Features
Writing Postponed to Serve the Queen
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
RESEARCH AT 16 FIVE-STAR HOTELS – PART ‘B’
By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca
Continuing from last week’s column: ‘Research at 16 Five-star Hotels – Part ‘A”.
I postponed writing my M.Sc. dissertation on ‘Food and Beverage operations in the context of five-star London hotels’ several times, due to my ever-expanding field research. I was required to start writing the chapters without any further delays. I was reminded by the University of Surrey, in the United Kingdom that I must submit the final dissertation before the end of September, 1984, if I was to graduate in December that year.
I was focusing too much on gaining valuable experiences in London’s five-star hotels, which I believed would enhance my dissertation, eventually when I could commit myself to writing it. Another reason for my procrastination was my fear of writing something very long in my second language. Apart from a few assignment essays at the University of Colombo and the University of Surrey between 1982 and 1984, I had never written anything of significant length in English.
In my career in hospitality, I have been fortunate to be offered various, rare opportunities. Due to such an opportunity, I decided to postpone my research by one more week. One day, when I went to do a shift as a banquet waiter at the Dorchester, I was asked to attend a special meeting chaired by the Food and Beverage Manager, the Banqueting Manager and the Training Manager. A group of over 50 employees, including Banqueting Service Managers, Ballroom Head Waiters, Banquet Waiters, and part-time Banquet Waiters were at this meeting which seemed important.
The Banqueting Manager announced that, “After a lengthy negotiation, our hotel sales team has secured a prestigious banquet booking. This would be our first-ever royal banquet. The Emir of Bahrain will host a banquet in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip. It will be attended by 277 VIPs.” The Training Manager added, “We will carry out a week long, fully-paid banquet service refresher training program for all of you. There will be a practical test and a multiple-choice exam at the end. Based on the results of those, we will choose a brigade of 30 waiters to serve at the royal banquet. The best five Banquet Waiters will serve the head table, where the Queen, Prince Philip, the Emir, the British Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker would be seated.”
The special training program was well-planned and comprehensive. I had an advantage due to the first-class, basic service training I had received a decade ago. This was from the food and beverage service experts from West Germany and Switzerland, when I was a student of the Ceylon Hotel School. I was also trained in banquet service at the inception of Hotel Ceylon InterContinental. Therefore, I did well at the practical test and the exam. I was chosen to serve the Queen, Prince Philip, the Emir, and Margaret Thatcher, in the heart of London at the best British hotel.
The Final Hotel – The Savoy
Having worked at seven of the 16 five-star hotels in London (The Dorchester, The Churchill, Grosvenor House, Hyde Park Hotel, Claridge’s, London Hilton and InterContinental London), I planned to research the other nine five-star London Hotels with short observation periods and at least one research interview per hotel. With diligent effort and follow up, I managed to do so in eight of the remaining five-star hotels in London – Connaught, The Ritz, Mayfair, Hyatt Carlton, Royal Garden, Inn on the Park (Four Seasons), Berkeley and Sheraton. I had one final bridge to cross in order to reach my ambitious target of doing field research in all 16 hotels. I was missing The Savoy.
For my research, I had read many books written about luxury British hotels with historical importance. Most of these books were written about The Savoy, which was opened in 1889 under the leadership of a world-famous, hospitality expert duo – the Swiss Hotelier, César Ritz and the French Chef, Auguste Escoffier. I was simply fascinated with the stories in these books. I was eager to work in this great hotel, to experience its renowned luxury standards.
One day, I was excited to find a letter in my mailbox with the logo of The Savoy. It was from one of the most respected hoteliers in London. The General Manager/Managing Director of The Savoy, Willy Bauer sent me a lengthy letter, responding to my request to allow me to spend a few hours making observations at The Savoy and to interview the General Manager or a senior member of his management team. Although he took time to wish me luck with my research, he declined my request. He ended his letter by stating, “The management team of The Savoy are extremely busy ensuring that we provide the best service to our customers. Therefore, unfortunately, they have no time to waste on educating graduate students!”
I felt that his letter, although polite, had a subtle sarcasm. That rejection motivated me to somehow get into The Savoy and find a way to observe the operation and interview a relevant manager. I immediately took a 10-stop underground train ride to Charing Cross station and a five-minute brisk walk to The Savoy. Once there I requested to meet with the Banqueting Head Waiter. After inspecting my Banquet Waiter identification cards from four other London five-star hotels, and hearing how I was chosen to serve the Queen at the Dorchester, I was hired as a Part-Time Banquet Waiter of the Savoy, starting the very next day. When I demonstrated my ability to carry six plates of hors-d’œuvres, in two hands, the Head Waiter said, “The Savoy is not a circus! Never carry more than two plates at a time!”
I was very happy working at the Savoy. Unlike the newer five-star hotels, such as London Hilton and InterContinental London, the back of the house of The Savoy was not designed well for efficient operations. During one banquet service in the main ballroom, the waiters had to go up and down three different floors to pick up the appetizers, main courses and desserts. Nevertheless, I was pleased to climb those century old stairways used by Ritz and Escoffier.
I saw Willy Bauer a couple of times, but never had the opportunity of approaching him. Within a week of working at the Savoy, I had conducted an hour-long interview with a very helpful, Adrian Coy, the Banqueting Manager, who shared many useful documents including the full organization chart of the great hotel. “Mission completed! If there is a will, one will find a way!” I thought for myself.
Completing 120 Field Research Interviews
A few days later, I did my final interview, which turned out to be one of the best. This was with Michael Nightingale, a Management Consultant. We had two connections. He had done an M.Phil. degree at the University of Surrey, and previously ran the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (HCIMA) as the Director (CEO). He was a fellow of HCIMA and I had just been upgraded as a member (MHCIMA). As a result, Michael treated me like a colleague or a peer.
“After your breakfast service at The Savoy, let’s meet at the Charing Cross Hotel for a meal, and you can ask me your research questions over lunch” Michael said. I had an excellent interview. A few months after that, Michael migrated to Canada. He eventually became a Professor and the Chair of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph. In the late 1980s, my wife studied hotel management under his leadership. Fifteen years after that, I became the President of HCIMA in the United Kingdom. Small world!
By early August, 1984, when my research supervisor heard that I had not yet commenced writing my M.Sc. dissertation, he was annoyed and concerned. Professor Richard Kotas said, “It will be impossible for you to write a master’s dissertation within the remaining six weeks! Chandi, I advise you to write an official letter to the university, requesting an extension of a semester to complete the dissertation requirement.” I replied, “No sir, I don’t have the money to pay for an extra semester. I have read all the relevant books and articles. I worked or observed in all 16 five-star London hotels. I have also done over 120 interviews, with half as structured formal interviews with senior hoteliers. I am now fully ready to write six chapters within six weeks.” We then agreed that I would meet him once a week, on six Mondays with a completed chapter.
Binge Writing for Six Weeks
I stopped working in hotels, socializing, watching TV, reading and all of my other activities, to focus on writing my dissertation. I got into a strict regime of 18-hours of writing a day, six days a week for six weeks. Every day, during this period of six weeks, I went to sleep just after 6:00 pm. I started the day at 12 midnight with a hot shower and a small breakfast with a lot of coffee. I continued writing for 18 hours with a short break to say goodbye to my wife who went to work in Knightsbridge around 7:00 am, and to have a quick light 15-minute lunch at 12 noon while watching the BBC TV news headlines.
I stopped writing when my wife came home around 6:00 pm. We had a quick dinner together. Then I handed over around 25 pages of handwritten (I could not type at that time) sections of my dissertation to my wife. She kindly typed all of my notes neatly and placed them on my desk in the attic of our small rented apartment,while I slept for a few hours. When I woke up at 12 midnight, before writing any new material, I would read the pages typed by my wife. We got into an excellent rhythm of teamwork.
After a full-night of dissertation writing in our small apartment in London in 1984
Only on Mondays, I left the apartment to meet with Professor Richard Kotas at the university or his home in West London. Each of our weekly meetings commenced with a critique of my dissertation chapter submitted a week ago. He was amazed, surprised and a little annoyed by the length of my chapters. “You write a lot, Chandi! I have to budget extra time to read, review and edit your work!” he jokingly said. He corrected my English with a red pen and made some other edits or suggestions to improve the manuscript.
When I was shy about my poor English, he said, “Don’t worry, Chandi. English is my second language too. As you think in Sinhala, I think in my mother tongue – Polish.” Once we agreed on the corrections, I handed over the draft chapter with a lot of red pen marks, to a university secretary, who typed the final revisions. After that, I handed over the draft of the next chapter typed by my wife, to Professor Kotas.
The 353-paged Dissertation
I eventually completed my dissertation, within the six-week period, just before the deadline. The full length came to over 100,000 words. The 353-page dissertation referred to 133 previous publications and included 220 quotes in the literature review sections. My field research and my own experience in Food and Beverage operations, enriched the conclusion chapter. One of the Senior Lecturers of the university asked me, “How come your M.Sc. dissertation is longer than two average sized doctoral theses?” Professor Kotas was quick to respond on my behalf, and said the final word in my defence, “Chandi has done some excellent work including in-depth desk and field research. He should be congratulated.”
Within a month, it was confirmed that I had fulfilled all of the requirements and would graduate by the end of 1984. Unfortunately, only four in the first-ever batch of graduate students in the International Hotel Management program were successful in earning the M.Sc. degree. The other five were awarded post graduate diplomas instead, as the university was not fully satisfied with the quality of their work.
Six months after that, in 1985, I jointly presented with Professor Richard Kotas, my first-ever management seminar. This four-day seminar on ‘Food and Beverage Controls and Management’ was organized by our family business, Streamline Services, and was held at Mount Royal Beach Hotel in Sri Lanka. Partly based on my dissertation, we prepared a 143-page seminar book, which was distributed to all of the participants. I presented a session every day. Forty hotel industry leaders, including several general managers, attended this seminar. Most of them were much senior to me in terms of age and years of management experience.
When I was a little nervous if I would be accepted as their instructor for four-days, Professor Kotas decided to do a special introduction to the seminar participants just before my first presentation. He said, “During my 30-plus years spent in the hospitality industry as a manager, academic and a consultant, Chandi has been one of the most hard-working persons I have ever met. To me, he is the most knowledgeable person to present on Food and Beverage Management. Learn from him and enjoy his sessions! Chandi has a ton of useful stories from all five-star London hotels to share with you” That set the stage for me. The popularity of that seminar encouraged me to present a large number of hotel management seminars, around the world, over the next 37 years.
The cover of my first-ever management seminar book A British Textbook based on the Dissertation
Soon after the four-day seminar ended, Professor Kotas and I went through the seminar evaluation forms filled out by the participants, while having a drink on the famous Mount Lavinia beach. We were extremely pleased with the positive feedback. I was taken aback when he asked me, “Chandi, your dissertation has many aspects current and future managers of the hospitality industry would benefit from. Why don’t we convert it to a text book?”
By that time, he had authored over 10 best-selling textbooks and over 50 articles. My publication record then was zero. As I was very busy in my career in hotel management, I suggested that we place it on a back burner. Eventually, in 1994, Professor Kotas and I co-authored a book titled, ‘Profitable Food & Beverage
Management’. By that time, the experience I had gained as the Food and Beverage Manager/Director of two large five-star hotels managed by Le Meridien and Oberoi hotel chains, in two capital cities, enhanced the contents of the book. Our joint book was published in the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton, and became a popular text book in universities and colleges in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Guyana etc.
Until his passing in 2020, Professor Kotas was my long-term mentor. He was like a father to me, and both his wife and Professor Kotas treated me like a son. My last meeting with them was in their London home a few months before my dear friend passed away.
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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