SL to straighten human rights record by Sept.
Sri Lanka is set to straighten out its human rights track record by September this year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a business forum in Colombo on Wednesday.
During a speech at a luncheon meeting organised by the American Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (AmCham) to the business community, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the Government was currently working on the human rights issues that were raised at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (last year).
He pointed out that these issues were likely to be resolved by September and (as of now) were involved in a bridge building campaign with an “encouraging large number of countries supporting us”.
He pointed out that should Sri Lanka antagonise others or violate human rights sanctions would be imposed on the country as was carried out on Sri Lankan fishing.
In this regard, he pointed out that they were attempting to persuade the European Union (EU) to lift the fishing ban.
The Premier said they were also working on providing relief to the people, fighting corruption together with international agencies, and bringing about constitutional changes.
With key investigations on corruption cases expected to yield results in the next few weeks, the Prime Minister noted that it was the unsolicited proposals that formed the biggest corruption especially in the power sector. In view of the amendments to the constitution he noted they had already brought forward the 19th Amendment and would soon put forward the 20th Amendment on electoral reforms.
He noted that they have already obtained the consent of the main parties but would be looking at holding the next election based on the current system.
As a minority government, the premier said they were dependant on the opposition which currently requires stability that was crucial for the future economy.
As part of the government’s second part of the plan, they have promised to produce one million jobs for the youth, double the incomes of workers and ensure a strong middle class.
| Ranil eyes Indian CEPA, China FTA, re-routes to West Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has affirmed closer and stronger ties with India without ignoring China and re-establishing links with the West for the country’s future progress. Responding to a question at the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) luncheon meeting on the progress of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India, the premier noted they would want to address areas of concern like on the professions and non-tariff areas. “We are looking at very strong economic ties,” he said.  Prime Minister speaks at AmCham event. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe Sri Lanka in this respect would also be looking at how to engage in good trade and investment relationships with its neighbour as well, it was stated. Mr. Wickremesinghe said they were pursuing their ties with the Chinese government and would not ignore the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) either. It was pointed out “we are not downgrading China,” on the other hand, the Prime Minister said, they were working to fight corruption with China adding that they would want Chinese projects in the country. “Sri Lanka’s greatness was we could trade with the world,” he explained. The future would depend on honing the skills of the Sri Lankan workforce to meet economic challenges, he said, adding that the country should not depend on sending workers as domestic housemaids to service the economy. In this respect, engaging in high tech agricultural methods and capital intensive agriculture would push forward the farmer and bring about modernisation to the sector, he pointed out. Commenting on the real estate apartment market he noted that currently there was a glut and identified the economic and social skills as a necessity for this sector to become attractive. In addition, Mr. Wickremesinghe pointed out that they wanted to increase housing for the middle class workers who were moving to the cities in their numbers and an increase in schools for their children as well. Replying to a question on the relaxation of the multiple entry visas for foreign suppliers, it was noted that the last time he was premier there was liberalisation in this aspect. However, this was tightened and restrictions placed on entries but this would be relaxed in future, he pointed out. The premier also said his government would seek to liberalise the shipping industry but pointed out that it was those within the industry itself that were opposed to this. Mr. Wickremesinghe explained the industry must not be frightened and needed to forge ahead. Public Utilities and Urban Development Minister Rauff Hakeem in response to a query noted that his ministry was currently working on a pet subject of the premier, the Western Megalopolis that would address the transport nodes in the urban area. He noted that they would continue with public private partnership in their urban development programmes, but pointed out that the flaws and transparency issues met with the previous regime would first be addressed. In future, the public utility works would also be carried out with the participation of the private sector, he noted adding that in future the Water Board would be carrying out distribution and the private sector would be involved in water treatment. |