Growing results

Friday, 22 July 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

DEVELOPMENT programmes are not only for the benefit of the people.They are also to promote the Government and win it brownie points. On Wednesday it was revealed in Parliament that Rs. 33.5 million has been spent to publicise the ‘Api Wavamu, Rata Hadamu’ programme since its inception in 2008.

Despite being in existence for the past four years, the programme has done little to increase agriculture produce or reduce prices. Yet it has cost the public millions. According to reports, the Government has spent as much as Rs. 33. 5 million for propaganda work of ‘Api Wavamu, Rata Nagamu’ since 2007.

The Government had allocated Rs. 415 million for the project in 2008 whereas Rs. 8 million had been spent for the propaganda campaign. In 2009, Rs. 300 million had been spent for the project and Rs. 8.5 million for propaganda work. In 2010, Rs. 7.75 million had been spent for propaganda and in 2011, Rs. 10 million.

Raising a supplementary question, JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out that though the development of food production in the country was the prime objective of this project, the import volumes of food items such as chillie, kurakkan and big onions had increased during the period. The Government’s response to this had been that the focus of the programme was only on paddy and therefore other crops were ignored.

Ostensibly the object of such a programme would be to increase the food security of Sri Lanka. In contrast, what actually happened was that most of the resources were plugged into growing paddy that would have little or no effect on the overall food prices. Nor would it make Sri Lanka’s economy less vulnerable to international price fluctuations. This is a pity indeed. The limited political outlook on paddy and its inherent link with nationalistic sentiments to increase the popularity of the Government took precedence over what was practical.

Crop diversification is a major need in Sri Lanka. Not only that, but better logistical management, where post harvest losses are minimised and fresh produce is brought to markets effectively, needs to be emphasised upon. Each day there are reports of hundreds of kilos of vegetables being left to rot as there are no cooling systems at the Dambulla Economic Centre and elsewhere, but these needs have gone unaddressed. To make matters worse, there is no impact on market prices through this programme either. Effective import substitution remains limited to words.

Each year Sri Lanka imports US$ 1.2 billion worth of food. It is doubtful whether the millions of public money spent on the ‘Api Wavamu, Rata Nagamu’ programme contributed to lessening this number in any way. Growing crops that the people need and ensuring that better returns trickle down to farmers has not been addressed by this programme either, so it is fair to say that the programme’s main aim was political rather than social.

Neither is ‘Api Wavamu, Rata Nagamu’ the only culprit. There have been many similar programmes such as ‘Maga Neguma,’ ‘Gama Neguma’ and the latest instalment being ‘Divi Neguma,’ that have spent billions of money with little or no palpable results. The economic justification for these programmes is scarce and the results of the ‘Api Wavamu’ project shows whether the ‘Rata Nagamu’ has become a reality.