Address by the President at the ceremony to declare open 1,500 completed roads on the same day at the Mandaduwa Stadium
2021-11-06
A year ago, I laid the foundation stone for the National Programme of Developing 100,000 Km of Roads Project. At the end of the year, we completed the construction of 1,500 roads. We fulfilled our duties during this period amidst countless obstacles. On several occasions the country was completely locked down. We know how difficult it was for the contractors to bring their labourers because of the COVID situation. I thank the Minister for completing the work on 1,500 roads amidst those obstacles.
At present, there are two groups that criticize me. One group is the ones who have no idea about the last two years; they think that these last two years are ordinary years. But not only me, all the world leaders too faced two years with the Covid-19 outbreak. The other group is the crowd that requested me to make a revolutionary change. When I tried to make this change, many were upset and those in that offended group also criticized me.
I became the President on November 19th. In December 2019, coronavirus began to rapidly spread in Wuhan, China. At that time no one in the world knew what type of pandemic this was or how we should face it, or whether there was a vaccine available against this virus. It was under such circumstances that 34 students who were studying in Wuhan were brought back to Sri Lanka. We sent a special aircraft and brought them to Mattala according to the health guidelines and from there these students were taken to a special quarantine facility at the Diyatalawa Army Base Camp. From then on we started the quarantine process. More than 150,000 persons serving in the Middle East were brought back to Sri Lanka and quarantined.
We had to shut down the country more than ten times.
If you can remember, the country was under a lockdown for two and a half months in a row last year. So many people do not have a proper understanding of this situation. Can we achieve economic growth in a situation like this? On the other hand, some forces do not allow the people to understand the reality.
It is in the midst of such an environment that the country has been ruled for the last two years. If a Covid patient is found somewhere, doctors and experts say lockdown the country immediately, otherwise this will be a disaster. When the country is open, the Opposition shouts to close the country; when the country is closed the Opposition yells to open the country.
The tourism sector, which brought in $ 5 billion in foreign exchange, fell to zero due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of you know the impact it would have on the economy due to the loss of $ 5 billion for a country like ours, which has a small economy. Not only that, a large number of people depended on the tourism industry. More than 3 million people depended on this sector from top-notch hotels to persons who sell king coconut. Their income completely collapsed. When we lockdown the country, the economy of everyone from entrepreneurs who run a small shop to the top businessman, the economy collapses.
In the early days, our export earnings were lost due to the closure of the garment industry. Now we have rebuilt it. Also, nearly 200,000 people who worked in the Middle East have lost their jobs; because the economies of those countries collapsed. We brought them back to Sri Lanka. We lost the money that flows into this country from them. Against this backdrop, we had to repay $ 4 billion per year as loan payments taken by previous governments. We paid off that debt in these two years as well. In addition, we had to pay $ 1.5 billion as Sovereign Bond interest. The previous government handed over a very trivial reserve to us.
As you can understand, people need to realise the amount of foreign exchange we lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the debts that we should pay, when considering these factors people should understand how difficult it is for a small economy to move forward. Nevertheless, we kept the public servants at home granting them leave. We commenced the process of Work-from-Home. We did not deduct their salaries. Everyone’s wages were paid. The teachers were at home for 2 years. We paid their salaries too. We provided financial assistance to every COVID affected family. Even in such a difficult situation, we realized that people need to survive.
These days a group called ‘Farmers’ is staging protests. But they need to understand which government took care of the farmer. When I came to power, farmers were not able to sell paddy for 25 rupees. I saw in the news one farmer asking to give them at least 40 rupees. We gave more than that. Also, money was paid for fertilizers. After I became the President we gave fertilizer for free of charge.
A guaranteed price of Rs. 50 was given for paddy that could not be sold for Rs. 25 at that time. Even though that guaranteed price was given at Rs.50, today it is sold at Rs. 60, 70 and 80. It goes to the farmer. For two years, we gave chemical fertilizers for free.
Sixty-nine million people voted for me, not for my face, but for the policies I had stated in the National Policy Framework Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour. In those policies it was clearly stated that we are moving towards a green agriculture. We clearly stated that organic fertilizer will be produced in this country. We said we will produce non-toxic food.
I saw experts participating in TV programmes talking about food security, the food security concept does not mean giving toxic food. It is to provide people with a non-toxic diet. We promised a very difficult task.
That’s what I said. You asked for a change, a revolutionary change. It is hard to achieve without coming out from the customary way. I do not want to cause any inconvenience to the farmers or force farmers to go for organic fertilizers. But I did the right thing, which I have promised.
Some say that they expected a Gotabaya who will go ahead with a military system. I can. To tell the farmers to use organic manure by resorting to physical force similar to how they do it in the army. But I have no need to do that. Is that what was expected? No. Some people said that if I came to power, democracy would be threatened. The very same people say, ‘Oh, we did not expect such a person, but someone with military features’. I can do that if I want to. But this is a democratic country.
Even today, as a country, we go to Geneva because of false allegations that human rights have been violated. We do not need to do that, to our country. However, I will make the revolutionary change that I promised. We talked about renewable energy. We have no oil, no coal or even gas, but we have solar power, water, and wind power. We can generate electricity from all three sources. We have mentioned this in the ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ as well. Even when we try to do that, there is a large protest. As a country, we promised to implement difficult decisions.
We saw the large number of vehicles in the convoy of the President and the Prime Minister under the Yahapalana Government. Roads were closed, ambulances and fire trucks also went along. I put an end to them. Now, only two security vehicles accompany me when I travel. I stayed in an ordinary hotel when I went to attend the UN conference. My wife went with me. I paid for her ticket. Only seven people went with me. But the people who work there said, ‘former President brought this many people here, stayed in that good hotel. Why are you staying in this hotel, even media personnel came, why didn’t you bring a group etc’. I did not do that. That’s how we need to make a change. If my relatives had also gone with me, they would have been happy too. When I don’t bring the relatives with me, they say ,’ Our uncle is the President but there’s no point since he wouldn’t allow us to go.” That’s the change. I even told the ministers not to hire relatives even as a coordinating officer. Then they complain to the minister saying that there’s no point in all the work they did, if they can’t even get a post of coordinating officer. That’s the change.
I also have that palace given to me which is way too big and difficult to live in. The electricity bill is a waste. I continue to live in the same house I used to live in. Actually, some people come and ask if this is where I live, and suggest that I go live in that palace. That’s the change.
I gave the Chancellor position of the University of Colombo to Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero of the Abhayarama. The Thero helped this government to come into power. The Thero made contributions from the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. That’s true. However, due to some reasons the Thero spoke against us recently and Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Mr. Sajith Premadasa and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the Thero and sought advice. People like Stalin and Mahinda Jayasinghe also went to seek advice. They all went to the Thero seeking advice but when the Thero becomes the Chancellor, they say it is not appropriate.
One day, when I was visiting to worship the Ruwanweli Seya, a monk asked, “Where is that one country – one law concept, President?” I said, “yes, Venerable Thero, we will implement it.” Two years passed. I spoke in the cabinet as well, that we need to do this. This is a concept, but today criticisms are being made for appointing Ven. Gnanasara Thero for that purpose. It was the Thero who spoke for five years about the ‘one country – one law concept.’ I told the Thero, ‘Venerable Thero has been speaking about this for five years, and now you can draft me the concept.’ Once the concept has been drafted, I will give it to the Minister of Justice. If there are any shortcomings, they can be fixed and then presented to Parliament. That’s what I need. This effort also receives blames and criticisms.
What’s the income the farmers receive for green gram today? As soon as I was elected, I stopped importing 16 crops like green gram, cowpea and undu. Today, a farmer earns Rs. 450 for green gram. How much do they get for pepper? For cinnamon, the farmers get about Rs.2,800 – 3,200 per kilo. I completely stopped importing turmeric. Now we are self-sufficient in turmeric. How much do the farmers get from turmeric today? and for ginger? When the farmer earns more money, the consumer faces an issue, it’s true. The income of the farmer cannot be reduced. Our duty is to take care of the farmer. That’s what we have done. We provide relief to the customer. That is the methodology.
When the Opposition speaks today, it does not talk about the amount the farmer receives. They only talk about the market prices. If we purchase Nadu from a farmer at Rs. 50, a kilo of rice can be sold at Rs.96 or Rs.98. All profits inclusive. However, the prices of rice will also go up similarly. We do not want to control the revenue received by the farmer, if it goes to the farmer. This is the situation today, Venerable Theros.
We are making the revolutionary change that the “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” has put forward. When I was elected to the office, the youths came forward and painted on the walls and cultivated the barren paddy fields. I invite them to trust this government and come forward once again and cultivate the paddy fields.
No need to have fear, this is a huge change. If we can make this change, we can increase the number of entrepreneurs in our country and conduct more research. If we can do that, we can tell that our country is the first country to do this. Then we can bring in more tourists. We can export our food and earn a better foreign exchange. This is a challenge. I invite all farmers, let’s cultivate. I conclude my speech with the promise that the revolutionary change demanded for will definitely take place.
Thank you!