By Garvin Karunaratne, former GA Matara 

It is reported that a number of leading countries including the USA and India want to wrest control of our graphite. I have read somewhere that our graphite is of superb quality- something like the best in the World.. Because we are buried in the quagmire of debt and hold a failed economy it is likely that we sell our family silver for a song. Our treacherous leaders are selling everything for a song. I hope they do realize what they are doing to Mother Lanka. Anyone in power  should know to be patriots. 

It is perhaps unfortunate that I was the Government Agent at Matara and not the GA at Kegalla when we implemented the Divisional Development Councils Programme because had I been in Kegalla  we would today be producing all our pencils. 

The DDCP gave us administrators  a framework to establish industries and in Matara I did establish a Crayon Factory that within the small space of a year did make crayons and sold it islandwide,  

We actually  did not know how to make a crayon.  But I had a chemistry graduate as my Planning Officer and I decided to convince Vetus Fernando that he should put his knowledge of chemistry to the test and find the art of making a crayon. We also roped in the science teachers at Rahula College Matara and my wife was one of them. I  convinced Vetus that he should have a try. Once he agreed I authorized the purchase of some ingredients from some Rural Development funds- I had no authority to do this but for the sake of Mother Lanka we administrators had got used to the art of bending rules.  We decided that we start experiments at my Residency and  we met and made a few experiments  but  realized that we had to get more equipment to conduct experiments. I approached the Principal of Rahula College Mr Ariyawansa and he readily approved. 

From that day, Vetus helped by the science teachers  was conducting experiments at the science lab from six to midnight every day. We really got  nowhere even after a full two months.  

Then Vetus got a brainwave to contact his Professors who had graduated him a year earlier. I approved the mission and Vetus went to the Chemistry Department at the University of Colombo.  Vetus said that the science lab at the University had some special machinery that could help. On the fourth day Vetus came back, a broken down man with a tale of woe- that he had begged help from all the lecturers and professors who had taught him but that had said that they had no time- they were busy in lectures and making answer scripts. 

It was a bolt from the blue and we were dumbstruck. But my team of katcheri officers and I were not going to take it lying down. We recommenced experiments at the Rahula College science lab again at six in the evening to midnight and in a month Vetus found the art of making a good crayon. That month, on most nights I too was there  and we even sang songs to keep going when every night we did fail.  Finally one night we did succeed  and I sat with Vetus and did final experiments to make the crayon as fine as Reeves Crayons- the best of the day.  

The next question was how to make crayons. I could have easily summoned Harischandra the business magnate and given him the recipe and he would have jumped at the idea. But that would not be us. It had to be us and racking our brains I decided that it should be a cooperative.  Sumanapala Dahanayake, the member of parliament for Deniyaya was the President of the Morawak Korale Cooperative Union and  I had been struck with the fact that Sumanapala was a go getter who was dependable- a man from the South who could even take fire under the water, as the saving goes. I summoned Sunapala and asked him whether he would like to undertake to set up a crayon factory and he readily agreed. As the GA I controlled vast funds but every fund had a specification  that it had to be used for a specific purpose and I could face censure. However Sumanapala too held funds in the Cooperative Union  but he had no authority to use any of it   for some experiments. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake had gazetted all, Government Agents as Deputy Directors of Cooperatives for the purpose of the paddy production programme,  

I usurped the right to authorize Sumanapala to use cooperative funds for the purpose of establishing a crayon factory.  

The very next day Vetus and I accompanied by half a dozen officers moved to Morawaka where we started training youths to make crayons. It was a 24 hour operation a few of us snatching a few hours sleep on a chair while others worked. Sumanapala was everywhere. In the second week we got printed labels, pasted them and packets of ten filled two large rooms. It was a great success. 

Then to acquire legitimacy Sumane and I took samples to the Minister of Industries who was so taken up with the quality that he agreed to open sales in three days. We rushed back and made arrangement and Coop Crayon was  sold in Matara Colombo and over the entire island. 

We were purchasing dyes in the open market at high prices as the Small Industries Department refused to give us an allocation of forex to import dyes. We heard that the Controller of Imports was about to authorize the import of crayons and we moved in. We showed Coop crayon to Harry Guneratne who wanted us to obtain the approval of Minister Illangaratne. The Minister was highly taken up with the product that he approved us a fat allocation and even got me to agree that I will open a crayon factory at Kolonnawa. He ordered the stop of all imports. 

That was all in 1973 and Coop Crayon held till 1978 when imports were fully allowed and Coop Crayon a well establish industry was closed down to satisfy IMF conditions. 

This is not a fable but something we did in 1973. 

Over to our new leader President Dissanayake: We did it once and can do it again. 

Garvin Karunaratne 

Former GA Matara 

8 th May 2025 

garvin_karunaratne @ hotmail.com