There were at least 50,000 tonnes of sugar in storage units when the tax was increased by 49.75 rupees on 02 November, former Minister and leader of the United Republican Front (URF) Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

Ranawaka, who is also the Chairman of the parliamentary Ways and Means Committee, said that there was a massive fraud in sugar imports in June 2021. The fact that this happened is accepted by all, he said.

“The Auditor General Department also showed that one importer made undue profits of 16 billion rupees. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) can collect 30 percent of this undue profit as income tax. Even this has not been done. JVP’s Sunil Handunnetti filed a case in the Supreme Court, now the involved parties are not paying taxes under the pretext they are waiting for the court’s verdict. The JVP said they will withdraw the case if the company pays taxes, the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General’s department has not said a word. This shows that neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Attorney General’s department is interested in acting against sugar scammers,” he said.

Ranawaka said that the government recently increased tax on sugar to 50 rupees per kilo from 25 cents and several companies have again benefited greatly.

“In August the import duty on wheat flour was increased to 27 rupees a kilogram or 20 percent. We told the government at that time to conduct a study on the existing stocks of the goods before such taxes are imposed.”

The people should be able to buy the existing stocks at the pre-tax price, he said. However, a few months later the government raised taxes on sugar without any survey of existing stocks, he added. There is also evidence to say that some companies were aware that taxes would be increased in early November, Ranawaka said.

“Now a company, who had brought 2000 tonnes of sugar a month in August and September, had imported 10,000 tonnes in October. 14 companies have brought 19,000 tonnes of sugar than they had imported in the previous months. There were at least 50,000 tonnes of sugar in storage units when the tax was increased by 49.75 rupees. Now these businesses will make an extra profit of 49.75 rupees from each kilo of sugar sold. The government has done nothing to correct the situation. The ministry of finance does all sorts of weird things and blames the IMF.”

Ranawaka said that instead of taking steps to prevent such fraudulent acts, the government is trying to stop people from learning about the truth.

“The Online Safety Act was ushered in under the pretext that the government wants to protect masses from nefarious activities of some people online. However, when you look at the content of the act, it is obvious that this was brought to allow the President to suppress and control social media and other digital spaces,” he said.

Ranawaka said the Supreme Court, on 07 November, determined that the government needs a special majority to pass the Online Safety Bill in its present form.

The Supreme Court had said that as per the provisions of Article 84 (2) of the Constitution, the sections 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 37, 42, 45, 53, and 56 needed to be passed with a special majority of votes.

“Some sections of the government and media are claiming that the Supreme Court has not made many changes and the Bill can be easily passed with a simple majority. This is not the case, the government has been asked to make substantial changes.”

Ranawaka said that Sri Lanka has a history of youth uprisings. The JVP rose in 1971, 87-89 and there was an arms struggle in the North, too. However, in recent years, young people are peacefully mobilizing and organizing online, and this has become a serious threat to anti-people leaders.

“This is what happened last year. Ranil Wickremesinghe is not interested in mending governance. He is interested in thwarting the means of organizing. This is not easy though. Technology always finds a way. Moreover, foreign technology companies that operate in Sri Lanka, from Google to Booking.com will not accept this,” he said.

Ranawaka added that on 09 May 2022, a group of Rajapaksa loyalists decided to attack peaceful protestors at Galle Face without understanding how angry the people were. Following the attack, the public reaction was 100 times stronger than the initial attacks of Rajapaksa loyalists.

“The same group that masterminded the attack on protestors are now at the helm of security forces, police and media. They are now wondering how they can crush the empowered Sri Lankan citizens,” he said.

Ranawaka said that because of social media, a handful of elites can no longer control public perceptions. The ordinary citizen now has a chance to look at things from multiple points of view.

“People also have started businesses. The government always talks about digitization, but their actions betray these claims.”