Features
Defence and Diplomacy are linked
Dr Sarala Fernando
Defence expenditure has not been a subject of public discussion in Sri Lanka, which was understandable during the difficult years of the armed conflict. Even after the armed conflict ended , there was no public opposition to the continued dedication of a major share of budgetary resources to the Defence Ministry to spearhead the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the conflict- affected areas in the North and East.
Since that time, the Army has provided leadership in a number of areas of interest to the UN. For example, the de-mining programe clearing thousands of acres for the safe return of civilians, has created positive publicity for Sri Lanka and enabled the signing of related international agreements, all contributing to building the image of a responsible military on international fora.
Since deploying its first contingent in 1958, official press releases remind that Sri Lanka has been contributing to UN Peacekeeping operations in some of its most hostile and demanding deployments, and has 557 including female officers currently in service toward ensuring international peace and security. Our authorities should also revive the initiative to collect illegal small arms and light weapons island-wide under the UN SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons) programme. This will address concerns over rising gun crime and discourage new domestic gun manufacturing.
Since the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lankans have waited patiently over a decade now for the peace dividend in the hope that it would enable more robust social expenditure. Now that Sri Lanka has declared bankruptcy and opted to go to that “lender of last resort”, several articles are appearing commenting on down sizing of the military, re-balancing the three forces in view of current and emerging threats etc, based on some expectation that limits would be imposed on defence expenditure under the IMF programme.
In such a historical context and given the experience and assets within the security forces, it is to be expected that any strategic planning for “right sizing” the defence budget, would be undertaken in-house within the security forces. This article suggests that the Foreign Ministry with its research and training arms, the Lakshman Kadirgarmar Institute (LKI) and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute (BIDTI) should also be involved in these discussions. Any re-shaping of defence strategy would benefit from the perspectives of diplomacy especially in relation to developments in the wider world, some of which are mentioned in this article.
From the initial public statements by the Defence Ministry it seems the emphasis has been on troop reduction. The Deputy Minister of Defence announced recently that the Ministry planned to reduce the number of soldiers from the current strength of 200,783 to 135,000 by 2024. Is this to be achieved through creation of a reserve as some academics have suggested? The Air Force has just announced a strength reduction from 35,000 to 27,000 including a policy to increase its female share to 30%.
However, in this exercise, to avoid confusion, public diplomacy would call for the holding back of all media advertisements for new recruitment to the armed forces. There are lessons to be learned also from elsewhere: the recent initiative to reduce the public service through a scheme to grant five years no-pay leave abroad, has predictably led to the departure of the most talented and capable, leaving Ministries in a quandary to retrain those remaining behind who are demoralized, compounding human resources management problems. It is also worth noting that Sri Lanka is reducing its trained forces at a time when some developed countries are facing recruitment problems to their forces and offering many incentives even to foreign nationals.
Our Deputy Minister of Defence also referred to a “strategic blueprint” aiming to produce “a technically and tactically sound and well-balanced defense force by the year 2030 in order to meet upcoming security challenges”. Such a strategic plan would be a new and welcome development however the question remains how other Ministries, concerned institutions and a public consultation would be factored into the in-house deliberations.
Any such strategic planning should take into account that Sri Lanka is probably unique in that it is recognized internationally as particularly vulnerable for a country of our size and geography, being exposed to both man-made and natural disasters. This calls for any national security strategy to take a two prong approach. With regard to conflict prevention, having faced two youth insurrections which had to be put down by lethal force, one cannot over emphasize the importance of strengthening human intelligence gathering and early warning.
This task is never easy due to the difficulty of coordinating intelligence agencies with differing mandates, as even the United States learned after 9/11. Recent arrests in Tamil Nadu of persons charged with attempting to revive the LTTE insurgency confirmed the need for continued vigilance on the arms and drug smuggling networks which we had thought had been dismantled after the end of the armed conflict. As an island nation with a huge expanse of coastal territory to monitor, the armed forces need to integrate air, sea and land operations for maritime protection and seizure of arms, ammunition, explosives and detonators and a never ending flow of drugs.
Early warning is even more problematic with regard to natural disasters as major climate events like earthquakes seemingly defy prediction. Research is still emerging on the impact of a war like in Ukraine on the climate crisis. However, even to amateur eyes, the dropping of thousands of missiles, bombs and artillery shells on the ground and exploding in the air, virtually on a daily basis, must not only pollute but also impact the fragile surrounding geology. In neighbouring Turkey, two major earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude occurred on February 6 this year followed by a series of aftershocks.
All the way down the seismic line in Asia, even as far as Fiji region on June 10 (5.9 magnitude) significant earthquakes are occurring since the tragedy in Turkey. Indian scientists have been predicting a major earthquake in India and had also issued a warning to Sri Lanka before the current string of tremors began to be experienced here in May/ June along the southern coast and as far as Gampola in the central hills.
In this background, the recent visit to Sri Lanka by the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) assumes significance when Sri Lanka on June 6 announced the successful completion of its domestic ratification process for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) , with grant of Cabinet approval. The CTBT was signed by Sri Lanka on October 24, 1996 but ratification was stalled for many years due to political pressures. Under the Treaty´s global verification regime, a network of 321 monitoring stations were to be set up – spanning some 90 countries – able to record shock waves generated by possible nuclear explosions and other sources in the atmosphere, under water or underground. The network includes 50 primary and 120 auxiliary seismic stations whose data can be used to help distinguish between possible nuclear explosions and the many thousands of earth tremors registered annually.
Sri Lanka signed a Facility Agreement with the CTBTO in June 2000 which led the way for the establishment of an auxiliary seismological station in Pallekelle, Kandy, as part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) to verify compliance with the CTBT. Hardly any public information is available on the current status of this Kandy station and whether it is operational, although any data collected would be valuable both in the context of the earth tremors Sri Lanka is experiencing recently and in the wider context of a possible nuclear radiation threat arising out of the war in Ukraine. Interestingly the Sri Lanka Air Force has been training in the last months for handling a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear explosives emergency under international technical assistance from the IAEA (International Atomis Energy Authority).
The significance of the CTBTO ratification is dwelt on here to meet public skepticism over Sri Lanka’s diplomatic forays into the worlds of disarmament and elimination of all forms of weapons of mass destruction. Engaging in multilateral diplomacy, foreign diplomats would often ask their Sri Lankan counterparts why Sri Lanka was so interested in the two extremes of the world, the sea bed and outer space. However, there was always a basis in national interest. The close involvement of Sri Lankan diplomats in the Law of the Sea negotiations under UN auspices eventually led to its taking into account of Sri Lanka’s position as a developing state, as also the peculiarities of her continental shelf in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal whereby under the special method of delimitation Sri Lanka will be able to claim parts of the seabed well beyond the 350 miles cut off point provided under the general provisions.
As for outer space, Arthur Clarke, the scientist-writer residing in Sri Lanka, was instrumental in drawing Sri Lanka’s attention many years ago to the advent of Artificial Intelligence as well as the many benefits of outer space and the need to keep space peaceful. Since those early days, Sri Lanka has been in the forefront of efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space, underlining the increasing importance of satellites for communications and many peaceful uses of remote sensing as well as addressing the global threat posed by space debris.
Today United Nations as agreed by member states has set a target of achieving by 2030, 17 goals for sustainable development and human security ,including poverty alleviation, quality education, good health, clean water, clean energy, decent work, industry innovation, reduced inequality, sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production, encompassing both life on land and under water, together with climate action. Taking into consideration the international classification of Sri Lanka as a country particularly vulnerable to both conflict and natural disasters, this article suggests that Sri Lanka in the present economic crisis, take a step back from “rapid economic growth” models which all too often deplete its natural resources including water, forests, stone, gravel and sand, and instead focus on careful management of its natural wealth, ecosystems and biodiversity.
Judging by press articles, the navy is already working in cooperation with the private sector and other organizations as well as with the general public, in several areas such as marine and coastal protection, installing reverse osmosis plants etc. The army is best known for its outreach work in agriculture and food production, hospital and university education, however these initiatives have not gained full recognition due to resentment of local farmers and market contradictions in the field and resistance from faculty and students in the formal education and health sectors.
A more feasible possibility lies in building upon the strengths in logistics and engineering Sri Lanka’s military had developed during the armed conflict. Are there innovations here which may be commercialized or taken up in public-private partnerships contributing to import substitution and domestic savings? The army engineers work on solving practical problems and have succeeded in tackling issues like the flooding of Nuwara Eliya town by tracing the flow of water, unblocking the obstacles and constructing the required drainage channels.
They should be given an opportunity to work on the perennial flooding affecting towns in Galle, Matara and Ratnapura in low cost projects at a time when the era of grand hydraulic construction led by the Irrigation Department seems to be coming to an end. Uma Oya with its delays and cost-overruns may probably be the last such project due to the scale of public protests since the tunneling apparently had caused all the wells in the neighbouring areas to run dry.
The strengths of the armed forces come into public view mainly in a time of emergency when the armed forces form the first line of rescue. Yet other countries have already placed critical infrastructure like reservoirs under military management and control, viz. the United States Army Corps of Engineers which operates and maintains the safety of dams across a huge expanse of territory. Elsewhere, foreign militaries have even been engaged in the management of local parks i.e. by training local rangers in African countries to control poaching and educate communities to protect their wild life treasure. Can our defence research and training institutes (Buttala for example is strategically located in the proximity of two major parks Udawalawe and Yala) partner with the wildlife authorities and contribute to mitigating the human-elephant conflict?
From Kavan to Muthuraja, Sri Lanka’s international image has been reeling on huge publicity over the abuse and neglect of domestic elephants. The latest incident made international news headlines when that majestic tusker Muthuraja once gifted to Sri Lanka was airlifted by the Thai government back to Thailand for medical treatment. In Thailand , elephants with special characteristics are considered as national treasure by the Thai Royal family and cared for in the palace grounds by the Thai armed forces. Instead of just conveying official apologies to the Thai government, should not our Prime Minister have asked the Thai government for assistance to train our mahouts and an exchange programme for our vets to learn from the elephant hospital and sanctuary in Thailand and help bring the care of all domestic elephants under some systematic care?
The Sri Lankan armed forces dispose of many research and training institutions scattered around the country. Some thought should be given to better coordination and managing of these resources in the national interest. For example the proposed national Climate Change University could be conceptualized not as an independent institute but positioned as a central lynchpin within the network of defence research and training institutes. Sri Lanka is in fact very good at setting up research and training institutes in every field, the problem come with implementing research findings and giving employment to trained students, which means this valuable human capital ends up going overseas to help other countries instead of contributing to the national good.
In time, many of these R&D institutions find it difficult to maintain large buildings and staff, which is a problem not unique to Sri Lanka. It is worth recalling that the UN at its inception was intended to have all its affiliates in one centre in New York in order to share administrative costs but subsequently various powerful individuals worked with their national authorities to take away the specialized agencies like FAO to Rome, ILO to Geneva etc
(Sarala Fernando, retired from the Foreign Ministry as Additional Secretary. Her last Ambassadorial appointment was as Permanent Representative to the UN and International Organizations in Geneva . Her Ph.D was on India-Sri Lanka relations and she writes now on foreign policy, public diplomacy and protection of heritage).
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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