Continued from Saturday

New donors need new procedures. Unfortunately our bureaucrats are still trying to enforce the old patterns. If you take a time tested agency like JAICA the procedures are very clear. The Finance Ministry knows what they are and Line Ministries know what they are. So it is easy to say yes or no. But with these new development partners we are not so sure. We have not clearly demarcated responsibilities. So a huge responsibility falls on the local administration, on the Secretaries and their staff, to clear these procedures and not hold up implementation.

I am sad to say that last year our implementation rate of foreign funded projects was poor. We don’t have to wait for the Central Bank to say that all our major projects have seen delays. The South highway is delayed; the Port project is delayed; Hambantota is still in an early stage, the Colombo – Katunayake express way is still under discussion. So we have a situation where implementation is not at all satisfactory.

We are removing local taxes. On the other hand our Foreign Direct Investment is good but not sufficient when you look regionally. When it comes to Foreign Funded Projects, sluggish procedural and other factors prevent us getting full benefit out of the money that we have got as loans. And that’s where we have to really pay attention and get those projects off the ground. When it comes to our bureaucracy too, there is much room for improvement.

We don’t do feasibility studies on our own. We wait till we begin discussions to do studies and then once funds are found, we take a long time doing a feasibility study. I think it is very necessary that we have a special fund, for which we can get money from the World Bank or from the ADB to do basic studies, feasibility studies etc., so that when a foreign donor comes, we know exactly what to talk to him about. Now we will only give him a letter head. I must say some work has been done by the power sector. They have an Energy Development Programme. Others don’t have a clue as to what projects they can undertake. I think the Planning Ministry should move in this matter and get an allocation from the budget for it. Ministries can use local staff as much as possible and if necessary get foreign assistance to have these feasibility studies done. Then we can discuss with donor agencies on the basis of some knowledge. Now we are talking of various projects. Somebody gets up in the morning and says, we are going to take nuclear Power from India. Somebody else says we are going to set up a power line form South India. Various ideas are put forward. But nobody has done feasibility studies, so you don’t know whether it is worth while or not. Can we negotiate like this? When I go to the World Bank or IMF or ADB for aid negotiations, can I say we are quite sure about this project?

Everybody wants an airport in his electorate. Sometime ago it was Mathugama. Mr. Anil Moonasinghe, who was interested in transport said ‘my electorate is ideal’. We don’t know what to do with Ratmalana. Can it sustain a budget Airline? There are so many issues which we must address. We must have scenarios. Otherwise it is impossible to have a development assistance dialogue.

Today in the world there is lot of money floating around. Everybody is talking of private sector - public sector partnership but nobody knows what is happening. Where are these private sector public sector projects? Still we are going on the old departmental mentality. Politicians and officials have not got into their heads, that the official policy of government is that we need money for the budget and we have to look at private sector public sector partnerships.

Then look at procurement. There is a big gap and is holding up project implementation. May be because of fear of getting a bad name, many bureaucrats delay procurement and as a result projects get delayed. The moment a tender is awarded, somebody goes to court and the matter is left pending for years. The Southern highway got delayed for several years just because someone went to Courts and created problem for Asian Development Bank. The Project is still not completed. Parties go back to the courts and by the time the matter is resolved the estimate has to be revised and the cycle goes on an on.

Then the disbursement. Many of our projects are held up because disbursements are not coming on time. Look at all our road projects. Japanese contractors are complaining. Local contractors, say we finish but we don’t get the money. I don’t know why.

Sri Lanka is the only country in the world where they have been struggling for over 30 years to build 22 kilometers of highway. For 30 years we have been struggling. Koreans have come, Japanese have come, Chinese have come, Malaysians have come but nothing has happened. Everybody has come. But the road is not there.

Don’t forget that Sri Lanka is not the only country looking for development assistance. There are so many other countries. As they say we are not the only girl on the beach. There are so many other girls on the beach. Some think that the whole world is trying to come to Sri Lanka to invest. That is utter nonsense. We have to draw in FDI by showing our competence, our skills and our commitment. Just because we say we have 2500 years of history nobody will come. Investors are interested in rational and speedy decision making. They want modern knowledge not out dated rituals. When you go for a meeting there is so much lighting of lamps, garlanding, Kandyan and low country dancing. They are doing every single thing except attending to their proper duties.

So all that is useless. Who cares whether somebody lights a lamp, or gets garlanded, or there are about 100 dancers? Those are all, ways of getting away from our main decision making. I have told my Ministry please don’t organize this type of nonsense. So let us take this serious. I myself, have both local and international experience, as a decision maker and I tell you we have to be modern and rational in the pursuit of economic growth.