SLPP MP Prof. Ranjith Bandara said that privatisation should not be a process that merely divests public enterprises to another direction. He added that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is not a political party that opposes privatisation and reform of state enterprises but strongly believes that it should be done very carefully. He stated this while attending a media conference held yesterday (6) at the SLPP party headquarters in Colombo.
He added that as a party, SLPP believes that jobs, which contribute to the inland revenue, should be developed.
“For a country to develop, jobs that generate tax money need to be increased. Otherwise, jobs that depend on tax money should not be created in the country. So far, the government has had to provide jobs to graduates, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level pass-outs or those who have no qualifications. These jobs were provided by utilizing monies collected from taxes paid by common masses. Public enterprises are generally investments of the tax-paying public of this country. Furthermore, the possibility of maintaining this public enterprise with public tax money is limited. That is why a conversation about the reform of public enterprises and privatization has come to the fore,” he noted. Speaking on online education Bandara said that DP Education, which is run by National List MP Dhammika Perera, has become the best online learning platform in Asia.
“As a political movement, we are extremely happy that this DP Education project has spread to every corner of the country. This has transformed the ordinary classroom,” he added.
In about a month, the budget will be presented to Parliament. People have high expectations.
He pointed out that there are many issues to be resolved in the upcoming budget.
“Poverty in our country has also increased. About one third of the population has suffered due to this poverty. There are also big problems in the uneven distribution of income and wealth. Throughout history, we have been engaged in a politics of forgetting the issues. But the people of this country will no longer tolerate such things. Therefore, we need to reveal the strategy of inviting the promoters even at the time of the budget. We have opened the Port City. But we can see that we have not been able to keep such a big hope. Therefore, to create jobs in the country, it is not possible to go to a culture of creating jobs by paying with the money of the taxpayers, which we have traditionally followed,” he noted.
“Therefore, we hope that in the upcoming budget, a policy framework will be presented that will create an environment where the private sector and foreign direct investment can do business in the country. We need to create a business environment in the country that can create jobs for the non-government sector. We hope to create an economic environment that encourages investors, where the economy does not shrink, and where consumers come to the market. This privatisation or reform should not be a process that simply diverts state enterprises,” he said.
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