Features
FROM TRINCOMALEE TO PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
by Eric de Silva
When communal troubles broke out after the General Elections of 1977 and Coordinating Officers were appointed by Government for most districts, I was the only Government Agent appointed to that position despite the situation in Trincomalee being particularly bad. Senior officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force or Police were appointed in the other districts.
It came to be known that this exception had been made as the Service Commanders and the IGP had said in unison that that there was no point in appointing anyone else when the former Senior Assistant Secretary (Defence) was in charge at Trinco.
In carrying out my duties as Coordinating Officer for the district, I came in contact with Prime Minister J.R. Jayewardene, and got the opportunity of meeting him on a number of occasions during the visits he made to Trinco. He had a number of meetings with senior military officers and other officials during these visits. During one of his visits, he had a discussion with me at the Navy House all by myself during, which he openly expressed satisfaction at the way I had performed my duties during a very difficult time.
Given the above background, it came as no surprise when I was appointed as Additional Secretary to him when a vacancy arose in that position in March 1978 and I was desirous of getting back to Colombo. The Secretary to the President, WM.P.B. Menikdiwela had been known to me for quite some time and had been supportive of my coming over as an Additional Secretary in his office, the other such position being held by someone junior to me in the Administrative Service, though senior in age.
While I was happy working in the President’s Office and about the working environment there, many of my juniors had gone past me to be Ministry Secretaries. Menik, who was conscious of this had spoken to the President about it and, as result, they offered me the post of Secretary in the Ministry of Labour which had fallen vacant around that time. I had no reason to turn it down. The Labour Ministry, incidentally, was located a mere five minute drive from Wijerama Mawatha where I was residing at the time.
Before I move on to the Labour Ministry, let me place on record an unforgettable experience I had while working in the President’s Office. This was an unforgettable stint as Acting Chairman of the National Film Corporation (NFC)
In the initial allocation of subjects and functions between Cabinet Ministers in 1977, the NFC which came under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, had been retained under Prime Minister J.R.Jayewardene, and it continued to remain so even after he became President. It fell into the group of Ministries and institutions that I had to overlook as one of the two Additional Secretaries.
The nature of its work, however, was such there was very little that came to the President’s Office for its attention. A crisis, however, struck suddenly when its incumbent Chairman, failed to get the clearance of the Parliamentary Select Committee (popularly known as the High Posts Committee) appointed to examine the suitability of persons selected for appointment to high positions in the public sector.
This naturally created more than normal interest as the person concerned came to be known as a close associate of a VVIP of the ruling party. Amidst the furore that this created, the President called me up and said that he had picked Anton Wickremesinghe as a suitable person to be appointed as the new Chairman of the Corporation. He went on to say that AW was living in UK at the time and had asked for a month or two to wind up his activities there and get back to Sri Lanka. Not stopping with that, he gave me the surprise of surprises by asking me to function as Acting Chairman until Anton turns up, adding that it would be a month or two at most.
The President went on to say that I did not have to go to the Corporation office (located at Bauddhaloka Mawatha) and that I could get them to send whatever papers that needed my attention to me at the Presidential Secretariat. I had no way of saying ‘No’ although I did not fancy the idea very much as I felt somewhat ill-equipped to deal with the world of films, film stars and film producers. Mercifully, it was going to be “a month or two at most”! This is how I became head of the National Film Corporation on June 22, 1978.
I had to function in that capacity until Anton Wickremesinghe appeared on the scene not in two months time but eight months later (i.e. February 1979). I must say, however, that I enjoyed the experience very much and this was made possible due to the unremitting support I got from its Board of Directors.
Amongst its members were two leading film stars – Irangani Serasinghe and Joe Abeywickrema, and two well-known media men, Thevis Guruge and D.H. Abayasinghe. Amongst the others were Prof G.L. Peiris from the Law Faculty of Colombo University – a person who struck me then as a man of few words – showing no signs of the politician he has later turned out to be.
I made it a point to go to the Corporation office regularly and not let the institution suffer as a result of its Chairman being thrown out of his job and the person selected to succeed him not being able to assume duties for a much longer period than had been originally expected. The fact that I was living at Wijerama Mawatha at the time, just a few minutes drive from the NFC, made it easy for me to go there whenever possible in the afternoons on the way home from the President’s Office and attend to any papers before getting home.
Members of the Board of Directors gave me their unstinted support and we were able to achieve many things, working closely together. Among the numerous things we did was to get down high quality Tamil films in response to the demands of the viewing public, for which purpose I even made a visit to Madras to get the assistance of our Deputy High Commissioner’s Office located there. There were many programs that were already being implemented to improve the quality of Sinhala films, and steps were taken to strengthen these.
One day, His Excellency the President called me up and said that the country had been starved of good English films for a long time, and asked me to see what the problem was and do something about it. When I looked into the matter I found that this was due to a virtual breakdown of relations between NFC and the Cinematic Renters Association (CRA) which had the distribution rights for most of the major film-makers in United States like 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Metro Goldwin Mayer and United Artists, and had its Regional Office in Bombay.
This stand-off between the two was apparently due to a dispute between them about a claim of Rs. 6.5 million that the CRA claimed was due to them which the NFC had failed to remit to them (apparently due to some foreign exchange regulations which stood in the way). There is no doubt that this deadlock had to be broken if we were to get down high quality English movies to Sri Lanka like the President mentioned.
In the circumstances, I thought of making a trip to Bombay to talk things over with CRA to find a way out and save time that would be wasted in correspondence. Hence, I obtained the President’s approval to do so, taking with me George Wickremasinghe (Director of the Government Film Unit) who functioned at the time as Consultant to the NFC.
We booked into a hotel not too far away from the CRA office so as not to waste time in Bombay’s traffic jams. A whole day’s discussions at the CRA office, however, yielded no positive result and we were to take the flight back to Colombo early next afternoon after perhaps a hurried ‘shopping round’ in the busy bazaars of Bombay.
We didn’t want to return empty handed (where the official business was concerned) and after spending a sleepless night trying to find a way out of the deadlock we stuck on a novel idea. We sought one more meeting with CRA during the following morning and put the idea across to them. This was to allow the so-called blocked funds (to use the words that the CRA used) amounting to Rs. 6.5 million to be used for setting up of a fully equipped film complex for the screening of high quality English films.
After a great deal of discussion and with the clock ticking very fast towards the conclusion of a seemingly fruitless discussion, they changed gear and not only agreed to our proposal but agreed to send their films for screening in Sri Lanka right away. This was much more than we ever expected, and George and I felt as if we were ‘over the moon’.
With that assurance in hand, we made it in time to the airport for the return flight. It goes without saying that the President and the Board of Directors were more than happy to hear the outcome of our visit. In the meantime, the news got round and the titles of some of the films to be brought came to be known.
Picking on one of them, namely ‘That’s Entertainment’ for its title, the Observer of January 13, 1979 wrote: “So, after a long seven years of drought, the public can slake their thirst for entertainment from March. The long awaited American films which were coming, coming, coming have at last come
The ‘Weekend’ newspaper, which interviewed me at the Presidential Secretariat, carried a report the next day under the title “COMING SOON – The Best from the West” along with a photograph of mine taken during the discussion. It broke the news to the public that a team from CRA would be in Colombo in two days to sign the necessary agreements for the distribution of films released by top American film-makers. It also added that another team from Britain would be here to sign a similar agreement for films produced there.
A visit to Sri Lanka by a team of top officials of CRA (Bombay) led by its Chairman followed, and he signed an agreement with me to supply Sri Lanka “69 top class American films” to quote the Ceylon Daily News report which followed giving a full list of the 69 films due to be supplied by Warner Brothers, Paramount Films, Universal Films, M.G.M. Films, Columbia Films, Twentieth Century Fox Films and United Artist Films.
The report added that two of these – The Towering Inferno and Abba-the Movie have already arrived in Sri Lanka and this is how a filmgoer by the name of Amaranath Paul showed his appreciation in a letter to the Editor published in the Ceylon Daily News of January 20, 1979: “All the best to the State Film Corporation. For the fifth or sixth time since its inception seven years ago, several have attempted to resurrect this corporation from chaos to a money making concern, but to no avail. This time the SFC await in great expectation, for the “Jaws” of the SFC to pour out entertainment par excellence, especially with regard to movies from USA’
There were many other initiatives taken by me during the short spell I functioned as Acting Chairman of NFC – too many to mention here. One such was the establishment of the Rukmani Devi Memorial Fund in honour of the undisputed Queen of the Sinhala Cinema and leading songstress who died in a fatal motor car accident late at night of October 28,1978, at Tudella, north of Ja-ela, while on her way, if I remember right, to see her ailing mother.
When the news of the tragic death reached us in Colombo I got cracking and got the approval of the Board and the Minister to launch the Rukmani Devi Memorial Fund and announced same at her funeral – an act which was deeply appreciated by the grieving public.
At its meeting held on February 14, I informed the Board of Directors that Anton Wickremesinghe would be arriving in the island shortly and taking over the mantle from me. I added that it was likely to be the last Board meeting I would attend, and to my surprise very touching remarks by Members of the Board followed this announcement, making me proud that I had performed well on unfamiliar terrain.
At the very first meeting chaired by the new Chairman a couple of weeks later similar sentiments had been expressed ending with a formal letter addressed by him to the Secretary to the President.
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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