Our people vote to change governments. But the same group managed to stay in power taking turns. We should not allow this to go forward. There has to be a change. But what is the foremost change we need? We need to change the direction of the economy. We don’t need Central Bank reports or expert opinions to understand the destruction done to the economy. Let’s look at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to understand it.
CPC started construction in 1968 and started operations refining oil on August 5th 1969, 55 years ago. During that time CPC could refine 5000 MT of crude oil. 55 years later the capacity remains the same. In 1969 CPC started with the most advanced technology available at the time. Technology has improved now. We are still refining oil with 1969 technology. We built a fertilizer factory from the by products of the refinery. In 1982 a newspaper reported that 5000 MT of urea produced by that factory was exported to Pakistan. Today, that factory is closed. CPC had a Nylon factory as a subsidiary. We built our own fish nets, nylon thread. By-products of the refinery were used as pesticides and insecticides for our pineapple and flower production. Those factories were closed down. We had a candle industry from the by-products, we produced lubricant oil. It was sold to American Caltex. Refinery produced fuel for airplanes. It has the capacity to sell USD 1.4 million
worth airplane fuel per day. We can buy crude oil, refine and sell to ships. These are opportunities we have to earn foreign currency. Recently this section of the CPC was privatized.
The ruling class has failed to secure even the most important assets of our economy. Agriculture, land, gems, ilmenite, our natural resources. Will these rulers protect them? They have absolutely no plan to build this country. Selling our resources, closing down factories and selling valuable machinery is what they know. Every government has taken part in the destruction of the refinery. This is why we need a change in the economy. We need to transform our economy. Only NPP can do that.
The second condition for change is national unity. We will never develop as a country until we fight each other divided as Sinhalese Tamils, Muslims and Burghers. Developed countries have achieved that development through unity, mutual respect and trust between ethnic communities. Ruling class created clashes between our communities. They created a war that lasted three decades. They pit us against each other. National disharmony will not lead to development. The NPP will take steps to build national unity. That’s the difference between previous governments and us. That’s the only path to development.
Third condition for rebuilding this country is constitutional overhaul. The existing constitution concentrates too much power in the hands of the executive president. We had this executive presidential system for 40 years. Executive power was used against people, repressing them. Our economy was destroyed. It has done no good to this country. One man cannot develop the world. Individuals have capacities and limitations. We need to unite our capabilities to govern this country. It’s a collective effort and the NPP is the only party to undertake it. That’s the point of difference. There are talented people from all fields like history, economy, mathematics, law and so on. There are lawyers, university academics and professionals. The government has to unite these capacities and talents to bring optimum results for the country. NPP will do that. For that we have to abolish executive presidency and rewrite the constitution vesting more powers in the parliament. We will bring about this change.
What else will we change? Presently, the MInisters are under the President. They are appointed and removed by the President. Cabinet MInisters, State MInisters, Deputy Ministers, there are a number of different kinds of Ministers. While the government claims there are no funds to hold an election at the same time Pavithra and Thondaman are appointed as MInisters. We have to change this. We will amend the Constitution. Already we have prepared blueprints on how to allocate Ministers after deliberating on how ministries can be divided. One is for 25 MInisters and the other is for 18 MInisters. However we are aiming to limit the number of MInisters to 18. We will add these amendments to the Constitution. Offering positions as Ministers to buy out MPS plundering public money has to stop.
One more change has to be done. Floor crossing has distorted the public representation system and corrupted the political culture. People vote for them in one party but for money and positions they change political allegiance. This has become a public nuisance. Some MPs demand ransoms to stay in the party. We will add a provision to the Constitution to ban floor crossing.
Politics in this country has become a privilege. Politicians get a pension after 5 years. They get houses in Colombo. All utility bills for these houses are funded by the public. We see Ministers and MPs not paying bills worth millions. Some of them are squatters in official residences even after their time in office has ended. We will stop this practice of official residences and public funded utility services for MPs and MInisters.
We will also end charity for ex presidents. Chandrika, Mahinda and Sirisena are maintained with public money. PM Mahinda gets Temple Trees, Ex President Mahinda gets a mansion in Wijerama road. Wijerama road mansion was renovated for a squandering LKR 210 million. We will stop looking after former presidents with your money. This country is in ruins. All of us have to make sacrifices.
Public sector workers, private sector workers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, farmers, all of us have to unite to rebuild this country. Only an exemplary statesman can unite all these different people. According to reports, losses caused to Ranil Wickremasinghe’s property (due to arson) is estimated to be LKR 204 Millions. 7 million of that is to his house. Losses caused to his vehicle are 198 millions. The value of the official vehicle given to Ranil W is even higher. Rulers like this do not have the moral right to tax the salaries of working people. They are using hundreds of millions of public money to maintain themselves. We will definitely cut these expenses. We will set an example. That’s the change we will bring. The kind of change this country needs.
We need to change the way law is practiced and implemented. Public’s trust in the judiciary is damaged. Society will only continue if there’s a system of just laws and judiciary. Independence of the judiciary, independence of law, rule of law are essential for a country. In our country the rich and the powerful face a different set of laws to the poor and the powerless. If the law is not just people will seek quick fixes. This leads to a crisis. Developed countries do not have these problems. This needs to change. Drugs have become a nuisance. Why? Because the rule of law has broken down. Only the NPP can bring order back to this country. We will do it. That is the change we will bring.
Our country was destroyed by the corruption of our rulers. We need governance without corruption. We have good intentions to save this country from the destruction our people are being subjected to infront of our very eyes. We promise to build that kind of governance. We will change this country. We will punish the culprits who stole from our people and we will repatriate the wealth they stole from us. We can do it………….[30/01, 07:07] Janakie: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02rsdWA9uu3FSvmAkuJus9RjeK3SxFLr2eZu2ZwcJhZaTh7MC73iDXa6gaXWWvXYtSl&id=100000462921044&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6
[30/01, 07:07] Janakie: Comrade Anura Kumara Dissanayake ‘s speech at the Biyagama NPP rally.
Our people vote to change governments. But the same group managed to stay in power taking turns. We should not allow this to go forward. There has to be a change. But what is the foremost change we need? We need to change the direction of the economy. We don’t need Central Bank reports or expert opinions to understand the destruction done to the economy. Let’s look at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to understand it.
CPC started construction in 1968 and started operations refining oil on August 5th 1969, 55 years ago. During that time CPC could refine 5000 MT of crude oil. 55 years later the capacity remains the same. In 1969 CPC started with the most advanced technology available at the time. Technology has improved now. We are still refining oil with 1969 technology. We built a fertilizer factory from the by products of the refinery. In 1982 a newspaper reported that 5000 MT of urea produced by that factory was exported to Pakistan. Today, that factory is closed. CPC had a Nylon factory as a subsidiary. We built our own fish nets, nylon thread. By-products of the refinery were used as pesticides and insecticides for our pineapple and flower production. Those factories were closed down. We had a candle industry from the by-products, we produced lubricant oil. It was sold to American Caltex. Refinery produced fuel for airplanes. It has the capacity to sell USD 1.4 million worth airplane fuel per day. We can buy crude oil, refine and sell to ships. These are opportunities we have to earn foreign currency. Recently this section of the CPC was privatized.
The ruling class has failed to secure even the most important assets of our economy. Agriculture, land, gems, ilmenite, our natural resources. Will these rulers protect them? They have absolutely no plan to build this country. Selling our resources, closing down factories and selling valuable machinery is what they know. Every government has taken part in the destruction of the refinery. This is why we need a change in the economy. We need to transform our economy. Only NPP can do that.
The second condition for change is national unity. We will never develop as a country until we fight each other divided as Sinhalese Tamils, Muslims and Burghers. Developed countries have achieved that development through unity, mutual respect and trust between ethnic communities. Ruling class created clashes between our communities. They created a war that lasted three decades. They pit us against each other. National disharmony will not lead to development. The NPP will take steps to build national unity. That’s the difference between previous governments and us. That’s the only path to development.
Third condition for rebuilding this country is constitutional overhaul. The existing constitution concentrates too much power in the hands of the executive president. We had this executive presidential system for 40 years. Executive power was used against people, repressing them. Our economy was destroyed. It has done no good to this country. One man cannot develop the world. Individuals have capacities and limitations. We need to unite our capabilities to govern this country. It’s a collective effort and the NPP is the only party to undertake it. That’s the point of difference. There are talented people from all fields like history, economy, mathematics, law and so on. There are lawyers, university academics and professionals. The government has to unite these capacities and talents to bring optimum results for the country. NPP will do that. For that we have to abolish executive presidency and rewrite the constitution vesting more powers in the parliament. We will bring about this change.
What else will we change? Presently, the MInisters are under the President. They are appointed and removed by the President. Cabinet MInisters, State MInisters, Deputy Ministers, there are a number of different kinds of Ministers. While the government claims there are no funds to hold an election at the same time Pavithra and Thondaman are appointed as MInisters. We have to change this. We will amend the Constitution. Already we have prepared blueprints on how to allocate Ministers after deliberating on how ministries can be divided. One is for 25 MInisters and the other is for 18 MInisters. However we are aiming to limit the number of MInisters to 18. We will add these amendments to the Constitution. Offering positions as Ministers to buy out MPS plundering public money has to stop.
One more change has to be done. Floor crossing has distorted the public representation system and corrupted the political culture. People vote for them in one party but for money and positions they change political allegiance. This has become a public nuisance. Some MPs demand ransoms to stay in the party. We will add a provision to the Constitution to ban floor crossing.
Politics in this country has become a privilege. Politicians get a pension after 5 years. They get houses in Colombo. All utility bills for these houses are funded by the public. We see Ministers and MPs not paying bills worth millions. Some of them are squatters in official residences even after their time in office has ended. We will stop this practice of official residences and public funded utility services for MPs and MInisters.
We will also end charity for ex presidents. Chandrika, Mahinda and Sirisena are maintained with public money. PM Mahinda gets Temple Trees, Ex President Mahinda gets a mansion in Wijerama road. Wijerama road mansion was renovated for a squandering LKR 210 million. We will stop looking after former presidents with your money. This country is in ruins. All of us have to make sacrifices.
Public sector workers, private sector workers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, farmers, all of us have to unite to rebuild this country. Only an exemplary statesman can unite all these different people. According to reports, losses caused to Ranil Wickremasinghe’s property (due to arson) is estimated to be LKR 204 Millions. 7 million of that is to his house. Losses caused to his vehicle are 198 millions. The value of the official vehicle given to Ranil W is even higher. Rulers like this do not have the moral right to tax the salaries of working people. They are using hundreds of millions of public money to maintain themselves. We will definitely cut these expenses. We will set an example. That’s the change we will bring. The kind of change this country needs.
We need to change the way law is practiced and implemented. Public’s trust in the judiciary is damaged. Society will only continue if there’s a system of just laws and judiciary. Independence of the judiciary, independence of law, rule of law are essential for a country. In our country the rich and the powerful face a different set of laws to the poor and the powerless. If the law is not just people will seek quick fixes. This leads to a crisis. Developed countries do not have these problems. This needs to change. Drugs have become a nuisance. Why? Because the rule of law has broken down. Only the NPP can bring order back to this country. We will do it. That is the change we will bring.
Our country was destroyed by the corruption of our rulers. We need governance without corruption. We have good intentions to save this country from the destruction our people are being subjected to infront of our very eyes. We promise to build that kind of governance. We will change this country. We will punish the culprits who stole from our people and we will repatriate the wealth they stole from us. We can do it……..Lakmali Hemachandra
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Disclaimer: Comrade Anura Kumara Dissanayake 's speech at the Biyagama NPP rally. ...what is foremost change we need ? Professionals LISTEN - Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Latheefarook.com point-of-view