Sirisena says no to early MCC agreement signing

• President vocal during Cabinet meeting; rejects early signing of MCC
• Says it should be left for a new Govt. to handle
• Reports say SL could lose grant if not finalised by Sep.
  
   

President Maithripala Sirisena told Cabinet on Tuesday that the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) $ 480 million grant agreement should be left to a new Government to handle and rejected the move by the UNP to push for its early finalisation.

Since the MCC agreement was placed before Cabinet in April, President Sirisena has refused to endorse its signing, saying that it has to be studied before it is finalised, as diverse views have been expressed on the matter. 

President Maithripala Sirisena with US President Donald Trump during their meeting in September 2017 on the sidelines of the United Nations  72nd General Assembly - File photo

“Last week the matter was broached by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Sirisena asked that he be given a week to decide. This week the President clearly said he is against rushing the agreement through at a time when elections are around the corner, and said its best to leave it to the new Government to handle,” an official source told the Daily FT. The President’s decision to reject the early signing of the agreement comes amidst reports that Sri Lanka could lose the grant if the agreement is not signed by September. 

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz has tried to dispel suspicions raised about the agreement.

“Under this agreement, Sri Lanka will retain oversight and control of all aspects of the supposed project – all the roads undergoing improvement, every traffic signal and bus network that is upgraded, every aspect of the effort to digitise land records and to produce accurate land surveys.  The United States will not own, will not control, or in any way administer any land under this agreement,” the Ambassador said in her address to the AmCham Forum two weeks ago.

The two components of the program are transportation infrastructure and land administration, which Ambassador Teplitz said were chosen “because they are identified as significant binding restraints on economic growth here in Sri Lanka.”