Features
The Knuckles Range
by Dishana H. Uragoda
My first jungle trips were made with the family. The very first, as far as my memory goes, was in the mid 1970s, when we travelled in an Austin A 60 car to Lahugala, Ampara, Batticaloa, Polonnaruva and Sigiriya. I was probably five years old at the time. Since then there were a number of such long trips we made as a family, until 1984 when we joined Mr. Meryl Fernando and his traveling companions on a trip to Rakwana.
It was on this trip that I made my first memorable jungle hike, which was to the famous Waulpane cave. Since that trip, we made a number of trips to Yala where we based ourselves at the Palatupana bungalow run by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society. We used to make those trips in Uncle Meryl’s Mitsubishi J40 jeep and trailer, driven by the dear driver Simon, whose nephew Wimaladasa was in charge of the bungalow at Palatupana.
During this period, another anchorman to our trips stepped into our lives. He was Senath Abeygunawardena, who was a close friend of my brother. In subsequent years, we made many trips with a group of friends whom he introduced to our family, such as Bimal Perera, Niranjan Perera and Imaran Seneviratne. In fact, we still continue to go on trips with them, together with my sister’s father-in-law, Dr. Walter Gooneratne, Air Vice Marshall Paddy Mendis and the Vernon Edirisinghe family. In between, there was another group with whom I made a number of trips during the early 1990s, and it is one of these that I wish to elaborate on.
It all began when I joined an institute in Colombo to read for a degree in computer science in August 1990 shortly after leaving school. Here I came across a bunch of boys who developed a keen interest in sharing the thrills of traveling in Sri Lanka. Their interest may have been partly created by their seeing my photographs and listening to my narrations of interesting incidents of trips undertaken with my family. The interest so created resulted in altogether five trips being made during end-of-semester holidays to interesting places, namely Adam’s Peak, Horton Plains, Namunukula, Anuradhapura and the Knuckles. These trips were filled with laughter, gossip, bullying and idle talk. They were all budget trips leading a frugal existence, and that made them all the more interesting. After our three years at the institute, almost all of us joined universities in the USA and are now dispersed round the world, yet most of our links and friendships remain as before.
Planning the trip
At the institute we had two weeks holidays in between semesters, and had to squeeze in all the action and relaxation we could think of within that period. On this particular occasion, we decided on the Knuckles region as our destination. I had some experience of the area, having been there twice before on family trips, one of which was a successful attempt at reaching the famous Nitre Cave. The other trip was a total disaster, with heavy rains, strong winds, earthslips, floods and leeches. We planned the present trip in order to avoid the rainy season.
On one of these earlier visits, I happened to obtain the address of the Village Headman of Kumbukgolle off Meemure. He was Heenbanda alias Polgas Seeman Aiya, who was a respectable-looking, small built, lively man in his 50s. My brother and his friends had spent a few nights with him some years earlier on one of their trips; hence I knew we had a chance of spending a few nights with him. After a letter or two of correspondence, we were assured of a place to spend the nights. Our targets were the Nitro Cave and Lakegala Peak of the Knuckles range.
The former could be reached by using Heenbanda’s home as the base, but to get to Lakegala, we had to find accommodation in the more famous village of Meemure. Since we did not have any contacts there, we were considering either the school or the temple as our base. As a backup plan, we were contemplating the possibility of camping out. We had no idea where to camp, but we knew the river Heen Ganga wound through Mimure and it would be practical to camp on its bank.
Six persons agreed to make the trip, and they were Azard Barie, Chandima Wimalasena, Nishantha Nawalage, Tharaka de Silva, Udara Gunawardena and myself. We tried very hard to convince a regular member of our team, Lakshita Surasinghe as well, but he opted out with a trivial excuse. Looking at this list of names today, they have all turned out to be Information Technology professionals of different flavours based around the globe. One sad fact is that our dear friend Azard Barie is no more. He passed away in the UK in January 2003. As would be expected, we were all bachelors then, but now are either fathers, fathers-to-be, separated, fiances, singletons or playboys.
We planned to be out for three nights and hence the food had to be anything that lasted without refrigeration for a few days. We knew we would be provided with food at Heenbanda’s, but we had to stock ourselves with some for the balance period, the easiest being instant noodles, sliced bread, tinned fish, butter, jam and some biscuit packets. We expected to obtain water of pristine purity from the streams found in the Knuckles. While this settled the food problem for me, there were protests from the rest of the boys, who were all heavy eaters and seekers of comfort. They had a notion that I knew somewhat better than they regarding trips and went on with my recommendations, but now I feel they made a mistake!
Backup plan of camping was a favourable option to putting up at a school or temple, and we decided to prepare ourselves for it. We required two tents, a portable kerosene cooker, and at least one kerosene lantern. I had two tents which we regularly used on our family trips. We bought a kerosene cooker, and a few of us obtained lanterns from home.
The next step was to figure out the route to be taken. I obtained some help from my father who knew these areas better than we did. We decided to go to Kandy, and then to Hunasgiriya, where we were to turn towards Looloowatta Estate and reach the beautiful Corbet’s Gap, where the road branched off west to Mimure (3 km) and east to Kumbukgolla (3 km). The next major hurdle was organising transport. In all our previous college trips we used public transport, but this trip required a vehicle. For our good fortune, Chandi’s father allowed us the use of his Toyota Lightace van, and all was set to go.
Trip at last
Departure was set for Wednesday, August 12, 1992, and return was three nights later, on Sunday 15th. The dates were selected to take advantage of the full moon of Nikini poya, which fell on the 13th. All food items, provisions, tents, a large haversack, kettle, kerosene cooker, lamps and other paraphernalia were packed in Chandi’s van the previous night. Early next morning, along with our personal items, we left Colombo. It was a great start despite the short delay and the rather harsh rock music that blared into my ears at the back of the vehicle. The two experts who provided the music were Chandi and Nish. Their preferences were a far cry from the peaceful pop or country music that I appreciated, but for my luck Nish had brought a few cassettes of my flavour.
Many of us had brought sandwiches for breakfast, which we had whilst on the move. The idea was to lose as little time as possible by way of wayside stops. As expected, the van was in an explosive atmosphere with much chattering and laughter. After a while, we began trying out our singing skills. Tharaka knew much of the “Big match” style of Sinhala songs, while Azard and I were somewhat proficient in regular baila songs. Nish was an expert of English pop songs to which we would listen with admiration.
The drive was rather slow and comfortable with Chandi at the wheel. We reached Kandy around 10 am, and we decided to wander around the town and eventually break journey by going to the house of Nish’s aunt for snacks and drinks. After delaying a short time in Kandy, we again took the road. Though the road conditions were not at their best, it was quite a scenic route. We passed the Victoria reservoir, where the water level was low at the time, and reached Hunnasgiriya around 2.30 pm. There, with the help of directions from a wayside villager, we proceeded north towards Looloowatta Estate.
Road conditions became less comfortable and we had to proceed quite slowly, with the van bouncing along. For our luck, there was no rain although it was pretty overcast. By 3.45 pm or so we reached Looloowatta Estate, and though all were now hungry, there was no time to waste as our overall plan of reaching Kumbukgolla in time was of higher priority. With the cloudy sky, it turned out to be slightly chilly.
At the small town of Looloowatta, we stopped for directions once again, and there we were asked if we could give three hefty men a lift to Mimure. We did not think it was a good idea to overload the vehicle. Then two of them explained to us that the third member was the officer in charge of the Police Station at Mimure, and requested us to oblige by giving only him a lift. We agreed and put him in the front seat. Chandi wanted me to take the wheel. One reason was his being tired, and the other was his thinking that I was better at keeping the guest company.
Knuckles
This was the first time I was driving a van, and I took off in the manner of driving the Land Rover back home. However, it did not take long to figure out that the van had much softer suspension as it bounced and oscillated frightfully. I proceeded slowly on the road going northwards towards Corbet’s Gap and admiring the beautiful mountain scenery amidst the coolness of the evening. The vegetation around and the long grass that covered the sides of the road were added attractions. I kept on chatting with the policeman, who gave relevant details of the area and pointed out the various mountain peaks, but the others at the back of the van observed silence, probably induced by hunger. We had proceeded a few kilometres down the road and I was keeping slightly to the left, as there was a deep drop into the ravine below on the right. There was plenty of grass on the roadside to the left. I enjoyed the beautiful view while driving.
Suddenly there was a loud explosion which shook the whole vehicle. I felt it strongly on the steering. There was an eerie rumble as I slowed down the vehicle to a stop. We were in a state of shock and surprise. We got down in a hurry and rushed to check what was wrong. We found the left front tyre deflated with a two-inch gash on it. It was a huge blow to us since we had a long way to go and we could not proceed without a spare wheel. I was upset as it was I who was driving Chandi’s van. We were wondering what caused the gash in the tyre as there was apparently nothing on the surface of the road to account for it. However, on closer inspection, we discovered rocks with jagged edges under the soft carpet of beautiful grass on the roadside. One of them was likely to be responsible for the damage.
It was a rude introduction to the new terrain we were in. The policeman, who was rather calm, had a look at the tyre and declared he would get it repaired so that we could collect it when we visited Mimure a day later. He sounded rather confident, and that gave us some relief. It also made us realise how lucky we were to have given him the lift. He also gave us permission to camp next to the bridge over the river Heen Ganga, a tributary of Mahaweli, that went through Meemure.
I let Chandi take over the wheel since I was feeling rather bad at what had happened. We passed the beautiful Corbet’s Gap and eventually came to the fork on the road. The road up to this point was tarred and very much motorable. But now, both branches of the fork were typical jeep tracks with large rocks on the gravel surface. The time was around 4.30 pm and it was getting late. We took the left branch going to Mimure to drop the policeman. A few of us had to literally walk with the vehicle, moving aside rocks on the road that could damage the tyres and the suspension. Driving was not getting any easier, with the eyes straining to watch out for danger spots.
We proceeded a good two km before we came to the police station, at which point the policeman got down with the damaged wheel in his care. We came back on the same route, and then went down the other branch of the fork, going west to the Kumbukgolla village. The road was no better, and we eventually came to Kumbukgolla around 6 pm.
Heenbanda’s house was only about 100 metres away, yet we had to take the van across a dry tributary of Heen Ganga that was studded with boulders. By this time, word had got round of our arrival and Heenbanda, accompanied by many villagers, was there to greet us. We were accorded a warm welcome and Heenbanda was happy to see me. We talked of our previous trips there, as well as my brother’s. Heenbanda wanted us to take the vehicle to his house and taking command of the operation, he ordered and directed the villagers around who virtually lifted the van across the difficult, large rocks.
The sun had set a good half an hour earlier, yet there was some daylight available. So we rushed into unloading only our bags and a few other essential items, as we knew we had to take off to Mimure the next day. We were getting accommodation in one huge room, which was a good portion of Heenbanda’s house. It had a neatly tiled roof, a cemented unpolished floor, white plastered walls and sufficient furniture for us to sit and make ourselves comfortable.
We were all eagerly waiting to have a wash, when we were informed that it would have to be at the river that we crossed. Since we were all dog-tired, a bathroom would have been most welcome. Now that we had to walk upstream searching for water in the dark and in cold weather, the eagerness to have a bath was somewhat diluted. Heenbanda was sending a guide with us to take us to the bathing spot, and we motivated ourselves to rush with the wash as there was still some light outside. We walked upstream about 100 metres from where we crossed the river, and there it was, water being channeled along strips of banana stems acting as a gutter. The water was quite cold, but after completing the wash with the help of kerosene lamps, it was indeed quite refreshing. We rushed back to our abode shivering and got into warmer clothes.
Heenbanda and his wife, a nice quiet and elderly lady served us with an early dinner and we were once again rejuvenated. There was no electricity but a number of kerosene oil lamps were lit, and we were provided with woven mats, one each for the six of us to sleep on. Once bedding was arranged, we had Heenbanda’s permission to take a walk in the night. We stepped out with our torches, and it was a beautiful night with plenty of moonlight. I proudly took a branded American 3-cell torch, which was very effective and not very common at the time. We decided to walk to the riverbed to relax, and then as the ever-so-hungry or thirsty lot wanted to have coffee, I thought it best to test the new kerosene cooker. We took it out of the van with the kettle, cups, coffee, milk and sugar, and took a cool walk to the riverbed.
(To be continued)
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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