Fast-tracking growth and overcoming bottle necks

On our Business pages today, we carry appeals by a number of prominent business leaders for industrial peace and stability. Needless to say, this is most timely and appropriate in view of the recent disturbances at the Katunayake FTZ, which caused a factory worker his life. It is little realized, perhaps, that prolonged industrial unrest and domestic instability could torpedo the country's efforts to fast-track development and affect its ability to make maximum use of the economic opportunities that are opening out for it.

Considering the ambitious growth plans that are on the drawing boards of the state and the material dividends that they could translate into, it should not come as a surprise if the enemies of the state have been gearing to turn back the hands of time and to reverse these better prospects. There are, for instance, well thought-out plans to promote foreign direct investment on a substantial scale and to double the room capacity of our hotel industry over the next few years, in anticipation of a greatly increasing tourist traffic. As a news report which we front-page today indicates, a report outlining these and many more development programmes will be handed over presently to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa by the Ministry's Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera.

As Sri Lanka moves into this advanced growth phase, it needs to remember that a united and collective effort at taking the country forward is an essential precondition for sustained material advancement. It is Sri Lanka as whole that would suffer irreparably if her growth plans are wrecked by domestic industrial and other forms of unrest. This should be understood by those sections which are out to undo the country's development plans by hook or by crook.

Even in the case of brief bouts of unrest and disruption, the country's growth plans would suffer considerably, and this could be a principal outcome of the Katunayake happenings. Leading manufacturers of the FTZ testified fully to this disappointing fall-out.

While the enemies of the state are accustomed to go all out and stop at nothing to abort a government's plans to prosper the country, and should, therefore, be dealt with firmly under the law, the state bears a responsibility to communicate more effectively with the people on its development plans and, to the extent possible, to win their total agreement on its growth and other initiatives. It is now realized that the private pension scheme foundered as a result of the state not adequately and lucidly spelling out this project to the people and there are lessons aplenty in this drawback which should not go a begging.

The need is also great for the multiple state agencies involved in these development projects to act in unison and collaboratively for the purpose of smoothing out the growth process. It is vitally important that these agencies are not seen as being at cross purposes. A collaborative development effort is what is required.

Besides, we need to get our development priorities right. As we have time again mentioned in this commentary, it just would not do to assume that growth would eventually 'trickle-down' to the people if the growth spirt is launched and simply persisted with. 'Trickle-down' is unlikely to automatically take place. A strategy and practical programme needs to be in place, to take development to the people in increasing measure. In other words, we need a degree of planning to ensure that the less privileged are not left out of the development process. This is not merely a question of the wheels of welfarism being in humming condition. The poor in particular should be enabled to make maximum use of the economic opportunities that are expected to open out. For example, if the setting-up of more and more hotels is on the cards, then the provincial youth must be geared and equipped to make full use of the employment opportunities that would be on offer.

The state and the public would also be now fully aware of the mountainous proportions bribery and corruption is taking in this country today. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption is reportedly staggering under some 3,000 unresolved bribery cases which have piled up over the years. While it must be remembered that these are allegations that need to be investigated and proved, there is no denying that bribery and corruption in public life is continuing to be a major issue.

The point to remember is that growth projects usually open opportunities for corrupt practices and the state should crack the whip unhesitatingly on all wrong-doers on this score. This must be done irrespective of public position and rank, if the Commission is not to be seen as ineffective. Besides, eliminating corruption is a certain means of ensuring that material growth eventually percolates down to the people. The purchasing power of the people should increase if development in the real sense is to occur and wiping out corruption could ensure this.