Features
Media related missions and meeting Marcos in the Philippines
Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography
As Director of Information in 1969 I was the first Sri Lankan contact of the Asian Mass Communication and Information Centre [AMIC] which was established in Singapore .This Centre was supported by the Government of Singapore and largely financed by the Freidrich Ebert Stiftung of West Germany. The FES was the NGO of the SPD or Social Democratic Party. At that time it was left of centre in politics and specialized in trade union and media development.
An Indian Journalist cum media scholar Lakshmana Rao was appointed the first Secretary-General of AMIC. He was a student of Wilbur Schramm, a notable media researcher and University teacher in the US. Rao soon undertook a tour of Asian countries to introduce AMIC and drum up support for this new venture. Since there was a FES office in Colombo it would have nominated me to be the local counterpart and Rao visited me in office and we agreed to collaborate in research and training.
Rao and I got on well and we were able to send many of our scholars and media officials for seminars and training courses to Singapore. During this time travel facilities to journalists were not freely available and AMIC became a popular institution both for training and duty free shopping. DC Ranatunga whom I recommended to be the AMIC representative in Sri Lanka wrote:
“One day I got a call from Sarath Amunugama, then Director of Information. “Would you like to go to Singapore?” he asked me. Having been good friends with common interests I asked him not to pull my leg. He told me that a friend was with him with an invitation from a new organization on mass communication. They had sent an invitation and an air ticket for a representative from Sri Lanka. At a time when foreign travel was virtually banned, I was thrilled with the offer but I told Sarath that I was no longer a journalist and he should pick someone else. He insisted I should go having been in the field of journalism for over 10 years and able to make a useful contribution. The event helped me to make contact with a host of media men from Asia and AMIC got off to a flying start.
AMIC’s live wire was Lakshmana Rao, an extremely amiable person. He told me a regional conference would have to be organized in Colombo and I gladly agreed. We held the conference at Galle Face Hotel. I persuaded Arthur C Clarke to deliver the keynote address. The Conference delegates were delighted to listen to him and to chat to him after his presentation.
After some time I was appointed to the Governing Board of AMIC. It was a high level group of Asian media personalities and included Roy Daniel, the Director of Information of Singapore as Chairman, Roshian Anwer [Indonesia], Somkuan Kaviya [Thailand], Chanchal Sarkar [India], Sir Charles Moses [Australia], Dol Ramli [Malaysia] and myself. Hormoko, a well-known Indonesian journalist also joined us. Later he became the Minister of Information under Suharto.
From the Phillipines Flore Rosario – Braid became an AMIC associate. We would meet every quarter in Singapore to plan AMIC programmes and review the budget. Since AMIC was the only media ‘think tank’ for Asia we had considerable influence on making media policy and in linking the nascent media departments of the universities in the region with each other. We held regular seminars in Asian countries, usually within universities, which helped to draw attention of governments to the role of media and media education.
It was the biggest network of media experts in Asia and western universities also began to collaborate with us. Everett Rogers from the US and Micheal Kunzik of FRG were reputed communications scholars who were associated with us. AMIC began its operations from a Singapore hotel. After studying its activities the Singapore Government provided AMIC with a large bungalow on Newton Road close to busy Orchard road. At that time Lee Kuan Yew was a favourite of the German Foundations whose Asian operations were conducted through their regional offices located in Singapore. Much later in time these premises were taken over for the construction of the Newton Circle MRT station and AMIC moved to the Campus of Nanyang University.
However by the late 1970s AMIC ran into trouble. Lakshmana Rao’s autocratic ways did not please the FES or the Singapore Government. Even the Asian scholars were unhappy about his dependence on a few cronies. Due to his powers and FES not looking at the accounts of AMIC, it was found to be insolvent. The original agreement was for the regional administrations to contribute their share for the upkeep of AMIC. That did not happen as Rao insisted on keeping everything within a small circle of AMIC supporters who were his personal friends.
In this hubbub Rao resigned and AMIC was left headless and Dr. Sinha who was an assistant Director was asked to oversee the institution. He was ably supported by a Sri Lankan journalist Guy de Fontgalland who was another employee of AMIC. Fontgalland who was the Jaffna correspondent of a Sri Lankan newspaper became a nationally known figure because of his excellent coverage of a Hindu Temple entry crisis which became top regional news.
When a well-known temple in Mavaddipuram in north Sri Lanka refused to open its doors to so called low castes in the peninsula there was a protest and an attempt by a group of worshippers to forcibly enter the Temple. This was resisted by a former Minister and ‘enfant terrible’ Suntheralingam, a high caste or Vellala leader from a distinguished Jaffna family. He was a brilliant Cambridge educated mathematician who was a Professor in the Ceylon University. He was an advisor to D.S. Senanayake in the struggle for national independence.
In fact Suntheralingam was credited with providing mathematical evidence for DS to make submissions regarding ethnic representation to allay alleged British fears of a Sinhala steamroller majority after Independence. He was given the important portfolio of Trade in DS’s first Cabinet. However when the bill which in effect disenfranchised the estate Tamil labour was passed in Parliament, he resigned and became an implacable foe of the government. It must be noted here that G. G. Ponnambalam his rival did not vote against that bill. He remained as Minister of Industries much to Suntharalingam’s displeasure.
He tried to make a comeback to public acclaim by appealing to the caste prejudices of the Vellala Tamils by obstructing the entrance of the Harijans to the Temple. Fontgallend who was a Catholic went to town on this issue. He was admired by the Colombo newspaper establishment and was brought down to Colombo to work as their Tamil affairs specialist. From there with his strong personality and flair for journalism he appealed to Rao and was hired as an assistant Director to AMIC.
From then on it was plain sailing for Guy. He was extremely popular among AMIC members and with the departure of Rao became the power behind Sinha who was a social science researcher from the University of Patna without much administrative experience. Earlier he had played the role of Rao’s hatchet man .But with his bosses departure Sinha turned to Guy Fontgalland to manage the centre. His concern was mostly to stay on in Singapore because he had moved over bag and baggage from Patna.
How all this affected me was that Sinha and Fontgalland had selected me among themselves to be their ally in the AMIC management committee in their negotiations with the FES. This was a shrewd move because the FES representative Reinhard Keune was my friend who helped in setting up our television training centre in Colombo with FES funding. Through Reinhard I came to know the FES top brass ensconced then in their headquarters in Bad Godesberg, near Cologne, which was the provisional capital of the FRG. Later in time FES moved to Berlin when the capital of united Germany was shifted there.
Another lucky coincidence was that the German expert sent to equip our Film Unit under German aid was Dieter Rauch. Dieter had earlier worked with FES and had given a glowing report about the cooperation of the Ministry of State in implementing that programme. All this gave the idea to Sinha and Fontgalland that if I could be persuaded to head AMIC it would be a way out of their uncertain future after the departure of Lakshmana Rao.
Development Information Network
At about this time I was offered a short term assignment by UNDP, the development arm of the United Nations. The communications unit of the UN in New York, with whom the distinguished Sri Lankan journalist Tarzie Vittachi was associated as an advisor and was working on a project to use communications as a way of empowering rural small farmers to get a fair price for their products. Many field studies had shown that the funds allocated for rural development by UN agencies were not yielding results by way of improving the life chances of the rural poor. Many leaders, bureaucrats and middle men were siphoning off a large part of the aid money and the UN was getting a bad name.
Could media – basically radio and TV – help in keeping the farmers informed of market prices for their products and also help in agricultural extension to raise productivity? A pilot project was proposed and, in typical UN style, a high level delegation was to meet the heads of state of the Philipines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Fiji to apprise them of this signature project of the UN and to solicit their support.
As the leader of the two man delegation the UNDP chose Dr. Hernan Santa-Crusz, former Foreign Minister of Mende’s Cabinet in Chile and ex Deputy Secretary-General of the Food and Agricultural Organisation. For the post of second commissioner the UNDP nominated me. This was a signal honour which showed that I was being recognized as a ‘brand’ in the field of communications. I suspected that Tarzie may have had a hand in my nomination as he and my friend Roberto Savio of Inter Press Service were regularly consulted by UN agencies on communications matters.
Savio was a great friend of Juan Somavia – the famous Chilian development economist who fled to Mexico during the reign of terror unleashed by Pinochet. Somavia was the son in law of Santa Crusz and the reputed UN old boys network may have been working to get us together for this mission. Hernan and I were summoned to New York for a briefing while our itinerary was worked out through the UNDP Resident Representatives in the countries we were to visit.
Hernan Santa Crusz was a big built, well dressed, veteran diplomat who was very conscious of his high Ambassadorial status and was full of old world diplomatic charm. He was delighted when Heads of State and Ministers referred to him as ‘Your Excellency’. In our travels throughout Asia I learnt much about Latin America and particularly about Allende and his murder by the army which had close links with the CIA.
He also told me about the intrigues in FAO. He had canvassed for the post of Director General of FAO but had been pipped at the post by Ambassador Sen who was a member of the Indian Civil Service. My friend Hernan believed that India had collaborated with the US to deprive him of the topmost position in FAO because of his Allende connection. This was my first visit to New York and the week-long stay in a small hotel on Lexington and 4th street close to the UN building in Manhattan, gave me a splendid opportunity to explore a city which I got to know well in later years. I also got familiar with the UN practice of drinks parties in office after the end of the days work.
It was not possible like in leisurely Colombo to have parties in late evenings. Homes were located far away. So small office parties were held in the same office right after work. I got used to this when I was in Paris and would return home after office parties in a slightly inebriated state. Both in New York and Paris we could buy a few bottles in the UN commissary at duty free rates. They were well patronized by the staff who were envied by our other friends in business houses who did not have such duty free privileges.
We were never short of liquor in Paris because Ginige and our staff in the Sri Lanka embassy had quotas for duty free bottles. Our Sri Lankan visitors, used to rations at home, were amazed when liquor was freely served in parties that we had in their honour. Every year we had a delegation of senior police officers visiting France for meetings of Interpol. They were entertained right royally by us at house parties where drinks were in abundance and they could be persuaded to give us inside information about inquiries back home. In particular I remember startling disclosures about the disappearance of Upali’s aircraft, by the CID officer who had been designated by the President to investigate that tragedy.
After the initial briefings I returned to Colombo and through the UNDP Office here coordinated my visits to the countries assigned. The first of the meetings were to be in Manila and included a meeting with President Marcos in his Malcanyang Palace. Fortunately for me the UNDP Resident Representative in Manila was Devarajan, a senior ex-CCS officer who too had taken early retirement and joined the UN. He had access to all the top personalities in Manila and had arranged several high level meetings which was a pleasant surprise for Santa Crusz who was nervous that his standing may not figure so much in Asia as in Latin America.
Devarajan had set up meetings with Marcos and Foreign Minister Romulo who was now in his dotage. The meeting with Marcos was a memorable one. We had entered the scene when the US which had backed him fully at the beginning was now disengaging largely due to a barrage of criticism from the Western media. Media was highlighting the massive corruption of his regime and the extravagance of his wife Imelda Marcos, an ex-beauty queen and dominant personality who towered over Marcos who was a slight figure.
His short stature obviously troubled him. He met us after climbing onto a small platform to greet us from on high as the accompanying photo will show. Marcos was pleased to see us because only the week previously he was on the cover of TIME magazine with a devastating story of corruption and cronyism in the Philippines. He was very angry and receptive to our suggestion to improve his national Press agency.
The Phillipines was so Americanized that its media was a pale imitation of the US model. The appalling poverty of the population was covered up by the elite which was super rich. I remember that later when I visited Manila for an annual General meeting of the Asian Development Bank we found that the slum areas were boarded up and the poor were not allowed to emerge from their homes till the conference was over.
Hernan Santa Crusz and I did not know that US policy makers had already decided to replace Marcos with the Harvard educated, super rich and populist Aquino. Aquino however was- assassinated by Marcos’s goons when he landed in Manila Airport. This further aggravated the concern of the international community who then brought in his wife Corazon (Cory) Aqino When we met him, Marcos told us about his achievements in cleaning up gun toting Manila and was indignant that he was being criticized after dancing so long to the US tune. He may have known that his days were numbered because the grape vine in Manila, which is famous for its gossip, told us that his wife was stashing away large sums of dollars abroad.
Marcos seemed weary but he was very courteous and assured us of his full support. With Devarajan as the UN coordinator our project could take off and we sent an optimistic report to New York. Writing a report with a veteran like Santa Crusz I learnt about making a presentation in UNese language which comes after long experience in the international system. It was a good lesson which helped me when I joined UNESCO.
Devarajan also took us to see Carlos Romulo who was a national icon having been involved in the fate of the Philippines in the early days following the second World War, as a friend of the western camp. His interventions in the UN were mostly as a mouthpiece of the US. He thereby managed to get a lot of publicity. He was a favourite of the TIME magazine and I remembered reading about him as a schoolboy. He and Ramon Magsaysay were presented as the popular face of their country at that time. Though old he was quite feisty and asked me about Sir John Kotelawala whose guest he had been at Kandawala. He ran a well-appointed office and had a bevy of good looking Philipinas running around. Like his friend Kotelawala, he also was a social butterfly who enjoyed partying and female company.
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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