable man after the payment of his taxes.
The Government, being broke, was going to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. The main revenue came from our exports of tea, rubber and coconut. The landed proprietors and the estate owning companies were so highly taxed that they had very little money to put back into the land by way of fertilizers and other improvements. Profits fell and accordingly dividends fell. Most people, particularly the Europeans were trying to pull out in good time and abandon the sinking ship.
There was no incentive to earn or save. If you earned, you were mulcted in income tax. If you saved, you paid wealth tax; if you spent, you were caught under the expenditure tax and if, in desperation, you just died, your heirs were probably compelled to sell your estate to pay your death duties. The taxes affected the natives as well as the foreigners. It was, for all, as Paul Robeson sang in Old Man River, “I’m tired of living and feared of dying”.
At the same time, the Government was saying, with its tongue in its cheek, that it welcomed the investment of foreign capital in the country. What was actually happening was that, with the heavy taxation, foreigners were packing up and leaving the country, foreign estates were being sold and foreign businesses were either amalgamating or closing down. The banks too were perturbed with rumours that the business of banking would be nationalized. The National Bank, an old-standing institution, amalgamated with Grindlays.
On Budget Day in Parliament, it is customary for the Cabinet to meet, not at a normal sitting, but about an hour before the Finance Minister is due to make his Budget Speech in the House. This was a measure adopted ex abundanti catitela (with an abundance of caution) to avoid budget leaks. There is no Cabinet Paper but the Minister informs the Cabinet of his revenue and taxation proposals. No one was ever known to take a ‘note.
I took a note but, contrary to my practice, did not dictate my minutes to my stenographer for fear of a leak till the Minister had made his speech in Parliament. The fear was not a fear of a leak through my stenographer. It was a fear of a leak through a Minister for which an innocent public servant might have been suspected. After the Cabinet meeting, the Minister went to Queen’s House to inform the Governor-General, as a matter of courtesy, of his taxation proposals. He then summoned the Governor of the Central Bank to his office and informed him of his proposals.
May I digress here, in lighter vein, from budget leaks to leaks in Vaudeville in the London music hall. When I was a student in London in the early thirties, an actress in variety (I think it was Gracie Fields) sang a song in which one of the lines was “She sits among the cabbages and leeks”. Promptly, the censor, the Lord Chamberlain, that undisputed guardian of British morals, came on the producer and the line was changed the next night to “She sits among the cabbages and peas”. And the sensible British public laughed.
Philip Gunawardene was now giving a little trouble in the Cabinet. Other members were becoming uneasy at the way he was trying to assume vast powers by legislation as Minister of Agriculture and Food. S.W.R.D., having taken Philip into his Cabinet, appeared to be a bit frightened of him: for example, he never addressed him as “my dear fellow”. It was obvious that he did not like Philip’s draft legislation, but he did not openly object to it. There was already the Paddy Lands Act under which the Minister had taken wide powers. Now, there came the Co-operative Development Bank Bill. When this item came on the Agenda, the Prime Minister tactfully said that he wanted a little more time to study all the implications of the Bill. Intellect was going to meet intellect, not in intellectual, but in political combat.
The matter had become one of political strategy and the combatants were putting on their gloves to enter the ring. The Prime Minister said that it was most desirable that the Government Parliamentary Party should be given an opportunity of expressing its views before the Cabinet came to decisions. This was typical of S.W.R.D.’s political legerdemain. He was playing for time; he was determined not to vest these powers in Philip.
He asked members of the Party not to canvas the matter in public as it was proposed to call an early meeting of the Party. I was directed to place the Bill, pending the Prime Minister’s order, at the bottom of the Agenda with a note to the effect that the item would not be considered at the meeting. The Agenda ceased to have any meaning. Philip was no fool and he was becoming restive.
The proposed Co-operative Development Bank was to be given vast powers. It was to develop the co-operative movement, rural banking and agricultural credit by furnishing financial and other assistance. It could transact the same kind of business as the Bank of Ceylon. It could carry on the business of a pawnbroker, acquire property, borrow funds and establish pensions and provident funds. Of the six directors on the Board, one of whom was ex officio, five were to be appointed by the Minister, who had the power to remove any director without assigning any reason.
Ministers were agreed that these functions went far beyond the scope of merely co-ordinating the finances of the co-operative movement. The Minister of Finance stated that he should be the proper Minister responsible for operations of banking of this nature. Every obstacle was put in the way of Philip’s draft legislation going forward. One could see trouble ahead.
Philip retorted in print: “It is not accidental that criticism of the new bill has emanated from the same sources as opposed the Paddy Lands Act. The Paddy Lands Act aimed at sweeping away the semi-feudal system of land tenure which have, for so long, oppressed and enslaved the village farmer. The new Co-operative Bank Bill similarly aims at sweeping away the semi-feudal credit system which still prevails in the villages of Ceylon and thereby releasing the Ceylon peasant from the clutches of the village boutique keeper and the professional moneylender.” This was April 1959.
Philip’s Bill was going to be mutilated in Cabinet. S.W.R.D. thought that the best solution would be to relieve Philip of the subject and to take it over himself, which he did. Philip resigned on May 19, 1959, and William Silva, Minister of Industries, an able Minister, resigned with him.
C. P. de Silva took over Agriculture and Fisheries, and J. C. W. Munasinghe took charge of Industries.
The Government was now contemplating the taking over of assisted schools and started feeling the pulse of the country. Well-known Buddhists were all for it; the Roman Catholics knew that this was a blow at their schools. The Government stated that, in view of the need to achieve a more unified system of education in the country, they had decided, as a step towards this end, to take over such privately-managed schools as the Department of Education might determine in consultation with and with the consent of the management concerned.
The time had now come to draft S.W.R.D.’s next Speech from the Throne. He inquired whether he would be putting me into too much trouble if he asked me to come to Horagolla to attend to the matter. That was his polite way of making an order.
I asked that I may be allowed to bring my stenographer along. Siriwardene, the stenographer, and I arrived on time and were invited to tea. There were about five or six persons seated on the verandah but the Prime Minister asked them to excuse him as there was urgent Government business awaiting his attention.
When tea was over, he ordered the boy to clear the table. He then stretched his arms on the table and appeared to go to sleep with his head on his arms. This went on for about fifteen minutes, during which period Siriwardene and I kept completely silent. Suddenly, he raised his head and said “I’ve got it. Take this down”, and dictated the entire speech to Siriwardene. He was kind enough to ask me to revise the draft, but on this occasion I had not a single amendment to make.
He thanked us for having come all the way to Horagolla. The Speech contained this sentence: “My Government deplores the estrangement that prevails between the two major communities in this Island and proposes to have early discussions with a view to improving communal harmony.” What else could have been expected, other than estrangement, in view of the Sinhala Only Act is difficult to imagine.
On September 25,1959, a man whom the Prime Minister described as a person dressed in the robes of Buddhist monk shot him at his house in Rosmead Place. On the next day, he died.
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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