Sri Lanka will be a truly democratic country by April, says Karu

Asia will remain as the engine of growth in the coming years and countries in the region should take advantage of this development.

Expanding on this comment, Resident Representative of International Monetary Fund for Sri Lanka and Maldives - Dr.Eteri Kvintradz, Guest of Honour at the 56th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka held in Colombo this week, said that Asia will remain as the engine of growth where a 5.5 per cent growth will be recorded next year and Sri Lanka should take advantage of being strategically located in the region.

She said liberalising businesses was an important catalyst for development of the private sector growth and a clear tax system was a pre-requisite for such a development. Tax collection in Sri Lanka had declined in the past and a new tax system with the participation of all corporate bodies would augur well for the country, she said.

New Minister of Public Administration, Buddha Sasana and Democratic Governance Karu Jayasuriya, who was the Chief Guest, said there was a big gap between the haves and have nots and the government was mindful of the fact that there was two uprisings in the country in the past.

The Finance Minister has been asked to work out a package to provide relief to the people as there were instances where families could not afford to have three meals a day. “We are trying to reduce the prices of 10 important food items. We have done a study and found that some food items in London and New York were comparatively cheaper than in Sri Lanka.”

He said they made a pledge to increase the salaries of public servants by Rs. 10,000 with the first installment of Rs. 5000 being paid in the February salary. “We also thought that pensioners should live comfortably and decided to pay them (an additional) Rs. 3,500 with their monthly pension.”

The minister also said that mothers who deliver children would be paid Rs. 25,000 to overcome malnutrition. “We are sad to see that many new born children today are malnourished with impaired brain function,” he added.

He said at the Parliamentary session last week the Prime Minister presented a plan for the 100 days programme which was well received by the house. “We want to clean up the system and will bring in the Freedom of Information Act. We will re-introduce the provision of the 17th amendment to depoliticise the system, ensure transparency and good governance. We will ensure rule of law and will see that the judiciary is not tampered with.

By 24th April when we dissolve the parliament you can be happy that we live in a country which is truly democratic and just,” he said.

Outgoing President of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka Sunil G. Wijesinha said if Sri Lanka was to reach the status of a developed country it must initiate and improve the public sector. The stand taken by the Commissioner of Elections during the recent Presidential Elections