Former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa

(Translated by ; A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA)

Given below is the translation of a message that has been issued bY the former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sale of the Hambantota Port to a Chinese Company.

Auctioning of Sri Lanka.

The whole nation has got shocked on the way that the Hambantota Harbour was privatised.  Although the government had a duty of debating the agreement relating to privatising the most strategical state property in the parliament before the said agreement was signed, they did not do anything like that. No one has seen a Technical Assessment report in this regard.  The government has not infrmed the peple on what basis that the relevant company was selected from the two companies that presented bids. From the information what we haave received it seems that the other bid was more advantageous for Sri Lanka.

The urgency for sale of state property has been arisen due to the economic crisis that this government has created. The yahapalakas after winning the Presidential Election in January 2015 by telling lies to the people and as it was not possible to win the ensuing General Election also in that manner what they did was to fool the people in a different manner by increasing the salaries of the public servants, and reducing the prices of fuel and gas and reducing the prices of some selected essential food items.

As a result of this the government’s expenditure increased instantly and the government’s income fell down.  According to the report of the Auditor General, the budget deficit which was only 5,7% of the GDP in 2014 after one year of assuming office by the yahapaalanaaya increased by nearly two fold to 10.5% in 2015.

Since the government did not have money to cover its day to day expenses including for payment of public servants salaries they started to obtain large scale loans. Even most of the people will be reluctant to believe if it was told to them that the government in a short peof 2 ½ years have obtained foreign exchange loans amounting to over U.S.Dollars 13.7 Billion. All this money has been spent only for consumption purposes.  Although it is possible to construct 10 Norochchoai Power Plants, or else 10 harbours like Hambantota harbour, or else 20 expressway like Southern Expressways from this U.S.Dollars 13.7 Billion foreign exchange loans they have not even built a culvert from that money.

In order to repay these loans, under the advisc of the International Monetary Fund, several government taxes including VAT were increased in 2016. Even by levyibg taxes on critical patients they could not find money to cover the U.S.Dollars 13.7 Billion loans the government’s attention has been focused on getting ‘non-tax’ revenues. It is for this purpose it has started to sell properties belonging to the State.

From the budget proposals of the yahapalanaa government it is clear that the government is getting ready to sell from State Institutions such as Hilton Hotel which has no strategic value upto strategically important institutions such as Norochchalai. Hambantota harbour is only a beginning.  The Primr Minister has already said that Mattala Airport is the next Institution tio be sold. Colombo-Katunayaake Expressway, Southern Exprssway, Water Supplu#y Board, and Electricity Board are among the Institutions or projects that are to be privatised or alienated.

It also seems that this government is deliberately making State Institutions to the level of loss making Institutions in order to justify sale of government properties.  It was for this purpose that they suspended bunkering operations at the Hambantta Harbour. In order to pay back the total amunt of loan taken for the construction of the Hambantta Harbour a sum of U.S.Dollars 1,761 has to be paid up to 2036. That is the U.S.Dollar 1,266 Million taken as a loan for the construction of the harbour and the U,S,Dollar 495 Million accruing as interest. But from the total amount of U.S.Dollar 1,761 Million that has to be paid, U.S.Dollar 500 Million had been paid by end of 2016.  These payments had been made from the Ports Authority profits.  There was no difficulty in making this payment and it was not a burden on the tax payer.  But after privatisation the loan obtained for the construction of the harbour will be vested with the Treasury by the Ports Authority and the burden of paying this loan has now directly fallen on to the shoulders of the public.

It seems that the government is attempting to justify the privatisation of the Hambantota harbour by saying tht my government directly sold the land for the construction of the Shangrilla Hotel.  The few acres of land needed for the constructin of a Hotel cannot in any way be made equivalent to 4 Terminals, 12 Jetties, an industrial zone of 5,000 acres and a main harbour.  On the other hand that the Shangrilla Hotel is not strategically important as the Hambantota harbour.  In addition to that there was a condition as per the government’s development plan that the Shangrlla land cannt be used for any oher purpose other than for building a hotel.  This government also says that under my government a land in the Port City was given to China as well.

The Port City is not a land existing in Sri Lanka but a new land being created by reclaiming from the sea.  My government had an agreement not to pay even five cents for this project and provide a small extent of that newly created land as construction charges to the concerned company.  Even the Chunese comoany has to develop the land in accordance with the rules and regulations of Sri Lanka.  Not only that port city lands are not lands with strategical importance but will be commerciaally important lands.  Everyone should understand that my government restricting the purchase of our lands by foreigners and foreign companies enacted the Lands (restrictions of vesting ownership) Act No, 38 of 2014 and this government relaxed those restrictions by Revised Act No,3 of 2017.  What was done by my government was creating new things and what is being done by this government is selling of things created by my government.

The U.S.,Dollars 1.12 Billion obtained by privatisation of the Hambantota harbour without utilization of it for resettlement of the loan have been passed on to the Treasury for utilizing it for day to day expenses of the government.  U.S.,Dollars 1.12 Billion is a small amount for this government and it would evoparize similar to the loan of U.S.,Dollars 13.7 Billion loan they obtained.  We find that the Ministers of this government, following the massive objection being built up against the privaatisation  of the Hambantota harbour is attrmpting to justify their despicable act by saying that our government also had plans and agreements to handover the whole harbour to China. This is a blatant lie that tthey are saying. All are aware that my government not only upheld a principle against privatisation and alienation but also re-acquired certain institutions that had been privatized.

If the present activities being carried out by this government continued by the time of ending this government, no national property will remain for this country.  The people should organize themselves in all their work places, in all villages, and in all towns against the plans of this government to sell the whole country to foreign buyers.

Mahinda Rajapaksa

The fifth Executive Presdent of Sri Lanka. 

Also please find appended below Mr. Namal Rajapaksa and Mahinda Amaraweera on rhe Hambantota harbour:

The Hambantota Harbour has been sold without following any Tender Procedures – Namal Rajapaksa

Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said that this government which came to power saying that nothing will be done without following Tender Procedures has sold the Hanbantota Harbour without following any tender procedure.

Addressung a meeting of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramunaa (SLPP) at Aluthgama Mr, Rajapaksa said that this government got the Hambantota harbour sold in the midst of strong opposition of thee people of this country.  Today the leaders of this government are giving false promises to Trade Unions and recently an Act was approved against Parliament procedures when the naze was not in the Parliament. The JVP and the TNA supported this move.

It was because the former President Mr. Mahinda defeated Prabhakaran and the LTTE, Maithrpala Sirisena was able to comr to power by staging a conspiracy.

Today the war heroes and intelligence unit officers who gave a great strength to defeat the terrorists have been imprisoned with concocted charges.  It was thoseofficers who captured the terrorist who came to kill Maithripala Sirisena.  If it was not for these officers not only Maithripala Sirisena even my father may not be living today.

But the intelligence unit officers and naval officers are imprisoned today.  Thaajudeen body was exhumed to imprison Namal and Yoshita but that attept not succeeded.  They failed on this for the last 2 ½ years, now they are attempting to accuse my mother in this connection,

Today business activities in this country have collapsemade d. Trade Union leaders are being attacked by Police and the goons and drug addicts of certain MPS. The war heroes who liberated the country from terrorists have been deployed to pump petrol in petrol sheds.  This is an ineot government and it has no proper plan for controlling.  Like bandaging the shoulders for the filaria in the legs students have been asked to come to schools wearing long sleeve dresses.  They have failed in the attempts made to conceal the Treasury Bond Scam.

Meanwhile, in the Waadapitiya” programme of the Ada Derana TV Mr. Namal Rajapaaksa made Digital Minister Harin Fernando and MP Mujibur Rehman dumb founded unable to respond to the arguments made by him about the illegal Hambantota harbour sale.  He dominated the programme throughout its period by presenting facts about the harbour project and the betrayal of the people of Hambantota and the nation,(niz)

We will not allow to sell Hambantota harbour – Nincompoop Amaraweera

The nincompoop Mahinda Amaraweera who is so slavish to Sirisena which made Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa to say sarcastically that Amaraweera would even say that the Sun does not rise without obtaining permission from Sirisena has said that as long as they are there they will not allow to sell the Hambantota Port.  Is this nincompoop really ignorant of the agreement signed on the 29^th July or is he living in some other planet?

He has said that people and politicians say that the Hambantta Port has been sold and has asked where it has been sold? He has also stated that under this government of Maithripala Sirisena even an inch of this country will be sold to China, India or any other country(niz).