President Maithripala Sirisena speaking at the launch of Sustainable Sri Lanka program

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said that much-need development should be devoid of any politics in order to take the country forward. 

“Development programs should not be aimed at retaining power for those who already have it, nor should it be aimed at pushing those who don’t have power to gain it,” he said, speaking at the launch of the Sustainable Sri Lanka program held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

Calling for people of all political, religious and ethnic groups to focus on the country’s development goals, Sirisena also emphasised the importance of national reconciliation efforts in achieving the development targets.

The President emphasised the need for a sustainable approach for development focusing on a holistic approach to growth spanning all areas including education, health, the economy and industry. Sirisena also spoke of the need to strengthen the country’s economy during 2017, with all possible steps needing to be taken to lift people out of poverty and to save the country from the financial crisis. He said that a number of new programs are to be implemented to boost export revenue while developing local industries and the agricultural sector.

With aims to push the country’s economy forward and drive up the rural economy, the Government will also focus on food security and forming a knowledge-based economy, the President said. 

“There is a responsibility for those who are experts in different fields to develop those fields in the country. There is also an urgent need for policy transformation to ensure that the Sri Lankan economy becomes knowledge-based,” he said. 

The Government has declared 2017 the year of poverty alleviation with a host of programs planned to be set in motion in the coming days.

 The program spearheaded by the President is broadly based on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030. A national policy on Sustainable Development Goals 2030 by a committee consisting of experts in 17 fields was also launched parallel to the development drive yesterday. 

Emphasising the need to include local thinking in the global sustainability agenda, Sirisena said that the goals would be adapted to suit the local context. 

“Local thinking and approaches have to be infused into the international goals and policies to ensure that we develop programs suitable for us. We need to be able to adapt the UN 2030 goals to Sri Lanka. We should decide on whether we have five-year goals or 10-year goals,” Sirisena stated. 

Get it if you can says Ranil to MR

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, hitting back at former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s comment about his plans to topple the Government this year, challenged Rajapaksa to attempt taking over while he is away on tour in Switzerland later this month.   

“For one week I am going to Switzerland, I am giving the chance to Mahinda to bring the Government down,” the Premier told a group of journalists present at the traditional New Year breakfast at Temple Trees yesterday. The Prime Minister and a Government delegation will be in Switzerland to participate in the Economic Forum at Davos from 17 January. 

Speaking on the development program lined up by the Government, Wickremesighe said that a five-year project called ‘Balagathu Sri Lanka’ will be launched during the coming weeks. 

“We have started the development work with Sustainable Sri Lanka. We will be starting the factories from tomorrow. We will continue to launch the development programs for the next two weeks,” he said. 

The Premier was also positive about the Hambantota Public Private Partnership, saying that the full agreement will be signed in the next two weeks after the two parties agree on tax concessions. 

Following the signing of the Frame Work Agreement, last month, the two parties have been in discussion on concessions to be afforded under the PPP.