Controversial ‘Takeover Act’ repealed by Parliament

• Govt. says effort to increase investor confidence 
• Opposition warns against privatising sugar factories
  
   

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises or Underutilised Assets (Repeal) Bill was passed yesterday in Parliament with a majority of 22 votes. 

The division was taken at the Second Reading, which received 91 votes in favour and 69 against, enabling the House to pass the Bill with amendments.

Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development Minister and Leader of the House of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella

MP Sunil Handunnetti

Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development Minister and Leader of the House of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella, moving the Bill, stressed the Government was reversing a bad decision the former Government took to destroy businessmen.

“As per the Budget Speech 2016, it has been mentioned that the Government wishes to review and make necessary revisions to the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises or Underutilised Assets Act No 43 of 2011. Further, it has been stated that the previous Government harassed investors. Our Government will not undertake such undesirable activities to discourage investors, and instead we will bring in new laws to protect local and global investors,” the Minister said. 

“In par with the Budget Speech 2018 as well, the Unity Government has stated that it will take necessary actions to repeal the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises or Underutilised Assets Act, which has done much damage, creating a sense of uncertainty in the minds of investors of private capital, and impacting the country’s ease of doing business,” he added.

According to the Bill, amongst the 37 assets acquired by the State under the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises or Underutilised Assets Act, No. 43 of 2011, a total of 37 assets were acquired by the State. Out of the assets relevant to the Act, 22 assets have been vested to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) and six assets have been vested to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) according to the Cabinet Decisions taken from time to time. The District Secretaries of Monaragala, Hambantota, Badulla, Ampara, Colombo, Anuradhapura, and Polonnaruwa have been appointed as the Competent Authorities for eight other assets.

“The relevant enterprises and the assets have been named as the functions and duties of the Ministry of Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage & Kandy Development by the Government Gazette No. 1933/13 dated 21.09.2015, and yet again by the Extraordinary Gazette No. 2013/33 dated 28.12.2018,” he added.

However, Opposition lawmaker Sunil Handunnetti characterised the Bill as an attempt to transfer the ownership of some specific assets to identified private owners who enjoyed them before, while evading the term privatisation. “At the outset, this Bill will repeal an Act while transferring the ownership of State assets to the Secretary of the Treasury. This shows nothing to worry about. But the 3rd clause gives out the effort. This is nothing more than a Bill to transfer some State assets to the private sector, including the sugar industries to businessman Daya Gamage. Unless the Act is repealed, the Treasury Secretary is unable to hand back the sugar industry,” charged MP Handunnetti, who held that spending for sugar imports is only overtaken by fuel imports to the country.