State Minister of Vehicle Regulation, Bus Transport Services and Train Compartments and Motor Car Industry Dilum Amunugama said the Opposition campaigns against the Government is a common phenomenon anywhere in the world. But they would not go to this extreme as most of the campaigns carried out by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) led main Opposition are hundred percent false, manipulated and fabricated to mislead the people.
The State Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the Opposition in any other country extends its fullest support to the Government if their country is in trouble. As we all know the Opposition that we are having today feels happy when the country is in trouble.
That is how they felt even during the battle against terrorism and the first wave of Covid-19. If more Covid-19 cases and deaths are reported, it makes them happy and they feel the Government would become unpopular so that they can come back to power.
Excerpts
Q: The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has raised serious concern over the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill and says they will somehow defeat it in Parliament. Your views?
A: They don’t have enough numbers to defeat it in Parliament. They should not act in such an irresponsible manner. The Port City project was carried out by the former Government and it is the rest of it now we are moving forward. I don’t see why the SJB should try to defeat this Bill in Parliament and this will have a huge economic impact on the country. Now we are half way through and you can’t stop it now. What they should do is if there are any issues with the concern on the country, they should be able point them out during the debate in Parliament. We have very clearly said if there are any amendments needed to be done, we are ready for that.
If there are any amendments, they can bring it to Parliament and if they are reasonable, we can even agree to them. However, the Opposition is trying to get cheap publicity over this issue which they should not do.
This is one of the main economic affairs related to the country’s economy. So, they should not play cheap political games with this sort of large-scale project.
Q: UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardana has said that the Port City Economic Commission Bill has bypassed the powers of the judiciary, Parliament and Finance Minister and it will set a bad precedent as it has made many acts and regulations redundant. Would you like to comment on this?
A: That is totally wrong. The best example for this is the Mahaweli Act which was brought by then Minister Gamini Dissanayake. The Mahaweli project was scheduled to be completed in 25 years. However, he managed to finish it in eight years. The only way he managed to do that was through the Mahaweli Act by bringing all Mahaweli areas and powers under the Mahaweli Authority.
If you take the Mahaweli zones, the land powers and road network is entirely handled by the Mahaweli Authority and not other relevant ministries. That is how the Mahaweli project was completed within a very short period and it became very successful.
If the land distribution of Mahaweli zones was supposed to be done by the Land Ministry and other rules and regulations were implemented by some individual institutions and Ministries to date they would have been trying to complete the project.
The Port City Commission is similar to the Mahaweli Authority. If we want to change its name, we can even do that. If you find the Mahaweli areas, the country’s judiciary, Police and banks are operated. But when it comes to issues such as lands, wildlife, forest and construction of roads and irrigation networks, all such issues come under the purview of Mahaweli Authority.
The Port City Commission is also something like that. So, there is no big issue for anyone to be scared about it. The Port City Commission will be appointed by the President. In future also whoever the President has the authority to change the Commission or appoint his own Heads. Therefore, this is similar to appointing the Director General of Mahaweli Authority.
The Opposition is just talking about the construction of the Port City but we have to think of the operation aspect of the project as well. When it comes to operation, if this Port City Commission is not established and if you have to get the approval of so many Government Institutions, this project will not be able to move at the speed that we are expecting.
There is nothing to hide and it is very open. If someone thinks this is the first time such a project is going to be launched in the country, it is not. Mahaweli Authority Act is also something like that. In addition, some similar acts were brought in Parliament in the past and certain powers were allocated to those Authorities set up.
We can say the Port City Economic Commission is a mega version of that. Its economic benefits will be something close to Mahaweli or may be even more. Actually, the Opposition should follow their predecessor’s footsteps and study those cases without just condemning everything done by the Government.
Q: Is there any need to go for a total lockdown of the country at this juncture?
A: It is entirely up to the Government and the health authorities to decide. However, the situation doesn’t seem to be so good. Sometimes, we might have to go for a small lockdown at least to slow up the numbers that have been turning up. I don’t think we can cope up with these numbers for a long time. So, we might have to just go for a short lockdown to bring down the numbers.
Q: The JVP alleges that the unmber Covid-19 cases has increased as the Government relaxed health guidelines and the people disregarded the health guidelines during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Your comments?
A: The Government did relax health guidelines and no rules were lifted. With the Covid-19 vaccination program, the number of Covid-19 cases have come down. Perhaps, the manner the public acted in the New Year may also be a reason to increase the Covid-19 cases. I don’t know whether they are trying to say if the country was locked down during the New Year, obviously that would have made a difference but then there would have been an economic impact.
Now the economy has also faced a setback owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. So, we have to work somewhere in the middle. I think we would be able to control this situation. Definitely, we will have to bring down the numbers of Covid-19 cases. Otherwise, it will become a serious issue.
Q: How do you view the Chinese Defence Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka?
A: That was a standard visit. It is not a secret that the incumbent Government works closely with the Chinese Government. It has been the same way previously and it is also the same way now. They have backed us economically as well. You see the rupee is being stabilised right now.
Q: Various sectors including Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith have raised serious concern over the failure to bring the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks to book even after a lapse of two years. Would you like to elaborate your views?
A: We will have to agree to that. We will have to use the findings of the Presidential Commission report to take these culprits to task. Actually, that Commission was appointed by the former President. We must say the Commission has done quite a good job. When you study the report, you can see that they have gone into details. So, it is up to the Government to initiate legal action and take to task those who have backed those terror groups and the terrorists who committed those multiple attacks on Easter Sunday.
I think both these parties have to be taken to task but half of the terrorists are dead. I am also under the impression whoever the mastermind that planned these terror attacks would not blow himself. I think whoever planned this should be somewhere in the world and may not be in our country. Therefore, action has to be taken.
We can see some politicians are being arrested and questioned. This is how the authorities have to go into detail and capture all those who have been involved. One of the main reasons for the delay is that all these had to be redone as there had been a total failure in the intelligence and security operation during the tenure of the former Yahapalana Government.
That was the very reason those attacks were allowed to take place. When you have that kind of large- scale failure in intelligence at that time, then you don’t have any intelligence reports. Then the investigators have to go through the entire process and that is what they are doing right now. They should speed up the investigation process as no one including the Cardinal and the catholic community is happy with the results being delivered.
Q: How do you view the false propaganda campaign carried by the Opposition against the Government similar to what they did in 2015?
A: It is even worse and not similar. The Opposition campaigns against the Government is a common phenomenon anywhere in the world. But I don’t think they go to this extreme because some of these Opposition campaigns are hundred percent false.
Obviously with this social media, sometimes false information is circulated. But most of the Opposition campaigns are manipulated and fabricated to mislead the people. That goes even beyond the free media culture. This is more like an organised crime. I think there might have to be some sort of way to monitor this and not to allow certain people to spread totally false information.
Q: Don’t you think a responsible Opposition irrespective of petty political differences should cooperate with the Government to control the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country?
A: A responsible Opposition should cooperate with the Government. As everyone knows this is not a responsible Opposition. The Opposition in any other country extends its fullest support to the Government if their country is in trouble.
As we all know the Opposition that we are having today feels happy when the country is in trouble. That was how they felt during the battle against terrorism war and also during the first wave of Covid-19. That is what they are feeling right now as well.
If more Covid-19 cases and deaths are reported, it makes them happy and they feel then the Government would become unpopular so that they can come back to power. Nowhere in the world have you found politicians like in our Opposition who feel happy when the country is in trouble. This is the only country where we have an Opposition of that nature.
Q: The Opposition alleges the Government has failed to control the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country. Your comments?
A: We have not failed yet. I don’t know what would happen in the future. At present the situation is under control.
Even though the number of Covid-19 cases has gone up, treatment centres have also been increased and we have the necessary capacity of oxygen. I don’t say everything is perfect. When you look at the Indian Government, it has lost hold on the pandemic. We still have a hold on it and we are trying to control it and vaccinate a large number of people so that the numbers will come down. New problems are also coming up as new variants of Covid-19 are not reacting to the vaccines. However, this is not a problem only faced by us but the entire world has faced this situation.
Even countries such as the US were not able to handle it and there are so many developed countries who couldn’t handle the situation. We have been handling the situation to a certain extent but we must do more. When the pandemic is adjusting, we also have to adjust and try to control it. That is what we are trying to do.