{"id":119377,"date":"2021-10-19T16:53:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T23:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=119377"},"modified":"2021-10-19T16:53:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T23:53:15","slug":"matching-words-with-deeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/10\/19\/matching-words-with-deeds\/","title":{"rendered":"MATCHING WORDS WITH DEEDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

RANJITH SOYSA<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

We were  pleased to read the recent speech delivered at\n72nd<\/sup> anniversary of Gajaba Regiment by the President Gotabaya\nRajapakasa in which he admitted about the voter disillusionment of his\ngovernment. We are aware of the fact that the government had to contend with\nthe unprecedented issues on account of the covid epidemic and had to give\npriority in seeking solutions to the challenges by imposing restrictions to the\neconomic and social activities while channelling limited resources to medical\nsupplies and social service facilities,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the President is prepared to review and\nturn a new page for the improvement of the country one should expect the President\nto rehash the decision-making procedure of the Government. The voters are of\nthe view that some of the crucial steps adopted were either introduced or\nimplemented in some instances without recognizing the impact on the country\u2019s\nsovereignty and the security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an initial step the President should\nconsider appointing a National Planning Committee with the nationalist minded\nexperts to work on a program to tackle key economic issues and management of nationally\nimportant strategic centres for next 4 years. Without proceeding ahead\nhaphazardly and creating crisis situations once such decisions are adopted, if\nthe government can adhere to a plan with a nationalist vision, it will be\nacceptable to the voters who elected the President. Such a plan should also investigate\nthe country\u2019s priorities, future stability, resources, the national security.\nThe implementation should be transparent and should be accountable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us examine some of the issues which\nwere tackled without a proper plan which resulted in causing frustration and disappointment\namong the voters and the public. The method of overseeing the pricing and\nsupply of commodities such as sugar, rice, garlic, gas cylinders etc was atrocious\nwhich brought untold hardships to the consumer as well as to  the producers. The complete mismanagement must\nbe admitted by the government and a more rational formula will have to be\nadopted if the plan is to take the country systematically forward. It is necessary\nto exercise detailed examination of the supply chain, the storage facilities,\nand the Government outlets to get rid of the unconscionable profiteers awaiting\nto fleece the consumers and marginalize the public organizations which are\nestablished to protect the consumers. Once a rational decision is taken the\ngovernment should pursue the implementation with determination rather than surrender\nto the dictates of the unscrupulous middlemen who hold onto the stocks  causing loss of confidence of the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A crucial area which needs urgent review is\nhow to regulate luxury and semi luxury imports which consumes a considerable\namount of foreign exchange earned by export of goods and services including the\nforeign remittances of  Sri Lankan\nworkers, At least as a short term measure the free trade introduced by JRJ  about 40 years ago should be re-examined and\nsuitable qualitative controls should be introduced to curb the outflow of\nforeign exchange for non-essential goods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President\u2019s holistic decision on the\nbanning of chemical fertilizer is indeed a step in the right direction which\nwill bring expected results in the improvement in soil and water quality and the\ngeneral health of the masses. However, such a crucial decision was not followed\nprofessionally to ascertain the availability of other nutrients and enough supply\nof compost fertilizer to apply in the following growing season. The\nunscientific method of managing the subject gave opportunities to many to engage\nin public agitation against this holistic decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an indeed ironical to hear the slogans\nmouthed by \u2018farmers\u2019 of 2021 demanding chemical fertilizer whereas their fathers\nwere demonstrating in 1970S decrying the government\u2019s and the officials\u2019 dictates\nto replace bio fertilizers with chemical fertilizer to \u2018usher in the green\nrevolution \u2018.It is the wish of the majority of the population to get rid of the\nvicious cycle of poisoning resulting in the use of chemical fertilizer and we\nwould request the government to take the required steps in the right direction\nto implement the laudable decision effectively and efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We\nneed a clear and dedicated policy in relation to our international relations.\nWe must always be nonaligned in our dealings with the big powers who are\nengaged in a global power game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should know the friendly nations who\nstood by Sri Lanka when it waged war with Tamil Tiger terrorists and\nsubsequently at UNHCR, and about the other countries  who attempt to crucify Sri Lanka for defeating\nthe world\u2019s most brutal terrorist organization. Their attempts to continue persecuting\nSri Lanka will naturally weaken Sri Lankan state and all times Sri Lanka should\nexpress her rejection of such vicious attempts and should bring these facts at\nbi-lateral discussions and multi-lateral conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India, our neighbour is leaving no stone\nunturned until we have PCs and with all powers. Most of the Sri Lankans do not\nwant PCs, an additional tier of administration at a cost of colossal expenditure\nand with practically no benefits. At a time when Sri Lankans are required to tighten\ntheir belts and manage expenditure, the Government must convey to India that\nall issues can be managed under the present unitary system of Government. Sri\nLanka should be noticeably clear on this issue to enable Sri Lanka -India\ninternational relationship to prosper. Sri Lanka should also continue\nbi-lateral discussions with India regarding to oil tanks in Trinco as to how\nthese can be used for the economic development of the country assuring that Sri\nLanka will not allow any other country to have any control over the strategically\nimportant Trincomalee harbour. Recently an Indian writer, has stated that India\ndoes not bother to understand her neighbouring countries and decides on inter-state\npolicies without considering the expectations of her neighbours. Imposing PCs\non Sri Lanka and insistence on the implementation of the failed proposal too\nemanated from the Indian centralized foreign policy machinery which in this\ninstance  primarily addressed the aspirations\nof the Tamil Nadu agitators who were expressing their support for the\nseparatists in Sri Lanka. India\u2019s strategy was to kill two birds with one stone\nand executed its policy of proposing PCs to weaken the central government of\nSri Lanka while appeasing the extremists in Tamil Nadu to divert their\nattention from their own struggle for a separatist racist state in India. Sri\nLanka should be firm in rejecting the Indian formula to destabilize the country\nand continue to address the common issues faced by ordinary people in Sri Lanka\nincluding the minorities living in the periphery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mandate given by the public clearly\nstated that the proportional system of representation should be changed and all\nfuture elections should be held according to the number electorates and the\nmembers should represent the electorates based on the percentage of  votes gained by the candidates. All who\ninvestigated into the system introduced by JRJ  were of the view that system breeds corruption\nand bribery while precluding the visible representation of an electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President recently invited the\nexpatriate Tamil groups presumably as an effort to improve reconciliation of\nSinhala and Tamil views and expectations. Such discussions should be based on\nspecific conditions that the participants do not support separatism in Sri\nLanka and they accept the unitary Sri Lanka. Otherwise, such discussions will\nonly provide opportunites to reopen the subject of traditional homelands for\nminority communities in Sri Lanka pushing the country back to unenviable 1990 s\n,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RANJITH SOYSA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANJITH SOYSA We were  pleased to read the recent speech delivered at 72nd anniversary of Gajaba Regiment by the President Gotabaya Rajapakasa in which he admitted about the voter disillusionment of his government. We are aware of the fact that the government had to contend with the unprecedented issues on account of the covid epidemic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ranjith-soysa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}