Features
THE HOTEL ATTACKED! – Part 29
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
Beach and Tourists Back
The eventful off season for tourism ended by late October 1976. Around the same time, the sea erosion ended and sea became calm again. The Hotel Manager Muna and I, as the Assistant Manager and Executive Chef, led the Coral Gardens Hotel to be fully prepared to welcome guests for the 1976/1977 season. However, the tensions with the villagers, fishermen and beach boys continued.
Every other day, I continued my popular weekly buffets – International buffet for Sunday lunch, Beach barbecue night, Sri Lankan hopper night and Lobster night. We continued to attract large tourist groups specifically for lunch and coral garden boat excursions. I enhanced the fixed menus with new dishes I had learnt during the off season. I also made most of the à la carte orders, as I enjoyed the challenge of making those dishes within 15 minutes. Several repeat guests arrived at their favourite hotel in Sri Lanka. Muna and I paid special attention to these loyal customers and I continued creating desserts to honour such guests.
100-Item New Year’s Eve Buffet
Muna gave me a total free hand to organize a grand New Year’s Eve dinner dance. I auditioned several bands from Colombo and chose two bands with input from the German and Swedish tour leaders. I also developed an international theme for the event with input from some German, French, British, Swedish, Danish, Finish and Norwegian repeat guests. I focused a lot on planning a well-balanced 100-item international buffet menu, which was the most ambitious menu I had planned up to that point of my career.
Due to the on-going tensions with some local groups, we arranged additional security for the big day. Muna had invited two powerful local business leaders who were our friends – Leslie and Dudley, to his table at the New Year’s Eve dinner dance. This was done more as a strengthening of security strategy. Muna had also invited a few foreign tour leaders to his table. As he had three more spaces at his table, he invited Captain Wicks, his wife and their beautiful teenage daughter. I was particularly pleased with that decision.
Riot and Attack
While coordinating the buffet and food and beverage service, I also paid some attention to a large group of ‘loud’ local fishermen having drinks at the public bar. According to the excise department rules, we had to close that bar at 11:00 pm. The resident bar was open till late, but it was exclusively for hotel guests. Just after 11:00 pm, Barman Kalansooriya came to inform Muna and I that the local fishermen were refusing to leave the bar. Muna said, “Close the public bar as per the government rules, and politely request the local fishermen to leave.”
Within a minute, the barman returned looking very worried. He said, “The locals are demanding that they be allowed to have drinks at the resident bar.” We simply could not change the hotel policy focused on the safety of the hotel guests. Our answer to that request was, “No! That is not possible.”
A few minutes later, we heard a big noise. About 50 drunk fishermen shouted while trying to enter the hotel reception to march towards the resident bar. They angrily shouted, “Today is the day we will destroy this hotel!” Muna called the local police station and as I knew most of the gang, I tried to calm down the fishermen. All the waiters stood behind me in support at the hotel entrance. “I understand your concerns. Let’s talk about these issues tomorrow. We should not interrupt the event specially organized for tourists visiting your town”, I pleaded.
On hearing about the commotion, Leslie quickly left Muna’s table and rushed to the hotel entrance area to confront the fishermen. Leslie had a very strong physique and was a well-respected diver and businessman in the area. Some of those fishermen shouting, worked on Leslie’s fishing boats. Leslie interpreted the riot as a personal insult to him since he was the hotel manager’s guest. While angrily staring at the drunk fishermen, Leslie rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He was ready to punish the culprits single-handedly.
Out of fear of Leslie most of the fishermen under his employment ran away. A few others in their drunkenness said, “Respected Leslie Sir, please don’t hit us.” Some of them added, “We did not know that you were at the hotel. We apologize”, and promptly left the hotel car park. There were about two dozen fishermen still standing in defiance. They wanted to fight Leslie, who took the challenge in lightning speed. Within a few minutes Leslie managed to knock down about a dozen. Others ran in fear, but commenced throwing large rocks at Leslie, from a distance.
At that point I held Leslie and tried to move him away, in fear that he might injure someone badly. A large rock was coming our way and Leslie quickly ducked. The rock hit my head and I fell like a tree. I was unconscious when the hotel workers lifted and placed me in the hotel car. I vaguely remembered someone smashing the windscreen of the car just after that and being showered with broken pieces of glass.
Usher the New Year at ER
When I opened my eyes with great difficulty, I was on a small bed in a dark room. I had no memory of anything from that evening. I felt broken glass pieces and blood when I touched my afro hair. The first thing that came to my mind was that I was dying and this was the end for me. In my feeble and drowsy state, I felt no fear of dying.
Next time I regained consciousness, there was a nurse standing by my bed, and my hair was cut to dress the head wounds. She told me that I had two accidents last night and that I was in the emergency room at Galle General Hospital. “What’s the day?” I asked with difficulty. “The first of January” she said. “Which year?” I asked as I could not remember anything at all. The nurse said, “1977.” Soon after that, a young doctor came to see me and informed that I would be taken by an ambulance to a private hospital in Colombo. He also told me that I was lucky that I was wearing my chef hat when I was hit on the head by the thrown stone.
A Month at Wycherley Nursing Home
I didn’t remember anything after that until I woke up in a nice and spacious bedroom. When I looked up, all I could see was an old fashion wooden ceiling fan gently circling. Then I saw my mother and father by my bedside, looking very worried. “You are at the Wycherley Nursing Home in Colombo seven”, my father told me, calmly. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. In fact, I could not walk for two weeks. I was unsteady while the doctors tried different treatments. The bandages on my head were changed daily during visits by various specialists led by Dr. P. R. Anthonis, veteran surgeon (and later, the Chancellor of the University of Colombo).
My mother came to the hospital in the morning every day and stayed with me till late evening. She also tried to feed me the hospital food as well as my favourite dishes, she prepared at home for me. I hardly had any appetite and lost some weight. My father and two sisters came to visit me every evening after work. Many other members of my family and my friends visited me, but I could not talk too much. I was pleasantly surprised when Captain Wicks, his wife and their teenage daughter visited me one day. To cheer me up they told me that they were most impressed with my 100-item buffet, but saddened because of what happened to me on the New Year’s Eve.
A happy note during this unsteady month for me was appreciating the chance given to me to recover within a beautiful historic building. The Wycherley was built in early 1920s by a versatile gentleman. He was one of the greatest Ceylonese surgeons, writers and experts of the flora and fauna and the aboriginal people of the island – Dr. Richard Lionel Spittel. He had retired from the Government service at 53 years of age and ventured out to run his own Wycherley Nursing Home. High ceilings, old style celling fans, white windows and wooden floors enhanced the unique ambiance of the Wycherley.
One day, I noticed a teenage girl in a house right opposite the nursing home looking into my room frequently. My mother was surprised when this young girl waved at us. The next day she visited us and appeared to know details of what happened to me at the Coral Gardens Hotel. She said, “I am Roshika Fernando. I live with my family in Coniston Place, adjoining the Wycherley. I heard of what happened from a cousin of mine who is in the hotel industry.” As she was feeling very sorry for me, Roshika became a regular visitor in the afternoons. We used to have short chats and later when doctors wanted me to practice walking again, Roshika used to accompany me in the front garden of the Wycherley. Gradually our walks extended to Coniston Place. She was a very charming, kind and friendly girl.
Death Threats to the Manager
Towards the end of January, 1977, Muna came to see me. His story was frightening. He told me, “Chandana, since January first, I have been sleeping in a different room every night.” When I asked him the reason, he said that every evening around 9:00 pm he used to get a strange telephone call with a death threat. He had increased security at the hotel and arranged the local police to do frequent visits to the hotel. He then said, “I am on my way to the head office to get their advice.”
Within an hour, Muna returned to my room at the Wycherley. “I resigned!” he announced. I was shocked. Muna and I were a good team and together we accomplished many innovative things. I was saddened to hear about his decision and inquired about it. Muna was disappointed with the head office Director in charge of hotels, who allegedly told Muna, “I say, Munasinghe, tell those villagers if they kill you, the company will not give up. We will send another manager.” Instead of any further verbal communication, Muna immediately wrote his letter of resignation and handed it over to the Director.
Muna was seven years older than me and was like a big brother to me. He guided me well and also gave me full authority to run my departments. I was disappointed with his sudden departure from the job. “Are you going to the hotel now?” I asked Muna. “No, I will never step into that hotel again. I will send the driver to bring all my belongings to Colombo”. And that’s what he did.
Within a week, Muna found a good job at the Galle Face Hotel and moved on. That wasn’t the end of my working relationship with Muna. Within five years, on the same day in late 1981, Muna and I joined the Ceylon Hotel School as Senior Lecturers. He taught Professional Cookery and I taught Food and Beverage Operations to the fourth and final year students of CHS. During our breaks from lectures, we used to have some long chats about our memorable time at the Bentota Beach Hotel and the Coral Gardens Hotel.
Soon after Muna said good bye and left my room, my mother was prompting me to follow Muna’s steps and resign. I did not agree with her, and I decided to go back to Coral Gardens Hotel. I felt that my mission was not completed at the hotel, yet. That month I spent at the Wycherley was the only time I ever stayed at a hospital for an illness or injury in my whole life. I was eager to get out.
Years later, when I was introduced to the senior leadership team of Aitken Spence Hotels, as the facilitator of a two-day leadership coaching session, their Managing Director, Malin Hapugoda (Hapu) referred to my accident. He said, “Chandana was very playful and immature when he worked under me at Bentota Beach Hotel and before being hit by a large stone on his head in 1976.” There was pin drop silence among my high-level students – their Corporate Directors, Vice Presidents and General Managers of over 25 hotels. After a pause, Hapu said, “After the accident he became a genius, a professor and a scholar!” After that funny introduction I quickly changed the ice breakers I had planned for the session.
A Shaky Return
After a break of one month, I returned to the hotel on the first of February. It was little shaky at the beginning as I still could not walk properly. After I re-started work, I quickly recovered. In spite of serious advice to not step out of the hotel without a bodyguard, I commenced walking by myself to other hotels in the evenings. To my surprise, many villagers who threw stones at the hotel on December 31st, apologized to me. They said that they never wanted to harm me and it was a mistake in their drunken state. That day, I learnt that even with one’s adversaries, through an open dialogue, some problems can be resolved. I accepted their apology.
Impressed with my bravery of returning to work, a few in the company board had discussed the possibility of promoting me to be the Manager. However, some Directors, felt that at the age of 23, I may need more experience before being promoted. Given the unique types of challenges in managing hotels in Hikkaduwa, there were talks of sending a mature Manager, perhaps with miliary officer experience.
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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