Govt. came to power through unrealistic promises: Gota
Former Defence Secretary and President of the Viyathmaga Organisation, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the government that came to power through unrealistic promises was motivated only by victimizing the political rivals, without an effective development plan or individuals who were able to implement a plan.
Addressing a conference of the Viyathmaga Organisation at the Panadura town hall he said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who claimed during the general election that Mattala airport and the Hambanota harbour were failed projects running at heavy losses, now expected the people to wait for years to get the dividends of his development activities. He should understand that it would take time for the dividends of Mattala airport and the Hambantota harbour to trickle down to the people if the dividends of his development activities would take years to reach the people.
The former Defence Secretary pointed out that the government’s mismanagement of the two projects resulted in leasing them to foreigners.
“It is not possible to develop the country if the public service was inefficient. Today well qualified personnel prefer private sector to public service. The public officers shoulder a large responsibility in the development effort. The country needs the contribution of well qualified and leant public officers in the development effort. We must plan our development policy. We must identify the required education reforms. About 200,000 young men and women qualify for admission to the universities, but only about 20,000 of them are admitted. It is the responsibility of the government to formulate an effective plan to further their education. We gave leadership to the war and made the people vigilant on terrorist activities. We recruited more than 8000 soldiers and formed the Civil Defence Committee to provide protection to schools, public places and public transport services. The intelligentsia of the country played an integral part in this endeavour,” he said.
He further said the object of the Viyathmaga Organisation was to muster the support of the country’s intelligentsia to formulate policies for the rule of law and economic development.
Mjr. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, Senior Journalist Mohan Samaranayake addressed the conference. Former Northern Province Govenor Mjr. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri was also present at the occasion.