But existing projects, even if controversial, will not be affected, says Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath
Vijitha Herath, Foreign Minister in the new leftist National Peoples’ Power (NPP) government in Sri Lanka, has said that foreign-funded projects will be assigned on the basis of open and transparent tendering.
But existing projects (mainly involving China and India) will not be disrupted, he assured.
In an interview with Ceylon Today, Herath said that, so far, Sri Lankan governments have not followed proper procedures, including tender procedures, and there has been no transparency in deals.
“There must be a proper process. It should be a genuine, transparent procurement procedure,” he said.
When discussing government-to-government projects, Herath said: “In Sri Lanka, this is a bad history. All those business transactions occurred through unsolicited proposals. We have all the evidence in regard to projects with China and India. The minister submits a proposal and the Cabinet approves without considering due process.”
“We clearly told the Indian Foreign Minister we don’t like such procedures and when we come to power, we will follow a strict procurement process and open tender procedures.”
Regarding the Adanis’ controversial wind power projects in northern Sri Lanka and the China-funded Hambantota port project in southern Sri Lanka, Herath said it was now too late to change these.
“Those agreements are signed and we will not be able to change them. We can hold discussions, but it is difficult. We cannot scrap those agreements that have been signed already.”
On his leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s opposition to the Indians promoting the liquid milk industry in Sri Lanka, Herath said: “About Amul and the Adani Group of India, what we see is that the Government has not followed proper procurement procedures, including tender procedures, and there is no transparency in those deals. If you want investors, there must be a proper process. It should be a genuine, transparent procurement procedure.”
Asked about his party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s fight against Indian expansionism, he said: “In the past, we were totally against Indian expansionism. But today, the world political stage has changed, and according to that, we also have changed, and India has also changed.”
“When we met Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, we clearly told him, during our visit to India, that at that time we were anti-India; today we have changed because of the world’s political trend. He also acknowledged that. He said India has also changed its policies. At that time, India was not pro-USA but pro-Russia. Now they are pro-USA.”
“We want to have a close relationship with the Indian Government. We want political, economic, and cultural ties to be enhanced.”
IMF Deal’s Modification
In response to a question about how the NPP government would handle the controversial deal with IMF, Herath said: “We could have taken another route to solve the debt issue instead of approaching the IMF. Bilateral discussions with the main countries could have resolved the debt issue. Now the IMF is on board. We will revisit this IMF deal. We want to hold discussions and review and change the IMF agreement. The agreement has imposed a heavy tax on fuel, power, etc.”
