Features
THE IAP’S STATEMENT ON URBANIZATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SRI LANKA:Some Personal Thoughts
by Dr. K.L. Gunaratna
The captioned policy Statement was prepared at the instance of the Inter Academy Partnership (IAP) which is the apex body of science academies worldwide. The Statement was drafted by an international ‘Working Group’ of 18 subject experts drawn from 16 countries accross the globe. Those experts were selected by the IAP from nominees made by their affiliated Science Academies in the LMICs as well as a few from those in the most industrialized countries. That Group worked on-line for two years under the chairmanship of a Sri Lankan expert. In fact the subject had originally been proposed by him, forwarded by the Sri Lankan Science Academy and accepted by the IAP for serious consideration. The outcome of that effort – the draft Policy Statement – was circulated by the IAP to all affiliated Science Academies worldwide and formally endorsed by a required majority. It was then formally launched by the IAP at an international event held in Europe on the 5th of October 2022.
The National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka together with the Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka hosted the local launch of this policy statement followed by a discussion on it. That event was held at the Auditorium of the Organization of Professional Association (OPA) on the 18th of November 2022. Many interested professionals and scientists were present at that occasion.
Framing relevant policies for the LMICs requires a clear understanding of the urbanization process currently being experienced. Today, urbanization occurs almost exclusively in the LMICs. It can bring about positive dividends especially for women and longer lifespans for all, but these dividends are not guaranteed. When the process is mismanaged as often happens, it results in serious inequity, social unrest and the rapid growth of informal settlements. Thus, urbanization policies, urban planning and management are deemed to be very necessary. A reliable prediction is that by 2035 all the fastest growing cities worldwide will be in the LMICs.
A relevant statistical study concludes that urbanization in the LMICs:
· induces growth of the largest cities;
· occurs often without industrialization;
· is consequent to demographic explosion and poverty-induced rural-urban migration;
· encourages the growth of informal urban settlements; and,
· occurs more because of ‘rural push’ than ‘urban pull’.
This interminable ‘distress migration’ directed most often towards major cities results in diminishing the quality of life for all urban residents in those cities. Today, urban population increases happen in overcrowded and underserved informal settlements. These urban residents are part of an ‘informal city’, which functions independently from and in parallel with the formal city.
Cities in most LMICs, have some surprisingly common characteristics, which are:
· unequal access to all infrastructure, services and to decent housing;
· strong residential segregation;
· the existence of informal and often illegal systems of land occupation for housing;
· inadequate land-use management;
· the inability of most urban local authorities to deal with these complex issues;
· unsatisfactory housing units with very poor sanitary facilities;
· authoritarian political processes and inadequate social participation in planning decisions;
· large primate cities; and,
· limited autonomy and resources within urban local authorities and also poor vertical coordination on relevant national policies.
Urbanization in 19th Century Europe happened in consequence of industrialization and therefore created economic growth in those countries. The current experience of urbanization in the LMICs invariably happens without industrialization. Therefore the IAP Statement concludes that urbanization in the LMICs is not always a beneficial process. This is an important conclusion for us in Sri Lanka to recognize. Indeed, it also has the adversity of continuing to increase sub-standard urban living conditions in unhealthy slums which often defy well-meant efforts for improvement.
It is very significant that this new IAP Policy Statement has not only been accepted by most Science Academies in the LMICs. It has also been carefully scrutinized and accepted by most learned Western academics and their Science Academies. These Science Academies include those in the US, Germany and many others in Europe including the Royal Society in England.
In Sri Lanka, following some level of independence won in 1931 with the Donomough Constitution, our prime indigenous political concerns focused on Agriculture for domestic food production and on Education. That was because these two areas came under the purview of two far-seeing Sri Lankan politicians (Senanayake & Kannangara). The important results were a gradual move towards food self-sufficiency; and, mass-scale free education. Thus the new emphases then was on:
· rural development;
· rebuilding of our abandoned ancient reservoirs in the Dry Zone
; and,
· the settlement of land-hungry Wet Zone farmers in the newly irrigated lands in the Dry Zone.
After formal ‘Independence’ in 1948, these national priorities continued but also included not only irrigated agriculture but also an increased emphasis on hydro-electric power generation projects. The last followed the pioneering work of Engineer Wimalasurendra. The concern for multi-purpose irrigation and hydroelectric power projects was also inspired by the successful work of the American Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Thus the Gal Oya, Walawe Ganga, and finally the Mahaweli Project came into being in stages.
Consequently, one important difference between our progress and that of many other LMICs was that we, until relatively recent decades, focused on rural upliftment often in preference to urban development. That is why the implementation of Patrick Abercrombie’s plans for Colombo were overlooked in fovor of the Gal Oya Project and implementation of the later Colombo Master Plan Project prepared by a massive UNDP team was superseded and implementation was focussed upon by the Accelerated Mahaweli Master Plan Project. We therefore had much less urbanization then, than most other LMICs. This situation began to change negatively only in more recent decades.
Our Planning Profession and the Current Serious National Concerns
There are specialized disciplines with highly qualified and experienced professionals in Sri Lanka, who are able to deal with many of the areas of serious national concern that confront us today. A few (but not all) of these areas, are:
· the ailing Agricultural Sector;
· the Human-Elephant Conflict;
· the impacts of Climate Change including recurrent floods, droughts & landslides;
· the vulnerability of coastal population concentrations to likely sea-level rise;
· the ailing Construction Sector;
· the future of our cities;
· the Port City Project; and,
· the extraordinarily high National Debt.
The profession I am representing in writing this article is commonly referred to in Sri Lanka by the old British terminology as “Town and Country Planning“. ‘Country Planning’ in modern parlance includes both ‘Regional and Rural Settlement Planning’. While we in our profession have no special expertise in Agriculture and Agro-Pedology, the Agricultural sector and the following three listed areas of concerns, clearly need Regional and Rural Settlement Planning.
The Future of our cities
There has been much concern with plans for Colombo. We clearly need much better public transport, safer streets and sidewalks, in-situ slum-upgrading and much more planned, environmentally friendly building and progress in Colombo, its suburbs and also in many of our other cities. However, Colombo and a few mid-sized towns also have growing unhygienic slums and shanties. Improving the living conditions of these underserved communities is indeed beneficial. However, long term solutions are needed. Theses solutions are clearly not the building of multistoried flats in the suburbs, which merely transfers blight from the city to its suburbs.
The planned development of small towns including those in the Dry Zone is very important. There must be provision within these towns of upgraded agricultural and social infrastructure including secondary schools and small hospitals. these will facilitate access to folk in their respective rural hinterlands. Only such provisions will help in reducing rural migrations to Colombo and mid-sized cities.
The Port City Project
Some Sri Lankans seem bent on criticizing the Port City Project. We as a profession must see the Project now as one that could fast becoming a reality. We should do whatever we can to make it a success. There is no doubt that it can generate a great deal of much needed foreign exchange.It will also trigger some urbanization. But, that urbanization is most likely to be indirect and benign. It can greatly help our ailing Construction Sector, which is now in dire financial straits. It can also reduce out-migration of construction professionals and skilled construction labor. It can offset our high national debt.
The High National Debt
Clearly, this last identified national concern urgently requires the expertise of our Economists, more than that of any other profession. But, there is also a role that we as Planners can play.t may be recalled that by ‘accelerating’ development work on the Mahaweli Project in the late 1970s, completion of the very costly ‘headworks’ with hydropower generation capacity were achieved early. That achievement was at much lower cost than if these large and very expensive works were left to be built later. Accelerating the Mahaweli Project with early borrowings of foreign exchange has indeed greatly benefited us in many ways. One of these benefits is that it has already provided and will continue to provide us with more clean energy from hydro-electric power, for the present and also the future, at a much lower cost than otherwise. With that ‘acceleration’, some of the agriculture and human settlement components on the Mahaweli Systems ‘H’ and ‘C’ were also substantially completed.
The Maduru Oya Dam in ‘System B’ was the last main ‘headworks’ to be realized under the Accelerated Program. It was built by a Canadian company (FAFJ) with funds from their government. A small extent of settlement work in ‘System B,’ including the planning of a few small towns was begun earlier by the Mahaweli Development Board. But, the main irrigation and rural settlement planning work on this ‘Downstream’ development aspect of the Maduru Oya Left Bank was entrusted to a consortium of two US consultancy firms (Berger & IECO) with funding by USAID. Those two firms worked in very close collaboration with Sri Lankan professional expertise.
This latter important work ended abruptly with much of our efforts still on the drawing boards. The reason for the sudden stoppage was due to the resumption of armed hostilities by the LTTE against the GOSL. Apparently, the LTTE’s perception then was that the ongoing project would result in non-Tamil citizens being settled in areas the LTTE considered as their ‘Tamil Homeland’. This perception seemed to have been successfully canvassed by them with the government of Canada and possibly also with the US Government.
As far as I know, the settler selection policy in the Northern parts of the System ‘B’ area, had not been clearly defined at that time by the GOSL. Tragically, this important downstream work on ‘System B’ of the Accelerated Mahaweli Project, which could also have benefitted some parts of the North was aborted and came to a sudden halt.
It would now seem appropriate,
in the current context of the extraordinarily high National Debt, for the GOSL to put together a competent professional team of relevant local expertise to do some preliminary work on this aspect of the Project. The required expertise should not only be in Irrigation Engineering but importantly, also in the professional areas of Agro-based Regional and Rural Settlement Planning. The starting point should be the last competent feasibility study done by the Consultants. It was entitled ‘Land Use and Settlement Planning for Two Sample Areas of the System ‘B’ Irrigation Project’ and dated August 1982. The two sample areas in this said study had been identified on the basis of a thorough Agro-Pedology study of the Project Area. They represented the two predominant soil types relevant to planned agriculture in that area.
Further work on Settlement Planning in this effort would also require the
definition of a rational and fair settler selection policy in this under-populated region. It will also require much external funding to restart and continue work on the remaining downstream areas of ‘System B’. In this time of need, receiving international funding for this abruptly halted Mahaweli Project work, would surely be beneficial to us in every way. We could even seriously consider proceeding to complete, in due course, the remaining stages of the Project as set out in our original Mahaweli Master Plan.
K.Locana Gunaratna
AA Dipl (London), MCP (Harvard), PhD (Colombo);
Fellow & Past President, National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka;
Past General President. Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science;
Fellow & Past President, Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka;
Fellow & Past President, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects;
Vice President, Sri Lanka Economic Association.
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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