A report card?

The Government’s own evaluation of its performance of the past two years has been rosy. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the weekend were warm in their evaluation of the Yahapalanaya report card, underscoring its stability and sustainability. But do citizens feel the same? 

It was clear from the outset that the Government wished to kick off their third year with economic development front and centre on the policy agenda. But it proved that a lack of transparency, bad communication and the inability to build inclusive community-based dialogue on planned development projects would mar what would have otherwise been a week of triumph for the Government. The much-publicised Volkswagen assembly plant ran into the first storm when the company denied its involvement in the project and politicians had to scramble to find explanations. 

This was soon followed by a second more serious standoff between protestors in Hambantota where land was being demarcated for a dedicated Chinese investment zone. Even though the clashes were largely attributed to political loyalists of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Government has to take some share of the blame for failing to effectively engage with stakeholders on the fate of thousands of acres of land for the investment zone. A previous strike by port employees also descended into chaos and what was tantamount to an act of piracy that tarnished the reputation of a valuable state asset because policymakers failed to be transparent. If such instances are allowed to continue investors can be excused for getting cold feet and it provides a sad spectacle of Sri Lanka’s readiness to attract foreign direct investment to the world. 

In an increasingly challenging external environment Sri Lanka cannot afford to portray itself as a bumbling and backward State that makes promises but falls short on delivery. 

A third major project, namely a tyre construction plant, which was initially announced as part of a joint venture with Italian company Marangoni, has also seen a change with the Italian company distancing itself from the project. Both the Volkswagen and tyre plant are Board of Investment (BOI) projects and eligible for massive tax cuts. The competence of the BOI in evaluation, its failure to announce the true investors and the tax concessions given to these projects have now been thrown into question. Moreover, without foreign investment, the Sri Lankan backers of these two factories also have to prove how they came by the money for the projects.           

These are disappointing developments for a Government that came into power pledging to champion good governance and transparency. The expected signing of the Hambantota Port is likely to provide a much-needed reprieve and the Government continues talking of reform implementation and anti-corruption measures. It has earmarked massive development as part of the Megapolis project and has floated infrastructure projects for other parts of the country. But the success of all these plans will depend on the Government’s dedication to maintaining its own pledged standards of good governance and implementing the projects as transparently as possible. 

This will be doubly important when the Government seeks to privatise State assets including hospitals, plantations, hotels and the national carrier over 2017. At the start of a new year it is perhaps time to return to the roots.