-Irrespective of the Govt.’s mudslinging at him and his party, an overriding trait of this Rajapakse Govt.,( blaming all and sundry after inviting disaster for the people ), Ranil said, he had to rise above party politics to save the Industry ,as the country’s entire economy which is already in a shambles will be further ruined if this concession is withdrawn. Besides, over a lakh of workers will also lose their jobs.________________________
(June 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Addressing a media persons in Colombo on Today morning (June 04) , Opposition Leader , Ranil Wickremesinghe who made a tour of Brussels recently at the behest of all Apparel Industries in an attempt to resolve the GSP + concessions which is under imminent threat of withdrawal by the European countries ,allegedly due to Govt.’s bungling and retrograde policies., said ,that it is not his nature to barter the country and its people’s interests for cheap political gain .
Tracing the history of the origin of these GSP+ benefits, he explained that when he
Was the Prime Minister in 2004, it is he who lobbied and secured this benefit for Sri Lanka. Owing to this concession, a great many of SL exporters, especially Apparel exporters to European countries gained, whereby they could compete in the International market successfully.
However, immediately thereafter, the UNP lost its power. Yet, UNP continued to give full support to Chandrika Bandaranayake, the President at that time (even though she was not of the UNP) to fully accomplish the objectives of this scheme. Consequently, our exports boomed and lakhs of job opportunities were generated.
Now, this Govt. has muddled up this scheme by not adhering to the stipulations in the 27 Int. treaties which are mandatory for the renewal of these concessions falling due in December this year. As there are signals already of this concession being withdrawn , the Apparel Industry which is going to be worst hit, urged him to put right what the Govt. has put totally wrong , in the same way as it has in its other projects and schemes, he asserted.
Irrespective of the Govt.’s mudslinging at him and his party, an overriding trait of this Rajapakse Govt.,( blaming all and sundry after inviting disaster for the people ), Ranil said, he had to rise above party politics to save the Industry ,as the country’s entire economy which is already in a shambles will be further ruined if this concession is withdrawn. Besides, over a lakh of workers will also lose their jobs.
On his tour of Brussels, he met the relevant Officials, Waldheim and Peter Handerson and he has successfully negotiated with them, but, now the ball is in the Govt. courts. It is for the Govt. to rectify its flaws on time and apply for the concessions before October 2008.
In the meanwhile it is reported that one of the high ranking officials of the Central bank has stated that the Govt. is not worried over this.
No matter what steps the Govt. may take, the UNP is fully prepared to help it out of this rut it has driven itself into. UNP will give its wholehearted support, even if the need be for Constitutional amendments as, it is the country and the people who are going to face the dire consequences, not the Govt., he concluded.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
So you were prepared to hand over a third of the coastal belt to terror Prabhakaran & washed your hands off on human rights issues, only to be benefited by your negotiated GSP + concessions, was it? And you want to be the President of Sri Lanka?
Post a Comment