|
|
|
| Sunday, 18 September 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Politics |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
UNP's vote
catching slogans
by a staff reporter The latest slogan of the UNP is the conversion of Sri Lanka into a Parakramabahu era. It was the UNP that proposed earlier to do away with paddy cultivation. It was the very party that came up with the idea of filling up paddy fields and making use of these lands to put up garment factories. It appears the UNP leadership makes contradictory statements to attract the votes of farmers in the forthcoming presidential election. It is a known fact that during the period of King Parakramabahu he had given top priority for paddy cultivation in the country. The second biggest inland reservoir was constructed by him and provided irrigation facilities for thousands of acres in the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa. He never depended on a liberal economy and King Parakramabahu had completely depended on the country's indigenous economy. He had never pleaded for support of foreign powers to solve domestic problems of the country. Therefore, the corrupt neo-liberal economy of 1977 and the self devolved economy of King Parakramabahu could never bind together. The UNP leadership is now highly worried about problems of farmers. The UNP government elected in 1977 held five star vap magul ceremonies in the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura. It was a historical event and some of those politicians were seen hanging on to ploughs wearing deck shoes. Just after the vap magula the Fertiliser Manufacturing Corporation was closed down. And the urea plant donated by the Soviet Union on the request of late leader Sirimavo Banadaranaike was sold for a mere song to a Dubai based company in 1980. The market monopoly of fertiliser was given to the private sector. This was the root cause of constant price hikes of fertiliser and it went from Rs. 250 to 1,450 per 50 kilos. The UNP government elected in 2001 again did away with fertilizer subsidy and sold the CWE the main purchasing arm of paddy to the private sector and storage facilities were also sold to their friends at give away prices. Most of these stores have now been converted to garment factories. Throughout the UNP regimes farmers could not sell their paddy at reasonable price. In some instances farmers even committed suicide since they could not repay their bank loans. We remember once this question was raised in Parliament by SLFP Parliamentarian D. M. Jayaratna and asked as to why farmers committed suicide. The UNP reply was goviyo joliyata wasabonne (farmers drink poison for the thrill). This is how they treated farmers. When President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga assumed office in 1994 she gave relief to the farmers by writing off their loans. The UPFA government that came into power in 2004 re-granted fertiliser
subsidy and brought down fertilizer prices in the market from 1,450 to 750
per 50 kilo. If we had the urea factory in Sapugaskanda it could have
provided fertiliser at a reasonable price and the petroleum by product of
Sapugaskanda refinery could also have been used for the benefit of the
country. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
