Features
Reminiscing of Pengiriwatta, hundred hours later!
By Austin Fernando
The 31 March afternoon protest at the Jubilee Post against the high cost of living, various shortages, etc., initially caused by a dollar shortage, gathered momentum by the evening. By late evening it grabbed the headlines both nationally and internationally; the protesters’ slogans changed from a demand for redress to their grievances to a strident call for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation. By the following morning—on April Fool’s Day—the Presidential Media Unit (PMU) sought to make the protest out to be an uprising engineered by ‘extremists’. It was no April Fool’s joke; the PMU was dead serious although their claim was laughable.
The intelligence services would have got wind of the 31 March event beforehand. This fact was borne out by special security arrangements at the Pengiriwatte Road that night. However, the man who lectured the police personnel and urged them to be tolerant of protestors, according to later reports, was found at the Kalubowila Hospital the following morning.
I have seen a video showing a person burning an Army bus when hundreds of military, police, and Special Task Force personnel were at the site. This man is a courageous ‘extremist’ for what he did in full view of the armed police and military personnel. I hope he is in custody and has been indicted for destroying public property.
Otherwise, immediate action should be taken against the security personnel who were on duty at the time for two reasons. The destruction of public property is illegal, and the offence was apparently committed with the connivance of the security personnel, as suggested by social media, which alleged that the arson attack had been aimed at facilitating the imposition of a curfew and the declaration of Emergency. However, the people defied the curfew and emergency regulations and protests continued.
Managerial weaknesses
Most commentators gave either a political or economic twist or a combination of both to the incident. I consider it essentially a managerial issue concerning the President, and his government. Let me look at these issues from a different perspective.
Everyone, except the President and the ruling party, says that the dollar crisis is due to the government’s financial mismanagement. The blame game continues with those in power holding their predecessors responsible for the economic crisis, and vice versa. As former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said, at the rate the buck was being passed, the blame would have to be laid at the feet of Prince Vijaya.
If the crisis has developed under successive governments why didn’t people during the Yahapalana or Suba Anagathyak, or Ranil- Sirisena Alliance, Chandrika Kumaratunga, JR Jayewardene, and R Premadasa regimes storm Ward Place, Gunasinghepura, Horagolla, Temple Trees, or Paget Road? Even during Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s tenure (1970-77), the people experienced hardships, albeit not to the same extent as today, but they did not besiege Tintagel, at 65 Rosmead Place, shouting, “Sirima go home!” The lady that she was, Mrs. B might have chucked up if such a thing ever happened!
The reaction of the government exhibits a lack of moral courage to accept guilt, accountability, and responsibility for its inefficiency and ineffectiveness in keeping with good governance. If it had demonstrated such courage, the people would have appreciated the President’s strength of character. They expected that of the President, who claimed to be apolitical in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.
Negative constitutional responses
Firstly, the government’s disregard for legislative control over public finance caused the breakdown of financial management. The President, his government, and even the Speaker of the House have shown a callous disregard for Article 148, which gives Parliament the authority over public finance. In a way, why hold All-Party Meetings (APMs) when all parties in the Parliament could discuss all issues in the House?
There may have been a reason why the President did not want to expose the Minister of Finance to Parliament, but the half-witted responses from the State Minister of Finance Semasinghe only made an already bad situation worse.
The constitutional authority has a much larger implication too. The 20th Amendment enables the President to override other stakeholders including Ministers, State Ministers, any public officials, or even the Prime Minister. The fear of the President or his powers has taken a heavy toll on the other state institutions and their performance. The government is beset with demands for a referendum and elections.
It is imperative that the 20th Amendment be abolished and the 19th Amendment reintroduced with necessary improvements. Former President Maithripala Sirisena and Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premasada demanded this on 05 April 2022, in Parliament.
Respect for the rule of law is a cornerstone of good governance. The laws have not been passed by Parliament to promote the interests of the governments in power. Successive governments have disregarded the rule of law, but that does not mean it should continue.
The Opposition has been calling for a discussion of financial status, and agreements reached with foreign powers. But the government has not respected parliamentary traditions, and the Opposition’s request has not been granted. If securing the cooperation of other political stakeholders was uppermost in the minds of the government leaders, they should have cooperated by respecting parliamentary traditions and practices.
Management style
Secondly, the President’s military style of management – ‘Comply and complain’, which gives administrative leeway in decision-making, does not fit the public administration systems, especially in a troubled situation when large numbers are affected, and consultation and consensus-making pay better. “Treat verbal orders as circulars” (Hindu 26-9-2020) is not the accepted norm in public administration. Probably this difference in approach must be creating irritation and anxiety in the President when action is not taken on his verbal directives. This has led to a hierarchic system failure, evolving from Weberian times.
Preparedness
Thirdly, what we are facing is a national crisis, there should have been solutions proposed by the ‘greats’ in Viyathmaga, consisting of intellectuals who claim to be capable of ushering in prosperity. Unfortunately, this outfit has failed to live up to the people’s expectations. Those self-proclaimed experts should have had the courage to own up to their non-performance. For example, on the carbonic agriculture issue, serious studies were treated with disdain. Litro Gas managed by a top Viyathmaga member failed miserably.
They should also have called for support from other stakeholders. It is a managerial collaboration. The President and the government were elected by the people and all political parties should have done their best to solve the crisis because it is the people who suffer. I find this commitment lacking also in the Opposition. Both the government and the Opposition have put power politics before the interests of the people.
Political consensus
Fourthly, the crisis has existed for nearly twenty months, and an All-Party Meeting (APM) was held only a fortnight ago. Some in the Opposition boycotted it, probably suspecting the intentions of the government. At that event too, the approach of the Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal was antagonistic, and the President had to apologise to former Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe. It only showed the Governor’s attitude towards coping with a national crisis, which requires a concerted effort by both the government and the Opposition.
I do not blame the President personally for such weaknesses because as publicly acknowledged by him, he lacks political experience and comparatively expediency, and probably PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and others in the government are au fait with APMs. However, what is demonstrated is a lack of focus, positive attitudes, and preparedness as a team.
Failed communication
Fifthly, the Pengiriwatta protest was a response to the cumulative effect of several decisions of the government—the unplanned production and use of carbonic fertilizer, controversial tax concessions given in 2019, the mishandling of international sovereign bonds, the wrong prioritisation of development projects, alleged disposal of public assets to foreigners, etc. Some of these were resisted even by former President Maithripala Sirisena, Opposition parliamentarians, economists, academics, and business tycoons. But their concerns were pooh-poohed by the President, government spokespersons, and by the then Governor of CBSL. Therefore, it amounted to a failure in communication with stakeholders, reducing managerial cooperation.
The current wave of mass civil disobedience and public protests show what could happen when communication and the cause of natural justice (the right to be heard, a respected managerial/ legal principle) is ignored. This will be a lesson for everyone, inclusive of the protesters who aim to bring to power a new set of ‘undeclared leaders’.
Failed bureaucracy and advisors
Sixthly, senior bureaucrats and advisors have also failed. I remember how Presidents J. R. Jayewardene, R Premadasa et al respected their advisors and senior bureaucrats. I had the personal experience with President Maithripala Sirisena heeding even very critical decisions made by me along with the then-Attorney General. This was the case even with President Jayewardene as well. There were instances where we failed to convince ministers and the President, but we must continue to make representations. Overall, there was no retaliation as such, so much so that I was appointed a Secretary a short time after I had refused to carry out an irregular request made to me by President Jayewardene. There were also exceptions. Under Pohottuwa the best example of contradiction was how Secretaries of Agriculture were replaced, for reasons best known to them. We will hear about what the public officials are undergoing at present when they write their memoirs.
If views and proposals are not taken on board, it either shows their inability to convince the political authorities, or politicians’ unwillingness to heed wise counsel. Two cases in point are how financial experts advised the President and others on the need to restructure International Sovereign Bonds worth 500 million dollars and green agriculture experiments. Both were disregarded. Experts, researchers et al were removed from the planning and management system, and a medical trade unionist and a politically-affiliated priest replaced them in deciding on the fertilizer issue.
Weak coordination
Seventhly, a coordinated approach to management is lacking. The best example is how solutions are adopted in an ad hoc manner. Conflicting views end with Ministers resigning due to weakened policy implementation. The Ministry of Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank, who has now resigned, used to make contradictory statements.
Although it appears that the government wishes to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and letters are probably being exchanged through our Mission in Washington, it is not publicly supported by relevant stakeholders. It is unknown whether groundwork has been done to suit the operation such as the appointment of an advisory experts’ committee in Sri Lanka, the hiring of international consultants, lawyers, approaching the Paris Club and the London Club (both informal groups of creditor nations who engage in finding workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations), meeting a group of helpful countries for short-term bridging finance, and other relevant institutions that matter. Preparing a roadmap is of the essence.
The IMF operation will require tough fiscal management and foreign exchange rate management, undertaking serious reforms for which the government will have to find a consensus with the Opposition and negotiations should commence thereon.
Conclusion
It is easy for me to make these observations. These weaknesses are not easy to rectify. Besides commitment, the task requires other things such as managerial skills, serious study, etc.
Using accepted systems of planning, organising, directing, staffing, coordinating, and reviewing, adjusting budgets to suit the best financial management must be adopted. Programmes such as the ‘distribution’ of nearly Rs. 220 billion to party-men a month after the passage of the national budget must be scrapped. However, hard decisions should be made, especially if a new IMF agenda is to commence. These issues are not easy to tackle.
They may include revenue generation, expenditure rationalisation, reviewing the operation of loss-making state-owned enterprises, reviewing, and restructuring the public service, addressing the subsidies for the affected poor, coordinating with many institutions here and abroad, structural changes, and focusing on new inclusive financing avenues, etc. Hard times are projected and a united effort is required.
The public demand for recovering stolen public assets may need new legal interventions under principles of recovery, for which assistance from the UN could be obtained.
The government must consider the importance of its obligation to its electors. The Opposition must also realise it will be its turn to face the guillotine will also come if the country continues battling.
The problem is gargantuan and we should find ways and means of overcoming the daunting challenges. Essentially, we must depend on ourselves as efficient and effective operatives. Dhammapada – Stanza 160, provides us with a guide:
Atta hi attano nathoko hi natho paro siyaattana hi sudantenanatham labhati dullabham.
(One indeed is one’s refuge; how can others be a refuge to one? With oneself thoroughly tamed, one can attain refuge, which is so difficult to attain.)
In the wake of Pengiriwatte, let the government be urged to work on its managerial weaknesses. It is our responsibility- the Government and the Opposition, to work together as a nation. Others cannot be a refuge; they could only be a prop. However, whether public protests continue or fizzle out, the government and other stakeholders must act fast to avoid disaster.
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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