Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the people need to realise that if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration was not successful, they would not have given him the two-thirds majority at the General Election, nine months after he assumed office.
The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said during those nine months in office before the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, people could clearly witness how successful the President’s administration was. All these crises in Sri Lanka had emerged due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but some people don’t understand this ground reality. We are in the midst of a world economic recession. Even in England, people had to stand in fuel queues and there were fuel issues in some other countries too. Therefore, this phenomenon is not just confined to our country alone. Unfortunately, some seasoned politicians also make various irresponsible statements disregarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the world economic crisis.
Excerpts of the interview
Q: The President told a recent special meeting with Government officials that his hope is to see a vibrant public service rendered by all state institutions. Your views?
A: It is regretted to note the functions of the State sector in certain areas are not up to the expected levels. That is why the President instructed the Government officials to fulfill their duties properly. There are so many issues that have to be rectified in the State sector. I can see that in my Ministry as well. Sometimes, the Ministers have to get involved in the duties which have to be fulfilled by Government officials. Therefore, the State sector has become inefficient in most areas.
Q: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara has said that instead of focusing on stable policies, the Government is trying to harass their leaders adding that if this trend continues, they will have to resolve this on the streets. Your comments?
A: What is the purpose that we have to harass the SLFP Leader and others? We have no intention to harass SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena and others. He is a leader who has been rejected by the people. Therefore, what is the use of attacking or harassing such a leader?
Q: Is there any truth in international media reports that Sri Lanka is heading towards a food crisis?
A: Earlier certain sections said the country would go bankrupt in January as the Government is unable to settle its loans. They also said there would be a shortage of food in January. It was also said that the farmers will have to give up their cultivation due to lack of fertiliser. At present, a good price has been ensured for paddy and farmers have been able to sell their paddy harvest without any hindrance. Farmers are happy at the moment as a guaranteed price has been given for their paddy. At present, there is no food shortage in the country and the Government has settled its loans. Therefore, nothing happened as predicted by certain sections. If the dogs bark, the caravan would move on. We should not be worried about these comments made by certain elements to realise their narrow political objectives.
Q: The Opposition says the Government which gained a resounding mandate at the last Presidential and General elections has lost its public confidence within a short span of one and half years. Your comments?
A: Those who blame the Government should realise that this is not an issue just confined to our country and this is a global economic crisis. At present a barrel of crude oil has gone up to over US$ 115 in the World Market. The Government is incurring a loss of Rs.500 million on fuel a day. This amounts to Rs. 15 billion per month. However, no decision has been taken by the Government to increase the fuel prices so far. In addition, the loss incurred by the Government on electricity and water per month is Rs. 14 billion and Rs.12 billion. So, is it right if the prices of fuel, electricity and water are increased? Nobody speaks about the decision taken by the Government not to increase the prices of fuel, electricity and water.
It is also said that there is a dollar crisis in Sri Lanka. Nearly 1.4 million Sri Lankans who live in foreign countries don’t send any dollars to Sri Lanka. As a result, US$ 400 million didn’t come to the country. The main export oriented companies in Sri Lanka don’t bring their dollars to Sri Lanka and somehow they try to hide their dollars outside. But who speaks about not bringing dollars to Sri Lanka. If the Government wants it can go for a fuel price hike tomorrow but nobody speaks about this sacrifice made on behalf of the people.
Q: How do you view the protest made by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarians in Parliament last week against the power cuts by flashing torches and holding placards?
A: If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was unsuccessful, how did the people give him a two-thirds majority at the General Election nine months after he assumed office? During those nine months in office before the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, the people could see how successful the President’s administration was. That is why they gave him a two-thirds majority. The people need to realise if the President’s administration was not successful, they would not have given him a two thirds majority at the General Election.
All these crises situations in Sri Lanka have emerged due to the Covid-19 pandemic but some people don’t understand this ground reality. We are in the midst of a world economic recession. Even in England, the people have to stand in fuel queues and there were fuel issues in other countries as well. A large amount of money was printed in America as well. Therefore, this phenomenon is not just confined only to our country. Unfortunately, some of the seasoned politicians also make various irresponsible statements disregarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the world economic crisis.
Q: Some Government lawmakers have said that the majority view of the Cabinet is that the assistance of the IMF is required to solve Sri Lanka’s financial crisis. Your comments?
A: I am also of the view that we should seek the assistance of the IMF to solve the current financial crisis. Otherwise, we don’t have any other alternative at the moment. However, the final decision has not yet been taken so far to go for an IMF bailout. I personally think it is appropriate for us to seek the IMF assistance at this juncture.
Q: Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith who met Pope Francis at the Vatican had pointed out the need to call for international assistance to ensure that justice is meted out to the Easter Sunday terror attacks victims, as there are doubts on how far it would be achieved within Sri Lanka. Would you like to provide your views?
A: Whatever international support is asked for, we have to implement the existing law in the country. At present the cases have been filed against the culprits while those who were abroad and had links to the incident have been brought back to Sri Lanka. It is up to the judiciary to hear the cases and punish the culprits. However, certain sections expects that the President will speak to the Attorney General and judges and imprison the suspects as it was done during the tenure of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Government.
We are not in a position whatsoever to do that but certain people expect us to do such things. As the President has said that the Government will not intervene into the judicial matters and has given full freedom for the judicial process to continue without any hindrance. Otherwise, there is no delay on the part of the investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks and the law is being implemented to the letter.
Q: Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has said that the SJB will seek the support of the international community to get former Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake released from jail. Would you like to comment?
A: Actually, they spoke to judges and imprisoned the people when they were in power. Those who framed charges against their political opponents are now trying to seek the support of the international community to get Ranjan Ramanayake released.
If Ranjan Ramanayake who is now in jail is given the opportunity to speak, he will divulge the information as to how the former Yahapalana Government framed charges against their opponents.
Q: The Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) which has launched their political campaign attempts to create an impression among the people that a new political force and a political culture should be created to rid the country from this current crisis situation.
A: The JVP can talk nicely and present various arguments. However, when there is an election and votes are counted, they don’t have enough votes. They are ideal to tell fairy tales to children. When the votes are counted at a future election, we would see their strength.
Q: How do you view the present conduct of the Opposition which should at least cooperate with the Government in a crisis situation like this?
A: We should not be surprised about their conduct. This is an Opposition which didn’t cooperate with the Government even during the battle against terrorism. This is the Opposition which mixed-up Kilinochchi and Medawachchiya. They even said any idiot can fight with terrorists. Therefore, an Opposition which has contributed to dividing the country will never extend its support in a crisis like this. We have that kind of unfortunate Opposition in our country. Therefore, we should not be panicking about it.
Q: The President who made an inspection visit to the Milco Factory, Narahenpita recently instructed you to take immediate action to overcome the price disparity in the purchase of liquid milk. Could you explain?
A: As instructed by the President, we have already taken the decision to overcome the price disparity in the purchase of liquid milk. Our intention is to prevent the purchase of liquid milk with the intervention of middlemen and directly pass that benefit to dairy farmers. We have planned to purchase a litre of liquid milk from dairy farmers at Rs.100.
Q: Fertiliser importers who met you recently have said that the Yala Season is likely to be affected with inadequate stocks of chemical fertiliser as importers are facing a tough situation due to the dollar crisis. What action has been taken to address the issue?
A: The fertiliser importers had a dollar issue so I discussed it with the Central Bank and sorted it out. We have not imposed any ban and the importers can import the adequate amount of chemical fertiliser. Actually, major companies don’t have a dollar issue and they have sufficient amount of dollars to import chemical fertiliser.
Q: Will the fertiliser importers have to face hardships due to the current crisis looming in Eastern Europe and with sanctions on Russia?
A: It won’t be a problem. If we didn’t switch to organic fertiliser, what would have happened today? Can we import fertiliser due to this dollar crisis? At present we are not in a position to do that. We have to spend a huge amount of money to import fertiliser.
We should realise the importance of using organic fertiliser. As long as we import products which can be produced locally, we can’t move forward. Therefore, we should be ready to produce everything which can be produced in our country.
Q: Has the Government made all arrangements to provide the required fertiliser for the next season?
A: Yes. There won’t be any shortage of fertiliser for the next season. State Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa is making all arrangements to provide the required amount of fertiliser for the forthcoming season without any shortage.
Q: What is the progress with regard to the initiatives taken by the Government to promote green agriculture?
A: It is progressing well. What certain sections said at the last season was that the farmers will have to give up their cultivations and there won’t be any harvest.
Now the paddy harvest is on and farmers are selling paddy. The Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) has also purchased more paddy than previous harvesting seasons. There may be a slight decrease in production but there is no major issue right now.
Q: Has the Cabinet of Ministers given approval to provide compensation to the farmers affected by the fertiliser crisis?
A: The Cabinet has already approved to pay compensation to all affected farmers.
Therefore, a decision has been taken to provide an incentive to each farmer who was affected due to the fertiliser crisis. A sum of Rs.40,000 million has been allocated for this purpose.