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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Foundation for take-off
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga continuing the interview with Sunday Observer Editor Jayatilleke de Silva described what her government had done to improve the social infrastructure of the country. Q: Madam President, in the 1994 election campaign you were speaking of a market driven economy with a human face as your vision for the country. How far have you succeeded in humanising the market economy during your tenure as President? A: What we inherited from the J.R. Jayewardene regime was a crony-capitalism. The benefits of economic development did not trickle down to the lowest strata in society. Only a handful of cronies benefited from it. We placed emphasis on the development of social infrastructure. This was not done haphazardly. Several Presidential Task Forces were set up in vital areas like education, health, prevention of drug abuse and alcoholism etc. These Task Forces comprising eminent persons with expert knowledge on the subjects involved drew up policies and they were later implemented through legislation and economic planning. A few statistics would prove my point. When I assumed office Sri Lanka was a developing country in the Low Income Group with a per capita income less than US$ 700. Now Sri Lanka has entered the group of Low Middle Income Countries with a per capita income above US$ 1000. Through the Samurdhi movement we created a safety net for the low-income families. It was not simple charity but was a program designed to lift the rural and urban poor from poverty. During the last 11 years the Samurdhi movement has been able to provide self-employment to over 300,000 persons. Rs. 2106 million was invested in Samurdhi development projects during the same period. Samurdhi scheme benefits 1.800,000 families and is the biggest poverty alleviation program ever to be implemented in the country. Q: Education is considered to be a means of upward social mobility as well as a means of developing human capital required for rapid economic development. How far have you been successful in uplifting education during your tenure of office? A: When we took over power the education system was in chaos. There had been no comprehensive education reforms for several decades. The entire education system was archaic. It had to be modernised. We carried out extensive education reforms beginning with primary education reforms in 1997 and then proceeding to Secondary and Tertiary stages. As a result student performance at public examinations - the G.C.E. Ordinary Level and Advanced Level have improved. During the period of my tenure G.C.E. Ordinary Level pass rate has increased from 17 percent to 32 percent while the corresponding figures for the Advanced Level were 47 and 57 percent. The teacher student ratio has been brought down to 1:21 during the same period resulting in better quality education. During the same period 397 schools were developed under the Navodya project and 321 Schools were developed as National Schools. The number of Universities increased from 9 in 1994 to 15 today. The most recent universities to be established were the Uva Wellassa University and the University of Visual and Performing Arts. Besides study courses have been introduced. The number of University students had more than doubled from 30,304 in 1994 to 64, 801 in 2004. Besides there were a total of 54,000 students in various technical and vocational study programs. Hostel and other student welfare facilities have been substantially increased in all universities during the same period. Q: Health care is another component of social infrastructure. What are your achievements in this field? A: On the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Health we implemented a number of development projects in the health sector. The total public expenditure on health increased by 489 percent from Rs. 6,332 million in 1995 to Rs. 37, 303 million in 2005. During the same period the number of state hospitals increased from 467 to 617, an increase of 32 percent, the number of doctors in state hospitals increased from 4,577 to 9, 234, an increase of 101 percent and number of nurses increased from 13. 432 to 24, 275, an increase of 81 percent. Moreover, one hospital in each province was elevated to the status of a General Hospital. A ten-storey building was added to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo with state of art technologies. This has resulted in an increase of bed strength from 776 to 1166, The Sirimavo Bandaranaike Children's Hospital is under construction in Peradeniya and work will be completed by the end of the year. It will provide specialised treatment to children suffering from cardiac, neurological and kidney ailments. Besides steps were also taken to upgrade the facilities at Ayurvedic hospitals in the island, especially those in Colombo, Ratnapura and Anuradhapura. Much improvement has taken place in preventive medicine. For example there was not a single instance of any epidemic following the tsunami due to the effective action taken by our health authorities. Q: Physical infrastructure development is a vital pre-requisite for economic take off. What are the achievements of your Government in this regard? A: In 1995 only 45 percent of the households had electricity. By 2005 electricity coverage had increased to cover 72 percent of the households. The total installed capacity of the electric system increased from 1409 MW in 1995 to 2304 MW in 2005. The Kukule Ganga Hydro-electric Project, which commenced in 1997, was completed in 2003. It added 70 mw to the national grid. The completion of the Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Thermal Plant added another 165 MW. Action has been taken to construct the Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Plant and Norochcholai Coal Power Plant. The Aviation sector too witnessed considerable development. During this period the Government has spent Rs. 13, 952 million for development of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. Besides Phase two of the BIA development plan commenced in 1999. Its completion would enable the BIA to handle 4 million passengers and 300,000 MT of cargo per annum. Due to the development of the Colombo Port its container handling capacity doubled from 1995 to 2005. In 2004 the Colombo Port handled 2.22 million TEUs. Communications sector has achieved spectacular growth during the period under review. The number of fixed telephone lines increased from 180, 724 in 1994 to 999,239 in 2005. During the same period the number of mobile phones increased from 29,182 to 2, 211,158. The number of Internet and email connections soared from 2504 in 1996 to 93,444 in 2005. |
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