State mechanism told to get its act together
Terror attacks happen everywhere in the world and almost nowhere is safe given the current situation. However it is the way we manage the crisis that will send the right signals to the world.
This is what Sri Lanka hasn’t done. A foreign investor told the Business Times recently that the government hasn’t shown how it can manage the crisis. “We have delayed setting up our operation in Sri Lanka because we don’t have confidence that the government can come through this situation,” the investor noted. A top government official told the Business Times that similarly two projects were halted immediately after the Easter terror attacks as the investors had informed they are assessing the country’s situation. “They will likely not return,” he said.
He added that the overall impact on economic growth depends on how quickly the government can restore normalcy in the country. Both Muslim and Christian community leaders have expressed concerns of further potential violence in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks, and in early May a riot broke out in Porutota village near Negombo which further eroded potential investor confidence, analysts noted.
While accomplices of the bombing attackers are found almost daily by security authorities, checkpoints have been posted across in Colombo. “Checkpoints should spell safety, but it is almost like during the war. It is now a very difficult task to entice foreign investors to set up shop here, but the speed at which most of the perpetrators were caught has given renewed confidence,” a foreign investor observed.
He along with many other local investors noted that it is time the government got its act together without indulging in micro issues.