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| Sunday, 30 November 2003 |
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Budget prepared at instance of foreign leaders Eksath Sinhala Party Media Release In the Third budget of the UNF, we consider that the UNF has had in mind the possibility of a general election this year and has prepared the country to dish out immediate benefits that will mislead the people to believe of good things to come. The key problems of the country have been suppressed. Over one million youth are desperately looking for non existing jobs. One million, mainly females, have left the country for menial jobs abroad. Some of them from Middle Fast are returning in coffins or without any pay being remitted for months. Forty thousand University Graduates are picketing on streets in Matara, Kurunegala etc asking for non existing jobs. One and half lakhs of estate youths are without jobs. They are likely to join the ranks of the LTTE now setting up offices in the estates. The budget has no solution in sight for any of them. The budget has opened the flood gates for public servants and corporation employees to leave their jobs prior to retirement, with inducements such as full pay till they reach 55 years. This is to reduce the public service in excess of the needs. The budget has no job prospects for them after such enforced retirement. The UNF has no Human Resources Development Plan. Nor has it a plan for industrial development. It has cut the industrial research budget to 0.1% of the GNP for the next year and this provision has been eliminated altogether from 2005 onwards as expected in the Regaining of Sri Lanka report on which the budget is based. The political program of the UNF is an adjunct to the needs of the money lenders supporting the UNF. The country is importing 12,000 vehicles annually spending over Rs. 30 billion which amounts to 10% of the budget. The Japanese who supply the bulk of these vehicles are prepared to dole out any loans to expand the infrastructure including the roads and bridges to accommodate the extra vehicles. We spend over Rs 90 billion on petrol and fuels to keep the vehicles moving. This amounts to 25% of the budget. All goodies needed by the upper classes are imported with no restriction and little duty. The Budget has no incentives to industrial promotion, through any new state ventures. This has been nominally left to the private sector. This country with a few industries to speak of needs the state to play a vital role to develop new ventures, to create employment and value addition. This has been completely kept out of the budget. As in the past, agriculture without a supporting industrial manufacturing base has been found to be very unproductive, as the expenditure on industrial inputs needed in modern agriculture are a financial burden. No reference is made in the budget to meet this shortcoming, leaving the farmer to the mercy of the importer. This makes us label the budget as a set of proposals in a vacuum prepared at the instance of foreign lenders to fool the masses. |
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