Views of a voter

None of the party manifestos have spelt out how they will get our country from the abyss post-COVID. The whole world is fighting a hidden enemy. They are all promising free handouts. Since I can remember, our people voted for Rs. 3.50 bread, Rs. 20 dhall, 8 pounds of cereal – JR Jayewardene didn’t say you have to pay for it. 

We have become a nation of beggars. Has anyone thought of the paradigm shift post-COVID? The way we live, conduct business, education, schooling, etc.

Has anyone thought of re-training our workforce to meet the post-COVID job opportunities?

Has anyone thought of multi-disciplinary courses in the universities and Advanced Level classes, new curriculum to be prepared by educationalists?

The minorities are only interested in economic benefits for their people fostering ethnic harmony. Divisive politics is rejected. 

The plantation workers were brought into work on our tea estate. They have not been given an inch of land to call their own with a bankable deed. Government has a huge bank of assets that can be converted to deed capital. JEDB, SPC, LRC own large extends of unproductive land. When slaves were brought into USA and Abraham Lincoln freed them but they were not given any land, how were they supposed to survive other than become servants of the white masters. 

It is the same with our Indian plantation workers. Estate lands are owned by the Government. They are only leased out to plantation companies. It is a very simple exercise to alienate the unproductive tea and rubber and coconut estate lands and give to the workers with a deed for them to engage in any business of their choice. The banks will lend against the deeds.