News
Long on promises, but short on delivery: CP slams NPP
…demands explanation over fuel pricing formula, denial of relief to electricity consumers
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Former Communist Party lawmaker Weerasumana Weerasinghe warned the electorate not to expect the bungling National People’s Power (NPP) government to perform miracles.
Those who overwhelmingly voted for the NPP at the presidential and parliamentary elections must have realized their folly, the ex-Matara district parliamentarian said in a brief interview with The Island yesterday (03).
Having repeatedly promised a range of relief for those who had been struggling to make ends meet due to failures and shortcomings on the part of previous governments, the NPP was pursuing former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s economic strategy to the letter.
Declaring that JVP and NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake accepted the IMF-led project that had been finalized during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency, Weerasinghe said the country would be governed in terms of the Economic Transformation Bill endorsed by the previous Parliament.
Weerasinghe insisted that President Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, didn’t even bother to make a genuine effort to revisit the controversial IMF agenda.
Responding to another query, the CP representative said that the vast majority of those who had been elected to Parliament didn’t have any experience in Provincial Councils or Local Government administration. Therefore, in spite of excellent educational and professional qualifications, they may not be able to prudently address multiple and complex challenges faced by the country, Weerasinghe added.
The ex-parliamentarian cited the failure on the part of the NPP government to provide the much-anticipated relief to electricity consumers in terms of a Cabinet decision taken during the previous administration. “The government owes an explanation as to why the Cabinet decision to revise electricity tariff in this quarter didn’t materialize. The public aren’t worried about the ongoing dispute between the CEB and the Public Utilities Commission,” Weerasinghe said, adding that “NPP’s know all big talkers should be ashamed.”
Weerasinghe declared the recent decrease in the price of a litre of Octane 92 petrol from Rs. 311 to 309 exposed the duplicity of the NPP. Having vowed to bring down the price of petrol immediately after the change of government as the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa administration had been engaged in price manipulation for its benefit, the NPP continued with the same, Weerasinghe said. The bottom line is that the NPP was continuing with the same fuel pricing formula that had been practised by the previous government, Weerasinghe said, the way the government handled the issue at hand exposed its duplicitous conduct.
Weerasinghe entered Parliament for the first time at the 2020 General Election. The CP candidate contested the Matara district on the SLPP ticket. However, against the backdrop of the SLPP’s collapse, the CP fielded Weerasinghe on the Sarvajana Balaya ticket this time. That party had to be satisfied with one National List slot.
Weerasinghe said that the CP represented the people without interruption beginning with the State Council in 1931 and then Parliament. “We are out of Parliament for the first time,” Weerasinghe said, alleging that the NPP duped the electorate with what he called a web of lies.
Weerasinghe admitted that there had been a lot of mistakes and shortcomings on the part of previous governments. “There is no point in denying such accusations. But, the NPP exploited such shortcomings and weaknesses to their advantage. Having done so, the NPP is unable to push ahead with its plan because it didn’t have one,” Weerasinghe said.
Their recent declaration that 70,000 mt of naadu rice would be imported to meet the shortfall in the market exposed their duplicity, he said. In the run-up to both the presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP vowed to cease rice imports except to meet requirements in the tourism sector, Weerasinghe said, noting that he had vast experience at Local Government level for over 20 years before he contested the parliamentary elections in 2024. But, the recent political tsunami had paved the way for newcomers without any experience at all at any level straight to the Cabinet of Ministers, Weerasinghe pointed out.
Commenting on perks and privileges afforded to members of Parliament as alleged by the NPP in the past, Weerasinghe said that the NPP parliamentary group contrary to much touted pledges would receive monthly salaries and whatever the other benefits previously provided.
Weerasinghe said that he honestly believed that the NPP lacked at least a basic plan as to how to overcome the challenge ahead. It wouldn’t be unfair to say the NPP was clueless and never actually contemplated nor realized the difficulties ahead when they promised to restore public faith in the political party system.
The former MP pointed out that praise heaped on President Dissanayake by UNP leader Wickremesinghe at a recent public function also attended by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and former Minister Sagala Ratnayake revealed the unholy alliance. That reflected the actual situation on the ground, Weerasinghe said.
Lanka Sathosa has reduced the price of the following food items with effect from today.
Accordingly the new retail price (per kilogram) of the items are
Peanuts Rs 995.00
Brown Sugar Rs 300.00
Potatoes (Imported) Rs 180.00
Red Cowpea Rs 765.00
Sprats Rs 940.00
Dried Chillies Rs 830.00
Basmathi Rice (Premier) Rs 645.00
Big Onions (Imported) Rs 230.00
Lentils Rs 288.00
White Sugar Rs 240.00
Latest News
This year’s budget will be presented with the aim of decentralizing the concentrated economy by involving every segment of the population – President
President Anura Kumara Disanayake stated that this year’s budget will be prepared with the objective of involving every segment of the population in the country’s economic processes.
The President expressed these views during a preliminary discussion held on Tuesday (21) at the Presidential Secretariat with officials from the Ministry of Finance regarding the formulation of the 2025 budget.
The discussion focused on the importance of establishing an efficient and productive economic system, emphasizing the necessity of strengthening public transportation and optimizing the utilization of decentralized funds allocated to Members of Parliament (MP).
The meeting explored government intervention and the steps needed to improve public transportation by providing essential facilities.
It was noted that in previous administrations, significant amounts of money were allocated to decentralized funds, but these funds were not directed toward productive projects. Attention was drawn to the need for allocating these resources toward national projects to ensure their effective utilization.
Discussions were also held on regulating the rice stocks held by producers and ensuring that loans provided to rice millers for purchasing paddy are repaid within a year.
The President emphasized the importance of extending the benefits of urban-centered economic activities to the grassroots level and actively involving them in the process, highlighting the need for an economic plan that ensures equitable distribution across all provinces.
He also pointed out deficiencies in the existing welfare distribution mechanisms, stressing the need to identify the genuinely deserving communities and expedite the delivery process to ensure timely support.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando; Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake; Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, . Mahinda Siriwardana; Senior Additional Secretary to the President, . Russell Aponsu; and Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, . A.K. Seneviratne, along with other officials.
“Don’t seek to capitalise on our achievements’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila said that he was delighted that the National People’s Power (NPP) government had decided to go ahead with the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm development project agreement inked during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency.
The former Energy Minister said so in response to The Island query regarding President Anura Kumara Dissanyake’s declaration at a public rally held at Katukurunda that 61 out of the 99 oil storage tanks would be jointly developed. The President sought credit for the project implying that his recent state visit to New Delhi facilitated it, former lawmaker Gammanpila said.
Declaring that the agreement on the Trincomalee oil tank farm had been signed on January 06, 2022, Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila emphasized that it was tabled in Parliament on Feb 08, 2022. The signatories to the agreement were Sri Lanka, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Lanka IOC and the subsidiary company Trinco Petroleum Terminal Pvt. Ltd., of which CPC retained 51% and Lanka IOC 49%. President Dissanayake, who had been the leader of a three-member NPP ministerial delegation that made a state visit to India last month, couldn’t be unaware of the agreement that was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on January 03, 2022, in the run-up to the eruption of public protest campaign demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster, the PHU leader said.
Having been severely critical of the then government’s plans, it would be unfair of the NPP leader ,who is also the leader of the JVP, to take credit for this strategically important Trinco project.
The ex-MP stressed that Lanka IOC is a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation which is under the ownership of that country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Alleging that the NPP has nothing to do with the Trinco project, the ex-Energy Minister said that in terms of the agreement that covered lower and upper sections of the oil tank farm – consisting of 99 tanks – 14 tanks were further leased to Lanka IOC, 24 tanks to the CPC and the rest to be jointly developed by India and Sri Lanka.
Of the 24 tanks allocated to CPC, five had been already renovated, the PHU chief said, adding that Sri Lanka and India first covered the Trinco oil tank farm in an agreement at the time of the Indo-Lanka Accord that was forced on President J.R. Jayewardene. Since then there had been a couple of agreements that dealt with the British built Trinco oil tank farm targeted by a Japanese naval task force during the Second World War. Of the 100-tank facility, only one was hit.
The PHU leader said that President Dissanayake also claimed credit for securing, what his media division dubbed, the single largest foreign direct investment worth USD 3.7 bn on a state-of-the-art oil refinery at Mirijjawila, Hambantota, whereas the actual agreement was finalized in Nov. 2023 during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency. SLPP’s Kanchana Wijesekera served as the Energy Minister at that time.
The former Minister urged the NPP to accept the truth. Having repeatedly accusing the previous governments of selling national assets to India, the NPP now pursued the same policy, Gammanpila said, declaring the NPP took the electorate for a mega ride. The NPP had been badly exposed and humiliated in the eyes of the public who really believed their catchy and often touted vow to change the system.
The former Minister said that President Dissanayake’s state visits to New Delhi and Beijing advanced the agendas that had been previously agreed. “That is the truth the NPP is reluctant to accept. The NPP claims on Trinco oil tank farm and Mirijjiwila oil refinery proved beyond doubt that previously agreed projects were continuing,” ex-lawmaker Gammanpila said.
Contrary to routine criticism of the IMF, the NPP leadership faithfully followed the IMF agenda as agreed during the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa administration, the lawyer said, reminding the NPP conveniently refrained from opposing the Economic Transformation Bill that received parliamentary approval during Wickremesinghe’s presidency.
Gammanpila said that essentially the NPP’s overall policies were the same. There couldn’t be better examples than the continuation of the Trinco project inked before Aragalaya and the Mirijjawila project finalised a year after Aragalaya to highlight the NPP’s duplicity, he said.
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