Features
Ladies College Principal’s visit to my hospital and end of my nursing career
Excerpted fro Memories That Linger…
.. by Padmani Mendis
(Continued from Apr. 9)
As soon as I was able to, I went into the city to the office of Thomas Cook.They were then one of the most popular travel agents globally. I could trust them because my mother had used them to arrange my sea voyage to England. I had heard about the English Lake District and how beautiful it was. That is where I wanted to go. Within a few days Thos. Cook planned for me a week’s holiday in Keswick. It was a small town in the heart of the Lake District and they believed it would suit me; they arranged my travel, booked a hotel for me and handed over to me all the relevant documents. My friend Val’s mother drove me to the New Street Railway Station in the city.
The two of them saw me and my suitcase safely on the train and waited on the platform to wave me goodbye. The train left at 11 p.m. I had to change trains at Carlisle way up in the north at 5 a.m. the next morning; the connecting train would take me to Keswick before 7 a.m. I had very few fellow passengers on both stretches of travel.
If I had told my mother of my plans beforehand she would have worried too much. So on my first day in Keswick I wrote and told her where I was and why. Not about how I got there. My travel agent had told me how to get to the hotel which was situated very close to the Railway Station.
I walked there and was shown my room. On my way to the hotel I had seen an unending stream of people, obviously holiday makers like me, walking purposefully in a certain direction. That made me curious. So as soon as I could I went back down to the street and joined them.We did not walk far before we were at a Lake – it was Lake Keswick. The stream of people was purchasing tickets and getting on a boat which was apparently to go round the lake, making stops on the way. I thought,“Looks interesting. Why not join them?”And I did.Needless to say, the sleepless ride on the trains and the soft rocking of the boat made me sleep through most of that ride. But I had my eyes open for brief moments often enough to see what the area around Keswick was like. On the other side of the lake, across the town, was a virgin forest.
It attracted me.I would go there tomorrow.On many mornings after that I would ask the hotel for a packed lunch, take the boat and get off at the forest. I would take with me my writing and reading material. Here in the forest, I would find a tranquil and comfortable place to sit in a scenic spot; here I would write letters back home to friends and family; I would intersperse this with bouts of reading with some dreaming thrown in. A generous time I spent just to ponder, to wonder and to reflect. One day I saw an advertisement in the hotel for a day trip through the Lake District.
I took this day trip and saw the deep and extensive beauty of that area. One town which was as pretty as a picture was Windermere, situated of course on Lake Windermere. All too soon the first week of my holiday was over.
As planned, I took the train to London to spend the second week with my brother Shatir and our friend Emdee. And to discover London. I was 20-years old. Back to Woodlands When I got back to the ROH I found that I had been put in the Children’s Ward. I was in my second year and was now a SeniorNurse.More of distributing medicines,doing ward rounds with the surgeons,writing daily reports and the like and less of bed making, bed baths and bed pans. The children were delightful. There was Margie, two years old, lying on her back, her body immobile on a metal frame with her legs spread out horizontally at 180°. She had no choice in the matter of course. This was the way that children who were born with both hips dislocated had that condition corrected. Margie would be kept in this position for at least one year. If the hips were not stabilised by this time, she would be put back on another frame for may be another six months.
Then there was “Peter Sunshine” so named by Ward Sister Salmon – pronounced not like the fish, but “sal-mon” taking the “l” into account. We never saw Peter’s parents because they did not visit him. But happy, happy Peter would stand in his cot constantly cooing and smiling at all who would pass by. Sister Salmon was very fond of him. Peter had severe club feet. He had a series of operations to have them corrected. The results each time did not bring the expected correction. And so, it went on. A Surprise: Miss Simon’s Visit to Birmingham and its Impact One day Matron sent for me. I wondered “why now?” It was a very pleasant surprise indeed that she had for me. Miss Mabel Simon, my former school Principal was coming to Birmingham. It was to be the very next day. She had come to London, to Moorfields Eye Hospital to have the “Glaucoma” that was troubling her seen to.She had written to Matron saying that she would like to visit me.
Matron had invited Miss Simon to have lunch with her the next day. Matron thought it would be fitting for me to show Miss Simon round the hospital and take her to the Children’s Ward where I was now working. She would send for me the next day when Miss Simon arrived. I met Miss Simon the next day after she had a cup of tea with Matron. Miss Simon was amazed as I took her to the nurses’ home and I showed her my room. A tiny 6’x 10’. The size did not matter because I had got what I wanted in there. Most important to me was a bedside radio; the cover was white with black dots. It would come on when I lifted the lid and switch off when I closed it.
I showed her the kitchenette where I could make myself a sandwich and a cup of coffee if I did not feel like going to the dining room.
I even showed her the row of bathrooms where a hot, hot, soak was possible after a particularly tiring day. I took her to the wards where I had worked and introduced her to Sister Taylor and to Sister Reilly. And finally, I brought her to the Children’s Ward. Sister Salmon was happy to meet her. I left them to talk alone for a while and then took her down the ward. As the children saw me, they cared not with whom, they started shouting as usual, “Nurse Padi, Nurse Padi,” vying for my attention. She stopped by a bed or two to respond to the children. By then she had seen enough to know who I was and what I was doing as a nurse. We spent a short while on a garden bench in pleasant surroundings.
Miss Simon probed my feelings wanting to know more. I shared with her the dilemma I had faced not long ago.Sister Salmon had called me to her room. She had said to me “Nurse Padi, I speak for some other Sisters as well. We have talked about you and we want to ask you to think again about going on to the physiotherapy school when you finish here. We think you will be a very good nurse. We wish you would consider going on with nursing instead.” This had taken me by surprise.I did not know what to say to her other than thank her, of course. At the end of our twoyear stint student nurses at the ROH had the option of continuing either with three years plus at the physiotherapy school or to go on to the General Hospital in Birmingham and after two years become Registered General Nurses.
I told Miss Simon I had written to my mother and sought her advice. My mother had reminded me that I had decided that I would go back home after my studies were over. She had said the choice I was really making was whether I would spend the rest of my life in Ceylon as a nurse or as a physiotherapist. Put that way, I had no choice in the matter.The nursing profession had no recognition and nursing conditions were very poor.Physiotherapy was a new profession and gave rise to much hope. I shared all this with Miss Simon. I told her at the same time how hard a decision it was to make. I just loved being a nurse.
I took Miss Simon to have lunch with Matron. She left directly after lunch and I never saw her again. She had retired and was back home in Melbourne, Australia,when I returned nearly four years later. I was told constantly by school friends of the special place I had found in Miss Simon’s heart. She would mention me in her prize day report every year without fail, giving an update of my achievements year on year. This made me wonder whether I was thefirst girl from Ladies’ College to have done nursing. I will never know. Happy Times in Northfield Village As nurses, we would work in shifts. Our shift as a day nurse was 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a three-hour break either in the morning,afternoon or “an evening off” as we put it, and which was the best of course. We had a day and a half off every week. As a night nurse, we worked from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. We had our breakfast before we went on duty at night, dinner (which in Ceylon we called lunch) at midnight and supper (that is dinner) when we came off duty in the morning.
You might think it was a topsy-turvy world, but it was not. We just kept to that pattern and slept during the day. We had five days off in a fortnight. It was the Night Sister’s decision whether we would have it in two plus three days or five days at a stretch. If it was five days that I had, you could be sure I was down in London to be with Shatir and Emdee. When we had an evening off, I would go into the city, maybe window shopping or to a cinema. During the short breaks or on a day off, I would go into Northfield Village,maybe a 15-minute walk south down the Bristol Road.
Here there was a “Tobacconist” also called the “Corner shop” or “Newsagent”. This was the first place I would go to in the village. The two ladies inside soon got to know me, greeted me with warm smiles, admired my saree, and made small talk to make me feel at home. Before I knew it, they had observed what I had purchased routinely on my visits – Kit-Kat and Mars Bars, the “Women’s Weekly” and the “Woman and Home” magazines.
As I entered the shop they would have all these ready for me with a, “what more would you like to have, dear?” I went regularly also to the library in the village.
This had a wide selection of books I could choose from. It was not long before the vivacious and friendly librarian came to know me. Her beautiful red hair was unusual. It fascinated me. She helped me choose what turned out always to “be a good read”. On the streets all I met would have a warm smile and a greeting for me.All of which me made say, “thank you destiny, for bringing me here to Northfield and to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, the Woodlands.” Recognition There was more to thank Destiny for. The ROH had an annual prize giving at which nurses were recognized for their work performance. At the first prize giving I was surprised to be awarded the first prize for Anatomy. That was my favorite subject.
The second year it was an even greater surprise. The time for it was after I had completed the two years of nursing and had moved to the School of Physiotherapy. One day I had a letter with Matron’s seal on it brought to me. I could not believe my eyes. The ROH had decided to award me the “Silver Medal in Nursing”. This recognized me as having been the second-best nurse over the two past years. Now here was news I had to write home about. My mother of course told Miss Simon. Now she had something to include in her prize-giving report in December that year. Her previous report had mention of the prize.In her letter Matron asked me to come see her.
When I did go, she said that it was traditional for me to say a few words,thanking the hospital. Which, when the timecame, I did. The Gold Medallist was Jenny Ross. Jenny was in the batch before me. She was an exceptionally good nurse. And would you believe it, Jenny had her education at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. From which came the Founders of Ladies’ College, Colombo where I had my education. Which made me think, it is a small world indeed. Farewell to Nursing Two years passed all too soon. It was time to say goodbye to all these lovely people who had made my life at Woodlands a happy one.
There were two groups of people I had to include in my round of farewells.
The first was a small group of three to four. They worked in the “Round Tower” of the Hospital. It was they who had made my 21st birthday a remarkable and happy one. They had made possible a phone call for me from Colombo on this day. Very difficult and therefore scarcely possible in those days.Coordinating with the telephone exchange in Colombo, they connected me to my mother. After we had exchanged a few messages, then each and every member of my family – sisters and brothers and their spouses, nieces and nephews, the whole lot spoke to me. I knew then how fortunate I was to have been the youngest in a family of nine.
The incident went further. Word had got around the hospital about this special happening. I was not alone. What is more, Mahin and Barbara made me a gift of a pretty pearl necklace. One that I treasure to this day. And the Hospital Chef baked me a cake.Which brings me to the second group, the head of which was the Chef. I made a point of going to the kitchen. I met the Chef in his out-sized white peaked cap. And his staff,also in white but wearing smaller caps,decreasing in size according to their rank in the hierarchy. They had made me feel quite special from the first day I came to Woodlands to the last.
On my way from the nurses’ home to the dining room I had to pass the entrance to the kitchen. It seemed to me there had always stood here a lookout when I made my way to breakfast. Because every day the Chef and his staff came out to greet me just as I passed, with smiles and, “how are you today m’dawling?” or “and how are you, me lovlay?” or “oooh, bit cold for you in’t?” These were all delightful people and how I would miss them.
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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