Tuesday, 11th November 2014
Chaminda Perera
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday recalled how the Government fired the first salvo in its campaign to eradicate terrorism from Mavil Aru in order to protect the livelihood of thousands of farmers.
He said that the livelihoods of farmers in the Mavilaru area were in danger with the closure of the Mavilaru sluice gates by the terrorists and the Security Forces were deployed to ensure the supply of water to the farmers. The President was addressing the representatives of farmer societies islandwide at Temple Trees yesterday. President Rajapaksa said that certain elements in the opposition were asking the government whether it had received the Aladin’s lamp when the government announced a fertilizer subsidy to the farmers in 2005.
He said the same elements were skeptical about the 2015 budget that gave many benefits to all stakeholders of the economy.
“These elements who remember the farmers only when an election is round the corner, start asking us whether village bumpkins can deliver a budget,” he said
The President said that the farmers were left with no other option than committing suicide as they were unable to repay their agriculture loans in the past. He said that President Ranasinghe Premadasa allowed private companies to open factories that were Government paddy warehouses. “We changed this practice,” he said.
The President said that the government has introduced an insurance scheme to the farmers which covers the damage caused to their farm lands by rain, drought and wild animals
“We have constructed mega irrigation schemes in almost all parts of the country. Thousands of farmers have benefited,” he said
“The previous government treated the middlemen well as it was of the view that importing consumer products is cheaper than producing them in the country,” the President added.
“They lacked confidence in the local farmers and agriculture,” he said
The President said that the government spent Rs 4 billion on the fertilizer subsidy of the farmers each year. “This is another relief meant for the farmers by the government,” he said.
He said that the United Front government of the 1970s imposed bans on imported food items with the objective of promoting agriculture. He said people at the grassroots level had to suffer due to this policy.
“This had its repercussions at the general election in 1977,” the President said.
The President added that his government deviated from this policy. The President said that the government succeeded in promoting agriculture and production by providing assistance to the farmers
Special Projects Minister S.M.Chandrasena and Sri Lanka Foundation Cahairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara were present.
From : http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=local/president-recalls-mavil-aru-episode
