My thoughts on the Sri Lankan Economy. Was it the Rajapaksas that Ruined it?
Posted on March 4th, 2013
By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University
Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the JVP has stated that the Rajapaksas Ruined the economy of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As to Who Ruined the economy of Sri Lanka,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mr. Dissanayake is referred to my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success, published by Godages in 2006.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Who Ruined Sri Lanka?
It was actually the IMF that ruined Sri Lanka by imposing its Structural Adjustment Programme in 1977. The United National Party led by President Jayawardena turned to the IMF and the IMF did lead him up the garden path to ruin. By the time the United National Party handed over Sri Lanka to the opposition, when Chandrika Kumaranatunge was victorious in 2005, the foreign debt of Sri lanka was at $ 11,373 million. When President Jayawardena won the election in 1977 our foreign debt was at $ 750 million and that too on project financing, where on completion the project would have brought about earnings to offset the capital repayments.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That means that we were not in debt. At that time the IMF and the World Bank lent money only on development projects. Then no money was lent for consumption and luxury living. There was no deficit budgeting and no budget assistance. We lived with what we had or we died. Then we did live with dignity.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ President Jayawardena accepted the open economy, liberalized the economy, with open arms. In actual fact the Structural Adjustment Programme did structure our economy to become severely indebted so that we had to thereafter get loans to pay our dues. .ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The policy measures of the SAP were to open up the economy for imports, reduce or abolish import tariffs. The use of foreign exchange was also liberalized- anything could be imported and anyone could draw any amount of foreign exchange for anything- for foreign travel, to educate children abroad.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When there was no foreign exchange to meet this extravaganza, the IMF instruction wasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to sell paying State Ventures and raise funds or obtain loans from the IMF. ThisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in a nutshell isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ how the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and this was done through the lameduck President Jayawardena.
There were other measures imposed that aided this process of becoming indebted.
One was the Devaluation of the local currencies. In 1977 the Sri Lankan Rupee was devalued over 100% from Rs 15.50 in October 1977ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to Rs. 31.64 in 1978.
Another was the imposition of a high interest on loans. Loans at 24% interest made local entrepreneurs close shop because they found it difficultƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to manufacture and compete with items that were imported.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In this method many Third World countries that became independent were brought under the thumb of the IMF- neocolonialism by making them indebted
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The IMF Policies have ruined many countries
Let me quote Professor Jeffery Sachs, a Noble laureate on economics, a person who once imposed the IMFƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Structural Adjustment Programme on Bolivia, Russia and Poland. Perhaps then his academic knowledge led him to believeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that the IMF teachings were developmental and he went tooth and nail to implement them on various countries.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ :
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Western Governments enforced draconialn budget policies in Africa during the 1980s and 1990s. The IMF and the World Bank virtually ran the economic policies of the debt ridden continent, recommending regimens ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ budgetary belt tightening, known technicallyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as structural Adjustment programmes. These Programmes had little scientific merit and produced even fewer results. By the start of the TwentyFirst Century AfricaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was poorer than in the ;later 1960s when the IMF and the World Bank had first arrived on the scene, (Sachs, End of poverty, 2005)
What is more interesting is that the IMF through its liberalization policies saw to it that the money that comes in as Aid and Loans does get back in some form or other to the donor countries or to the Developed Countries, while leaving the countries indebted to the extent of the Loan. When the loan funds were used for foreign travel, for luxury imports and for the education of the children of the rich in universities of the Developed Countries the money somehow got back to the Developed Countries. It was a systematic method of giving loans and getting it back with interest while saddling the countries with the loan as a debt.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is the under development process to which the IMF led our countries through its Structural Assdjustment Programme.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What is important to realize is that when a country is indebted the country has to raise further loans to pay its dues on the loans and to continue the liberalization of foreign exchange condition that the IMF has imposed. Thus since the country was initially made indebted by the UNP, the country has to borrow to fund this extravaganza.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is how the economy of Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was ruined.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What can be done
It is to the credit of President Rajapaksa that he has routed the ruthless terror outfit of the LTTE for which he is yet been hounded at the Human Rights Council at Geneva. It will be a miracle if he can avoidƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ being charged for War Crimes in the International Courts. In 1995 to 2000 when I was living in Sri Lanka in my circles the parents of a family never traveled together for fear of an attack by the LTTE which could make their siblings parentless and thereby destitute. It is President Rajapaksa that delivered us from this predicament.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is true that our PresidentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has spent funds to develop the Hambantota District. Let me speak on that because Hambantota was my home for two years. It was the most neglected District that one can find. There were no houses with facilities even to rent out. We had to bathe in the sea or hold our heads to the roadside watertaps (we government servants went at night). The two roomedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ house where I lived with the Veterinary Surgeon Balachandran was very near the New harbour. The roads were in disrepair and there were hardly any shops. Any friends from outside were hosted at theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rest House. Hambantota required an upliftment and it has come now. Perhaps Hambantota can do withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ some Pastry Bakeries, a cannery to can fish and at TissamararamaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a fruit juice making cannery. Fishing can be stepped up while mangoes are in plentiful supply already. I can also state that Hambantota District can produce cotton for half our countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s requirements. In the Fifties the air at Weerawila was fully laden with cotton wafting in the winds. Suddenly we stopped production.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Can we ever get out of the clutches of the IMF ?.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Even today Sri Lanka is compelled to follow all the dictates of the IMF:
A high interest regime– The interest on loans as high as 24% kills local entrepreneurs. I was in Sri Lanka recently and found thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the banks do not give out loans with the result that the economy has actually grounded to a halt.
Devaluation– schrewdly avoided by the Central Bank by buying dollars in the open market and using our reserves. (Our reserves are also built on borrowed money)
Allowing a Floating Currency where our Central Bank has no control over the use of the foreign exchange. The Central Bank has admitted again and again that it controls only the local currency- the Rupee.(The Island 17-2-2001)
Reduce or abolish Import Controls Recently no less a person than the Defence Secretary has said that we even import tamarind.. We import many items that we ourselves can make.
Charge low taxes– Sri Lanka charges only 24% tax, far lower than the UK or the US and then we lament that our revenue is low.
Allow the Private Sector to be the Engine of Growth
Limit the Public Sector to the barracks. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” do not use the Public Sector for development activities. Allow the Private Sector despite the fact that the Private SectorƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is not interested in national development. The Private Sector motto is Profit. The Small Industries Department that ran public sector industries was closed down by the UNP under the dictate of the IMF. Similarly the Marketing Department that ran a vegetable and fruit marketing scheme to enable producers to get a fair price and simultaneously the consumers to get produce at cheap rates was closed down by the IMF. The result is unbridled inflation that is somehow not caught within the GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s barometer.
Do away with National PlanningƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ henceforth allow the Private Sector to develop the country. Theirs is a history of obtaining land, selling the timber and having a chena crop thereafter dumping the land or opening up Supermarkets where they can make profits in a few months.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ AllƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the above measures which we have followed since 1977 has killed the economy and it is time that our leaders do come to grips with this problem before it is late. Today our country is the dumping ground for old books, discarded car body parts, geetic pictures and imports which we can easily make ourselves. We spend our hardƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ earned foreign exchange on these unnecessary imports and cry out loud that we have to obtain further loans. Will it not be more dignified to step up production and to limit imports to get down only what is worthwhile.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ President Rajapaksa defeated the ruthless LTTE,a terrorist outfit that was supposed to be invincible for almost three decades. He is the only saviour we have today and it is hoped that he will address the non developmental policies of the IMF and negotiate with the IMF to make the Structural Adjustment Programme really developmental.. This battle has to be fought if Sri lanka has to survive.. Once I wrote that President Rajapaksa can defeat the LTTE butƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ may not win the war with the IMF.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Speaking of the impossible, I recall a high powered meeting in Bangladesh I attended in 1982. It was presided by Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, The Minister for Labour and Manpower, about the third most powerful personality in the military government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The subject was the Youth Development Programmes. IƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was put on the spot ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” asked how I canƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ make a contribution to Bangladesh. Foreign advisors were held in contempt. I stated that there was no point in training youths in vocations(we were then training 30,000 a year) and suggested that self employment guidance should beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ an essential component and that we should introduce self employment to youths in training to avoid them remaining unemployed at the end of their training. I was severely criticized for suggesting something that cannot be done because the ILO had failed in an attempt to create a self employment programme in the earlier three years. I argued undeterred for over two hours against the Secretaries of various Ministries including Finance.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It all ended in the Hon MinisterƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ immediately approving my directing a Youth Self Employment Programme. The entire Ministry of Youth Development got cracking that very night.-Workshops, training sessions for youths in training commenced the very next day and training youth officers who knew no economics in self employment tasks. The Bangladeshi Administrators trained by me over my two yearsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ consultancyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ continued the effort and by February 2011 the Governmennt of Bangladesh reported to the IFAD(FAO) that two million youths have established self employment ventures. One can compare the result to our Divisional Development Councils Programme where we created employment only for 32,000 youths. (My book: Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka, Godages, 2013)
One must not forget that once the Wall Street Journal itself ridiculed the Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF:
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The IMF Drill is as follows:A Third World poor country with a pegged currency is working towards taming its inflation. Instead of a growth formulae it gets the IMFƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s old austerityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ dosage whiuch slows down the economy. The banks begin to falter in paying their old debts. The IMF recommends yet more medicine, devaluation makingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the bank predicamentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and capital flight worse. The currency slumps and the banks are now in real troubleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ Is this any way to run an international monetary system.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚(Feb22,2001)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Despite the writing on the wall ,the IMF has failed to correct itself to become developmental.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The IMF though it is dictated to by the Developed Countries today,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ belongs to all the sovereign nations and it is up toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a personage of the caliber of President Rajapaksa to discuss and argueƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with the IMF and arrive at a developmental strategy.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We must have the ability to contest every sentence that the IMF officials give because as pointed out by Professor Jeffery Sachs, the IMF policies have so far failed.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is no point in avoiding facts, and continuing to accept the utterances ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ petty officials of the IMF. We have to develop expertise to identify the new paradigm for development.. The IMF has to be forced to come up with a growth strategy.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Without this growth strategy even the Divineguma Programme will be a total flop.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.(Michigan State University)
3 rd March 2013.
Author of :How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternate Programs of Success(Godages)
Success in Development(Godages)2010
Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka(Godages) 2013
March 4th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
i think mahinda rajapakse is being venerated here and else where and is being respected and feared too(especially his ministers and advisers) this man wants heladeepa to be the wonder of asia (or blunder of asia as we more and more plunge into debt) and is engage in unwanted projects which cost lanka tax payer money in paying for projects and servicing the debt, initiated by world bank and imf. 6 mega cities are on the cards!, through world bank help, while people are starving and finding the cost of living unbearable – this is the view from a street workers to a middle income earners, whom i chatted with. if people are not suffering by all means go ahead with development projects. he is obsessed with ‘development’ at the cost of degradation of environment – luckily the people stopped his air ports project – i salute the top man who resigned. what this man loves are cohorts who will say ‘yes’ to his chintana, irrespective of grave consequences to the country’s economy.
he needs to be replaced and people should reject all major parties and concentrate in forming a movement to chase these corrupt unwise men from office. thanks to his leadership the war is over, but that doesn’t mean we need to be under obligation to this man. he should be replaced by a wise person who will lead this country not guided by imf and world bank crooks mostly anglo saxon ungulates. thanks gavin for your tireless effort to enlighten these fools.
March 4th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
pardon me – garvin
March 4th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
ALL KINDS OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMES ARE USELESS IF MAHINDA IS NOT GOING TO GET RID OF PALATH SABHA WHAT EVER HAPPENS WE HAVE TO D O THIS SOON BEFORE OUR ENEMIES GET MORE STRONGER.
MAHINDA HAS BEEN WASTING TIME WITH ALL THIS MAJORITY MAY BE HE DOES NOT WANT TO DO THIS
IN VAIN .. OUR SACRIFICES……..
March 4th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
It is very useful to either read (Confessions of an Economic Hitman) or hear John Perkins ( http://www.johnperkins.org/ ) on this subject or just watch this 2 minute video clip http://vimeo.com/12483678.
For those who haven’t heard of John Perkins ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_%28author%29), he was an Econonomic Hitman employed by the NSA and claims involved in the CIA’s dirty work leading up to the destruction of Panama (watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sfWz20nDAyI ). If Sri Lanka does not play the game correctly and wisely, it will be a repeat performance of Panama. It is upto Sri Lankans to put aside petty politics and look at the bigger picture.
March 4th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Sunil Vijayapala: “…….thanks to his leadership, the war is over..”
Can anyone else do that? And, who is the “wise person” you have in mind?
March 4th, 2013 at 4:55 pm
Garvin,
You are wrong the IMF did not ruin Sri Lanka. The UNP did not have any capable leaders including its X-President Jayawardena to tell IMF to go “fly kites” as the X-PM of malaysia did in 1997. Till today, most SL leaders are prisoners of the west, both in mind and body!
March 4th, 2013 at 5:46 pm
I ask the author to name the richest individuals families in the island nation?, Thei race and religion and when did their families arrives in there?
March 4th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Dr.Garvin,
Thanks for your efforts. However it is definitely not World Bank or IMF that ruined our country, it is our own people; they were not running our country. Thanks to our women toiling in the middle east working extended hours( some returning in coffins and some with lot of nails driven into their bodies) we are in better shape today. Wheather we are going in the direction of wonder of Asia or not will be known in the next two or three years time.
March 4th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
I agree with the specific ways to get out of this mess except for increasing taxes. Taxes must remain as low as possible for the economy to grow. High interest (inflation) rate and the high tax rate (refering not only to the income tax rate but also to other taxes including VAT) are the results of excessive spending by the government. With $1.2 billion recurrent expenses on provincial councils annually, there is no hope things will change. On top of it now there will be Divineguma units that will also need money to run. Reconcilaition is also a costly affair. As long as these wastatges go on, there is no hope.
I agree with Herman that it was the governments, not the IMF itself, responsible for the economic disaster.
The education disaster is another national curse. This poor country wastes money on producing doctors for Toronto, London and Sydney at the expense of poor taxpayers. Tamils gain a higher share of free university education (over 30% despite their national percentage is 11%) and leave the country more than any other community.
Recently I was with a group of Sri Lankan Tamil doctors in a foreign country where they boasted about the ‘generous stupidity’ of Sri Lanka’s university education and how they exploited it to their advantage. One of them quipped that ‘this is why Sri Lanka remains a ‘hand-to-mouth’ (poor) country’. Unless ethnicity based university standardisation is introduced, this country will remain poor, uneducated and unskilled exporting Tamil doctors to Canada and Sinhala housemaids to the middle east.
Today China has replaced IMF as the biggest lender. Will the economic end result be different? I don’t think so.
Rajapaksa has not sold out (privatised) any entity so far and he created the biggest economic enabler (winning the war). But he is pathetically inadequate when it comes to what to do with these opportunities. He seems to be wasting everything on Tamil demands which yields nothing positive for the nation.
March 4th, 2013 at 7:24 pm
If IMF is not ruining the nation now, then it must be the UNHRC and LLRC that is ruining it today. The outcome of the Miracle of Asia campaign is well known.
Conduct of the Rajapaksa administration reminds me a pithy folk story of how two farmers shared a milking cow. The genuine farmer took the front part while the shrewd one took ownership of the hind part of the living cow. The former suffered loss while appreciating the beauty of the animal’s face while the latter received all economic benefits. The government fools Sinhalese and Muslims with the war victory while Tamils exploit the nation economically. This indeed is the miracle of Asia as such absurdity doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.
China has replaced IMF as the largest lender but it will not change anything for the better. Recently both IMF and China rightfully refused a government request to finance imports and consumption expenses. It shows the seriousness of the problem.
March 4th, 2013 at 8:03 pm
“China has replaced IMF as the largest lender but it will not change anything for the better. Recently both IMF and China rightfully refused a government request to finance imports and consumption expenses. It shows the seriousness of the problem.”
It is a business decision by China.
Consumption does not provide a return, and therefore risky. Consumption is mostly political
However, projects produce a return and can produce enough cash flow to pay the principal and interest.
The question is has Sri Lanka run out of good projects that can pay for itself?
March 4th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Rapid economic development (not at any cost), with rigorous engagement of the global economy is the only thing that will save Sri Lanka as a unitary state. Otherwise a fate worse than separation awaits us – genocide of all non Tamil Sri Lankans and resettlement with “unwanted” castes from Tamil Nadu. The ancient Sinhala kings knew this, as do the Rajapaksas. Give them a chance, after defeating terrorism they are walking a very difficult political tightrope. To be able to fight any kind of battle you need financial resources and with a country with such a low savings rate, you need to either beg for aid or encourage foreign investment and grow the economy. Most of us understand this principle on a personal/family basis but cant understand it on a national level.
March 4th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
It is very useful to either read (Confessions of an Economic Hitman) or hear John Perkins ( http://www.johnperkins.org/ ) on this subject or just watch this 2 minute video clip http://vimeo.com/12483678.
For those who haven’t heard of John Perkins ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_%28author%29), he was an Econonomic Hitman employed by the NSA and claims involved in the CIA’s dirty work leading up to the destruction of Panama (watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sfWz20nDAyI ). If Sri Lanka does not play the game correctly and wisely, it will be a repeat performance of Panama. It is upto Sri Lankans to put aside petty politics and look at the bigger picture.
March 4th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
SL was ruined by Indians and Arabs brought by the British to ruin SL and plant tea and tobacco.
It makes NO SENSE for us to fight EACH OTHER.
March 4th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
vis8 – a wise leader will emerge with a solid peoples movement at the right time, to get rid of all these corrupt, country ruining bums. i cannot name a single person in any of the parties to lead the country. we should refrain ourselves from talking about any party leaders any more but should concentrate on supporting a peoples movement as happened in many asian countries. at the right time a wise leader will emerge.
we cannot point to a single cause but multiple causes for the pathetic situation of the country. above all mismanagement, corruption and political interference could be the some of the causes for the poor performance of our country.
March 5th, 2013 at 4:43 am
The problem is the Tamil and other Indian merchants who have been bleeding the country since 1792. Even today more than half of our money end up in India. Who import parippu, clothes, machinery, steel products. The same applyb to exports. Who imports Sri Lankan goods to USA and then to Michigan.
March 5th, 2013 at 5:09 am
Amarasiri,
You opened a huge comment against the GOSL under the following thread:
“The changing role of the United Nations: From enabler and developer to that of a policeman. The Double Standards of the Superpowers.”
It is clear your intention is to discredit Sinhela people (and also USA) while writing under a Sinhala nickname. Otherwise you should have answered my query in that thread immediately explaining the serious charges you have brought against them.
March 5th, 2013 at 7:23 am
I am not sure that handing over the development to the private sector willy-nilly is a good idea as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, when there are enough examples of private sector failure/mismanagement even in developed countries such as UK for example. Just like there are crroks in the govt, there could easily be crooks in the private sector also.( eg Kotalawala) In a country like ours where there are limited financial resouces to absorb losses due to these failures/mismanagement whether in govt or in private sector, the only (legitimate) weapon the people (who ultimately suffer) have, are the elections. We need to select honest/hardworking people as our representatives in the govt. That should be the start. Nothing else will be successful without it.
March 5th, 2013 at 7:28 am
aloy
Wheather we are going in the direction of wonder of Asia or not will be known in the next two or three years time. ! Well said
It makes NO SENSE for us to fight EACH OTHER ! Do We have any sense to fight each other ?
March 5th, 2013 at 8:50 am
Dilrook has made this interesting observation “exporting Tamil doctors to Canada and Sinhala housemaids to the middle east” What is the reason behind it. My comment is do not blame others – Develop your desires to achieve potential and work as hard as Tamils and learn to use time, money and space intelligently, as the Tamils. In short, take responsibility for one’s actions and learn to face challenges.
I agree with SA Kumar that it makes no sense to fight each other.
March 5th, 2013 at 1:57 pm
It’s not often i agree with Ben Silva but when he states..
“In short, take responsibility for one’s actions and learn to face challenges.” I tend to agree
Stop wallowing in self pity, blaming all and sundry but ourselves, (its tiresomely repetitive- we are only kidding ourselves) a majority with a “minority” complex, get off your back sides and work hard with all challenges.
I may feel the wrath of most here, by stating what was pretty obvious to our colonial conquers, Dutch, Portugese and the Brits. The Sinhalese are lazy so and so.. wanted it on a plate by sitting on their backsides.
The Tamils, Burghers, Moors may have licked a…. but, hey! Whose laughing?
Look what predicament we find ourselves. We have voted in a bunch of “hooligans” to govern ourselves and with one crisis to another.
Yes, blame IMF, World Bank, India, UN, UNHRC, NGO, INGO , Tamil Diaspora, Wahabis…the list is endless
We will probably doing the same in 2, 5 10 years from now. Blame everyone except us!
March 5th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
“It makes NO SENSE for us to fight EACH OTHER ! Do We have any sense to fight each other ?”
– Well said! This is the sentiment that most strikes fear in the enemy.
March 5th, 2013 at 3:28 pm
“It makes NO SENSE for us to fight EACH OTHER !”
I said it first and please stick to the CONTEXT.
The CONTEXT is some people blame UNP while others blame SLFP. THIS IS what should STOP.
SL’s FIGHT against its enemies (Tamil Homelandists, Wahabis) MUST continue.
We must stop fighting among us so that we have enough MBRLs and hot iron rods to FIGHT Tamil Homelandists and Wahabis.
March 5th, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Abrogating the 13A can resolve many financial problems in the country. If the government is unwilling to do so, then it is uninterested in resolving the problems related to the national economy. 13A costs more than $1.2 billion a year in mostly day to day running costs of PCs and their other administration bodies. This excludes the enormous cost of elections, capital expenses (a considerable amount going for motor vehicles) and duplicate work by state entities.
Ben:
Tamils are not working harder than Sinhalese. The contrary is true. Sinhalese are prevented by the Thesawalammei Law from utilizing economic resources of six (6) districts while Tamils are allowed to make the most in all 25 districts. Tamils are selected to taxpayer funded universities from all 25 districts while Sinhalese are restricted to only 19 districts. The prime business location of Greater Colombo was the target of most LTTE bomb attacks targeting Sinhalese for 24 years from 1984 to 2008. This is the reason why there was a large movement of Sinhalese out of Colombo as indicated in censuses from 1981 to 2012. It takes on average less marks for a Tamil to get to university than a Sinhalese if you peruse the cut off marks published by the UGC for decades. Almost all import industries are owned by Tamils and Muslims using rampant corruption at the customs and the ports authority and using threats of physical harm to new entrants to the industry. These are the root causes of the economic disparity.
The economic contribution of the war is heavily underestimated. The economies of the Jaffna and Vanni districts (they were under LTTE control) are worth more than US$ 3 billion a year today. They now contribute to the national economy. It was not an accident but a great effort almost entirely by Sinhalese soldiers.
March 5th, 2013 at 6:30 pm
A small correction. Sinhalese are prevented by the Thesawalammei Law and other hostile and discriminatory approaches of Tamils and their elected political leaders from utilizing economic resources of six (6) districts while Tamils are allowed to make the most in all 25 districts.
March 6th, 2013 at 12:48 am
Thank you Dilrook for the good points made. My view is that we live in a dangerous, highly competitive world. Therefore we should be motivated to face challenges and overcome challenges, rather than giving up desires and seek extinction as promoted by Buddhism. The motivation to overcome difficulties should be put into the minds of Sinhalese without buts and ifs. There should also be an organisation to protect Sinhalese, as we appear to be threatened now. Favouring Tamils whilst ignoring Sinhala poor is also unfair. the Sinhalese appear to be so poorly organised – that is why the politicians do not care.
March 6th, 2013 at 10:27 am
I also like to add, unless we learn to be competitive, just like the Tamils and acquire the business skills of Muslims, we will lose our living space, assets and perhaps end up as slaves of Tasmils, Muslims and Arabs. Hanging on to Indian myths does not help.
March 7th, 2013 at 8:25 am
The various Monetary Systems set up mostly after WWI&II in the world appear to be failing. That Money is the most important item in our lives was the message, NOT Human Happiness, good health & Peace. All nations will have to back track and find some balance between Human Need and Money making stupidity, or else the human race will lose out on Grand Plan. Survival on Earth, Peace between people & nations, good health & happiness, will have to take priority over mere Money making stupidity.
March 8th, 2013 at 5:36 pm
It is strange that a good sensible writer like Dilrook want answer Mervyn Silva of Lankaweb.
What Dilrook said was not entirely correct.
Colombo was lost to Muslims.
Why ?
1. As you said “Education” discrimination against the majority, we could fight off that easily but not a lot of Sinhala people cannot keep on fighting without government help. ( Not Nibbaana problem here).
2. More importantly, I know personally that drug dealing muslims donated their relative in East a lot of money to buy land around Colombo suburbs. This is the main reason.
3. Government inaction to correct racial balance.