Features
Non Governmental Organizations and becoming a UN civil servants
Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiographhy
With the New Information Order debate occupying centre stage many global NGOs of both left and right ideological backgrounds entered the field of research and training in mass media. The most influential and well-funded of these was the Asian Mass Media and Information Centre [AMIC] which was set up as a joint venture of the Freidrich Ebert Stiftung of Germany and the Government of Singapore. AMIC was located in Singapore in a building provided by the Singapore Government.
The Chairman of the Board was their Director of Information who was a friendly, efficient and hard drinking colleague named Roy Daniel who had joined Lee Kuan Yew when he set up the Progressive Peoples Party [PPP]. Since I served AMIC first as a member of the Governing Board and later, fora short time, as its Secretary-General more about it will be written later in this chapter.
Another influential NGO which entered the field of media research and training was IPPF – The International Planned Parenthood Federation, which was well funded at least till President Ronald Reagan cut off funding for it under pressure from his pro-life backers. IPPF had its head office first in Geneva and later in London.
Early in its history I as Director of Information in the 1970 regime of Mrs. Bandaranaike, organized a seminar on family health with Angela Molnos who was a Director of IPPF working out of Geneva and closely associated with WHO .We brought out a book of essays on family health in South Asia which was published by IPPF. I also organized a seminar in Colombo with the assistance of the then deputy Minister of Health Siva Obeyesekere on Family Health of which Bradman Weerakoon, then GA Amparai, was a participant.
Following this Bradman then took a special interest in this field and later became the Secretary-General of IPPF with its office in London. Many Sri Lankan health media personnel were trained by IPPF in its heyday. It advocated a more enlightened policy towards women and family health which went a long way in ameliorating the living standards of poor women. It worked closely with UNFPA the special programme set up by the UN to promote progressive family health and population policies.
The UNFPA was backed by President Jimmy Carter whose mother had been a social service volunteer in India and imbued her son with a sympathetic understanding of the poor. However racists on both sides of the divide were fanatically opposed to this programme and with Ronald Reagan in the White House the US withdrew backing for this initiative leading to its virtual demise.
While Bradman Weerakoon joined IPPF, Neville Jayaweera who also faced the wrath of Mrs. B left the CCS and joined the media division of the World Conference of Churches after a sudden conversion to Christianity. He became a star speaker of the WCC and helped in drawing its considerable financial resources to the field of media criticism and training. Since much of its funding for training came from Scandinavian churches I met Neville on my visits to Norway and Sweden on behalf of UNESCO. I allocated funds from UNESCO to both IPPF and WCC later at a time when they were in financial difficulties. It was a notable coincidence that three of the global media organizations were headed by three ex-CCS Bradman, Neville and myself at a crucial juncture in the debate.
But the Media NGO which made Sri Lanka its home base was the Norway funded Worldview International Foundation which worked very closely with our Ministry. Its founder was Arne Fjortoff, a leading Norwegian broadcaster who has now spent virtually his whole adult life in helping the poor and the neglected of the Asian region to use media to overcome their poverty. I associated with him practically from his first days in our country. More details will be given later about my role as the Deputy Secretary-General of WIF.
Good Bye to All That
By the beginning of the 1980s I had been in the field of media for over fifteen years as a civil servant. I felt that it was now time to move on. JRJ was getting ready to contest the Presidency for the second term and if I did not leave now it would not be possible to depart amicably after his campaign was launched. As mentioned earlier, all the CCS officers for whom there was a global demand could find good assignments in the UN system or in other international organizations.
Bradman and Neville had joined international organizations well below their capabilities. They were punching below their weight because both had missed the timing of their departure. They felt they had no alternative but to leave the country to escape Mrs. B’s wrath. JRJ himself did not favour them; so they had to hurriedly accept what was available at that time. My own CCS batchmates were leaving the public service, some even by retiring without a pension. The first to go was Raja Gomez who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat. He was followed by Bernard Wijeweera who also joined an International Agency. Harsha Wickremasinghe joined ESCAP for some time but came back after a few years.
Tragically two of my batchmates – Tissa Gunasinghe and Buddhin Gunatunga – died young. Before us, there were a flock of CCS seniors who migrated to all parts of the world. I was lucky to have several top positions offered to me. This was because I had high visibility as a player in the New Information Order debate. Only a few other civil servants have been ‘branded’ as specialists having come in as generalist CCS to the public service.
This was a time for specialists and Gamini Corea, Jayantha Dhanapala and I were perhaps the only Sri Lankan bureaucrats to carve out a globally acceptable specialist status for ourselves. That was mostly a matter of fortuitous timing and a lucky roll of the dice. We were lucky to be recognized as a ‘brand’ when the global decision makers became interested in our respective fields of specialization. Another crucial qualification was our linguistic skills. Without proficiency in at least one international language it is not possible to enter the UN at a senior level. With my proficiency in English and French I had plenty of job offers.
Ananda Guruge
I mentioned that timing was importantwhen joining International organisations. The best example of mistimingwas Ananda Guruge. I had a special relationship with Ananda because my father was his teacher and mentor in Deiyannewela. My father had a special care and regard for bright students and Ananda was the brightest and the best of the lot. For my father he could do no wrong and Ananda reciprocated that affection. He was freely at home in our residence in Deiyannewela where my father would listen patiently to his recital of successes.
Ananda’s father worked in the Kandy Post Office and was a great friend of my father. He had migrated from Weihena in Galle district and married a lady from Kandy and settled down there. He too was a fascinating talker and would tell us about his village and Galle which I as a school boy at that time, lapped up. Later his experiences were reinforced in my imagination by reading Martin Wickramasinghe’s novels of the Deep South. It may have been that my father with his Panadura background was more attentive to the descriptions of the sea and Galle life than other listeners who had no hope of
even seeing the “Ho Gana Pokuna” which was the way Kandyan villagers imagined the sea. Ananda who was about 12 years older than me was my surrogate elder brother. Every Sunday we, and my cousin Nimal who lived with us and attended Trinity College, would walk to Katukelle for religious instruction. Our Sunday school was located in what was then called Gandhi College which faced the Peradeniya road at Katukelle. Gandhi College was a private school for the people of estate areas though others from far away also came to learn English there. The most famous alumnus of this college was D.M. Jayaratne who went on to become the Prime Minister of the country. He probably picked up his radicalism at an early age because many of the Socialist and Communist Party supporters lived in Katukelle and used the Gandhi College Hall for their clandestine meetings.
On Sundays the college hall was turned into a Sunday school and we sat on the school benches to receive instruction on Buddhism. But I remember even now that our Sunday school was a hotbed for radicals because we learnt songs about Gandhi, Nehru and Patel and the Indian Freedom struggle which we sang at the beginning of the day [Gandhi, Nehru, Patel Vani Weeravaro – Indee Nidhasata etc]. Many of our volunteer teachers wore the ‘national dress’ and the monks were mostly from the Amarapura Nikaya including the priest from Deiyannewela Temple who taught Ananda, Nimal and me the rudiments of Sanskrit.
Even now I can recite those slokas from memory – a weapon I deploy when I speak at public meetings, which impress the monks no end. So much so that I overhear monks say “Now he will begin with the slokas” when I get up to speak. But I was hoist on my own petard, when in Ratnapura Ridgeway Tillekeratne became the Government Agent. He was a Sanskrit graduate and probably one of the best scholars in the field. I thought it more prudent not to utter my slokas in his presence.
Kirielle Gnanwimala, the famous scholar monk of Ratnapura, who sensed my predicament, told his audience that one Sanskrit scholar was more than sufficient for Ratnapura district. Henpitagedera Gnanaseeha was another outstanding Sanskritist in Ratnapura. Unlike me Ananda applied himself to his Pali and Sanskrit studies and entered the University with a scholarship in Oriental languages. Earlier he had done brilliantly in the ‘Prachina’ examination held by the Oriental society which entitled him to be called a ‘Prachina Pundit’.
My father would laughingly say that while Ananda scored high marks and won a prize, his teacher in Sanskrit and Pali, our Temple priest, had failed the exam. Ananda followed it up with a first class degree in Sanskrit and sailed into the CCS. He was an outstanding civil servant of his time and an indispensable official in the Education Ministry. When I was in two minds about joining the CCS, having been appointed to a permanent post in the Department of Sociology at Peradeniya a few months previously, my father wanted me to discuss my dilemma with Guruge. I went to his residence and told him of my preference for the University.
He did not mince his words. He told me to accept the CCS post. If I wanted to research problems and write articles, he said that it was better done as a civil servant as it will have more credibility than the writings of University staffers. As usual he cited himself as an example. He had already got his PhD and was the leading figure in setting up Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara universities. In fact he was playing a dual role as Professor of Oriental Languages at Vidyodaya. I went back to Kandy, reported Ananda’s advice which was enthusiastically endorsed by my father, and decided to begin work as a Civil Servant.
Ananda was one of the earliest Civil Servants to join UNESCO when it was mostly concerned with education. Being a senior official of our Education Ministry he was easily recruited to the UN body. While this was no doubt prestigious it was a case of bad timing. He was comparatively young and had accepted a junior position in UNESCO. All UN posts are classified in a uniform way. The Professional categories are classified from P5 to P1 in ascending order. Senior to that are the Director levels D1 to D2. Above that are ADGs and the Director General himself. So the range of employment is from PI to DG. Guruge would have joined early at P2 level which meant that he had a hard grind to the top in his institution.
Gamini Corea, Jayntha Dhanapala and I were lateral entrants. This meant that we could join at a senior level. For instance when I joined UNESCO at D1 level Guruge was a P4 having slowly risen within his department. By joining laterally at a later point of time I was several steps ahead of him. Thus I, many years junior in the Ceylon Civil Service, could enter UNESCO at a much more senior level than the earlier entrants among whom was Ananda Guruge.
That however did not prevent us from renewing our old friendship in Paris where he was transferred after a long stay in the Bangkok office of UNESCO. I lived in Rue Jean Daudin and Ananda and his wife Sujatha lived in nearby Rue Pasteur and we met regularly in office and on social occasions. He always encouraged me and was delighted when I got my Doctorate in Paris.
I always referred to Ananda as my role model which pleased him and brought back memories of my father’s affection for him. On his last visit to Sri Lanka, Dinesh Gunawardena and I had planned a felicitation dinner for him. I was to be the chief speaker. Unfortunately we had to put it off because Ananda had to leave for a meeting in Bangkok. We planned to meet soon in Colombo but it was not to be. A busy man who neglected his health, he died of a heart attack while flying to keep an appointment for a lecture on Buddhism.
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 . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
