Features
MALGOLLA TO MYSORE ‘WITHOUT REGRETS’
by Hugh Karunanayake
Standing on a shelf in my study is a large racing trophy with the inscription ” Madras Races 1939/40- H.H. the Maharajah of Mysore Cup”. Inscribed further down is the name of the horse “Without Regrets” and the name of the jockey Davison. The trophy is a handsome piece of silverware measuring 45 cm in height and 45 cm across at the widest section of the urn. It was gifted to me some years ago by a friend who possibly thought that this memento of horse racing in Sri Lanka would find a cosy niche among my collection of books and ephemera from Ceylon.
He had purchased it at an auction in Colombo but did not know much else of its background. I tried my best to get more information on the trophy, especially the name of the owner and the circumstances in which it came to be auctioned but my efforts were unsuccessful. It continued to rest on my bookshelf with an occasional furtive glance at it by visitors, but with no progress at all on my attempts at research.
The stalemate continued until my friend Mr S. Muthiah the former Editor of the Sunday Times, and Times Annual visited me in Sydney a few months ago. He has been domiciled in Madras(Chennai) for the past few decades and is now an authority on the history and heritage of Chennai so much so that he was awarded an MBE by the Queen of England for his work.
I showed Muthu the trophy and asked whether he could help me with more information. I could not have found a better resource for the task, as in addition to his encyclopaedic knowledge on Madras and its history, Muthu’s father Mr M. Subbiah at one time owned a string of horses racing both in Ceylon and in Madras, and was once the winner of the Governor’s Cup in Madras and surely some of the stories of the turf of that era may have rubbed on Muthu himself?
He writes a weekly column for the Hindu Newspaper called “Madras Miscellany’ – something he has been doing for years, and on his return to Chennai he asked through his column whether his readers could help him with information, and the response from his readers was as expected, magnificent. Not only did they provide information on the horse and its owner but also sent newspaper cuttings from 70 years ago with photographs of the horse being led in by his trainer after winning the His Highness the Maharajah of Mysore Cup.
What a discovery !! The owner was Charles A. Laing, a prominent turfite who figured regularly in the annual lists of the top six winning owners at races in Ceylon during the period 1935 to 1952. He had through the years bagged all the possible major trophies awarded for horse racing in Ceylon including the Governor’s Cup (1935), Roberts Cup (1938), Lawyers Cup (1936), Governor’s Bowl (1938) The Maharajah of Mysore Cup (1939/40), The Ceylon Cup (1940). The Madras Cup (1951),The A.E. de Silva Cup (1949).the Galle Cup (1932), the De Soysa Cup (1933) and many others.
The names of the 20 racing trophies won by the Laings during the years 1929 to 1951 were later inscribed on to a large silver plate which was used as a coffee table in their home.
The story of the Laing family in Ceylon begins in the 1830s with the two brothers James and John Laing from Cults near Aberdeen, Scotland, migrating to Ceylon. It continued through almost 135 years of residence by four successive generations ending with the departure of Mike Laing and his family in 1974. The Laing family saga makes fascinating reading, and breathes life in many ways to social aspects of the almost forgotten story of the British in Ceylon.
It is also the story of plantation development in Ceylon, and the laying of the foundation of what was later considered to be the “commanding heights” of the economy, viz the plantation sector.
James Laing worked as the Editor of the Ceylon Herald, a government run newspaper which succeeded the Government Gazette of the time. He died from spasmodic cholera and was described at the time of his death in Kandy on September 9, 1846 as ” a universally esteemed member of Society”.
He died on a property called Parkside in the Kandy area according to J.P. Lewis in Tombstones and Monuments of Ceylon (1913). His son, James, born in 1825 was the Superintendent of the Bridge of Boats at Kelaniya (the precursor to the Victoria Bridge). He lost his life tragically at the age of 59 trying to save two friends from drowning in the sea near Mount Lavinia on April 3, 1874 and was buried at the General Cemetery, Kanatte.
John Laing the founder of the family featured in this story and brother of James (Senior) was a pioneer sugar cane and coffee planter. Governor Edward Barnes encouraged sugar cane cultivation and offered land around the Peradeniya and Gannoruwa areas for sugar cane cultivation. John Laing planted Peradeniya Estate (300 acres) first in sugar cane and later in coffee.
It was part of this estate that was acquired by the Government for the Kandy Golf Links in 1909, and many decades later for the Peradeniya University. Noting the tremendous opportunities that lay in plantation development he lost no time in purchasing a large tract of land in Dolosbage which was at the time a very fertile district yet unopened, and covered mostly by uncleared jungle land.
Those were difficult days with hardly any labour to assist and with no physical infrastructure reaching those areas. Life was at its best lived under the most difficult and primitive circumstances. Land had to be cleared of forest, the soil prepared for the planting of coffee, and a homestead established with very basic material to house the pioneer.
When developing his properties in Dolosbage he lived in a house named Bon Accord (after the motto of the city of Aberdeen) near Katugastota where he reigned with an iron fist. He was known to confiscate cattle that strayed into his property invoking the ire of local villagers one of whom sought to kill him in 1859 by firing a gun through his drawing room door but missing the intended target. The coffee estates Madoolhena and Malgolla in Dolosbage were planted by him.
Times were tough for the colonist both physically and emotionally. John Stephens (the father-in-law of his son C.A.L.Laing) said after returning to Ceylon after his last visit to England in 1868 “and here I shall make my last exit-for after many years of hard toil, earning my bread by the’ sweat of my brow I shall never see my ain countrie again”.
There was hardly any social or community activities then, although Freemasonry was active among proprietary planters since 1838 when St John’s Lodge was warranted. John Laing was initiated to the St John’s Lodge on September 15, 1864 and continued his involvement up to his death.
On the death of John Laing , his son C.A. J. Laing ( born in Aberdeen on July 4, 1859) continued to manage the estates. After the coffee blight of the 1870s the estates were gradually replanted in tea by C.A. J. Laing. Both John Laing and his son C.A. J. Laing lived out their lives in Ceylon and in the process developed their plantations to be very rewarding agricultural enterprises.
C.A.J. Laing married Gertrude Stephens also from Dolosbage on January 10, 1891. Gertrude’s father, a champion tennis player, was for some time Superintendent of Mossville. C.A.J. Laing died on July 9, 1913 at the age of 54. He and his father John are said to be interred in graves in the Kandy district but the exact locations are not known.
Charles A Laing was the third generation of the family in Ceylon. Born in Nuwara Eliya on January 23, 1892, he had his primary education at St Edwards School in Nuwara Eliya after which he was sent to Aberdeen Grammar in Scotland for his secondary education. He was 21 years of age when his father died in 1913 and he returned to Ceylon to actively participate in the management of the family estates.
His period of ownership and management of the estates could well be called the golden age of the British colonist in Ceylon, an age described by the ‘plantation raj’ as its halcyon days. By then the foundation of the economy had been transformed from that of traditional agriculture to plantation agriculture. All the hard work involved in the transformation had already been done by the pioneering work of the nineteenth century planters.
In the case of Malgolla and Mossville Estates the foundation work was already done by the father and grandfather of Charles A Laing whose pleasant lot was to reap the rewards generously flowing from the labour of his forbears. It certainly could be said that life in the country was at the beginning of the twentieth century a veritable bed of roses for the colonist. Socially the country was stable with a highly stratified social system that had the British colonist on top of the pile and the rest accepting the status quo without murmur.
Charles Laing managed his estates well and lived the leisurely life of a country squire. On deciding that Ceylon would be his home he sold off the family estate in Cults near Aberdeen and invested the proceeds on developing his tea estates. He was a Major in the Ceylon Planters Reserve Corps (CPRC) and was a good tennis player and marksman with a number of trophies to his credit mainly won at the Dolosbage Tennis Club and the Kotmale Club in Nawalapitiya with which the family had enduring connections.
His greatest passion however was horse racing, and he owned a string of horses which from the 1930s onwards brought him almost every important racing trophy in Ceylon and South India year after year. During the racing year 1934/35 his stables earned Rs 42,947 in prize money alone.
During the war years, horse racing in Colombo was suspended and the racecourse used as an airfield prompting many owners to continue their racing in Madras. Charles Laing continued to field his horses in Madras and it was there that his horse “Without Regrets” emerged as a champion.
At the Spring Meeting in Madras held on January 14, 1940 –”Without Regrets” ridden by Jockey Davison and trained by GNG Walles won the Maharajah of Mysore Trophy better known as the Mysore Cup valued at Rs 500. The owner Charles Laing received Rs 4,000 in prize money in addition to the trophy. One month later on March 18 1940, the horse won the Ceylon Cup presented by the Ceylon Turf Club at the Madras Races for its owner Charles Laing bringing in Rs 3,000 in prize money and a trophy valued at Rs1000.
Charles Laing married “Micky” in 1945 whilst they were both in Trincomalee, he with the CPRC, and she with the WRENS during the war. His son Mike Laing representing the fourth generation of the Laing family in Ceylon was born in 1946. By 1952 Charles Laing had sold off his string of horses and two years later stricken with illness he was admitted to the Joseph Fraser Nursing Home in Colombo where he passed away on October 5, 1954 at the age of 62.
The seven year-old Mike was then schooling at the Hill School in Nuwara Eliya. Micky Laing ran the estates through agents until Mike who was sent to Scotland and England for his higher studies returned after his university education to take over the management of the estates in 1968.
Mossville was sold to pay off the huge death duties that had arisen, and the family was able to develop Malgolla and to retire Micky Laing to England. On June 22. 1969, fifteen years after the death of Charles Laing.
Some chattels belonging to his Estate together with antiques, silver racing trophies including the Mysore Cup, other sterling silver ware and luxury goods were sold at an Auction held by Schokman and Samarwickrema, Auctioneers in Colombo. It was at this auction that my friend acquired the Mysore Cup which I now possess.
With the introduction of the Land Reform Act in 1973, Malgolla Estate was acquired by the Government bringing to an end the unbroken links of the Laing family with their vale of Malgolla in Dolosbage for well nigh 135 years, a sad end, but as Mike Laing would say “Without Regrets”!!
With the acquisition of the estate Mike Laing was faced with the prospect of looking for a new career. He may have observed with some irony the exchange control restrictions of the time which made it difficult for a man whose family had lived and worked for four generations in the island to pay for his air travel back to England. He had to borrow money to purchase the air ticket to leave the country.
There were several old retainers on the estate some of whom had worked through five or sex generations on the family property and despite the vicissitudes he faced Mike Laing was able to fund many of them to travel back to India before the estates were finally taken over.
There ends the story of the Laings and Malgolla, the story of the British family with the longest uninterrupted period of residence in Ceylon. It would have been lost in the mists of bygone days had it not emerged quite serendipitously from a desire to research the background of a nearly forgotten racing trophy.
(From The Ceylankan ,Journal of The Ceylon Society of Australia, No 48, November 2009)
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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