State Minister of Urban Development, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said that there is no threat whatsoever to the stability of the Government. The State Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said when there is a coalition Government in power, there are always conflicts which have to be managed.
The coalition parties of the Government maintain different ideologies. They have come together for the election and form a Government, but their ideologies remain different on certain issues. Those ideologies always crash when we govern. However, those different views have been permitted to surface in a democratic manner rather than trying to suppress them. The Government has permitted its democratic debate to go on.
Excerpts of the interview
Q:What action has been taken to address the current foreign reserves crisis?
A: The foreign reserves crisis is something that the Government is currently grappling with. It is not a straightforward issue. There are few things which we can do. One is to negotiate with the lenders and come to an agreement on the settlements which are due this year and the following year. I am sure the Finance Department is discussing these things. I understand the discussions are under way.
The second one is we need to encourage as much foreign investments as possible. One good sign we can see for the Stock Exchange, foreign nationals started coming back even though in a smaller way. That is a positive indication while the locals are confused about the market, foreigners have started buying. That means they see a long term potential. When I talk to the BOI and my Ministry UDA, I can see a lot of foreign projects which are in the pipeline.
Even though nothing much has materialised, it all indicates that there are projects in the pipeline. We hear the same thing even from the Port City Commission. What we need to do now is to expedite these projects and find out what are the obstacles which are holding the signing up of these projects. There will be little bureaucratic issues and red tapes somewhere which are common in our country.
We must do our best to put forward and get these investments materialised. If we don’t have anything on the side, that is a dangerous situation, but the good news is that there are lots of projects in the pipeline and a lot of people want to come. It is a matter of getting things done. The last one is the export side which is already promising. If you look at the performance of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, exports in all categories have gone up which is a positive trend. There is a US$ 2 billion increase in the export sector last year compared to the previous year. These are the things that we need to do in the short and long term.
Q:Countrywide power cuts have created a lot of issues in various sectors. What remedial measures have been taken to address the situation?
A: This power crisis shows that there is some kind of a lack of coordination. People from the Petroleum Corporation, Treasury, Central Bank and the Public Utilities Commission are making different statements. These uncoordinated statements are creating confusion among the people. People panic when different signals are coming. I think we must make sure that these things come into some kind of a common understanding when the authorities make comments. Several times we heard that the fuel price was going up but it didn’t happen. Those statements are not necessarily correct. There should be some kind of clarity as to what is communicating to the people and truth must come.
In the long run, we have to correct something that we haven’t done right now. That is to give opportunities for renewable energy suppliers. The CEB has been slow and reluctant to accommodate renewable energy suppliers. For example, solar power is something that could have been easily done. When the President had that utmost priority in his agenda, only a very few had been connected to the national grid by the CEB over the past two years. That is not good and a kind of a sabotage in a way.
When the national policy says that we want to go for 70 percent renewable energy by 2030, the past two years the CEB has taken a little interest in this regard and that is something totally wrong. We need to find the people who are blocking these things and take some action and expedite this process. Renewable energy is the way forward and that is the national policy and there is no argument about it. Practically, that is not happening. In the long run, that is the answer to the power shortage.
Q:Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said that India is willing to make investments in Sri Lanka to help it to ease the financial crisis. Your comments?
A: Many foreign investments are in the pipeline. Even though certain sections of the people and media are negative and talking as there is no hope for the country, the outside world sees the potential. They look at the macro picture and the opportunities in the country. They see a future. That is why investments are getting lined up and India’s statement is also welcomed.
They are not going to come and help us if there is no hope for them. They know the investments in Sri Lanka are going to be delivered to them in the long run. I think we must welcome that move. If India or any other country is investing in Sri Lanka, we must welcome it.
Q:A section of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led ruling coalition is planning to unveil an alternative plan on March 2 spelling out how to overcome the financial crisis. Would you like to comment?
A: Not only the Government coalition parties, anybody including the Opposition can come up with solutions. Actually, that is what the political parties must do without just criticising. There are certain parties in Parliament which are critical of the Government from morning to evening, but they don’t seem to be having any solution.
Some people are having high inspirations for even forming a Government, but they don’t seem to be having any alternative plan. In such a situation, if some coalition parties of the Government can come up with some kind of proposals, that is a good move and we can commence a dialogue based on it. At the end of the day that is what is expected from the political parties rather than negative and critical without proposing a solution. Sometimes, what they are proposing may not be the final answer, but such proposals will initiate a good dialogue and discussion.
Q:How do you view the demand made by the TNA and some other groups to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)?
A: Tamil political parties were asking for this right throughout. Sometimes, we have to ask the question whether it is reasonable. We are a country which went through a long battle against terrorism. Until 2009, almost 30 years we were facing that terrorism problem. When the things were getting improved, we faced another problem with 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks from a different front.
One can say even now the threat of terrorism has not been totally eradicated. If that is the situation, asking for a total repeal of this Act might not be the most sensible thing. However, there can be some changes and amendments to this Act. The Government has accepted them and has already proposed certain amendments regarding that and those are not draconian. What we should do is all parties must get together and collectively discuss these amendments for further improvement.
Q:Is the Government having discussions with the IMF and other multilateral lenders for assistance and advice?
A: There is no formal indication of that. Even the Finance Minister said that the continuing of discussions on technical assistance from the IMF is not a new thing. It has always given us technical assistance. The Government is continuing that process. I think the IMF report is due soon.
Whether we go for the IMF relief is not something the Government has accepted yet. I am not the authority to comment on that. It is supposed to come from the Finance Minister and the Finance Ministry officials. Their position is no such decision has been made so far. Even if we go to the IMF, we know what they would generally recommend. Since we know those things, the Government can take an initiative and work on those things without waiting for IMF directions.
Q:The main Opposition, SJB, in Parliament alleged that there were frauds in the third phase of the Central Expressway construction. Your views?
A: I can’t comment on that because I am not aware of the details. However, it is a habit of the Opposition to always make accusations against whoever is in power and they always do it. However, those accusations have to be substantiated.
The public also has a right to know whether there is something wrong going on. But you can’t say until something is proven. Now, there is a discussion and let the debate continue and the public can finally decide what is right or wrong based on information.
Q:President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a recent discussion with large scale entrepreneurs invited local entrepreneurs to invest in industries and join in the process of nation building. Would you like to elaborate your views?
A: That is very timely. If you look at local companies, especially large scale companies, they were doing well despite the Covid-19 pandemic during the past couple of years. Profits of most of these companies have grown exponentially during the past two years. Now it is right for them to make use of some of that money that they were earning and reinvest to expand our industries, service sector and agriculture sector so that we can create more employment opportunities and economic activities particularly in the exports sector.
What the President has emphasised is creating industries will minimise the need for imports and create new industries which are more export oriented. To move forward for Sri Lanka, what is absolutely necessary is to develop our export industry. We must focus on export development rather than talking of import restrictions. That is an area where these large scale companies can definitely step in and help.
Q:Former President and SLFP Chairman Maithripala Sirisena has said that they want the SLFP to join hands with several other political parties that could contribute to the uplift of the country and form an alliance to contest the next General Election. If the SLFP decides to contest separately at future elections, will it pose any threat to the SLPP?
A: These are usual pressure tactics. For survival in the public space, various political parties take different stances at different times. Right now, there is a certain kind of turbulence in the public space and lots of political parties are trying to capitalise on that to establish their survival. The SLFP and its other aligned parties may think at this stage that it is better to disassociate to some extent from the Government and make such comments as they are going to contest separately.
I am confident when things get changed and the economy bounces, all these people will align themselves with the Government and try to get the credit for what is happening. That is a usual thing. When the things go wrong, they run away and they come back when the things go right.
When there is a coalition Government in power, there are always conflicts which we have to manage. These coalition parties maintain different ideologies. Though they have come together for the election and form a Government, their ideologies remain different on certain issues.
Those ideologies always clash when we govern. However, those different views have been permitted to surface in a democratic manner rather than trying to suppress them. The Government has allowed its democratic debate to go on. There is no threat, whatsoever, to the stability of the Government.
When looking at the past couple of voting that took place in Parliament on various Acts, before the voting took place, some people were under the impression that there were a lot of conflicts and some would vote against the Government, but that never happened. At every election, the Government secured its highest number of votes. The best test is when an important Act is to be passed in Parliament within the next couple of weeks or months. We will have to wait and see. Nothing will happen.
Q:Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says that the Government is repressing the media and journalists and restricting freedom of expression in a more organised manner. Your views?
A: I don’t think so. If you look at the media, have you ever seen a situation where the Government is openly criticised like that before? This is democracy. Anybody can criticise and say anything.
We should not exaggerate these isolated incidents here and there. Overall when looking at the media whether it is television, radio, newspapers or social media, how much freedom is there to openly criticise the Government. I don’t think there is such media suppression now. These recent incidents may have their causes. We need to find them.
I condemn the recent attack on the house of journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrama. We don’t know who did it. From what we hear from the media, no culprits have been identified so far. Sometimes, it could be due to some personal reason, but we don’t know. Whoever did it, we condemn that.