{"id":122225,"date":"2022-01-18T18:17:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T01:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=122225"},"modified":"2022-01-18T18:17:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T01:17:06","slug":"is-three-years-enough-to-make-a-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/18\/is-three-years-enough-to-make-a-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Three years enough to make a country?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda have stated that\ntwo years were lost, but the promise of a glorious country will be achieved in\nthe three years that remain. Can we re assert the economy of our country within\nthree years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having served in the Administrative Service of Sri Lanka where one\ngets posted to different positions very often for a year or two and having\nworked as a foreign consultant for two years terms, I have been charged to show\nquick results and my frank answer is that three years is enough to bring about\ndevelopment. However we have to work fast and steady. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once in 2019 I was on the way from Batticaloa to Polonnaruwa when\nI suddenly saw a Board Valachenai Paper Mill. I was enticed to turn in as I had\nstayed there in its Circuit Bungalow many a time on my circuits in the Sixties.\nI went upto the gates and gazed at the buildings overgrown with trees and\ncreepers and wondered what a calamity. On my next visit to the east in August\n2020 I heard that the mill was being resurrected by the Paper Corporation and\nthe Army. In a few months the papers splashed that the mill was in action\nturning out paper. It was a miracle done so fast- within a year accomplished by\nthe Gotabhaya administration. Resurrecting the Valachenai Mill within one year\ntells me that three years is enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start with we have to see the end of queues for essentials. Get\nback to the days of Dudley and Sirimavo before 1974, when every dollar that\ncame in was carefully collected and allocated for importing essentials- not a\ndollar for foreign study \u2013 essentials first and a small allocation for fridges\nand other useful supplies. . I was then in charge of allocating imports for\nsmall industrialists and they were provided with enough dollars to import\nessential supplies for their production, so I speak from sheer experience. That\nis a foolproof blue print to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me also delve into the depths of what officers known to me\nhave achieved within two to three years. That will provide the answer. This is\nnot hearsay, not economic projections, instead it is what our officers actually\ndid achieve. Mind you, they were tough, never taking No for an answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can relive my working in Anuradhapura in the early Sixties when\ncelebrity Nissanka Wijeyratne was the Government Agent and directed the\nbuilding up of the New Town \u2013 it was a colossal task, moving an entire town\nfrom the precincts of the Sri Maha Bodhi and Ruwanweliseya to the New Town,\nconstructing buildings, ordering companies to move, pulling down buildings all\ndone with precision within some three years. He gave a hearing to all protests,\nbut was very firm and today we enjoy the sacred city. It is a great\nachievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us remember the Gal Oya Development Programme where a\nvery large tank, over three times the size of Parakrama Samudra was built from\nscratch, 60,000 hectares were brought under paddy, a tile factory, rice mill,\nsugar factory, a 10MW power plant, 30,000 families moved in and an entire\nDistrict \u2013 Amparai was created, construction work done within some three years-\n1950-1953.,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Divisional Development Councils Programme of 1970-1977,\ncomes to my mind. It was the largest employment creation programme our country\never implemented. That was the programme which DrNMPerera said would fulfil\nthe aspirations of thousands of young men and women for whom life will lose all\nmeaning unless they can find a useful place in our society.\u201d(Budget Speech,\n1970.) The Government head hunted the most eminent economist of the time,\nProfessor H A de S Gunasekera and made him the Permanent Secretary of a new\nMinistry, created directly under the Prime Minister, provided with ample funds\nand even a helicopter was allowed for his travel to get the programme moving.\nThe Government Agents were entrusted with the implementation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The achievement of this programme is commendable: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1972, the DDCP was implemented islandwide. By 1973, 590\nCouncils were fully established and these councils had submitted 1900 project\nproposals of which 900 projects were approved and special allocations of funds\nwere made for their implementation\u2026 These projects comprised 341 agricultural\nprojects, 512 industrial projects and 47 infrastructural projects. Nearly 2000\nacres were brought under cultivation, 68 poultry projects and these enabled\n7904 youths to find employment\u2026.over 1971-1976 Rs 127 million was spent and\n33,271 jobs were created.\u201d (From: Papers on the Economic Development of Sri\nLanka:Godages, 2012) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim of the programme was to bring about employment to 100,000\nyouths in the first year. Why the low achievement? Apart from some deficiencies\nin the programme one of the main causes was the JVP insurrection of 1971 which\ncontrolled the hinterlands for over a month with kangaroo courts and instilled\nfear and terror. Estate owners, rice millers etc. who invested and created\ndevelopment in rural areas migrated to the cities, instead of developing their\nland they sent children overseas and even today five decades later officers on\ncircuit are scared; some owners have never sighted their estates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many are the achievements of the DDCP. Special mention is worth of\nthe Paper making industry at Kotmale entirely accomplished by the\nDivisional Secretary. It was based on waste paper and it will be of interest to\nnote that today we do not make any paper with our waste paper. Instead we\ncollect waste paper and cardboard in Colombo and ship it to India- some 8,000\ntons per month and earn some 4 to 5 million rupees a year. The waste paper we\nsend to India is processed into paper and cardboard which we buy for treble\nthat price- that is unfortunately, our economic accumen for the last few\ndecades! We import everything that we did make earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the DDCP there were agricultural projects in every district.\nIn the Baddegama Divisional Area, the Divisional Secretary Wilson Perera, in\naddition to his normal duties, built up a a cooperative farm with 60 youths-\nthey took over an neglected estate and established 40 acres of tea,112 acres of\nrubber and 50 acres of paddy, and a small industry making high quality forks,\nmammoties and spades-all done within three years-1973-1976. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I served in Matara only for two years and perhaps what was done\nwithin my two years may be useful to think whether something worthwhile can be\ndone within the three remaining years of the Gotabhaya Presidency. Without\nmentioning the many small agricultural and industrial projects like in\nBaddegama, the main projects established were a Mechanized Boatyard at\nMatara. It was a cooperative making 40 foot seaworthy boats. It made around\nthirty five inboard motor boats a year, all done by youths trained on the job.\nThese boats were sold to fishermen\u2019s cooperatives and plied on the high seas\nfishing, increasing the fishing catch. It may be of interest to note that this\nboatyard was established within two months, including the building to house it,\nthe machinery bought and fixed and brought to the production stage. This was\nably handled by Development Assistant Kumarasiri and Divisional Secretary the\nlate Ran Ariyadasa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Councils suggested many special projects- to make water\ncolours, to increase milk production and establish a creamery making butter and\ncheese and I vehemently pursued, but Ministry approvals were not forthcoming.\nThe Ministry sang praises of the Boatyard and was highly satisfied. I and my\nstalwart officers were not to be outdone. I had worked as a Deputy Director of\nSmall Industries and working with some twenty Inspectors of Industries and with\neternal inspections I had a good knowledge of industries. What I knew of making\nwater colours was fed to our Planning Officer who was a chemistry grad and he,\ncloseted in the Rahula College science lab, aided by the science teachers, for\nthree months from 6 pm to midnight found the art of making crayons. Then we\nwanted it to be established as a cooperative. Sumanapala Dahanayake the Member\nof Parliament for Deniyaya happened to be the President of the Morawak Korale\nCoop Union and I directed him to establish a factory producing crayons using\ncooperative union funds. He willingly agreed and the katcheri stalwarts- the\nPlanning Officer Vetus Fernando, Development Assistant Palihakkara, District\nLand Officer, Chandra Silva and Divisional Secretary Wimalaratne moved to\nMorawaka where twenty youths were trained day and night for two weeks- it was a\nhand made crayon where every stick had to be crafted for quality. It was 24\nhour operation till crayons were made, put into packets and two rooms filled. I\nwas not expected to establish an industry without Ministry of Planning\napproval, so the operation was a secret and done at speed. Sumane and I took\nsamples to the Minister of Industries Subasinghe, who was surprised at the\nquality and accepted the offer of opening up sales. With that approval our\nclandestine operation was declared safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next we had to buy dyes in the open market at high prices. We were\ndenied a foreign exchange allocation by the Ministry of Industries because we\nwere a cooperative. We were lost. We heard that the Ministry of Imports was\nabout to import crayons and Sumane and I moved in. We convinced Harry Guneratne\nthe Controller of Imports that by giving us a small amount of foreign exchange\nto import dyes he could do away with all imports of crayons, saving foreign\nexchange. He was an immediate convert but as this had never been done earlier\nwanted us to get the approval of his Minister, Illangaratne. The Minister was\nsurprised at the quality of the product. He not only gave approval but insisted\nthat we should open a factory in his electorate at Kolonnawa. This illustrates\nhow our industries save foreign exchange. This Crayon factory was developed to\nhave island wide sales and became the flagship industry of the DDCP, all done\nby Sumanapala Dahanayake the member of parliament .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first LESSON is that it was a chemistry grad with no\nexperience that found the art of making crayons. A Crayon is a sophisticated\nproduct and the recipe for making Crayola crayons manufactured in USA is\npatented, worth millions and held locked up. If we could produce crayons\nthere is no import product that we cannot produce. We have to get our\nchemistry graduates and science teachers on the job of finding methods of\nproducing everything that is imported. Another LESSON is that the industry was\nestablished in two weeks working on a 24 hour basis. It is a forgone conclusion\nthat we can produce everything we import if only approval is granted. We can\nthereby provide employment and income not to thousands but to hundreds of\nthousands only if we want to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another area is fruit juice and food preparations. In 2020\nCargils sold tomatoes sauce made in the USA, and fruit juice from Cyprus and\nAustralia. Till 1954 Sri Lanka was importing all fruit juice and food\npreparations from Australia and other countries. The Marketing Department where\nI was working as an Assistant Commissioner established a Cannery in 1955 and by\n1957 we were producing the country\u2019s full requirements of tomatoe sauce,\ntomatoe juice, pineapple jam, juice and slices. We even built up exports in\npineapple products. The Marketing Department fixed floor prices, i.e. prices at\nwhich all quantities offered will be purchased for red pumpkin which was turned\ninto Golden Melon Jam , Ash Pumpkin which was turned into Silver Melon Jam and\nfor pineapple. Producers, mainly chena cultivators made a windfall. All that\nwas lost with the dictate of the IMF that we had to privatize the Cannery. Our\nfruit trees- mango and creepers- red pumpkin, ash pumpkin and melon are full of\nfruit, few buy them as food to eat and the rest go to waste. In the meantime\nthe country buys jam, juice, tomatoe sauce etc. from foreign countries and pay\nwith dollars. In 2020 we imported banana crisps from Vietnam, while we have a\nglut of banana in Godakawela and Rambukkana and it is a simple process to make\nbanana crisps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to note that before Sri Lanka started following\nthe IMF prescriptions of neoliberal economics in 1977 Sri Lanka produced all\nits textiles. This was done by 96,000 handlomers, many powerlooms and\nTextile Factories. The Department of Small Industries imported yarn and sold\nthem to the units and the textiles manufactured were sold through LakSala, and\ncooperatives. The entire operation was guided by a specialist research and help\nunit called Velona sited at Moratuwa. As the Government Agent I was held\nresponsible for powerlooms in Matara District and I may mention that the\nsuiting done at Hakmana Powerloom was even on demand by Sri Lankans living in\nLondon. The specialist was Ranjith Wimalaratne, the Divisional Secretary,\nplaced in charge of the Hakmana Powerloom. The textile industry has to be\nresurrected, Velona re established and this can provide employment for\nhundreds. This can easily be done in a year or two at most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me further support this theory that we can create employment\nwith details of what I did within two years in my consultancy as the\nCommonwealth Fund Advisor for youth development in Bangladesh. As\nusual there were fights in the Bangladesh Parliament and it did not meet for\none year. The Army took over the country one night in a bloodless coup d\u2019etat.\nIn a few days the Minister for Labour and Manpower, Air Vice Marshall Aminul\nIslam held an evaluaton of all programms of youth development and training and\nexpressed dissatisfaction. Identifying me as an outsider he inquired who I was.\nBeing told that I was the Advisor from the Commonwealth Fund, he ordered me;\nWhat can you contribute for Bangladesh?\u201d I replied that though the Ministry of\nYouth, trained 40,000 youths a year in various vocations most of the trained\ncontinue to be unemployed and it would be ideal to establish a Programme of\nEmployment Creation to guide the trainees to become self employed. The\nSecretary to the Treasury, the Head of the Public Service, the highest official\nin Bangladesh, objected stating that the ILO failed to create a self employment\nprogramme in Tangail, Bangladesh and the country had lost a massive amount of\nmoney and will not have another failure. He contested my ability and insisted\nthat I will fail because the ILO in their attempt had brought experts from all\nover the world and yet failed. The serious arguments between both of us went on\nfor over two hours, till the Minister ordered us to stop, said that I have\nconvinced him and ordered me to establish a Youth Self Employment Programme and\nadded that he will come personally to inspect progress. The Secretary to the\nTreasury immediately said that the Government will not provide any funds to\nwhich I replied that I needed no new funds, but asked for approval to find\nsavings in approved budgets and re-write the remits of officers to create the\nself employment programme. The Minister approved my request. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I commenced work the next morning training all youth directors and\nlecturers of training institutes in economics and methods of guiding youths to\nestablish employment ventures producing what the country needed to stave off\nimports, we organized a countrywide extension service to supervise enterprises\nestablished by the youths. My ideas were fully supported by the two Secretaries\nof the Ministry, Ayubur Rahaman and Asafuddowlah. I never had the occasion to\nask for any thing twice and no one ever contested a word of what I said. I\nstared addressing the youths who were being trained in various vocations and\nguiding youths that established small ventures and by the end of my consultancy\nI with the youth officers and lecturers was guiding 2000 youths, many of them\nearning the salary level of a clerical officer in the government service within\nseventeen months.. After I left, the programme of youth self employment was\ndirected by the Secretary to the Ministry and other officers all trained by me,\nand by 2011, the Government of Bangladesh reported to the IFAD(FAO) one of the\nfunders that two million youths had established commercially viable\nenterprises. By now, 2022 over three million youths have established viable\nventures. This Youth Self Employment Programme is today the leading employment\ncreation programme the world has known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relating my experiences to the situation we face in Sri Lanka\ntoday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today Sri Lanka is faced with a shortage of foreign funds to\nimport essentials and is also saddled with a massive foreign debt of $ 56\nbillion. The foreign debt is due to the fact that since 1977 the country was\nfooled by the IMF to follow its Structural Adjustment Programme which advised\nSri lanka to use foreign exchange freely and find loans to meet the expenses.\nBefore 1977 we managed with our incomes and in 1976 we had no foreign debt. The\nforeign debt of Sri Lanka grew from no debt in 1976 to $ 9 billion by 2000, $\n18 billion by 2009 $ 42.9 by the end of 2014,and to $ 56 billion today. Once\nour country accepted the IMF advice of living on loans, abolished the development\ninfrastructure we had developed to get the public sector establishing\ndevelopment, it was purely a case of confining the public service to the\nbarracks and living on loans. The foreign debt and the shortage of dollars\ntoday is absolutely not a creation by the present Government. It is the debt\nthat has cumulated by following the advise of the IMF to close public sector\ndevelopment, free imports and live on loans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However there has to be an end to this and Sri Lanka has the\nresources to commence becoming self reliant. The one and only method to do\nthis is by establishing a massive employment creation programme to make\neverything that is being imported. If we could have found the method of\nmaking crayons equal to the Crayola crayons of today and established a crayon\nmaking factory all done within five months, with islandwide sales, we do hold\nthe ability to produce all what we import.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has to be a major programme for employment creation directed by\nthe Government Agents and managed by the Divisional Secretaries. This Programme\nhas to be directed by an Additional Secretary under the Prime Minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim is to have an employment creation- agricultural and\nindustrial unit in every Divisional Area using resources available in the area.\n. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2000 I wanted to buy a step ladder and I could not find a step\nladder made in Sri Lanka in all the shops at Nawala. We import easily over 80%\nof our step ladders from Singapore and Thailand. In the meantime we train\nannually thousands in metal work. The answer is simple- to get cracking with\nmaking the trained people produce what the country requires. In addition there\nare a host of resources to work on: wood shavings and saw dust to make\ntimber, made in most countries and even by Damro , ceramic industries to\nmake all cups and saucers- tableware, medicinal oil can be distilled and sold\nin foreign markets. We can make all ladders and wood and metal items in demand.\nMany quick crops can be planted and industries built up like Aloe Vira- to\nmake perfumes-Pasikuda soils are ideal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Jam, Fruit Juice and Tomatoes Sauce<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decade ago I came across a distant relative of mine, a graduate\nin food technology who works as a clerical officer in a government department.\nHe said that he would have been in food technology if he had the opportunity.\nOur trees will be full of mangoes in April and the chenas will be full of red\npumpkin, ask pumpkin and melon by February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ANSWER is to import three small canneries and fix them in\nTissamaharama, Naula and Anuradhapura, fix floor prices, buy all\nfruits-mangoes, red pumpkin, ash pumpkin, pineapple, avocadoes etc. and make\njam, juice and sauce. We will not only save foreign exchange but also find\nemployment for our unemployed. This is exactly what we did in the Marketing\nDepartment(MD). The MD even exported pineapple within three years. This is\nsomething that has to be done immediately. Send a food technician and an\nengineer from the Army Engineers to inspect small canneries in India or China\nand buy three . In the meantime get the sites with water and other facilities\nready, get temporary buildings done and get the machinery fixed. Collect the\nproduce, process them into juice, jam and market. It is a three months\noperation and that is the speed at which we did work at Matara in 1971. It is a\nchallenge that can be taken on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of importing the three canneries can be recouped within\nthe very first year of sales. Within three years we can make Sri Lanka self\nsufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many agricultural crops can be easily grown and self sufficiency\nachieved. Take Maize that grows in chenas. We were never self sufficient in\nmaize. In 1963 when I was in charge of the Anuradhapura District paddy\ncultivation and had vibrant cultivation committees, I offered to make the\ncountry self sufficient in maize. I just had to get the cultivation committees\nto attend to maize in addition to paddy . This was not approved and even today\nfive decades later we import Maize. Making Sri Lanka self sufficient in maize\nis a one years\u2019 task. That is also true of potatoes and many other crops. Sorry\nto state that President Premadasa promoted all Agricultural Overseers the only\ntrained agricultural officer at the village level to be Grama Niladharis in\n1992 and till today- three decades have gone by without any trained\nagricultural officer at the village level. The problem is that the Ministry of\nAgriculture itself does not realize that it is a monster that has no legs to\nstand on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka in the Seventies and Eighties was producing around half\nour requirements of Paper and Cardboard. The Gotabhaya Government has\nbeen able to repair the machinery at Valachenai Paper Mill and it is\nfunctioning now. In Mahawillachchiya there is plenty of ILLUK grass that can\nalso be used to make paper. It is suggested that a few small scale Paper making\nmachines be imported from India or China and set up in the colony areas of\nPolonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Mahawillachciya and Amparai to make paper out of\nstraw and illuk. The cost of importing the paper making machinery can easily be\nrecouped within the very first year. It is suggested that an expert from the\nPaper Corporation and an engineer from the Army should be immediately sent\neither to China or India to identify small scale paper making machines and\nselect the four machines that have to be imported. I am certain that these\npaper making industries can easily be established within six months in colony\nareas using straw and illuk, and could be in production within a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We import a lot of perfumes. Perfumes are made out of\nflowers and I have trailed behind lorries of flowers in South France. We have\nproblems in disposing the flowers at Anuradhapura temples and the Dalada\nMaligawa in Kandy. Import two small distilleries and get cracking on making\nperfumes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally the question of finance. In the\nDDCP easily ninety percent of the work was done by officers in addition to\ntheir duties. All officers and payments for setting up industries and\nagricultural farms, payment of stipends to youths till production and sales are\nrealized etc was all in local Rupees. Foreign exchange- dollars are required\nonly for the import of Canning and Paper making machinery and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

the amount spent can easily be recouped within the first year of\noperation. May I mention that the Youth Self Employment Programme of\nBangladesh, which is today the largest employment creation programme the world\nhas known was entirely implemented with savings from approved budgets in the\nfirst four years. . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major programme has to be established and implemented\nislandwide, directed by the Government Agents and by the Divisional Secretaries\nusing the staff under them. The suggestions of the individual projects\nsuggested by me earlier in this paper can be within this major programme. The\nDivisional Secretaries know their areas and the resources available and with\nhis staff should come up with ideas of developing industries which will be\nfurther developed upon by the district staff comprising the Assistant Director\nof Small Industries and the Assistant Director of Planning in the District,\nwith inputs from the various Ministries. They will have to obtain support from\nthe Industrial Development Board and such organizations and draft feasible\nreports for approval by the Ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May I suggest that a cadre of specialists is approved with a\nhigher salary scale than agricultural instructors and science teachers in\nschools for drafting and implementing projects. I am aiming at agricultural\ninstructors as they hold the ability and training to attend to agriculture and\nlivestock development projects while I am suggesting science teachers because\nthey do have the background to experiment and bring about industrial\ndevelopment. In the crayon and batik industry in Matara in 1971, the science\nteachers played an important role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind Turbines to turn out power. Today\nwe do not have the dollars to import crude oil and coal to make power, but all\nthis while the winds howl and force their way through our hills. Our current\nwind power programme is based on using the coastal breeze. The areas where wind\npower is really available is in the hills but the Environmental Ministry has\nruled that no wind turbines should be established in the hill country.\nCountries like the USA and Spain who are leaders in wind turbines today have\ntheir wind turbines on the hills and not by the coast. I know this for certain\nas I have often travelled there. I would suggest that wind turbines should be\ninstalled at Hunnasgiriya, Madugoda and Ramboda. In the USA some 5000 wind\nturbines are sited at Altamont Pass and I have passed by that site several\ntimes. At Ramboda and Hunnasgiriya one can easily locate a few Altamont Passes\nas there is wind power with sheer force at many spots in these two areas. My\nbook: Wind Energy For Sri Lanka\u2019s Power Requirements(2019) proves that\nwe can easily produce all our power requirements within a few years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May I suggest that the Engineering Section of the Army be\nentrusted with this task. At Avukana I have seen the tall concrete columns\nbuilt by the Army Engineers holding a canopy above the statue. . May I suggest\nthat same unit be called upon to design and build the wind turbine towers and\nwings. Only the turbine has to be imported. That too can be made if Jinasenas,\nthe makers of Jinasena Pumps are requested. The columns and wings are all made\nof concrete and in the USA and Spain this is a major source of employment for\nthe people. I have seen many small units at work making and repairing them. I\nam told that our grid capacity is a problem. We can site the wind turbines at\nplaces where the grid has capacity May I suggest that our Army Engineers may be\nput on this task. In the USA the US Army Engineers attend to many civilian\ntasks, like day and night maintaining the levees built in New Orleans to save\nthe city which is below the sea level. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel, 17\nmiles long was done by the Army. On the Columubia River the McNary Dam done by\nthe US Army creates 950 MW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I state may not be believed by many. May I suggest that the\nofficers whom I have named be summoned by the President or the Prime Minister\nand they will further substantiate the details of work accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am dead certain that we can build Sri Lanka from scratch within\nthree years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne 16\/1\/2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ph.D. Michigan State University 12\/1\/2022 garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microenterprise Development…The Way Out of the World Bank and\nIMF Stranglehold(Sarasavi:1997)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of\nSuccess(Godages:2006)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Godages\/Kindle:2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka(Godages,\n2012) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resource Papers in support of the facts in this Paper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Initiatives in the Economic Field: A Progressive Move\u201d\n(LankaWeb: 27\/1\/2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/01\/27\/new-initiatives-in-the<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Army of the USA is used for development work\u201d\n(Lankaweb:6\/8\/2010)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2010\/08\/06\/how-the-army-of-the-usa-is-used-to<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Learning from the Past: The Divisional Development\nCouncils Programme Offers hope for our Economic Woes<\/a>\u201d,Lankaweb, January 1st, 2022 <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

“Mahawillachchiya Illuk to alleviate poverty and also to\nsave foreign exchange<\/a>\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lankaweb, September 23rd, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Laya\nWaves: A Cosy Holiday for now: A Catalyst for Future Development<\/a>\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lankaweb, August 15th, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A\nPerfume Making Industry at Anuradhapura and Kandy<\/a>\u201dLankaweb,\nNovember 29th, 2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“Lessons from The Youth Self Employment Programme of\nBangladesh<\/a>\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lankaweb, January 7th, 20201<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne President Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda have stated that two years were lost, but the promise of a glorious country will be achieved in the three years that remain. Can we re assert the economy of our country within three years? Having served in the Administrative Service of Sri Lanka where one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122225","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=122225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122225\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}