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Saturday, 27 November 2010

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Time to deliver

The budget 2011 has given a series of concessions to business and industry. Taxes have been reduced and the entire tax structure has been made more simple and rational. A lot of red tape and bureaucratic procedures have been done away with. Bank rates are being kept low and banks themselves have been given various incentives that would guarantee them handsome profits and turnover.

In addition foreign exchange regulations have been relaxed to give entrepreneurs more opportunities for investments, both here and abroad.

In order to create a knowledge society special concessions have been given to the IT and ICT sectors. Foreign educational institutions are offered very attractive terms to start higher educational establishments in the country. Moreover, those industries that would bring higher technology and take up innovation are being encouraged economically.

Foreign investors also will get added incentives and even multiple visas. The Government will also carry out massive infrastructure development projects.

All this means the basis is laid for rapid development. However, the country will not be able to reap optimum results from this effort unless certain negative attitudes, habits and practices are abandoned. First of all there should be an attitudinal change. It is necessary to think of what the country would get or how it would benefit instead of thinking about what would accrue to the individual or how he or she would benefit. It is necessary to remember that the individual could prosper only if the country or the society prospers as a whole. Also such benefits that result from development must be equitably shared. There should not be an opportunity for anyone to repeat kolombata kiri apata kekiri. The absence of equity would cause social upheavals and endanger all gains achieved, as our recent history amply shows.

It is also necessary to eliminate waste and corruption. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has repeatedly emphasized this factor. It is no secret that the country loses several millions due to waste and corruption. The fact that our legal mechanisms to control these vices lack adequate funds and human resources lead to frustration among even the most dedicated personnel handling them.

There is also a public perception that it is political patronage that prevents action being taken against even known instances of wastage and corruption. Very often the legal proceedings in such cases drag on for long that the public too loses tends to forget and lose interest. The lack of citizen activists that act as watchdogs is another drawback.

Lethargy and inefficiency in the public sector are another negative factor that prevents optimal use of opportunities available. For example a considerable percentage of foreign aid and central government grants to provincial authorities go unutilized at the end of every year.

The public sector has also of late shown a tendency for ostentation and extravagance. This in the context of a large majority of the people leading an austere life bodes ill. The working people, it is to be remembered sacrificed a lot during the war without a grudge. They are still doing so for the sake of development.

Here the leaders and leading institutions should lead by example. The President himself is aware of this situation. That is why he has on several recent occasions advised his ministers and followers to do away with ostentation and show off.

Making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia is no mean task. It should not be treated lightly. It shall not come without sacrifice. Nor will it come if only a section of the population does sacrifice. Hard work, commitment and sacrifice are the key characteristics that should he identified in all if that laudable goal is to be achieved.

If those who talk much also work in the same tempo much could be achieved. Sadly we still find many who have found notoriety for No Action Talk Only (NATO).


Humour still alive

Mark Twain, the 'father of American literature' is known for his wit and humour. Once in a story he wrote about an encounter with a journalist while he was ill during which his death was widely speculated he wrote that dead Mark Twain is worth more than the living.

What prompted Twain to make that remark was the discovery of a telegram sent to the reporter by his Editor which said "Mark Twain if sick send 100 words, if dead send 500".

Now 100 years after his death his words have been proved true. An Autobiography of Mark Twain priced at $ 35 has sold 275,000 copies in six prints with the publisher finding it difficult to meet the growing demand.

Humour is still alive.

D A Rajapaksa memorial lecture :

National development of North and East

National development is not merely about the economy but the economy is central. It entails economic, social, political, cultural and even moral aspects. The contribution of the North and the East during the last three decades or so was hampered in all these spheres by the separatist and the terrorist war.

Full Story

The Morning Inspection

Lionel Ranwala awakens historical memory

There’s a story related by a journalist who was associated with a Sinhala newspaper. He had once gone to interview someone. The person concerned had asked him several times if indeed he (the journalist) worked for the said newspaper.

Full Story

On my Watch

Moving to a trilingual Sri Lanka

If the Address to the Nation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa last Friday gave a strong message on the need for national unity, and common cause across ethnic divides in the tasks of development,

Full Story

 

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