Govt. opts for ‘War to a finish’

Picture shows the new president speaking. From left -- L. S. G. Tillekeratne-Director Member Services, Rasa Weerasingham-Executive Director, Mohan Perera-Vice President, Mario de Alwis-Past Vice President, Felix Yahampath-Past President, Kulatunga Rajapaksa-Immediate Past President, and Patrick Amarasinghe-President Emeritus.

War to a ‘finish’ seems to be an option pursued by the government, the new President of the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) said this week, and added: “Although different viewpoints are put forward, we believe a final solution negotiated to address the grievances of all minorities, will be the lasting remedy.”

Speaking at the 13th AGM of the chamber, Rohan Fernando, Managing Director of HVA Lanka Exports (Pvt) Ltd, said while being mindful of the current situation where the country has reached a point of no return in the two decades-old conflict, one needs to carry out the day-to-day business vigorously to overcome the negative effects of an economy suppressed by civil commotion.

“As exporters, we can play that pivotal role and we call upon the government to take us into their confidence by regularly discussing the economic issues, without springing a surprise by way of unproductive tax barriers on the sole advice of the bureaucrats,” he said.

“There need to be a pro-active development plan for districts outside the western province. Regional politics have blocked many a project from taking shape outside the Colombo district. This is the very reason why the economic development has not trickled down to the villages as expected by the government.

Today to get a project established, you need to have approvals from the Pradeshiya Saba, Provincial government authorities, Regional land committees, District secretaries and a host of other governing authorities.

To make it worse, a string of NGO’s backed by interested foreign funds block many a project on environmental concerns,” he told the meeting.

The Council of the Chamber consists of: Patrick Amarasinghe, Rohan Fernando, Kulatunga Rajapaksa, Felix Yahampath, Kingsley Bernard (Past President), Mohan Perera, Sarath de Silva (Vice President), Saman Gunasekara (Hony. Secretary), Harish Guruge (Hony. Treasurer), Neil Fernando - Neil Fernando & Co, Ashroff Razack - M.A.M. Abdul Cader & Co. Pte Ltd, Roger Ratnayake - Samudra Aquarist Fishgate (Pvt) Ltd, Seneka D Amarasinghe - Amico Exports (Pvt) Ltd, Graetian Gunawardhana - Hands International (Pvt) Ltd, Jayantha Karunaratne - Imperial Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd, M. Sarada De Silva - Intercom Ltd, Jude Rubera - Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Ravi Jayawardena - Golden Palm Crafts (Pvt) Ltd, Jagath Peiris - Royal Fernwood Porcelain Ltd, Sanath T Manuwendra - Greenet Flowers & Plant (Pvt) Ltd, Avindra De Silva - Unilever Ceylon Ltd (Tea Division), Keerthi Peiris - Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Ltd, Anura Eliyapura - Raja Jewellers (Pvt) Ltd, Ramal Jasinghe - Asian Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd, Niral Kadawatharachchi - Freight Links International (Pvt) Ltd, Tisil Cooray - I.E. International (Pvt) Ltd, K. Shakthi Daasan - Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd, Mangala P. B. Yapa - Colombo Dockyard PLC, Modestus Karunaratne - Gospel House Handicrafts Ltd and Sarath Wickramarachchi - Multichemi Exports (Pvt) Ltd.The NCE and its membership of 425 export oriented organisations contribute approximately Rs 280 billion US$2.6 billion to the economy which is about 40% of the total export earnings of the country while estimated to have half a million direct and indirect employees.