Unsung heroes and the budget

No doubt many people next week will focus on the budget even though it is unlikely to bring any wide ranging relief particularly in the context of the galloping cost of living.

Friday’s killing of S.P. Thamilchelvan, the long-standing political chief and loyal lieutenant of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, in airforce bombing raids could to some extent overshadow the budget if the Tigers resort to retaliatory strikes.

Yet the budget and its outcome is customary and part of Sri Lankan culture and thus many people including the business community would be watching and waiting to see what happens. Several budget seminars have been lined up with one organized by the Tax Department to be held on the same evening after the budget presentation.

There are mixed signals on the forthcoming budget. Some say the Finance Minister and President Mahinda Rajapaksa is likely to present a ‘belt tightening budget; with more taxes for the private sector while others believe wage increases and subsidies will be the order of the day, resulting in further debt to the country and the people because there is no matching revenue for the huge spending envisaged.

Nevertheless it’s certain the business tycoons and captains of industry will have a lot to complain about – as they always do – unlike small entrepreneurs like Dr Sarath Ranaweera and Thusitha Ranasinghe from the Kandy and Kegalle districts, who – budget or not – have progressed without asking or relying on handouts.

Ranaweera was an amazing find for The Sunday Times FT, as our story shows. The former Tea Research Scientist quit his job – probably out of boredom and a yearning to do something else – plunged into the un-chartered waters of large-scale organic farming and has indeed succeeded. He has also acquired extensive knowledge on fair trade and is traversing the world speaking on behalf of farmers and small producers.

“Talk … talk … talk, and nothing else,” he said in an interview, referring to the work of government committees on which he serves in an advisory capacity. The Bio Foods founder is brimming with ideas and given the chance, he’ll probably come up with a blue print to develop Sri Lanka in a sustainable way.

Thusitha Ranasinghe is an even more exceptional entrepreneur – transforming elephant dung into nice coloured paper. His environmentally friendly project with its factory at Kegalle, which a team from The Sunday Times FT visited, has – like Ranaweera – won worldwide accolade and rare recognition.

The White House in the United States is a client when Ranasinghe produced its name cards out of elephant dung.

As we have consistently maintained, these are the real entrepreneurs and the unsung heroes who toil and work on the field rubbing shoulders with their workers. There are hundreds of them spread across Sri Lanka who are unfortunately not as skilled and enterprising as Ranaweera or Ranasinghe but equally determined to succeed and not depend on handouts. Thus while the business barons analyse the budget and its impact on their business at the plethora of lunch-and-tea seminars, small entrepreneurs would be hard at work on the field enriching farmers and village communities and in turn, the country’s development.

These are the people the budget should address and create hundreds and thousands of entrepreneurs. COPE Chairman Wijedasa Rajapakse, who has acquired quite a reputation in recent months with some strong statements on transparency and accountability, said a mouthful this week. He said the budget debate is a waste of time as budgetary allocations for MPs have already been drawn up by others.

So while corporate chiefs and their accountants sit around tables counting their losses or profits, whichever way it works, small entrepreneurs like organic farmer Punchibanda will be working their hearts out producing for the benefit of their families and the nation.