Budget Allocation for Northern

Rehabilitation is Totally Inadequate

R.Sampanthan

28/11/2015
The devastation that has occurred in the North and the East, Mr. Speaker,
consequent to the war over a long period of time, is extensive unbelievably
extensive. Tens of thousands of families have been rendered destitute. They have lost
all their possessions, their houses, their livelihood; all means of such livelihood, all
their equipment agricultural equipment, fishing equipment, livestock equipment.
Some of them are unable to return to their residential and occupational lands. Very
much needs to be done. The Hon. Minister of Finance has allocated a sum or Rs.
14,000 million for this purpose says TNA leader and the leader of the opposition R.
Samapanthan.
He was speaking at the budget debate on 28th November. Full speech fellows:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An alliance Government with the SLFP Leader, His
Excellency Maithripala Sirisena as President and the UNP Leader, the Hon. Ranil
Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, has presented the Budget for 2016. The
presentation has been done by the Hon. Finance Minister, the Hon. Ravi
Karunanayake.
This is the first time in the countrys history that the SLFP and the UNP are together in
Government, particularly with a Member of the SLFP as President and a Member of
the UNP as Prime Minister by mutual consent. The Leaders of the two Parties and the
Parties have decided to work together in the interests of the country. This is a

significant attribute of this Government.

In order to appreciate the importance of what has been achieved, it would be relevant
to examine briefly how it happened. It did not happen by accident.
This country was, for some time, ruled as if it was a family fiefdom it was some
member of the family who decided on everything and anything. Totalitarianism was
brazenly practised. The Constitution was amended so as to be in power forever or for
long. This inevitably irked even the SLFP Members in Government, but they had to
bide their time until the Presidential Election was announced. On a fateful day in
November, 2014, the incumbent President took the crucial decision to call for an
election and made the announcement. This was followed by the Hon. Maithripala
Sirisena, the Secretary of the SLFP and a Senior Minister in the incumbent
Government, announcing his candidature. The UNP announced its support to the Hon.
Maithripala Sirisena and he was anointed as the Joint Opposition Candidate. The late
Mahanayake, Ven. Sobhitha Thero, played a very crucial and critical role in this event.
The rest, Sir, is history.
One should however realize the
importance of what has happened. It
was these unusual circumstances that
brought the SLFP and the UNP
together. The Hon. Ranil
Wickremesinghe was appointed Prime
Minister after the Presidential Election
and after the Parliamentary Election,
has been reappointed Prime Minister
as the UNP won more seats in
Parliament than any other Party.
Today, the UNP and the SLFP are
firmly in Government with the Cabinet
of Ministers comprising of both
UNPers and SLFPers.

R. Sampanthan, leader of the oppostion

This is a totally new situation, which has never existed ever before and gives the UNP
and the SLFP, as constituent Parties and alliance partners in Government, an
opportunity to address all issues, whether economic, political or social, on the basis of
a consensus that would be in the best interests of the country as a whole and all its
peoples. This would be the most salient feature of this Government, if the constituent
partners do not lose sight of what should be their main objective, which would be to
bring this country out of the morass in which it is mired economically, politically and
socially, both at the domestic and international levels. Democracy, the dignity and
legislative authority of Parliament, the independence and judicial authority of the
Judiciary, the integrity and efficacy of other institutions of governance, the rule of law
and the freedom of the press and the media were all becoming a charade. There was
a deeply entrenched an all pervasive culture of impunity.

My Party and I are not a part of this Government, though we did make our contribution
to the change in Government. We have been longer in the Opposition than anyone
else and even today, we sit in the Opposition. But, that should not debar us from
recognizing the change and stating what our expectations are insofar as the present
Government is concerned.
The Budget presented is to address the dire straits in which the countrys economy is
and also to address areas in which inadequate attention had been paid in the past.
Sir, there are certain fundamental issues that I would like to raise. The first would be
the waste, the extravagance and the lack of austerity that is widely prevalent in all
activities of Government. This is a matter which, I think, needs in-depth analysis and
study. But, I have not the slightest doubt that the cost of such waste, extravagance and
lack of austerity to the country is colossal.
The other issue that needs to be very seriously addressed is the issue of corruption.
Corruption has had a long and a free run in this country, so much so that it could be
said that corruption has become institutionalized and is an integral part of the system
of governance. Is it not necessary, Sir, to take effective steps to avoid waste and
extravagance and also to eradicate corruption?
I want to refer to a particular paragraph in the Budget Speech of the Hon. Minister of
Finance. I refer to Paragraph 402 relating to SriLankan Airlines. This is what it said, I
quote:
SriLankan Airlines Hon. Speaker, the SriLankan Airlines has been badly managed since
the management was taken back from Emirates. Their total debt stands at Rs.158 billion, of
which 72 per cent relates to the last 3 years of the previous regime. This could be mainly due
to corruption, cronyism and poor management. To point blankly state so is an injustice to the
tax payers of this country and also an understatement. This accumulated loss could have
financed 45,000 buses, 25 fully fledged universities, 40 fully equipped modern hospitals and
48,000 houses
This is the estimate of the degree of the loss that the country has suffered as a result of what
happened at the SriLankan Airlines. Is it not necessary, Mr. Speaker, to take effective steps to
avoid waste and extravagance and also to eradicate corruption? What I quoted above with
regard to SriLankan Airlines is just one instance. The gravity of the countrys predicament can
be better appreciated, not merely from an awareness of the financial loss suffered Rs.158
billion which is a very large sum of money but the equivalent practical loss caused to the
people of this country in regard to matters vital to them, such as transport, higher education,
health and housing.

PM Wikremasinghe, how do you stop repetition of mega corruption?

The question that I wish to pose is, how do you deal with this situation and at least
ensure that such things would not happen in the future? Given the massive
development plans that the Hon. Prime Minister outlined in his Statement on
Economic Policy some days before the Budget and what has been outlined in the
Budget, what action would you take to prevent repetition? If waste, extravagance and
corruption are eradicated, I would think that at least one-third of this countrys
economic woes would come to an end with more money being available for
development for the benefit of the people. We are a country deeply in debt.
A substantial part of our income is used for debt service. Our debt service ratio is high
both domestic and foreign debt. If we tolerate waste, extravagance and corruption,
how are we going to reduce and eventually get rid of our debt? I would submit that
stringent action needs to be taken to achieve this. I do not think that it is within the
power of your 90-member Cabinet to achieve this. I think, a few persons of the highest
integrity, with specialized knowledge and experience should be specially empowered
to examine and analyze in detail all aspects of Government expenditure and come up
with plans and proposals to reduce and remove waste and extravagance. Their
recommendations should be implemented. It appears to me that whatever
arrangements you have now are inadequate.
Corruption needs to be eliminated with a firm hand. Given the fact that corruption is
deeply entrenched in governance in this country, we perhaps need special laws to deal
with this menace special offences even beyond what is now available, new
provisions of law relating to detection, investigation, trial and sentence pertaining to

corruption which will convey the message to the whole country that the Government
will not tolerate corruption in any form, and that those who are corrupt will be very
sternly dealt with. There is, in my view, a need for a new initiative and a new message
from the Government. I ask you in the name of the people of this country, can you
permit what happened at SriLankan Airlines to be repeated?
Sir, I wish to say a few words about our exports and imports. Our exports have halved,
our imports have doubled; our imports are almost double that of our exports. It is
imperative that we need to enhance our exports. Our economy must achieve this to
survive. The problems that we had with GSP Plus adversely affected our exports, both
to Western countries and other parts of the world. We have not recovered yet fully
from that downfall. This was caused as a result of our poor record in other areas.
Countries give you special concessions, but expect you to keep your international
commitments. There is no room for pride or arrogance in these matters. These issues
must not be used for domestic political purposes, to be seen as patriotic champions of
national sovereignty. That would be a deception of the people at their own cost.
There was a time, Sir, when Ceylon Tea was looked upon as the best in the world.
We seemed to have lost our market in many parts of the world, both European and
Arab. There is a decline in production. This has had an adverse impact on tea
smallholders. Given our past reputation there is no reason why we should not regain
our position as the producer of the best tea in the world. Corrective action needs to be
taken both locally in respect of the industry. Incompetence and mismanagement could
well be the cause. You seem to be taking some corrective actions also in regard to our
markets abroad. I would think that Sri Lankan Missions abroad should play an effective
role in regard to the finding of new markets, also to guiding Sri Lankan producers in
regard to the markets that are available. It should be a primary duty of our Missions
abroad to enhance our markets. I think progress is achievable if serious efforts are
made. We should have in our Missions personnel with the competence to handle
these tasks.
We should not merely think of markets in the affluent Western countries. We should
also think of markets in nearby countries. India has an affluent middle-class of
upwards 300 million people, perhaps, close on 400 million people. The Southern
States of India can be a pretty big market for Sri Lanka. There are, for instance, items
such as lentils and pulses which they need for over a billion people. It seems that the
local production in India is inadequate to meet the countrys needs to meet Indias
needs and are met with imports. Our farmers should be able to grow these pulses
and lentils and an export market would be readily available to them in India. It would
be much easier to deal with a market closer by. Some of our furniture manufacturers,
Damro for instance, is engaged in selling furniture in India. If India can be a market for
our goods, we should exploit that market.
The Prime Minister, in some of his speeches, has indicated a thinking to make Sri
Lanka a manufacturing hub for the export of goods to primarily India. The

manufacturers would be foreign investors with the capital, the technology and knowhow to manufacture specific goods for export to India and to any other country. The
large market available in India should attract these foreign investors. Such foreign
investment would enable our youth to receive technical training, knowledge and
employment. Such activity could enhance our exports. Our mission in India could play
a vital role in identifying the goods and the markets for such goods. We have the
closest interaction with India. More people from Sri Lanka visit India than they visit the
rest of the world. Our historical and cultural links are indeed very close. We should not
be apprehensive about exploiting the enormous Indian market.
If we are able to produce quality goods in Sri Lanka fit for export, we should also be
able to reduce our imports. Wherever possible, expenditure on imports should be
avoided. We are an island but we still import US Dollars 150 million worth of fish and
fish related products annually. Fishing was curtailed particularly in the North and the
East during the war. I do think that expenditure on such imports should be avoided.
The devastation that has occurred in the North and the East, Mr. Speaker, consequent
to the war over a long period of time, is extensive unbelievably extensive. Tens of
thousands of families have been rendered destitute. They have lost all their
possessions, their houses, their livelihood; all means of such livelihood, all their
equipment agricultural equipment, fishing equipment, livestock equipment. Some of
them are unable to return to their residential and occupational lands. Very much needs
to be done.
The Hon. Minister of Finance has allocated a sum or Rs. 14,000 million for this
purpose. I think it is totally inadequate. He has also announced a plan to convene a
Donor Conference in 2016 to enhance the rehabilitation of the North and the East. The
Rajapaksa Government was not interested in bringing about a meaningful change in
the lives of these people. They had their own agenda which they persistently pursued.
The people expect this Government, which they helped to bring into power, to treat
them differently.
The attitude and the thinking of the present Government, I am willing to concede, is
different to that of the former Government. Certain actions have been taken which are
positive in content. Not much change, however, has occurred in the lives of the
people. In the case of some, no change whatever has occurred. They continue to
suffer undergoing various hardships.
They suffered immensely during the war. It is more than six years since the war came
to end. They are a courageous and resilient people and will not succumb. They have
democratically, clearly chosen the path of moderation; they want to live as equal
citizens with dignity and self-respect and in security within the framework of a united,
undivided Sri Lanka. They have rejected extremist elements several times at several
elections in recent times. They cannot continue to suffer; their suffering should not be
prolonged. The Governments planning in regard to the future of these people is

clearly inadequate. It is true that the Government is in its first year of governance, but
these people have suffered for very many years, in fact for many decades. There is a
compulsory need for urgent action.
These are industrious people who can make a significant contribution to the
development of this country. In fact, they can make a significant contribution to exportoriented development. There should be a comprehensive plan to retrieve these people
from their present plight in several fields, in several areas resettlement,
rehabilitation, housing, livelihood and everything else. Our youth are acutely in need of
employment. Very substantial numbers a large percentage of them are
unemployed. That needs to be addressed. The Government should appreciate that the
people in the North-East are much worse off than people in other parts of the country.
Special attention needs to be focused on the North-East. This needs to be done as a
matter of urgency, as a matter of priority. No longer, I submit, Mr. Speaker, can there
be a delay. We ask for special action from the Government; special plans from the
Government; special steps from the Government to be able to deal with this situation
on the basis of urgency and on the basis of priority.
Before I conclude my speech, Sir, I must refer to a tragic incident that happened in
Jaffna, yesterday. A young man, Senthuran by name, has committed suicide by
jumping in front of a moving train. He has left behind a note in some book of his. That
students action demonstrates the extent of the frustration that the people in the NorthEast are undergoing. That student has chosen a very rigorous step. He has inflicted
upon himself some punishment; punished himself to be able to demonstrate to the
country the frustration that his fellow beings are undergoing and experiencing in the
North-Eastern part of this country. It is not an incident which can be taken lightly. The
Government of the country and we should clearly comprehend the message that is
contained in this action of this young man. He has committed suicide; punished
himself; left a note in his book which has stated certain things indicative of the sense
of frustration, the desperation which got control of him and which also has an impact
on the people in the North and the East.
So, you should realize that we should not allow these things to develop. We do not
want instability.

Last journey of Senthuran

I want to convey to that family that young mans parents, brothers, sisters, relatives,
friends and the people of the North-East our deepest condolences and sympathies
over this tragic loss. And, what is most important is that we should understand; we
should comprehend the message that this drastic act of this young man sends; what
he demonstrates by his action and we should take collective action without delay.
I thank you, Mr. Speaker.
(Speech made by The Hon. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan Leader of the Opposition)
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