President making vast strides while Ranil is dreaming - Minister

Lakshmi DE SILVA

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is still dreaming about the future of Sri Lanka while President Mahinda Rajapaksa within his four year tenure in office had defeated terrorism. He had also started work in naval, air, IT, oil exploration sectors and was working towards making Sri Lanka a commercial hub not only in Asia but the entire world, said Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka at a press conference at the Mahaweli Centre, Colombo yesterday.

"During the UNP regime, Wickremesinghe signed an agreement with Norway in February 2002 and gave all the rights to explore our oil resources to them. But President Rajapaksa courageously made decisions and took those rights back. We would become a centre of energy with our oil resources within the next few years", he said.

Over 65 university students disappeared during the UNP rule while employees who dared to strike were killed. They also folded the election map while the Mahinda Rajapaksa government unfolded the election map and held election after election bringing democracy, the Minister said.

Despite the war the economic growth recorded during the last four years was six percent. Inflation rate was reduced to one digit from double digits. Per capita income which was around US$ 1,000 had risen to nearly US$ 2,000.

Foreign reserves had risen to US$ five billion from $1.2 billion. During Wickremesinghe's regime the external debt ratio was at 106 percent but now it had come down to 80 percent, the minister said.

"Though the UNP had an efficient minister like Lalith Athulathmudali, it was unable to even expand harbours.

But now Hambantota, Oluvil and Kankesanthurai ports are being built and under a special project these would be green ports to protect the environment. The Bandaranaike International Airport had also improved its capacity three fold," Minister Ranawaka said.

The government will rid the country of drug peddling and abuse and also human trafficking and make it a commercial hub and work towards achieving results by agreement and dialogue rather than by demands, he said.