Lending a hand to the development process

We hope the State's Nation Building Bonds, aimed at accelerating the development process in the country, would have many takers. As already explained, these are money-raising instruments which are aimed at mainly Lanka's expatriate community. By investing in these bonds, these expatriates would help swell Government coffers, thereby enabling the State to initiate a wide variety of development projects, mainly in the area of infrastructure expansion.

This is sound development thinking on the part of the State. Today a wide social consensus exists that what is vitally needed for spurring and sustaining development in the country is the establishment and expansion of our infrastructure facilities, such as a better road network, large, better equipped and strategically located ports, power-generation plants, bridges and canals.

We are doing right by continuing our efforts to attract more and more foreign exchange and investments, but such efforts would come to nought without sound and vast infrastructure facilities which would make travel easy and help greatly in the task of transporting goods and men.

Accelerated infrastructure development would also be in tune with the structure of our economy, wherein the services sector is predominant with a 55.8 percent share in contrast to agriculture and industry which contribute 17.2 percent and 27 percent respectively to GNP. In a services dominated economy it is physical infrastructure which proves most crucial. The delivery of essential services is impossible without sound telecommunications, roads and ports, for instance.

This is not to imply that the other sectors of the economy are not important. Agriculture and industries, after all, keep the country's production base ticking and there could not be any development worth speaking of if these sectors are neglected. Therefore, all these sectors of our economy should be kept in good shape and this cannot be achieved without substantial funds.

This is the reason why we urge our fellow Lankans living abroad to invest in abundance in Sri Lanka Nation Building Bonds. There is no better way in which they could prove that they still care for Sri Lanka and have a stake in its march towards prosperity.

We are at a crucial juncture in our efforts at accelerating national development. A ten year development plan has been launched on the basis of the Mahinda Chinthana. As a first step in this journey the Moragahakanda reservoir would be established, marking the single biggest investment by this country so far in an irrigation project.

This is tacit admission that the agricultural sector would continue to play a significant role in our economy. The 'Gama Neguma' and 'Mahinda Randora' development projects, to cite just two other examples, could further bolster the national weal if the necessary funding comes in.

Ideally, such funding should come from local and indigenous sources and that is why Sri Lankans all over the world need to manfully take on the task of aiding the development process.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will ceremonially open construction work tomorrow:

Moragahakanda project - a new chapter in Lanka's development saga

In a landmark event in the country's irrigation history the Government will commence tomorrow the construction of the Moragahakanda-Kaluganga Development Project, the largest ever agriculture development project in Sri Lanka.

Full Story

Child protection manifesto, a paramount need

The plight of children in Sri Lanka, who are recruited as child soldiers, or are the victims of the on-going conflict or of the tsunami of 2004, or of physical/sexual abuse, or of deprivation and the lack of parental care is deplorable. The ever-increasing categories of children-in-need prove, that they are the most vulnerable and voiceless segment in our society.

Full Story

National dress and Western dress: Isn't it all about preference?

Full Story