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Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Friday, 20 July 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
United National Party yesterday insisted that the Government has facilitated members of the Opposition to access information and conduct monitoring and inspection tours in any Government organisation, unlike the pre 2015.
Drawing parallels to the time when a group of UNP members visited Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in 2014 where the local politicians attacked the visitors wielding fire arms, State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne said that the Government today has been able change the political culture.
“When the members of the Opposition visited Mattala last week, we ensured they were facilitated and had the information they wanted,” he said, speaking at a media briefing held at Party headquarters Sirikotha.
“It is not a weakness of the current Government, it’s the new political culture we all wanted,” he insisted.
Explain the Government’s strategy behind forming a Joint Venture (JV) for Mattala, Wickramaratne said that Sri Lanka will sign the partnership agreement with Civil Aviation Authority India within this year.
The lease, which would be for 40 years, would give India 70% stake in Sri Lanka’s second international airport, he said. The JV is to come up with a viable business plan which would only include commercial activities, the Deputy Minister added.
“Currently, there are huge losses incurred by the Government from Mattala. When the Airport is leased, they will have to take 70% of the losses, so we are gaining from the project,” he said.
Of the estimated value of $ 325 million, 70% will be invested by the Indian Authority while the balance 30% comes from Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which will help the country finance the Chinese loan taken for construction of the airport.
The Deputy Minister also said that the Government has been able to work towards attracting more Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the country, with the highest ever of $1.9 billion being recorded last year. The Government targets to attract $ 2.5 billion worth of FDIs this year, he said.
Dispelling fears of local manufacturers, Wickramaratne assured that the Government will provide trade adjustment packages for local businesses to help them through the transition.
Speaking against Government-sponsored protectionism, the Deputy Finance Minister said that none of the Free Trade Agreements being signed by the Government will harm the Sri Lankan economy.
Referring to the much debated Singapore FTA, Wickramaratne said that the final draft was approved by the Cabinet and includes clauses against anti-dumping and free movement of labour.
“We have not included free labour movement in the FTA. There won’t be migrant workers flooding Sri Lanka. This is just misinformation spread by the Opposition,” he said.
