Features
Fun flying in Sri Lanka
Thank you for publishing my dear friend Capt. Elmo Jayawardena’s article on ‘Fun Flying’ in The Island of 1 Nov. I totally agree with him. May I be permitted to reproduce the following article with the full story, which was aimed at the golfing community in Sri Lanka? It was published in your esteemed newspaper some time ago.
RECREATIONAL FLYING AND GOLF
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned upward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
– Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), painter, artist, engineer & Renaissance genius from Florence, Italy.
The art as well as science of flight is indeed very interesting to learn and practise. Like golf, it takes a little time to accomplish, depending on your instructor’s ability to teach and your ability to learn. One does not need to have special skills except a passion for flight. Sacrifices have to be made, like waking up early to get to the airport. Everyone can fly. Like riding a bicycle. The prospective pilot is taught to fly, navigate and communicate up to a required level of proficiency, and then the sky’s the limit.
For most people, the sky may be the limit, but as someone once said, for those who love aviation, the sky is their home. One thing is for sure: once the bug bites, it is forever. The most memorable day in a fledgling pilot’s life is the day he/she is allowed (cleared) to fly solo. That is, all by oneself, without the benefit of an instructor in the next seat to give guidance. This also means that the instructor is confident that the trainee is a safe pilot and ready to learn more by himself or herself. A milestone that will usually be celebrated among like-minded friends in the fraternity. In fact, in flying, as in golf, you are always learning and you are so focused, you leave your problems behind (on ground).
“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things …” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
There are 16 airports approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) at locations across Sri Lanka: KKS (Jaffna), Iranamadu, Vavuniya, Thalladi (Mannar), China Bay (Trincomalee), Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Minneriya, Batticaloa, Ampara, BIA/Katunayake, Ratmalana, Katukurunda, Koggala, Weerawila and Mattala. Light aircraft could land at any of these airports. At the moment, although manned by the Sri Lanka Airports and Aviation Ltd., and the Sri Lanka Air Force, some of them are rarely used.
Flying schools in Sri Lanka
There are many CAASL-approved flying schools at Ratmalana and Katukurunda. They will be only too happy to provide an aircraft and an instructor to teach anyone interested in taking up this wonderful hobby. Imagine, after you are trained and qualified you could fly from Ratmalana to Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Koggala or KKS in the morning, have lunch there, and get back to Ratmalana by evening.
“You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.” – Amelia Earhart (1897-1937).
When one acquires the skill to fly with reference solely to instruments one could obtain an Instrument Rating (IR). This will allow the pilot to confidently fly through and above the clouds without being always restricted to be in sight of ground or water. The trainee pilot could also learn to fly in the night and get a ‘Night Rating’. This will provide more flexibility by not being restricted to daylight flying hours between dawn and dusk. Initially, the trainees start practising early in the morning, at a time when the winds are usually calm and the air is smooth. When they gather more experience (counted in hours of flying), they will be allowed to fly later in the day when the air is more turbulent, due to heating of the ground by the sun. The winds also usually build up by then. They will also reach competency in landing and taking off in crosswind conditions, at their home airport, before they are allowed to fly in command on cross-country flights to other airports. Being the ‘Pilot in Command’ of the light aircraft builds up the new pilot’s confidence and develops a healthy respect for weather in the tropics. Checklists will also be introduced, so that the pilot will ‘do things right and do the right things’!
Thrill of flying
Once you are competent and comfortable with the type of aircraft you were trained on, you may even want to buy your own aircraft which could be parked at and maintained by one of the many flying organisations/schools. On the other hand, if you don’t plan to fly too often, hiring may be a cheaper option. When you experience the thrill of almost ‘two hundred horses’ hauling you down the runway and the acceleration in the seat of your pants, you never forget it and will come back for more. Come to think of it, pilots are connected to the aircraft only by the seat of their pants! The nerves, muscles and skin in the pilot’s posterior, how it reacts to gravity and acceleration/deceleration, is collectively known as the ‘somatosensory feel’. Along with what you see with your eyes and experience through the balance organs in your ears, it helps in orientation. Age is no barrier as long as you are medically fit (this writer is now past his 72nd birthday!). So, as one gets older, it will be necessary to do regular medical check-ups to ensure that everything is in order. In one way, it helps one keep fit. Bear in mind that the CAASL does not require your health to be that of an astronaut. You can fly with corrective lenses (spectacles), and even if you are slightly deaf in one or both ears, for there is a volume control in the radio receiver to help! You could fly after heart surgery, even a by-pass. Diabetes need not keep you grounded. There are many waivers in the medical regulations for the Private Pilots’ licence category.
“Can the magic of flight ever be carried by words? I think not.” — Michael Parfit, Smithsonian magazine, May 2000
During training, one will acquire ‘stick and rudder’ skills. One will also acquire a working knowledge of Air Navigation Regulations (ANR), engines and airframes, aircraft and human performance limitations, flight planning, weight and balance theory, GPS navigation, meteorology (weather), map reading, the use of the slide rule, protractor and compass. Every minute of flight is exciting, but how safe is it? It is certainly safer than crossing a road in Sri Lanka or riding in a three-wheeler. From the first day, you are taught to be safe and think safety.
Hardly any emergency landing
Modern aircraft engines are very reliable and run smoothly, like proverbial sewing machines. Although fledgling pilots are trained extensively to competently handle emergencies, one hardly hears of an emergency landing due to engine failure nowadays. Engines don’t usually fail suddenly. They usually give some indication of a pending problem in the form of noise, vibration, fluctuations of oil pressure, oil temperature, cylinder head temperatures, coolant temperature, power produced, etc. The pilot could safely reach ‘terra firma’ as soon as possible and have the problem attended to, if necessary. Statistics from around the world show that most engine failures in small aircraft have been due to bad fuel management. resulting in fuel starvation.
“The engine is the heart of an aeroplane, but the pilot is its soul.” — Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (RAF)
To fly over our Fair Isle with your family or friends, spending quality time and watching the places familiar to you as they unravel from the air, makes one appreciate our country. For example, flying over the cities of Kandy, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Bible Rock, Sigiriya, Castlereigh, Victoria, Kothmale, Senanayake Samudra, Lunugamwehera and the Bolgoda Lake. To spot elephants after takeoff from Mattala or Weerawila, see Adam’s Peak in the distance, or the Mahaweli meandering northwards towards Trincomalee from Kandy, and the Mahiyangana Stupa shining in the morning sun. Flying to Anuradhapura and navigating by Ruwanwelisaya to locate the airport. Following roads, rivers and railway lines. Flying over Iranamadu, Fort Hammenhiel guarding the entrance to Jaffna Lagoon, and much more with your newly acquired skill. Flying an Instrument Landing System (ILS), as if on rails, in between the big jets at Bandaranaike International Airport, down to 400 feet followed by a ‘greased landing’, where the tyres kiss the runway.
There are two other fun categories that are practised in other parts of the world, requiring qualifications other than the Private Pilots’ Licence (PPL): ‘sport aviation’ and ultralight flying licences, where the aircraft are smaller, simpler and, in the case of the latter category, allow one to fly with no certification. Unfortunately, such freedoms are still to be implemented in our part of the world.
Here’s a quick comparison of the restrictions and privileges in each category in the USA, as quoted by Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA): (see table)
Unfortunately, at this point in time the CAASL can only provide a Private Pilot’s Licence Category for recreational (leisure) pilots.
Striving for perfection
Flying, like golf, is striving for perfection. You can play golf against yourself. The mathematics involved in flying is perhaps a little more complicated. It is challenging, but not competitive. At the end of the day you have the satisfaction of pitting yourself with nature and doing a good job of it. As in golf, flying has its own jargon.
As one golfer says: “For me, it’s largely that sensation of raw power that comes from hitting a little white ball 250+ yards, sky high, and in all sorts of shapes and sexily curved flights. As others have mentioned, the feel of striking the ball purely and watching it pierce the air like a bullet – or, at the other end of the shot-making spectrum, float on the wind, balloon-like – is, very arguably, a euphoria unmatched in any other sport. “It’s incredibly satisfying when you hit the ball just perfectly.
Another golfer says: “I love taking all of the variables into account: wind speed, wind direction, fairway slope, club limitations, ball placement, and more. Then the whole analysis comes down to one simple swing that’s over in seconds. It’s fun (or sometimes not so much) to see the results immediately, where in business it may take weeks, months, or years to see the results of a strategic decision.”
It is the same with flying. The strategic use of your knowledge and experience in a more acute sense as your decisions will affect you directly. You don’t need to watch anymore. Now you can be a part of it. Although there are many common elements in flying and golf such as self-improvement, determination, concentration and enjoying fresh air, flying must obviously be more fascinating and personal as I have yet to see poems, such as the one below, written about golf.
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Fun fliers harassed
There is a small community of ‘fun flyers’ who are harassed by the authorities who drive them from pillar to post as they have to work with bureaucrats who don’t know how an aircraft flies. Above all, they don’t have a passion for aviation. There is a National Aviation Policy (NAP), which has now been issued as a Government Gazette (No 2214/54 of 10th Feb 2021). Encouraging the formation of flying clubs is one of the declared objectives of this policy.
Instead of facilitating ‘Fun Flying’ (officially known as General Flying), these ‘seat warmers’ tend to obstruct their activities by attempting to enforce the archaic Administrative and Financial Regulations (ARs and FRs). The two frontline entities in charge, i. e. the Civil Aviation Authority Sri Lanka and the Airport and Aviation Sri Lanka, were formed to eliminate ‘red tape’ in the 1970s. Since then, red tape has crept in through the backdoor, and things have moved back to square one or are even worse in the ‘permanent administration’. To add insult to injury, after the 30-year war the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) behaves like aviation’s self-appointed ‘Dr. No’.
Security clearance
Prospective pilots have to wait for over six months to obtain security clearance from the SIS, NIB, CAASL, SLAF and what have you. In fact, the Aircraft Owners and Operators Association (AOAOA) asked the authorities for a quicker IT-based system more than two years ago, and are still waiting. Capt. Elmo’s suggestion of the practical and profitable possibility of flying training for tourists could be achieved only if and when the security system is revamped and put on a fast track, especially when the country is short of valuable foreign exchange.
As we are not at war anymore, the planning of air space and airports in the country is the sole responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority Sri Lanka (CAASL) as mentioned in the said government Gazette. Instead of coordination with the CAASL, the SLAF still seems to want absolute control of civil airspace over our fair isle. To illustrate the point, a few days ago there was the funeral at the General Cemetery, Borella, of a lady who was a well-known anti-cancer activist who died of cancer herself. In her last will, there was a handwritten request for a ‘flower drop’ at her funeral. After her death, the Ministry of Defence and CAASL were duly contacted and permission granted to carry out a flower drop from a civil helicopter. Flowers worth thousands of rupees were bought, but at the eleventh-hour permission was refused by the SLAF for no apparent reason. However, a week later when a scholar monk died, the SLAF sprinkled flowers at his funeral – demonstrating the existence of two different laws in one country. The tail seems to wag the dog!
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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