“If required by MR, able to sell Mihin Air for one rupee” – Eran

Expressing his views during the Select Committee stage of the 2016 budget, a highly vocal Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development Eran Wickramaratne proposed that if required by former President and now Kurunegala District Parliamentarian Mahindara Rajapaksa, the incumbent government is able to sell ‘Mihin Air’over to him for a rupee.

Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne made this observation while lashing out at the now defunct Rajapaksa regimes lavish expenditure done in the guise of developing the public sector.

“In 1979 ‘Air Ceylon’ was decommissioned &‘Air Lanka’ was established. Subsequently in 1998 ‘Air Lanka’ was privatized by the then SLFP lead government. 40% of its shares were sold to ‘Emirates’ for 70 million dollars. This was done through a 10 year strategic agreement based on a requirement of the then government. We are in no way against this move. It was this very same government which sold plots of land adjacent to the sacred site of ‘Somawathie’ to foreign institutions. They even went the extra mile by selling the paper factory. These decisions may have been correct or wrong given the day’s context. However in 2008, the 10 year strategic agreement expired. Emirates declined to extend the agreement any further. Post 2010 we were able to regain ownership of these market shares. The losses incurred by ‘Sri Lankan Air Lines’ at present stands at Rs. 12800 million. Only Rs. 900 billion has been allocated for 30% of the family units, who depend on the Samurdhi grant of this country. Juxtaposed against this scenario the losses incurred by one public entity exceeds nearly 15 times this amount” Deputy Minister Wickramaratne said.

Speaking further in line, Deputy Minister Wickramaratne stressed that when constructing homes at the cost of one million per unit, the government is able to construct 100,000 housing units. Moreover the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development said that if the cost of a housing unit was to be notched down to Rs. 50,000, the government would be able to construct 200,000 housing units. Highlighting these facts Deputy Minister Eran Wickramaratne questioned whether it was reasonable to justify the operation of one single public entity at the cost of debilitating the country’s factual development.

“Losses incurred by Mihin Air at present stands at Rs. 1600 million. Mihin’s balance sheets are all minus. However if Mahinda Rajapaksa requires it, we will sell Mihin Air over to him for one Rupee. We will privatize Mihin Air for one Rupee. How are we to avert this calamity & preserve institutions such as ‘Sri Lankan Air Lines’? It is with the utmost responsibility that I say, that this government is in possession of strategic mechanisms to safe guard public entities against such financial catastrophes.

Speaking further with regards to the country’s banking sector Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development Eran Wickramaratne said that the paramount responsibility of banks was to safeguard its clients as well as its capitol.

“Banks are public property which function in accordance with international regulations. Banks are vested with the responsibility of safeguarding the client as well as its employeeswhile meting out its dividends to the public. However, sadly the ‘Divinaguma Bank’ functioned out of the Central Bank’s purview. It was due to the ‘Divinaguma’ program that the former Chief Justice of this country was impeached. The minor banks which come under the purview of the government should be amalgamated. If the capitol of these banks are weak, so is the bank. Accordingly the capitol of these banks should be consolidated and increased. The country is poised to face a major issue in future. Hence banks should be protected. Banks should be extricated from privatization. Earlier when appointing the board of directors to a bank, the governor of the Central Bank was instrumental in the selection process. The Governor of the Central Bank is vested with the responsibility of ensuring & monitoring that these appointments are in line with the set regulations. However the former government made appointments to banks via the Governor of the Central Bank. Such actions should not be permitted. At present certain trade unions attached to banks are engaged in trade union actions. It is distressing to note that resorting to such trade union actions should only be done as a last recourse” the Deputy Minister said.