Features
From donkeys to tarts, to drafting and drafts
BP Peiris
(Excerpted from Memoirs of a Cabinet Secretary)
(Continued from last week)
Mervyn’s first question on my reporting to him in response to his letter (offering a job in the Legal Dratsman’s Department) was, “Have I taught you at Royal?” Owing to an accumulation of work in his department, he had wanted a draftsman urgently and, as there was no time to call for applications, had gone to Attorney-General Ilangakoon and examined his file of applications for the post of Crown Counsel. He selected T. S. Fernando (at the time of writing, 1967, the Senior Puisne justice).
T. S. could not stand the drudgery and the painful silence of drafting for more than two weeks and asked to be relieved of his duties because he did not find the work congenial. I was then sent for. There was no money in the votes of the Legal Draftsman to pay my salary and I was gazetted as an acting Crown Counsel and paid from the votes of the Attorney-General.
Mervyn Fonseka believed that a classics man made a better draftsman than a mathematics man, a view with which R. B. Naish, a Civil Servant temporarily attached to the department for drafting a new Merchant Shipping Ordinance, and P. C. Villavarayan, a classical scholar from Oxford who was the Senior Assistant Draftsman, agreed. Naish was also a classics man – hence the selection of myself.
Naish was a serious man, intellectual, and very careful and correct in his drafting. Nihal Gunasekera, a charming and cultured man, who had been Crown Counsel and died early after he had reverted to the Bar, told me this story about Naish. There was a case in the Magistrate’s Court of Chilaw which, because of local feeling, the Magistrate was unwilling to hear and the Crown Proctor was unhappy about prosecuting. E. H. T. Gunasekera was asked to prosecute, Nihal was for the defence.
Counsel travelled by train. A white man got into the next compartment. All three got down at Chilaw and went to the rest house. At dinner, the white man sat at a table adjoining that occupied by the two advocates. Naturally, the conversation turned to a discussion of this peculiar silent, white man and in referring to him, the advocates who were speaking in Sinhala, used the would ‘Booruwa’, meaning ‘donkey’.
Next day, when the case was called in court, the ‘donkey’, who had been specially gazetted to try the case, came on the Bench. On the journey back after the day’s work, all three found themselves in the same compartment and E. H. T. tactfully veered the conversation to the subject of languages, Latin and Greek, Sanskrit and Pali, and finally, Sinhala and Tamil. The ‘donkey’ had said that he knew the classical languages and his Sinhala but found Tamil a little difficult. He had added “Some people might think I’m a donkey” and repeated it several times. The donkey was Naish.
Nihal told me of another incident which took place at the Kandy Assizes when he was Crown Counsel prosecuting before Chief Justice MacDonnell, a very polite man who bowed for the slightest thing from the Bench. The case was one of abduction and rape. The “complainant” in the case was the leading prostitute in the town, a woman in the roaring forties with all the hallmarks of her dwindling trade stamped on her person and her features – the enormous hairbun, the bangles on her wrists, the crow’s feet under her eyes, the sallow skin and the powdered face, a woman well known to every individual in the town except Chief Justice MacDonnell.
At the end of the tart’s evidence, the Chief gave a polite bow and said “Thank you, Madam”, which the Interpreter Mudliyar interpreted as “bahapiya”. A literal translation of this word will not convey the Mudaliyar’s meaning to English readers. Freely I would say ‘Get out’. Nihal had pointed out to the Mudaliyar that was not a correct translation of what the judge had said and the Mudaliyar had replied that he had a reputation to maintain in the town.
From donkeys and tarts let me get back to drafting and drafts. My father had often asked me, when I was at the Bar, to call on Mervyn in Chambers, and I had always refused. I preferred to stand on my merits and did not want them to feel that his old pupil, now advocate, was calling on his old teacher, now Head of a Department, to scrounge a favour. Naish told me later that I had been chosen because I had won the George Wille Greek Prose prize in school. I also learned later that the man who had been pressing my case, unasked, with Mervyn was E. H. T. Gunasekera, a fact which he always denied.
After I joined the Department, E. H. T. and I worked in adjoining rooms and we became good friends. I always went to him when I was in need of advice, and he always gave his advice straight from the shoulder, not shaping it to please the other party.
Mervyn was an excellent draftsman, a kind man, but a strict disciplinarian. He insisted on thoroughness and used to stress that a draftsman must know all the law and could not be heard to say that he had made a mistake. He had a fancy for clocks and watches. There were more than a dozen clocks in his house, one showing local time, one Greenwich, one Rome and so on. He also had one of the best collections of classical records, card indexed, and standing on shelves like books.
The Governor, Sir Andrew Caldecott, used to visit him to relax and listen to the records over a whisky and soda. On those days, there was always a policeman at the gate and no one was allowed to enter, neither Mervyn nor Sir Andrew being willing to be disturbed while listening to Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin and other musical celebrities.
He used to have Saturday morning ‘classes’ for his staff officers. He would collect on paper, points that had struck him on our drafts and then we would discuss the several points of law rising on the drafts. These meetings were most helpful to his assistants and we learned a great deal from the discussions. The ‘classes’ were held at 9 a.m. On one occasion H. N. G. Fernando was about two minutes late. As H. N. G. entered the room Mervyn looked at the office clock and told H. N. G. that his watch was not keeping correct time.
H. N. G. was punctual after that. With his interest in clocks, watches, and gramophone records, Mervyn was sometimes a bit absent-minded. He always had a bottle of smelling salts on his table, and one day, absent-mindedly, instead of the bottle, put his fountain pen to his nostril, sniffed, and appeared to have received the same stimulation as if he had smelt the salts.
On October 1, 1936, I was appointed a temporary Assistant Legal Draftsman and made responsible for some of the subsidiary legislation of the island. This included Proclamations, Notices, By-laws of local authorities, Rules, Regulations and Orders – approximately 6,000 for the year. No file was supposed to pass out of the office until Mervyn had run his eyes over the outgoing letter and draft.
Very soon I was in trouble. Drafting is an art which is acquired by experience, and I had no experience at all. I was asked to draft a set of by-laws relating to the traffic lights installed, for the first time, at the Galle Road-Turret Road junction. I looked up the law. The Municipal Councils Ordinance, under which the by-laws were to be drafted, and prepared a set of by-laws using always the word “vehicle”, e.g., the green light means that the vehicle may proceed, the red light means that the vehicle shall stop, adding at the end, a by-law which said that where a vehicle is driven in contravention of the bylaws, the driver of the vehicle shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the prescribed penalty.
My draft passed through the office without Mervyn scrutinizing it. It was approved by the Minister and by the Governor and was, in due course, published in the Gazette and became law. The police then, for a period of about two months, began to instruct motorists in the new rules of traffic control by the use of light signals, after which they started instituting prosecutions.
One day Mervyn phoned me asking me to see him with the Traffic Lights By-laws file. This was unusual, and I knew that I had gone wrong somewhere. I have never, in my life, had such a grilling as I had from him that day. First, he asked me what I had read before I started drafting the by-laws. Did I read the whole of the Municipal Councils Ordinance? This dealt with streets, drainage, markets etc., and I told him that I did not consider it necessary to read the whole of the Ordinance.
After about half an hour of this grilling (I was almost going to call it ‘bullying’ in view of the fact that at some moments I was almost on the point of breaking into tears), he said “Turn to the Interpretation section. Did you read that?” I had not. In that same angry tone, he continued “Read the definition of vehicle”; and like a whipped school boy, I read. ‘Vehicle’ was defined to mean any vehicle other than a mechanically propelled vehicle.
“And,” he continued, after having had a sniff at his bottle of smelling salts, “are you aware of the rule of interpretation that where a word is defined in a statute and that word is used in a by-law made under that statute, then that word had the same meaning as defined in the statute?” Of course, I was not aware. “Well” he finally asked, “What is the effect of your by-laws?” I said I was sorry. I appeared to have caught up every type of vehicle except the motor vehicles. He now spoke in a lower key. To be sorry was one thing. To make him look a fool was an entirely different thing, and he did not want to be made to look a fool. Draftsmen cannot afford to make mistakes etc. etc.
“Lord,” I thought, “will this talking never come to an end?” Suddenly, he was all sweetness. “Don’t misunderstand me. We learn by making mistakes and I have been talking in the privacy of my room. We must put this matter to right.” He spoke in the plural. He phoned the Superintendent of Police dealing with traffic offences and found that there were over 100 cases pending. He told the Superintendent, “All these cases must be withdrawn. I have made a mistake in the drafting and in the circumstances, the Crown does not wish to go on with the prosecution.”
I quickly changed my opinion of the man and thought “What a fine gentleman!” The order for the withdrawal of all the cases had to be given by the Inspector General himself. My mistake (no one knew it was mine) was put right the following week by an amending by-law which said “In these bylaws, ‘Vehicle’ includes a mechanically propelled vehicle.” How simple the whole thing looks now. This happened many years ago. As I type this in 1967, in the privacy of my room, the atmosphere is
heated, my feet are cold and perspiration is pouring down my back.
I had, perforce, to be more careful now. I studied the Draftsman’s Bible, Allison Russell on Legislative Drafting, and if I had the slightest doubt, consulted one of my three seniors, Villavarayan, Wendt or H. N. G., who were always of the greatest assistance. A set of market by-laws for Kurunegala Urban Council was sent to me for revision. The Ordinance gave the Council power to lease the right to collect the rents and fees due in respect of the stalls. Instead of doing this, the Council had leased the entire market to one person and the bylaws were intended to provide for this.
I deleted all the objectionable portions of the draft and returned it to the Council certifying it to be in due form as amended in red ink. After some time, the draft was sent back to me by the Council with an opinion by E. J. Samarawickrema, K. C. stating that the original by-laws were perfectly in order and within the law and requesting that the by-laws as originally sent be certified to be in due form. I could not sit in judgement on my own matter. I accordingly wrote a nine page report to the Legal Draftsman pointing out, with all respect, that Samarawickrema was wrong and that the by-laws as amended by me should stand.
Mervyn sent for me and said, “So. You disagree with Samarawickrema? You had better pass the draft on the K. C.’s opinion.” I requested him to make that order on the file and he hesitated. He then had a conference with the Attorney General, the Solicitor, and five Crown Counsel, with himself, Villavarayan and me for our department and the meeting, after discussion, agreed with me.
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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