Features
How can Sri Lanka benefit? Insights & Solutions…
Vaccines against Covid-19:
By Dr LakKumar Fernando.
MD, DCH, MRCP(UK), MRCPCH (UK), FRCP (Lond), FSLCP
Background
It is almost one year since the world started battling the Covid-19 pandemic; there are over 80 million confirmed cases and 1.8 million deaths. WHO estimates that 10% of the world’s 7.8 billion population is already infected with Covid-19, and if that is the case the true case number is ten times higher. However, we are still without a proper treatment that can cure all the patients. Sri Lanka has recorded more than 200 Covid deaths and 40,000 cases by now. Fortunately, there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the positive news that several vaccines are getting lined up, shaping to end the pandemic before the end of 2021.
Vaccines have become the best solution against nearly all the important infections that threatened the human existence and Covid-19 is the most recent threat that demanded the biggest ever ‘vaccine solution’ in the history of mankind.
Normally, a vaccine takes 5-15 years of serious medical research before it is delivered for licensing and marketing. However, with all the tools ready with several vaccine makers to bring in a vaccine for similar infections, the race for Covid-19 vaccine became fast and efficient and researchers worked round the clock to fast track the solutions. The result is vaccinations against Covid-19 have started in several parts of the world already, even before the end of 2020.
With WHO declaring Covid-19 a global pandemic, close to 200 vaccine developers started research with huge investments and after completing pre-clinical animal studies, 44 vaccine candidates are currently in phase 1, 21 in phase 2, 18 are in phase 3. Five vaccines have approvals for limited use and three have emergency approval for full use., The fourth was approved on the 30th which can be a turning point with regard to cost and storage temperature of vaccines. About 85 vaccines are still in animal testing and just one vaccine was abandoned after the trials. Most Covid vaccines need two doses for complete immunity. However, trials have also shown significant immunity protection (70%) after a few weeks of the first dose itself. As a result, now the UK government is going to delay the second dose to 12 weeks instead of threeweeks so that more people could be vaccinated with the first dose protecting many while giving manufacturer more time to produce more doses.
Pfizer BioNTech’s BNT162b2 is the first vaccine against Covid-19 that got approval in most countries, that included the USA, Canada, the UK, and EU with more being added to the list almost daily. Moderna was the next that got approved in the USA and Canada. The Russian manufacturer Gamaley’s Sputnik V vaccine is in early use in Russia and it’s also approved in Belarus and Argentina. The Chinese vaccine Sinopharm Beijing is approved in the UAE and Bahrain and there is limited use in China too. CanSino and Sinovac are two other Chinese vaccines that are in limited use in China already.
The British-Swiss Oxford University combined Astra-Zeneca (AZ) vaccine AZD1222 which also has its biggest manufacturing site in the Serum Institute of our neighbouring India just got approval from the UK regulatory authority MHRA (Medicine and Health Regulatory Authority) and its possibly going to be the cheapest with cost being as low as two USD per dose with the storage capability of being within on 2-8 centigrade under normal refrigeration. Serum Institute also has over 50 million doses ready for dispatch after approval. AZ with about 30 manufacturing sites has the capacity to produce bigger quantities of the vaccine than most others.
Another Indian vaccine by Bharat Biotech is also in Phase 3 and will complete trials early next year.
With all these vaccines getting lined up and with more than a couple of million people in the world getting their doses already, Sri Lanka too should move fast to get the best use of the opportunity.
HOW CAN SRI LANKA GET THE VACCINE?
There is a group called COVAX set up with WHO’s help with funding from rich countries organized to give access for Covid-19 vaccines to populations in over 90 poorer countries. Covax has already ordered 2 billion of Covid vaccines from different manufacturers and they have already secured 1 billion doses from this order. It has agreed to give Sri Lanka too vaccines for 4.1 million or 20% of our population free.
No Covid vaccine is still intended for the under 16 age group as the trials were in populations older than this age limit. Fortunately, in this younger age group Covid has so far remained largely an asymptomatic disease with minimal deaths or need for hospitalisation.
WHEN CAN SRI LANKA GET THE VACCINE?
If we get ready with all logistical requirements, and communicate with COVAX and WHO efficiently and professionally, we can start having it from as early as next February itself but how many doses we can have and over what period of time will depend on many factors which also include the degree of our local effort and commitment.
WHOM SHOULD WE
VACCINATE FIRST?
We will have to have a priority order which should include our elderly population and those with co-existing illnesses like diabetes, heart and kidney disease and other chronic illnesses as well as the healthcare workers (HCW) and security forces involved in Covid control activities who are high risk groups to contact the disease.
Vaccinating healthcare workers are important for several reasons and they include…
1. We cannot afford to lose HCW having to isolate them or quarantine them with infection or exposure as they are needed in numbers to look after the Covid cases and other patients
2. Due to the fear of contacting Covid there is breakdown in the necessary routine medical and surgical care for patients in most healthcare institutions at present and this is responsible for most parallel deaths and morbidity even in non-Covid patients. Some of the Covid deaths specially home deaths are also a result of the malfunctioning of routine standard follow up and care for those with co-morbidities.
3. If the case numbers increase HCW will need more PPE for everyday use and we will not be able to face it if the situation escalate further.
WHAT ABOUT VACCINATING THE OTHERS? CAN WE AFFORD IT?
When it comes to immunisation coverage for routine vaccines, Sri Lanka is outstanding in the world where our strong public health set up and the infrastructure has beaten even many developed countries.
Our vaccination acceptance rates are remarkably high with the literacy rates and public health network, mass vaccination is nothing new to our setup. Being an island with secure borders and the limited population of only 21 million compared to eg. India’s 1.3 billion, we are a country where vaccinating the entire population is a realistic feasible option if you can find the money and the doses to cover the entire population. With about 25% (6 million) below 16 years of age, where there is no vaccine for this age group, we need vaccines only for less than 15 million people. Our over 65 population in the country is just about 10% (2 million). We will get at least 4 million doses free from COVAX. We must spend money only for 11 million doses.
If we buy at 2 USD per dose, (Indonesia is possibly getting the AZ vaccine from serum institute for USD 1.64 per dose) we will need less than Rs. 5-8 billion to buy the vaccine and there will be a little more logistical cost. This will also be over many months. Sri Lanka has already spent close to 10 billion rupees on PCR testing alone since March and compared to that the vaccine expenditure is a remarkably worthwhile investment. It is also not essential that we give the vaccine free to everybody.
With good motivation and awareness campaign there will be many who will not mind paying for their vaccine which can be as little as 500-800 rupees for both doses. We can start a public campaign to raise funding for the vaccine without overburdening the Treasury and if handled properly this can have an excellent response. We have 1.8 million Samurdhi recipients and it is believed that only about 1 million of them are in the extremely poor category. In this country we can also easily find over 1 million people who will not mind sponsoring a vaccine for someone else who is poor and cannot afford it. This is a time we have to get-together to face this pandemic.
No one should try to take political advantage of the situation. Together we can end up a proud nation that has vaccinated all its people ahead of many other countries. It is also essential that we strengthen the vaccination system by allowing the private sector too, to be very much a part of the vaccination program. This not only ease the burden to the government, it will also help to reduce unwanted unrest among people.
It is also worth noting that many rich countries have already placed orders far in excess of their true requirement. For example, UK has placed orders for 350 million doses though they need only 120 million doses for its less than 60 million eligible population. There are many examples like Canada pre-ordering almost 9 doses per person very much more than they need and countries needing more doses can take advantage of these situations, by being proactive. Its unlikely that the cost of the vaccines will go up or the availability of doses will become a huge issue. With time most will be solved. Already 18 vaccines are in phase 3, and they too will be competing in the market soon. The early successors have no room for monopoly and when vaccines like by Johnson & Johnson which is single dose also come into the market the competition will be even more. Serum Institute in India can produce 2 billion doses of AZ vaccine in 2021 and the Russian Gamaleya can produce 500 million more doses to be used outside Russia. WHO and NMRA will do the regulatory evaluations for each vaccine fast. However, if we do not actively look for avenues, we will be end up at the back end of waiting list.
With above explained feasibility and reality, Sri Lankan can be one of the first countries in this part of the world to vaccinate its entire population. It is never an impossible task. This will place us in a unique situation, with our ability to fully open the country where factories and tourism and our economy can jump ahead of many others, making Sri Lanka one of the safest countries in the world to travel and to deal with. We being a smaller country with a smaller population, it’s best that we take advantage of our unique circumstances. For the best out come extreme efficiency is a must and we will need top officials with a proven track record handing our vaccine effort.
WHAT ARE THE VACCINES WE CAN BUY OR GET?
With the huge global demand, it is unlikely that any country(possible exception of Singapore and Canada) can vaccinate the entire population with only one type of vaccine. We will have to keep shopping for different vaccines, while the COVAX also will be giving the countries their free quota from different makes. They have already offered as 200,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Sri Lanka last week through a proposal, as they believe, Sri Lanka is an ideal example in this part of the world to successfully execute distribution of an ultra-cold vaccine to a limited population like the healthcare workers. Though -70C appeared not practical at the beginning Pfizer has already found good transport solution where vaccine doses can be taken in a separate storage unit filled with dry ice (liquid carbon dioxide), and there are reputed local logistics companies (eg. Akbar Brothers) that can handle it up to the delivery to the hospital. The Pfizer’s storage units can maintain ultra-cold temperature for 10 days if unopened and can be kept for 30 days if re-filled with dry ice every 5 days. Once taken out of these storage unit the vaccine can be kept in normal refrigerator temperature of 2-8C up to a further 5 days. If we commit to take this free offer, (has to be a firm commitment done fast enough in time) we can vaccinate our HCW front liners incredibly early, and the same Pfizer vaccine can be made available also for the private sector later in the future. Our preparedness to complete our vaccinations using different vaccines for Covid will be the best way to achieve the ‘not-impossible target’ of vaccinating our entire population early.
WHAT ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS OF THE VACCINE AND DURATION OF IMMUNITY? WHAT ABOUT NEW STRAINS THAT WILL APPEAR?
Any vaccine or drug can have side effects, like allergy in people known for severe allergy. With over millions of vaccinations now completed after recent approval the safety of the approved vaccines appear very good and comparable to the vaccines we have already taken from childhood. This has been systematically tested in phase 2 and 3 of the trials.
About efficacy and long-lasting immunity, we can be only be hopeful as compared to influenza virus that fast mutate, SARS Covid-2 is a relatively stable virus where mutations are slower, and indications are that even the new variant of Covid-19 that emerged in UK and South Africa will still be prevented by the vaccine. There are interesting reports about the survivors of 2002- 2004 SARS epidemic infected by SARS Covid-01 still showing protection against the current Covid-2. If the immunity does not last long a booster will be needed. Initially like children we will have few exclusions for vaccinations like for any new vaccine for eg. pregnancy. Vaccinating a large number will bring in a major change into our lifestyle and take us towards herd immunity. With so many restrictions affecting our day-to-day life the vaccine option is THE best available solution we have now.
In summary we need to use a multi-pronged effort to vaccinate everybody which will be a noticeably big useful investment towards economic development, even more than a health solution. We will have to secure and use
1. The free vaccine we will get from COVAX for 20% of our population
2. Negotiate with various sources, and countries to obtain or buy more doses to cover the balance population.
3. Permit the private sector also to import, distribute and vaccinate, with state monitoring to facilitate effective coverage of the population who could afford the vaccine privately.
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 . )
