Features
Phillipus Baldaeus:the Dutch Missionary who wrote of Ceylon
By Avishka Mario Senewiratne and Dr. Srilal Fernando
A recent reading of the life and works of the Dutch Minister, Rev. Phillipus Baldaeus reveals a man who fits the phrase “je ne sais quoi”, a quality that cannot be described or named easily. His Magnum Opus, “A True and Exact Description of the Most Celebrated East India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. As also the Great Island of Ceylon and the religion of the heathens.” Published in 1672, this work is the first of three great descriptions of Ceylon. The second one by the more famous Robert Knox deals with the interior of the island close to Kandy where he was incarcerated after being taken captive. A third book by Captain Ribeiro called Ceilao was an account of a soldier, of mainly the maritime areas under the Portuguese.
Baldaeus served as a Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and accompanied the Dutch troops when they captured Jaffna from the Portuguese. He was there from 1658 to 1665 and recorded life in Jaffna, secular and religious buildings. The land, the inhabitants, and their customs are replete with many drawings and maps. A detailed account of the capture and the ensuing military activity, as events prior to and after are included in his book. This brief essay is an attempt to illustrate the life of Baldaeus.
Early Life
Baldaeus was born in 1632 in Delft, Holland. At the age of four, he lost both of his parents to the plague, within the span of just four days. His grandfather cared for Baldaeus till he too died four years later. The care passed onto a relative Robertus Junius, who had served in the overseas missions. It is possible that young Baldaeus was influenced by Robertus to serve in the Ministry. After completing his studies at the Universities of Groningen and Leiden, Baldaeus was appointed Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at age 21. He married his cousin and embarked for Batavia as a Dutch East India Company employee. (VOC). Unfortunately, his wife died three months after his arrival in Batavia in July 1655.
Missionary in Ceylon
After the capitulation of Colombo to the Dutch in May 1656, Baldaeus was ordered to serve in Ceylon. He married Elizabeth Tribolet on board the ship and arrived in Galle later that year. In both marriages, Baldaeus was childless. He stayed in Galle for one year mainly serving the needs of the Dutch troops and the community.
In January 1658, the Dutch launched a campaign to oust the Portuguese from South India and Northern Ceylon, under the leadership of Ryckloff van Goens (Snr). Baldaeus accompanied the troops as Chaplain. The Sinhalese force led by Mudliyar Don Manoel Andrado and his brother Don Louis Andrado joined the Dutch troops. They captured Tuticorin, and Mannar easily. On the June 21, 1658, Jaffna capitulated. The fleet sailed to Negapatam which surrendered without fighting.
Baldaeus was now appointed Predikant (Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church) of Jaffna. He had the difficult task of converting the Hindus and the many Catholics to the Dutch Reformed Church and managing the church’s affairs. This task was challenging as the Portuguese had ruled the North for over 40 years and Roman Catholicism was widespread. Dutch possessions were owned by the Dutch East India Company, the VOC. Unlike the Catholic Church under the Padroado, the Dutch Reformed Church had to function under the VOC. Baldaeus, like the other predikants were appointed by the VOC. So was another grade of clergy lower than the predikants who had to work in the parish and minister to the sick. Baldaeus had to deal with a large number of Catholics who had at one time had nearly forty priests ministering to them. All the Catholic churches and schools were vested in the Dutch Reformed Church.
Work in Jaffna
The predikant had a strong influence on the population. He could appoint schoolmasters. They could impose fines for non-attendance. The locals were required to attend. These fines were a source of income for the schools. They performed other functions such as recording births and marriages and keeping records of the Thômbos. Baldaeus was astute and a hard worker. He acquired a knowledge of Tamil and Portuguese so that he could listen to and speak with locals in their own tongue. He also preached in these languages. Later, he compiled books in these languages so that native proponents and schoolmasters could address the masses widely.
The first such book was “The Principal Precepts of our Religion”. Upon being approved by the Governor-General and Council of India as well as the Governor of Ceylon in 1659, this book was widely used in the Churches of Jaffna, Mannar, Galle, Negombo, Galle and Matara. He toiled by himself in these tasks for three years with only local assistants. Then two aides, Joannes A’ Breyl and Joannes Donker were appointed to assist him. Even with this help, the tasks were overwhelming as he had to preach three times on Sunday and once on weekdays, apart from his frequent visitations.
In 1661, Baldaeus again accompanied Ryckloff van Goens Sr. and his troops to take over Portuguese possessions on the Malabar coast. Wouter Schouten, a surgeon attached to the Dutch fleet, in his book “Oost Indische Voyagin”, records the presence of Baldaeus whom he refers to as “the pious predikant, a man faithful, zealous and unwearied in the work of the Lord”. Schouten also states that he visited and gave great comfort to the wounded. Hearing about the work of Baldaeus, Johan Maatsuycker, the Governor General of Netherlands India, wrote him a congratulatory letter. It is said that Baldaeus carried out his duties with extreme diligence.
After this brief interruption, he successfully continued his work in Jaffna. He reports the presence of over 15,000 children attending schools in Jaffna, over 62,000 Christians with many baptisms and marriages taking place. Nevertheless, these efforts were not totally fruitful as many would re-convert to their native faith of Hinduism or Catholicism. Seventy years later, the German traveller Johan Wolfgang Heydt commented the following on Baldaeus:
“I for my part have never seen any such great zeal among the local folk… In truth, Herr Baldaeus would wonder greatly should come today to these parts.”
By 1662, Baldaeus had learnt Sanskrit as well as studied Hinduism. All this he did to fathom the culture and traditions of the land he worked. Baldaeus truly loved the East, especially Ceylon. Baldaeus, though anti-Catholic, admired the methods of faith propagation by the Portuguese Catholic missionaries. He emulated them as much as he could. However, with the lack of predikants and the lack of enthusiasm, the faith of the Dutch Reformed Church did not make a sound impact in Ceylon as the Catholics. However, Baldaeus’ translation of the Lord’s Prayer to the Tamil language, although guilty of a few errors, was remarkable as the first treatise printed in Europe of any Indian language.
Challenges with the VOC
With the passing of time, he was increasingly dissatisfied with the VOC for their miserly attitude to dispensing funds, and the failure to obtain more clergy to maintain and expand the work he was doing. Unlike the Catholic missionaries who considered the Portuguese regime a separate entity, working independently yet with their protection, the Dutch missionaries were under the VOC; and employed by them. Thus, their hands were tied. Baldaeus clamoured for change. The final straw was when the authority to inspect schools was removed from the predikants and handed over to lay officials. Thus, in 1665 Baldaeus applied to Batavia for release from his duties.
As the Government of Ceylon was short of predikants, they requested Baldaeus to stay for another two years. However, he refused this request. As a result, Governor Ryckloff Van Goens Sr. was angered. He considered this refusal as an affront to the dignity and authority of the government and nearly alleged Baldaeus of financial misdeeds baselessly. Accordingly, Van Goens sent Baldaeus off in haste on the next ship to Europe. This was the inglorious end of the glorious mission in the East, of the zealous missionary, Philipus Baldaeus. He served over 10 years in the East, of which nine were in Ceylon.
Back in Europe – the final phase
After spending three months in the Cape of Good Hope Baldaeus reached Holland in 1666. Little is known about his activities in the next two years, and it can be presumed that he was working on his book on the subject of his experience of the East. He may have settled in the Hague in the late 1660s. However, through the dedication of his book, it is known that he took part in a Thanksgiving service at the Hague to celebrate the victory of Admiral de Ruyter at Chatham.
In 1669 he was appointed predikant in a small town in Holland and remained there until his death three years later. The cause or date of the death of Baldaeus is not known for sure. It is predicted that he passed away either in 1671 or 1672.
Baldaeus’ Tree
Baldaeus claims that the Church of Pariture was the finest in Point Pedro. The Dutch built a fort there which encompassed the Church and a certain tamarind tree. Baldaeus commented on it as follows: “The church was much decayed, but has been repaired of late. Just before the church stands a tall tamarind tree, under which, as it affords a very agreeable shadow in the heat of the day…”. Nearly a century after Baldaeus left Ceylon, Fredrick Schwartz a Danish missionary, made an effort to track this tree, under which the late revered preacher had preached his sermons. Later in 1906, a stone slab was set to commemorate this occasion.
Baldaeus Tree
1658
Visited by Schwartz
5th September 1760
Though the slab still remains, the celebrated tree which had a circumference of approximately 15m at the base of the trunk and 22m at the crown, was blown over by a cyclone in 1952. The church there was demolished much earlier. However, a few fragments of the fort still linger.
The book
It is widely believed that Baldaeus spent his last few years writing this monumental work on the East, with a special emphasis on Ceylon. He was able to see this work being printed in 1671, a few months before his death at 39. The book printed in folio form is divided into three sections:
· Detailed description of the East Indian coast or of Lagoon areas of Malabar and Coromandel (includes: “short guide to the time sophisticated language arts”)
· Description of the great and famous island of Ceylon
· Abgotterey of the East Indian heathen. A truthful and detailed description of the worship of the Hindus and Hindu idols.
Each of these sections had a separate title page and pagination. The section on Ceylon counts to 240 pages, with eight unnumbered pages (These pages were printed after the main section was printed but before the publishing). This section also includes 57 illustrated engravings and 11 double-page prints containing maps and views of the main cities of Ceylon. The book also contains the portraits of Baldaeus and General Gerard Hulft, engraved by the well-known artist Blooteling, based on portraits drawn by Syldervelt and Govaart Flinck.
S.D. Saparamadu
With regard to the section on Ceylon, the first forty chapters are details of the events before 1656, which Baldaeus referred to from the Portuguese authors before his day. The first Chapter is a general description of the island, whereas chapters two to seven speak of the events of the arrival of the Portuguese to the Dutch visits in the early 17th century. The next 32 chapters speak of the arrival of the Dutch till its capture of the Coastal region in 1656. Many scholars have considered this section as important though it is guilty of certain inaccuracies. It is a great book of reference to the scholar and student of history as well as the general reader interested in the affairs of Ceylon for it is all too important in every aspect it has been written.
The last ten chapters illustrate Baldaeus’ own observation and experience as a visitor of the island. His work as a Predikant is highlighted in this aspect. These ten chapters are useful for understanding the workings of the common men and women in Jaffna, which are not recorded in other sources. Baldaeus however is faulty of his biases like any other author. Firstly, he is a Dutch Imperialist. Secondly, after all, he is a Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and is highly biased toward his own faith and is in antipathy with the indigenous faiths. These facts are not ambiguous in his writings and even the average reader can notice them. Dr. P. J. Veth comments on Baldaeus as follows:
“The style of Baldaeus is not free from faults; his construction of sentences is often faulty, and his mode of expression is not always exact. But nevertheless, that style is deserving of high praise, when we contrast it with the manner of most of the writers of his time, at which our language even by the most able men, as a rule so badly written and disfigured by the use of so many useless foreign words.”
Nearly 250 years later, the eminent historian, Donald Ferguson critically analyzed this work in the Ceylon Literary Register of 1936. In order to understand the era of Baldaeus in a much more comprehensive way, Prof. K.W. Goonewardena’s The Foundation of Dutch Power in Ceylon 1638-1658 (1958) and Prof. Sinnappah Arasaratnam’s The Dutch Power in Ceylon 1658-1687 (1958) are essential reading material. Reading these monologues along with Baldaeus gives a better perspective on the period in question.
The Translations
The 1672 first version of Baldaeus’ work was written and printed in Dutch. The publishers of this monumental work were Johannes Janssonius Van Waasberge and Johannes Van Someren in Amsterdam. The ‘privilegie’ or copyright was signed by Johann de Witt and Herbert Van Beaumont dated March 18, 1669. The book was dedicated to Cornelius de Witt, a Dutch political and Naval commander. After the book was printed in Holland, a German version was printed by the same publishers in 1672 as well. On the title page of this version, it is stated that it was “Carefully translated”. However, despite the assurance of the publishers, the translation was not a very accurate one as the translator was ignorant of many oriental terms.
It was using this German version that the first English translation by Churchill’s in England was translated. It went under one section of Churchill’s Collection of Voyages and Travels. However, as expected this translation made the obvious mistakes the German one made. In the later 19th century, Pieter Brohier translated certain portions of Baldaeus’ work and published it in the form of a pamphlet. Later his great-grandson, Dr. R.L. Brohier republished this in the Dutch Burgher Union Journal from 1956 to 1959 as well abridged version.
When S.D. Saparamadu of Tisara Prakasakayo and Ceylon Historical Journal fame contemplated publishing a sound translation of Baldaeus’ text, Lyn Fonseka of the Colombo Museum Library informed him of another unpublished full translation by Pieter Brohier. Fortunately, the once-misplaced manuscript had been identified among several anonymously written papers in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society.
These letters were donated to the RAS by Advocate Weinman in 1897. Pieter Brohier who was born in 1792 and lived most of his life under the British had a sound knowledge of “High Dutch” as well as English. This paved the way for an excellent translation. However, Fr. S.G. Perera SJ, upon referring to the manuscript pointed out a few shortcomings.
He recommended changing the style of the language as well as maintaining the original Dutch names of various places. Realizing the importance of this unpublished manuscript, Saparamadu printed and published it for the first time in 1960. He made several changes as recommended by Fr. Perera and thus a new glossary was introduced by C.W. Nicholas pointing out the names and what they meant. This publication mooted under the able workmanship of S.D. Saparamadu is a phenomenal contribution to Sri Lankan history. Baldaeus’ legacy was sealed!
References
Ferguson, D.,
Prof. K.W. Goonewardena’s The Foundation of Dutch Power in Ceylon 1638-1658 (1958) and Prof. Sinnappah Arasaratnam’s The Dutch Power in Ceylon 1658-1687 (1958)
Saparamadu, S.D.,
Pierersz, S., (1908)
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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