Mismanagement a serious impediment to develop country - Dr. Amunugama

By Lalin Fernandopulle

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The energy crisis is one of the biggest problems the country is facing and all successive Governments are responsible for implementing bad policies and mismanaging the sector, Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Dr. Sarath Amunugama said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the ‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2008, at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on Tuesday organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

“The total mismanagement and unforeseen decisions taken by successive Governments have become a serious impediment to develop the country. The country’s fuel bill has run into billions of rupees due to over dependence on costly thermal power”, he said.

Cheaper and alternative energy sources were not looked into to save valuable foreign exchange and use money on development activities. The Norochcholai coal power plant will be a huge saving for the country.

The global fuel prices are linked to the food crisis which many countries are unable to find a sustainable solution. The agriculture sector is not doing well and we could do much to increase the production of paddy.

“Production of paddy has grown from 25 bushels per acre to around 90 bushels per acre but it is not sufficient compared to other countries in the region which have made tremendous progress. Sri Lanka should be self-sufficient in paddy,” Dr. Amunugama said.

Development of the East will have a significant contribution to the growth of agriculture. We could add two digits to the growth momentum of the country if the North and East is managed properly. Mannar is the bread basket of the country and we could improve its yield.

Climate change and fuel prices are major issues of the world today. While oil producing countries are reaping the maximum benefits from the escalation of prices non-producing countries have to pay a huge price and are unable to expedite development.

Chairman CCC, Mahen Dayananda said the theme of this year’s summit has a significant relevance to the economy, development of the East, peace and stability and infrastructure development. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Meeting Today’s Challenges for a Better Tomorrow’.

“The Sri Lanka Economic summit has assumed increasing importance over the years and become the key event of the Chamber”, the Chamber chief said.

Managing public finance to enhance efficiency, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates; getting it right, for a peaceful and stable Sri Lanka and trade and investment opportunities in SAARC were some of the topics that were discussed at the summit.