Ceylon Today Editorial

CREATING JOBS FOR O/L DROPOUTS

16 February 2017

Despite the slew of attacks on the government ever since it took office two years ago leading to the government getting embroiled in serious issues relating to financial wrongdoing, one is struck by the obvious warmth with which President Maithripala Sirisena greeted Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe when the latter arrived at the Independence Day celebrations at Galle Face. It might have made close observers from among government's critics, including some MPs in the Joint Opposition vanguard who have been trying their utmost to drive a wedge between the President and Premier, wince in disgust at this obvious flaunting of the camaraderie between the two leaders. That this display of a strong and friendly bond (no pun intended) came just a week after the President appointed a Special Presidential Commission to probe the alleged Central Bank Bond scam, that the rag-tag opposition has taken great pains to ensure reflected badly on the Premier and the former CB Governor, would have sent positive signals once more to potential foreign investors who go by body language in serious matters such as bringing in huge investments to Sri Lanka. One's memory goes back to the 1950s in the US when Republican Richard Nixon assured the then rising star J.F. Kennedy that his eight months absence from the US Congress would not be exploited to erode the Democrat's wafer thin majority of just two members. Those were the days when gentlemen sat in political office, when there was morality in high places. Nixon commanded even the admiration of JFK's father who sent him a special message assuring him of his fullest support for the run for the presidency should the Dems not nominate his son JFK as his rival candidate. All of that despite the fact that Nixon has got truly scared of the potential Kennedy challenge for the Presidency, which he won in the end. It did not in the least drive a wedge between the two who shared a mutual admiration one for the other.

The display that almost went unnoticed at Galle Face that morning evoked emotions which the Nixon-Kennedy symbiosis evoked, a symbiosis that makes possible, in the jaws of a vicious opposition assault as it were, a slow but steady inching upwards towards development in real terms via projects which have trickle-down benefits for the people..

This was in no small way emphasized at the launch of the Wayamba River Project that will bring Mahaweli waters circuitously to thousands of farmer families. Most might have missed the fact that back in November last year, just four months ago, Premier Wickremesinghe pledged the creation of jobs for the youth in Wayamba via an industrial zone in Bingiriya and thus enhance their lifestyles... These were burning issues that were ignored by preceding governments over the past 25 years. On that occasion Premier Wickremesinghe initiated a scheme whereby low income members in the Wayamba Cooperative Development Society could receive housing loans

He added that the government's aim was to provide underdeveloped areas with roads, electricity, safe water for drinking and for irrigation, and health facilities.

Last Monday saw the President fulfilling the pledge about water for drinking, domestic use and irrigation in Wayamba with waters from the Moragahakanda Reservoir that flow through the Kurunegala District - a far cry from the negative flyovers, bridges and other infrastructure projects which had no trickle-down benefits for the people. The Prime Minister said that the government will also expand education opportunities in rural areas, with two more national schools in Kurunegala and Malkaduwawa.

It is in this context, however, that we must of necessity ask why the bulk of development projects go to either China, the US, India and Japan, especially when it's time we told the EU to get lost and directly woo European investors to invest in ventures which supply the export products under the still suspended GSP+ facility. The US is forging bilateral trade ties with the UK and some EU Member States, with Trump tearing up the Trans-Pacific-Partnership agreement. The government has been led astray by the private sector's tunnel vision in relation to GSP+ and needs to adopt a more dynamic approach to increasing imports.

Regaining GSP+ is not going to create the multiple thousands of jobs needed by our youth. But a foreign investor coming here with a project will create a thousand jobs.

Government intends introducing the US system of education in which there are no examinations. Over 200,000 students who don't qualify for higher education will be looking for jobs every year even if 100,000 of over 300,000 who don't qualify for higher education, do opt to pursue higher education elsewhere.

Foreign investments in large scale projects alone can create the huge number of jobs which will be needed annually for over 200,000 O/L dropouts.