The completely carpeted and modernised internal road system of the Faculty of Health Care Sciences of the Eastern University at Pillayaradi in Batticaloa, was handed over to the students under the patronage of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana at the invitation of the State Minister for Rural Road Development Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
Speaking at the event, Chandrakanthan said:
“Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana is giving us a lot of support for the development of this area. He has especially contributed a lot to increase the income level of the people in our area. By increasing the income level, the people live more happily and cooperate with each other. In history, some Tamil political leaders have made statements with hatred and have engaged in certain protests. Such things also affected the country’s economy. A good country should be created in such a way that such a situation does not arise in the future.
“As an economic expert who has a good understanding of the current situation of the country, when the Minister was serving as the Minister of Education, and when I was serving as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, a large number of Mahindodaya laboratories were donated to schools in this area. The technology stream was also launched at that time. As a result, schools and children’s education in this area have also made great progress. It is a great pleasure to work with him in the Ministry.”
Speaking on the occasion Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said:
“Nelson Mandela once said that education is the most powerful weapon that can change the world. This road development project, which can be considered a very valuable resource for Eastern University, has been completed with the aid of a US$ 50 million loan from the Kuwait Fund. All other funds that are not grants, regardless of the funds received, are concessional loans that must be repaid. There is an opinion among some scholars of the country that all the infrastructure facilities like universities, schools, hospitals, roads, electricity, etc. are constructed with the taxes of the people. But none of this has been built in the country with the money of the taxpayers.
“The reason for this is that no government in the country has received enough tax revenue to run the government on a day-to-day basis. Regardless of which political group holds power, every month government employee salaries, pensions, relief measures such as Samurdi, Aswesuma and interest must be paid for all the loans taken. No government has been able to raise enough tax revenue to cover the recurring expenses by imposing a heavy tax burden on the people.
“Due to this situation, there is a serious deficit in the country’s balance of payments. In order to cover this deficit, loans have been obtained from other institutions and countries including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). When that loan was not enough, what the existing governments had done was presenting a supplementary estimate and printing money during the continuous agitations, strikes and violence. Every government has printed a large amount of money and put it into use.
“At the time of the Covid pandemic that the whole world faced, the entire country was shut down and even though government employees did not report to duty, everyone’s salaries were paid. Almost every family was given a subsidy of Rs. 5,000 each. Every loan taken must be paid on the due date. Loans obtained through sovereign bonds must be repaid in one go. But the payments could not be made. Based on this situation, the international rating agencies brought Sri Lanka down to a low position.
“Due to this situation, our country lost its recognition in foreign countries. The country’s foreign reserves collapsed and imports could not be carried out. Electricity had to be cut. There was a shortage of essentials. People were driven to violence by hatred. At that time, Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected to the Presidency by the majority vote of the Parliament to save the country from this situation.
“He negotiated with the IMF and signed an extended loan agreement until 2027 and put the country in a position to breathe again. After that, the IMF has appointed an official debt committee and prepared a formal programme for the payment of foreign debt. We as the government of Sri Lanka have signed a binding agreement with China, India, Japan, and the French aid group to pay this huge amount of debt that has to be paid up to 2042.
“Accordingly, we will restart the development activities that have been stopped in all parts of the country, including the Eastern Province and the Northern Province, this year and start the work of making a massive transformation of development in these areas.
“For the benefit of the children and staff of this university, a request was made to provide a substation to the Wandaramulla area in association with this university. The railway general manager and other officials have been given instructions and the necessary basic steps are being taken in the next one month,” the Minister said.
Varuna Dayaratne