Features
Propelling Blue Craft
Disguised role of women in Blue Economic Growth
by Professor Oscar Amarasinghe
Chancellor / Ocean University of Sri Lanka & President / Sri Lanka Forum for Small Scale Fisheries (SLFSSF)
Small, developing island states like Sri Lanka are gradually moving from a Green Economy Focus to Blue Economy Focus, aiming at exploiting ocean resources for employment creation, earning incomes, strengthening the economy and improving the wellbeing of the people. During 20-22 June 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) held in Rio de Janeiro, coastal states requested an extension of the Green Economy to encompass the Blue Sector, due to their small resource base which was limiting further expansion of their economies.
Today, many coastal states are placing high emphasis on Blue Economic growth, which is defined by the World Bank as “all economic activities, related to oceans, seas and coasts, which cover a wide range of interlinked established and emerging sectors”. On top of the traditional ocean activities such as fisheries, tourism and maritime transport, Blue Economy entails emerging industries including renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive activities and marine biotechnology and bioprospecting.
Although it is popularly believed that Blue Economic Development is new to Sri Lanka, the origins of Blue Economic Growth can be traced back to the late 1950’s when the country introduced motorised craft and new fishing gear; the “Blue Revolution”. During the pre-Blue Revolution era, fishing was mainly carried out by artisanal craft operating in near shore areas to a lesser extent, and by beachseines (madel) which was the major technique of fishing. The seine nets were laid in nearshore waters and hauled from the beach. During the immediate post-war period, nearly 90% of the fish catch came from beachseines. Most of the fishing activities were mainly confined to inshore waters, to a distance of about 3 km from the coast. In the late 1950s, the whole fisheries sector was subject to a revolutionary change that came about as a three-pronged strategy: a. introduction of motorised craft (offshore craft with inboard engine and small fiberglass boats with outboard motor); b. motorisation of traditional craft (by fixing an outboard motor to the aft or side of artisanal craft) and c. introduction of new fishing gear (nylon nets and hooked lines and new fishing methods).
This marks the onset of Bue Economic Growth process in Sri Lanka.
The Blue ECONOMIC GROWTH PROCESS (in fisheries).
Generally known as the Blue Revolution, the technological change in fisheries in the 1960s and 1970s led to a movement of fishing loci away from the coast and fishers started exploiting the offshore waters. Fish catches increased to significantly high levels and fishing incomes were on the rise unremittingly. The dream of fishers was to acquire an offshore craft. This trend continued into the 1980s, by the end of which the offshore craft was further improved by the boatyards of the country to construct the present day multi day craft with inbuilt ice compartment, water tank, cabin for the crew, GPS, etc. These craft started to venture into deeper areas of Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone; EEZ (which extend to 200 nautical miles from the coast) and even beyond. In searching for better resources, some of these fishers who were fishing illegally in the waters of other countries were arrested and detained in prisons of foreign countries for long periods of time. Today, more than 1,200 of these craft fish in high seas targeting tuna and other large fish species, for export, while others (about 4,300 crafts) filch upto the edge of the EEZ. These crafts are engaged in lengthy fishing trips of one to several weeks of duration.
Changing role of women in the fisheries sector
A major characteristic of Sri Lanka’s blue growth in respect of fisheries is that the new technology did not compete with the traditional/artisanal technology, displacing the fishers operating such non-motorised vessels. In fact, the new motorised craft enabled the fishers to move away from the coast into deeper waters which were yet to be exploited. About 55,000 of Sri Lanka’s fishing fleet of 60,000 vessels still engage in one day fishing trips up to a maximum distance of 24 nautical miles (edge of the Contiguous Zone). The rest consists of nearly 5,000 multiday crafts. Obviously, Sri Lanka’s Blue Economic Growth (in respect of fisheries) has principally caused an expansion of the coastal fleet, especially the small fiberglass boat with outboard motor operating in near shore waters, and deep sea fishing which commenced in early 1990s is gathering momentum recording a high rate of increase in multi day crafts since the beginning of this millenium.
The new fishing technology also demanded that fishers spend more and more time in fishing-related activities such as net mending, gear preparation, craft repair and engine repair work, search for purchased inputs, etc. All this meant a heavy burden on women in taking care of household and social onuses. Interestingly, women willingly take up these challenges because the fishing incomes are several fold high and they enjoy a better living standard than their fellow fishers who still operate artisanal crafts in nearshore waters. Needless to highlight that, the issue with fishing incomes is more about their fluctuations than about the absolute value, and along with uncertainties of the duration of fishing trips (uncertainty of the boats returning on a particular day), the women are confronted with a high risk of falling into financial crises when incomes fall short of subsistence and when the breadwinner is absent for long periods of time. Thus, many women fisher folk are engaged in earning supplementary incomes from various activities such as rope making, fish drying, selling prepared food items, sewing and selling garments, etc. They are also involved in various other risk insurance mechanisms such as revolving credit schemes like ‘seettu’ and spending on activities that would strengthen inter-family ties. Women also resort to intra-family adjustment strategies when they are confronted with income shortfalls. Here household resources are distributed in favour of the male members in the household (who are the breadwinners) and the burden of consumption shortfalls are mostly borne by the female members in the household (tightening of the belt by only the female members).
Due to the absence of husbands in taking care of household affairs, the women are burdened with additional responsibilities such as attending to children’s education, taking them to private classes, maintaining and improving their discipline, dealing with public officials, meeting social obligations, participating in community affairs, etc. In the daily routine chart of a housewife in the deep sea sector, there is hardly any space for her own pleasures. While feeling that they are being taxed heavily by men who are away on long fishing trips, the majority of women want their husbands to continue with motorised fishing and offshore fishing due to two major reasons. First, motorised fishing earns high average incomes. Second, women enjoy a high freedom of choice when the husband’s are absent from home- they seem to enjoy taking part in community and social affairs. Since men are absent from homes for long periods of time, almost all major decisions at home are made by women and almost all social and community obligations are met by women. Some of the fisheries cooperatives in the south of the country are mainly run by women. Intra-household gender relations too have changed in favour of women. With women’s engagement in income generating activities and their important contribution towards community and social development activities, their ‘fall back position’ (bargaining position) has improved. Women fisherfolk are compelled to be alert and knowledgeable about all what is happening around them, while the men are left to fight the ocean.
However, previous studies carried out by the author revealed two specific problems confronted by women in the deep sea fisheries sector. Long absence of fathers from home has made life more difficult for mothers in maintaining discipline among boys. The second problem is the arrest of multi day boat fishermen for poaching and detained in foreign countries for very long periods. The affected families, especially the mothers, may have to undergo tremendous hardships during such periods and other than the members of the fishing community, apparently no other regular source of help is available to them.
Fish Processing and gender
One of the traditional household activities of women fisher folk in Sri Lanka has been processing of fish into dried fish, Maldive fish and salted fish, of which the two former are practiced more commonly. Dried fish processing and small-scale trading form the major employment activity in coastal villages for women fisher folk in earning supplementary incomes. In fact, for many fishing villages, where dried fish processing is widely practised, it has become a way of life for the women, indicating its high social value within the fishing communities. as a means of smoothening inter-temporal fluctuations of daily fishing incomes; income smoothing. Although women employment in fishing communities is not a common phenomenon in the Buddhist communities in the south, they are involved to a great extent in fish marketing and other beach based activities in other parts of the country, as in the case of the western coastal region of the country. The advantage of women engagement in household level fish processing activities is that it minimises the possibility of any negligence of household chores, while assisting the household to make the ends meet.
Whilst recognising the responsibilities and burdens which women shoulder in navigating the ‘blue craft’, it needs to be highlighted that women are systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfill thiese responsibilities. In fact, the role of women has often been undermined in fisheries, which is a male dominant industry. Their access to credit, information and training opportunities is weak, and very little efforts have been made to improve women’s access to such financial, physical and human capital. Moreover, engagement in fish drying at the household level may not have been the choice of employment by women, but they are forced to do it because it is an activity that their men would approve of (because they stay at home). Regrettably, unregulated expansion of the growth process is now causing a concentration of the fish processing trade in the hands of private commercial enterprises, in which women and men work as labourers; the resource owners converted to labourers, where women are paid less than men for the same task performed.
Sri Lankan women are quite educated with a literacy rate above 92%, and as effective agents in propelling the blue craft and coping with diverse vulnerabilities in fisheries. What is required is to empower women, so that they will enjoy decision making power on their own, have access to information and resources for taking proper decisions, have a range of options from which to make choices, have positive thinking on the ability to make changes involved in the growth process, etc. By managing the household, taking care of children and aging parents, meeting social obligations, earning supplementary incomes to smooth consumption, women definitely play multiple roles in the process of Blue Economic Growth.
EMPOWERING WOMEN
Evidently, two factors have been primarily responsible for reaping benefits (high fishing incomes, high foreign exchange earnings from exports, strengthening the economy and improving the wellbeing of the people) from the process of Blue Economic Growth in the sphere of fisheries. The Blue Revolution that took place in the 1960s and 1970s, made an exceptional contribution towards the expansion of the offshore sector and the use of modern fishing methods. Equally important has been the role of women in propelling this growth process by undertaking increasingly more and more household and social responsibilities and managing diverse fishing-related risks by earning supplementary incomes. For them to perform these new roles in the future, they need to be educated, trained and empowered. It will help women to gain control over their own lives. It fosters power in them, for use in meeting the wellbeing aspirations of them and their community. Women empowerment is also one of the Millenium Development Goals of the UN (MDG 3), and is also included in Sustainable Development Goals, under gender equality (SDG 5). Article 7.2 of FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries states, “All parties should recognize the role women often play in the post-harvest subsector and support improvements to facilitate women’s participation in such work. States should ensure that amenities and services appropriate for women are available as required in order to enable women to retain and enhance their livelihoods in the post-harvest subsector”.
Evidence from country wide consultations held in 2018-2019 (by author and his team) points to a number of measures that need to be adopted to ensure that women continue to propel the Blue Craft to secure sustainable Blue Economic Growth, while meeting their wellbeing aspirations.These include, building awareness among members of fishing communities (especially men) about the importance of women employment for family welfare (aiming at attitudinal changes); introducing technological innovation in fish processing and, train and build capacities of women to undertake them; organising women into groups (cooperatives / savings groups) aiming at increasing their bargaining power vis-à-vis outsiders, especially merchants; building market links to sell their produce and to receive a fair price; providing credit to fisher women entrepreneurs or their organisations at concessionary rates of interest; removing wage discrepancies, where men are paid a higher wage than women for the same task, and ensuring fair representation of women (about 25%) in community institutions (such as fisheries cooperatives.
“If you educate and train a man you uplift a person, but if you educate and train a woman you uplift a family.” (An African proverb).
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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