Are we going to lose MCC or not? A response

Saturday, 24 October 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

This comment is on the very large piece on the MCC carried in FT on Thursday titled ‘History repeating – Are we going to lose MCC or not?’ (http://www.ft.lk/columns/History-repeating-Are-we-going-to-lose-MCC-or-not/4-707851). It is a pity it was not signed. In the anonymous form and just ahead of the Pompeo visit next week it lends to speculation that it was ‘canvassing’ on behalf of interested parties.

The problem with the MCC is at heart that it is based on the theories of foreign international development experts who have a ‘one size fits all’ approach, which is debatable. I am rather influenced by local experts who have worked on Sri Lanka for many years like Prof. Nimal Gunatilleke who has outlined his objections to the land project within the MCC very clearly and publicly. Please feel free to forward this letter to whoever wrote that article.

Something more is going on as you might have noticed from the unusual letter from the ADB to the Institution of Engineers which was carried in the press recently where they were asking them to come up with new proposals!

In the past it was the Government that, taking into consideration many different views of stakeholders, decided which projects should be put up for foreign funding. Even then, in the rush for foreign funds, the views of geologists and environmentalists are often not given sufficient weight to our cost as we see in the Uma Oya project which finally ended by GOSL meeting a larger share of costs than originally planned and left Bandarawela residents crying that their wells had gone dry!

Oh dear, oh dear.

Sarala Fernando