Sri Lanka is facing a formidable challenge in the post-war scenario to achieve sustainable development and emerge as a prosperous nation, said S. B. Dissanayake, UNP stalwart and former Minister at the launch of 10 books authored by him at the BMICH last Friday.

"It is also my dream to see my motherland move rapidly towards economic development and progress", he noted. "We need to expedite the process of achieving our goals and a top priority should be to alleviate poverty in the country".

He stressed the importance of building investor confidence and creating a conducive environment to attract investments vital to develop the country.

"We must strive to our achieve goals without delay as the country will have to face many impediments if there is procrastination. The nation will have to pay dearly if we don’t act immediately," Dissanayake said.

"We shouldn’t keep thinking all the time that ours is a poor nation. It is important to get rid of this frame of mind and make use of the opportunities available to forge ahead towards economic prosperity", he said.

He said that terror and violence should not be allowed to raise its ugly head again. The country has suffered for 30 years due to the war and it should not be allowed to happen again. "What we need are honest politicians who could guide the nation towards prosperity".

The parliamentarian said that four of the books amongst the ten launched were written by him when he was in prison two years ago.

Describing the books he had authored, Dissanayake said they were based on social, political and economic situations the country had gone through in the past and his own experiences in that context.

"The book on the JVP and its failure was written on confessions made by former JVP leader Vaz Tillakaratne with whom I shared the same cell while in prison", he explained.

Prof M. O. A De Zoysa, senior lecturer in Political science at the Peradeniya University said, "We, as scholars, often talk about theories and ideologies when discussing political science, but S. B. Dissanayake has a master brain where political science is concerned. He has written the ‘inside story’ of politics in his books.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said Dissanayake, in his books, has tried to find answers to socio-economic problems in the country in a practical manner. "They make good reading".