Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne assured that the main opposition was ready with plan and strategies to implement projects for the well-being of the people no sooner it comes to office after an election.
He was speaking at a media conference at the office of the Leader of the Opposition on Sunday.
The SJB opposes the sale of the strategically important the State Owned Enterprises (SoEs) such as Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Petroleum Corporation but insists that the monopoly now enjoyed by such SoEs be brought to an end with private sector participation on a competitive market system. “However, so far attention was paid to make sure the employees’ interest but no government paid its attention to consumer interests,” he added.
“The people complain that even if there is a surplus of employees in government institutions, the public cannot get a service without paying bribes. We cannot simply reject these allegations as there is no smoke without fire. Most of the SoE s are inefficient and loss-making. Now the Government has been talking of restructuring them.
“The SJB is for restructuring of the SoEs. But what is the philosophy for it. If a State organisation is involved in manufacturing goods and service, priority should be given to provide quality goods with an efficient and competitive atmosphere to the consumers. Second priority is to protect the rights of employees. Restructuring should be made under a transparent process,” Wickramaratne said.
He also said that amongst several Expressways that were constructed in the country, except one, all the other projects have been awarded without following proper procurement process of competitive bidding process to known persons or companies. Under this context, the people of this country have a suspicion of the actions of this Government as it has handled major development projects not for the country but to henchmen.
In the recent past the Government has had discussion with a US firm to bring in investment in the energy sector. But it appeared to be a mysterious deal as no transparency in the transaction.
“When we take SriLankan Airline, it losses runs to over Rs. 400 billions. The people maintain this loss-making airline with their direct and indirect tax money. The SriLankan has under its wing two other sectors that are making profit. Now plans are afoot to privatise those two profit-making organization: ground handling and catering services leaving behind the airline to make further losses.
“In 2019, a report was prepared as to how the SriLankan should be restructured. President’s expert committee on restructuring the SriLankan headed by Eran Wickramaratne that included Dr. Harsha de Silva and the present CBSL Governor Dr. Nadalal Weerasinghe and few others, recommended that the two other entities that are making profits be made a joint corporate bodies of the SriLankan to minimise the losses. The MP said that the SJB opposes any effort to split the organisation into three and selling off the two profit-making institutions separately, making the Airline incurs further losses,” he said.