Features
Getting Community Based Rehabilitation started in rural Botswana
(Excerpted from Memories that Linger: My journey in the Word f Disability by Padmani Mendis)
The first group we visited wished to go together to the home of Ntchadi. Before we went to her home, the FWEs (Family Welfare Educators) told me that she had difficulty moving from place to place. She was about 10 years old. They said they wished they could do something for her. She had a very large head. She could not stand up because, they thought, she could not carry the weight of her head. I could see that she had hydrocephalus.
We visited Ntchadi’s home and were invited to sit on the bench outside the door. All the homes in the villages of Botswana were round mud huts. All the family members slept on mats which they would spread out on the floor at night. It was seldom that strangers were asked inside a home. We used the space available on the bench which was always to be found outside the door, while others stood by, leaning against the house or against a post. Ntchadi came close and sat on her haunches ready to join the conversation.
We talked with the mother about all her children until we came to Ntchadi. Her mother told us that Ntchadi wanted to go school. We asked Ntchadi whether she did and why, what she would do at school, did she have any friends and so on. She replied hesitantly and shyly. The mother added that Ntchadi stood at the fence to watch with a sad face as her brothers and sisters left for school. She would stand at the fence later when they were due back.
Ethel asked the group what we should do. “Shall we go and ask the school principal?” SSO (Social Servce Officer) Chele suggested. We asked Ntchadi and her mother whether they would like to do that. “But how can she go to school?” the mother asked. I stepped in say let’s go and ask the principal as Chele suggested.
It turned out the school was just opposite Ntchadi’s home. Chele went across, met the principal and asked him if he could meet us. We all walked across in a group to the school. The school was also made of small mud buildings. The principal, looking pleasant and stern at the same time, said first that he did not know that Ntchadi wanted to come to his school. He said now that he knew she did, of course she could.
At which Ntchadi’s face broke into a smile. SSO Joyce had questions. But how could she get here and back? What if she wanted to use the toilet? The principal replied that he had a wheelbarrow, and would ask children to take turns to fetch Ntchadi and take her back. And if she needed to use the toilet, someone will take her home in the wheelbarrow, he said.
There was a single neurosurgical specialist at the General Hospital in Gaborone, and a single physiotherapist. Where is the access to hospitals, specialised medical treatment and rehabilitation in countries such as these? Were these FWEs then delivering a cheap, low-cost service? Was this improving the quality of life of a child or not? Was this the medical model of rehabilitation? Or was it a developmental model? A rights-based model? Equal access to all or to the privileged few? To whatever questions critics had, this was CBR.
I heard that later the principal was a member of the Rehabilitation Committee Chele had helped their Kgotla or Village Chief to set up. Chele was happy with the interest the committee showed in their disabled people and with the support she got from them. The FWEs learned from this example that sometimes the solution lay within themselves.
Another group of FWEs took us to visit the home of three-year old Kealoboga. Ethel helped the FWEs assess her using Forms from the Manual. They found she could not sit by herself and she could not speak. They decided to teach the mother to use the Package on Play Activities to stimulate Kealoboga’s development. We went with Kealoboga and her mother to the village store and with difficulty got a cardboard box. Even a small box was a scarce resource in the village. The FWEs made some adjustments so that Kealoboga could sit in the box. They showed her mother how to speak to Kealoboga in the way that was shown in the Manual.
Not having the Manual in Setswana made it difficult for the families. Plans had already been made by Adelaide to have it translated. Funds were available, but the translation was taking a long time.
Family Welfare Educators
FWEs were the community health workers. They had a basic education, were full-time workers and came from the villages they worked in. The ones in our group of 15 were in the age group of perhaps 22 – 35 years. They were paid workers. After their field training was over, they told me they would visit the homes of the disabled members when they visited that part of the village for other reasons. In other words, they planned to integrate this task together with others they did in Primary Health Care.
And so we continued from day to day. When we needed a break for lunch we would find a bench to sit on quite close to a village store. FWEs and Ethel brought their own lunch. I would have an oil cake and a coke from the store. I disliked coke intensely, just for the brand name. But most often it was all the small store had. Home-made fresh oil cakes with coke which was probably from South Africa. That country was the source of all imports. Boy, did that white minority exploit their neighbours?
Over our lunch break the FWEs had lots of questions for me of a personal nature. One thing that seemed to fascinate many of them was my complexion. They commented on how smooth it was, and asked what I used. They were surprised when I said I used Nivea occasionally, just to prevent my skin from dryness. I was only forty years of age then. The wrinkles appeared three decades later. And the grey hairs took another decade.
The FWEs told me that most people living in Serowe were from the Bamangwato tribe. Each Motswana family had three homes. Now that they had regular jobs they themselves had to remain in Serowe all through the year. But some of their family when the rains came, had to spend time on their family lands and cultivate their fields. And then they went to the grazing areas or cattle posts to tend to their cattle. But every family was required to spend some time of the year in Serowe itself. They agreed with the chief that this was necessary to maintain tribal unity. They all spoke Setswana at home. At school they had studied in English.
Ethel Matiza
Ethel, always with a beaming smile on her face, always presenting an appearance of not having a care in the world. But there were times, and quite often too, that I caught in her eyes signs of desperation, of a deep unhappiness. In time I found out she had good reason for this. Ethel called herself a refugee from what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Southern Rhodesia had a white minority government dominating the black majority. You may remember Ian Smith the white prime minister? The black majority were being discriminated against, segregated and exploited as they were in South Africa.
The majority were struggling for their right to govern their country. Ethel told me this struggle was becoming increasingly violent. Her husband was actively involved in the struggle and his whole family was in danger of persecution. So much so her family believed it was safer for them to take refuge in Botswana. She was here with her parents and two children. Her husband continued to be a leader in the freedom movement. She was very afraid for him. This is the unhappiness, the desperation that I was seeing in her eyes. She told me that she thought their struggle would soon be over, but she still worried.
I heard early the following year that Zimbabwe finally gained its independence from Britain. It was of course world news. I was happy that Ethel could return home with her family and be safe with her husband. I knew at the same time that her going home will be a loss to the disabled people in Serowe, and indeed to Botswana. She was a dedicated worker with immense potential. She too, believed that CBR was the way forward.
The Serowe Hotel
The Serowe Hotel was situated on the Serowe-Palapye Road. The latter was then an important junction for both road and train travel. The distance between Palapye and Serowe was almost fifty kilometres. The road had been built only over ten years ago, so development alongside was recent. The Serowe Hotel was situated just inside the outer boundary of Serowe. From its appearance one would not have thought that it had been built within the last decade.
The hotel was a very small building. Two bedrooms for guests with a common bath and toilet, a small hall cum dining area, kitchen and a room for the manager. I was told that this had been built for travelling salesmen and the like. But in my three months, there were no other residential guests so I had the bath and toilet to myself.
No residential guests, but plenty of others. Every evening the hotel was filled with the male gender and loud noise. Much like the English pubs, they gathered here for beer, company and conversation. As the evening moved on many were intoxicated, plain drunk.
Given the way the hotel was used, after work I confined myself to my room. It was still spring and very cold. I had a single-bar electric heater in my room. Electricity was provided by the Council via generators which operated for two to three hours between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. How long I could use my heater depended on how much diesel the Council had that day.
Before light fell, I was in the habit of sitting outside – one could not call it a garden, rather the space between the hotel and the road. This was to catch as much of the sun’s warmth as I could. To do this, I sat in a chair with a book, and while the shadow moved forward with the receding sun, I moved my chair and myself with the decreasing but still available sunlight. This made me a little bit warmer.
Serowe got its water from boreholes located around the village. Water was rationed and supplied to consumers from these sites. The hotel had its rationed supply stored in their own tank. As is to be expected in a supply chain, the water made available to me by the hotel had also to be rationed. Every morning and evening I was given a basin of water.
I requested that I be given less in the morning and more in the evening.
With the basin I was given in the evening, I had my bath. Nalin still asks me how I did it – and my reply is, there was no choice, I just had to. After a day out on dirt roads, walking from house to house in a village one returned hot and dusty. I used a small towel, soaked it, washed the dust off my body, applied soap, and washed that off again with the flannel soaked in clean water. Finally, with the water that was left, I washed my hair. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.
Meals at the Serowe Hotel
For dinner every night I had a treat – steak. Cattle-rearing is the main occupation of the Motswana. The daily meal of the people was beef with porridge, and so was mine. Only the preparation was different. In the villages they usually cooked it all in one pot – the beef and the grain, like a stew. Sometimes the grain was cooked separately and made into porridge. The grain was either sorghum or millet which they grew in their fields.
The cattle were reared on their family grazing land. The porridge I had for breakfast. For dinner the hotel gave me a choice cut of beef made into a steak, served usually with porridge. Or as an occasional treat, potatoes when they had a supply from South Africa.
From Serowe to Brazzaville
While I was in Serowe I received an urgent message from WHO, Geneva that I should go to Brazzaville to participate as a resource at the Consultation of Directors of Rehabilitation Centres in the African Region. The consultation was to be held from October 8 -12. It was organised by the WHO African Regional Office (AFRO). Gunnel and I were asked to present two papers. One on “A Community-Based Approach to Rehabilitation” and the second on “Manpower Policies in Rehabilitation”. Because Gunnel could not attend, I presented both papers.
Before I came to Brazzaville I had to look up a map to find out where it was. I had actually not heard of it before. And yet the WHO Regional Office for Africa was located here. I found out that what we knew as the “Congo” is two countries. Brazzaville is the capital of what is the Republic of Congo. This had been the French part of the Congo.
The Belgian Congo, or Zaire, is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. The map showed that while Brazzaville was on the north shore of the Congo River, Kinshasa the capital of the former Belgian Congo was on the south side. From Brazzaville on the north side, I could look across the river and see Kinshasa.
The Democratic Republic of Congo at this time had a military dictator called Mobuto Sese Seko. Economically, the Democratic Republic was doing badly and people were poor. The consultation kept me confined to the hotel with meetings in the evenings and many people to talk with. The little bit I saw of Brazzaville was on my way from and to the airport. What I saw indicated to me that it was a much-neglected city.
It was yet early days for CBR but the discussion and recommendations of this consultation could have a very positive impact for disabled people in Africa. The first output of the consultation was that CBR is the likely solution to meet the needs of disabled people. It called for disabled people, family members, neighbours and friends of disabled people, teachers, community leaders and local authorities to all participate actively in this approach; also, to utilise the principles of primary health care.
Second, it referred to the draft WHO Manual and stated that it will be made available to be adapted by countries for their own use. Third, it referred to the Guide for Policy Makers and Planners which had been recently drafted by Einar in Geneva and recommended its use for CBR planning. Fourth, it referred to the need to develop support and referral systems for CBR and called on rehabilitation institutions to take a leading role in this.
Finally, the consultation stressed the need for multi-purpose or mid-level rehabilitation workers to support CBR. I shall be coming back to the mid-level worker many times later in my journey. For now, I was happy that the need for such a professional was expressed at this important forum; let me say for the first time since WHO introduced CBR.
This consultation led to a workshop in CBR being held in Serowe the following year. I returned to Botswana to facilitate that workshop with Gunnel
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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