BoC tower of strength, beacon of hope for people - Water Supply Minister

Raja Waidyasekera Tissamaharama special correspondent

The Bank of Ceylon which is said to be a light house of the nation is a tower of strength and a beacon of hope for the people, said the Minister of Water Supply Mahinda Amaraweera.

The Minister was addressing a meeting at Theraputta MV (Theraputta) Ambalantota that was convened to felicitate 216 farmers and to award loans.

The Ambalantota branch of the Bank of Ceylon organised the function.

The Minister said that he is a customer of the Bank of Ceylon. BoC has a history of several decades as a bank of the state sector.

The Minister said that BoC is a blessing for the people in an era when there are persons who mislead the people and collect millions of rupees and migrate to a foreign country.

He said although there are a lot of state sector and private sector banks in the island, BoC is at the forefront having created a trustworthy name and confidence among customers.

The Minister said certain banks have disbursed loans to millionaires in the country without a guarantee and a security. These loans to the tune of millions of rupees remain unsettled yet. But if a farmer or individual applies for a loan he has to even mortgage whatever he has to obtain even a small loan. I am aware of these things as a member of COPE.

He said banks must think of the hardships of less fortunate people and help them to engage themselves in self employment to lead self reliant lives instead of millionaires because they are the people who settle loans in time.

The Minister said President Mahinda Rajapaksa will raise the Lion Flag at Kilinochchi within a short period of one month after defeating LTTE. There was an era when certain section of people in this country said that LTTE is the toughest Guerilla warriors and that it cannot be defeated. This section of people must erase this concept from their minds because the LTTE war has almost come to an end.

He said there is also a section of people who obstruct this by staging protest campaigns and strikes.

The Minister said even INGOs that support the LTTE are obstructing the steps taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to put an end to the war and dawn a new era for Sri Lanka.

He said Sri Lanka is surrounded by sea but still we import tinned fish from foreign countries. We also import consumer items that we could produce in our country and drain a colossal sum of money in the form of foreign exchange to foreign countries. We must arrive at a decision not to continue these things.

Deputy DGM BoC I. D. Weerasena said that 28,000 projects have been disbursed loans by BoC and that out of Rs. 17,600 million earned 9,980 million has been utilised for the development and beneficiary activities in the Southern Province.

The chairman BoC Dr. Gamini Wickramasinha, DGM Nimal Weligoda and AGM B. A. C. Fernando were present.