Effective youth exchange program:

World Youth Conference will lead the way - Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said youth from all over the world will attend the World Conference on Youth 2014 and can see for themselves the peace restored in the country and the freedom enjoyed by the people. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said these youth will give a strong message to the international community on the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in Sri Lanka. Youth always speak and act according to their conscience and they don't have any hidden agendas like certain people who visit Sri Lanka. This is the biggest advantage that we would gain from this conference.

The Minister said religious extremism or racism is promoted within the country not because they love their religion or race. Some other force may be behind them. The conduct of these extremist groups is a threat to country's hard earned peace and they may drag the country towards a decisive end. We should prevent the attempts made by these elements to disrupt the country. Whoever criticises, the Government categorically states that a special Police Unit was set up to prevent attempts made by certain elements to create an unstable situation within the country promoting religious extremism among the people.

Q: The Opposition is going to mobilize the public against the Government's Mixed Development Project which they brand as casino resorts. Could you enlighten us on the turmoil?

A: This is an integrated resort project. In any country when a massive investment like an integrated resort is to be made with required facilities, final approval is given after considering its impact from different angles. Three orders to set up these integrated resorts were submitted to Parliament under the Strategic Development Projects Act. All developed countries in the world such as Singapore and Malaysia have given approval to set up these integrated resort projects. In Sri Lanka, facilities have only been given for 10 such integrated resorts so far. These are very important projects for a country. I categorically state the Government will not give any casino tax concession or license to commence casinos in Sri Lanka. The question raised by majority of the people is whether James Packer will come to Sri Lanka for an investment without setting up of casinos. He can come to Sri Lanka and make his investment. This is very clear according to the speech made by Packer when he came to Sri Lanka. One of the major component of his speech was the identification Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination. Now the Government has given approval to construct this resort. Why do they oppose to that? Whatever problem crops up later, it can be looked into whether the Government has given new license and concessions to set up casinos. When the Government has not done any such thing whatsoever, a new opinion has been created by the Opposition to mislead the public. This has seriously affected country's investments. Some Australian newspapers had reported on Wednesday that James Packer is not coming to Sri Lanka. If this is what the Opposition expected, that may be a victory achieved by them. The total value of three investments made by Waterfront Properties Private Ltd, Lake Leisure Holdings (PVT) Ltd and Queensbury Leisure Ltd is US$ one billion. The total value of the investments gained by us last year was US$ 1.3 billion. If these three investments were made, our total investments would have exceeded the limit of US$ 2 billion last year.

Q: A considerable number of Government MPs including several Ministers were absent at the voting, despite instructions given to them by the party hierarchy to be present at the voting. What will be their fate?

A: Most of the young UPFA Parliamentarians were abroad at the time when this vote was taken. We moved the Bill urgently. Because the three months would have lapsed on April 30. Hence April 24 and April 25 were fixed for debate. When these days were fixed, some of the Government MPs were already on foreign tours. Among the remaining Government MPs, it was only the JHU which voted against these three orders while some constituent partners of the Government, the SLMC and NFF abstained from voting due to their policy decisions.

Q: What do you think is the reason for the JHU to oppose the three orders moved under the Strategic Development Projects Act?

A: They may have thought of their vote base. But I don't like to elaborate on this. They who created the view that casinos come under these projects. They may have resorted to that decision thinking that it would cause a damage to their vote base.

Q: The induction of a special Police unit to deal with religious matters has been criticised by the JHU and JVP as totally ineffective and uncalled for. How do you explain this?

A: It is an unfortunate situation. Problems were created in this country mainly due to racism and religious extremism. It was Prabhakaran who created racism in the minds of the people. As a result, thousands of people sacrificed their lives. If religious extremism crops up in this manner, a serious problem may occur in the country in the future. Everybody should have the right to worship their religion. As a community, they should have the freedom to live in this country whether they are Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. Religious extremism or racism is promoted within the country not because they love their religion or race. Some other force maybe behind them. The conduct of these extremist groups is a threat to the country's hard-earned peace and they may drag the country towards a decisive end. We should prevent the attempts made by these elements to disrupt the country. Whoever criticises this, the Government categorically states the special Police Unit was set up to prevent attempts made by certain elements to create an unstable situation within the country promoting religious extremism among the people.

Q: The UNP advised its MPs to boycott the recent Commonwealth event held at Temple Trees alleging that Commonwealth values and principles have been observed in the breach. What are your views on this?

A: The UNP boycotted this function not because the Government has violated Commonwealth values. Now the UNP has begund to make use of every situation against the Government. This was a Commonwealth cultural event held at Temple Trees. The UNP didn't have any valid reason to boycott this function. The UNP tried to gain political mileage. The UNP has taken a decision to seriously launch their political process against the Government. A political party should not boycott this kind of function. If the UNP thinks that Commonwealth values have been violated, it is their duty to rectify it within the country without exposing them to the outside. But the UNP attempts to give a distorted picture to the Commonwealth to discredit Sri Lanka. If they love their motherland, they should show it within the country. They should have not boycotted the Commonwealth function by giving a wrong message to Geneva. This was a deliberate attempt by the UNP.

Q: What are the benefits to the country from the World Conference on Youth 2014 to be held in Sri Lanka next week?

A: Like the Colombo Declaration, the Youth Declaration is going to be launched at this World Conference on Youth which would have very positive aspects on our future. In the past, the Colombo Declaration also became advantageous to us. Youth from all over the world will attend this conference so that they can see for themselves the peace restored within the country and the freedom enjoyed by the people. These youth will give a strong message to the international community on the prevailing peaceful atmosphere in Sri Lanka. Youth always talk and act according to their conscience. They always speak the ultimate truth and they don't have any hidden agendas like certain people who visit Sri Lanka. This is the biggest advantage that we would gain from this conference. The World Conference on Youth would also pave the way for an effective youth exchange program among countries. The Commonwealth Secretary General will also participate. Hosting this event would debunk various misconceptions spread by certain elements with vested interest on Sri Lanka.

Q: Certain minority groups which are hell-bent on chauvinistic lines is a threat to national reconciliation. What are your views?

A: Certainly. The behaviour of some religious leaders based on religious extremism is a threat national reconciliation. Because various other religious groups also try to respond. This kind of behaviour may have a serious impact on the hard -earned peace and reconciliation. This is a serious situation.

Q: Compared to the 30 years of brutal terror, reconciliation cannot be achieved overnight. Don't you believe far from passing resolutions, the US, the UK and Canada should help Sri Lanka to complete the process?

A: These countries are making a grave mistake. Passing resolutions one by one would cause a massive damage to our reconciliation process and it would not bring any fruitful results. Because pass these resolutions would further distance us from those countries and the country would be dragged into another direction. I think these countries deliberately resort to such actions against us. The Western countries which couldn't sabotage our military operations launched to defeat terrorism are now attempting internally destabilize the country economically and socially. Through passing resolutions against Sri Lanka, these countries attempt to weaken our economy. They have passed so many resolutions against some countries. But they were not able to implement even a single resolution. These Western countries should not interfere into the internal affairs of countries in this manner.

Q: How will any change of the Indian Government affects its mutual relations with Sri Lanka?

A: Actually we have to look into it based on the conduct of that new Government. It has to be analysed based on the first official statement made by the new Indian Prime Minister and the Government. If various predictions are made, sometimes a more positive change will be made after the new Indian Government comes to power. If the new Indian Government thinks that they should further strengthened their mutual relations with Sri Lanka, the prevailing situation will be changed than we expect.

Q: Government is fully committed to the national reconciliation following the LLRC recommendations. But surprisingly TNA is engaged in a sinister campaign to promote racial disharmony through their recent political behavioural patterns. What have you got to say about it?

A: TNA acts according to the whims and fancies of diaspora. Earlier TNA was run by the LTTE. Now the TNA is handled by the diaspora. I don't think TNA is the sole representative of the Tamil community. If the TNA is genuinely concerned about the grievances of their people, they should cooperate with the Government. If they have any problems they should discuss and sort out it with the Government. Except from the Government, TNA cannot get anything from anybody else. If they go before the international community, they can't get anything from them. Without getting what they can get from the Government, TNA is engaging in a futile attempt to weaken the Government to cater to the needs of the diaspora. The TNA's attempt to weaken the Government will never able them to sort out the problems faced by the Tamil people.

Q: Some vociferous UNPers are confident of forming a Government of theirs in 2015. Can you think of legitimate reason as to how they make this statement?

A: First the UNP should find a capable leader who can compete with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. How a party like UNP forms a Government which is not even in a position to find a leader to suit President Rajapaksa's image. The UNP should find a candidate to field for the next Presidential Election. Otherwise the UNP Leadership Council cannot contest for the Presidential Election. I don't think the UNP will able to find a suitable leader within the next couple of years. The UNP's foundation and vote base have been eroded so that it will take more than five years to rectify it. I hope the next Presidential Election will be held next year and definitely the President will win the election. Therefore under the President's leadership, the next General Election will also be won by the Government.