Multinational companies still continue to rob Sri Lanka: Cardinal

By Yohan Perera   

Multinational companies still continue to rob our country by helping politicians by giving them money and it is important for everyone to restore democracy and good conscience to protect this beautiful planet, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malclom Ranjith said yesterday.   

Speaking during a ceremony organised by the CARITAS Sri Lanka SEDEC in Colombo, Cardinal Ranjith said the following.   

Our country Sri Lanka which is a beautiful country, green from North to South , and from South to North , it is so beautiful and full of variety and that even foreigners fall in love with it. This is our home, our country. It is our responsibility as citizens of our country to protect this environment. We must somehow ensure that our political admissions of craving for money, craving for dominance over others will not harm this beautiful country and the planet. Pope Francis has been insisting on this, he says this mother earth now cries out because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of goods which God has given. We have come to see ourselves as lords and masters who plunder her at will. Multinational companies have been robbing and stealing our assets for 75 years after having helped our own local politicians by giving them money. They still continue to do so. This has been happening for the last 75 years. People of our country are fed up with it. That is why they opted for a change. It is important for us to restore democracy and good conscience to protect this beautiful planet.   

Pope Francis whom I quote always as he is such a great figure. He speaks about mother earth as our home. We are fortunate to find ourselves on this green planet. The most beautiful planet found in the solar system. The creation story of the bible explains the harmony and beauty which existed on this planet. It talks of harmony between man and the planet.   

The Holy Father has said that sin entered the human soul. He says violence present in our hearts wounded by sin is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in soil, in water, in the air and in all forms of life. The craving of modern humanity to exploit god given resources of this planet to become rich has hit our planet very hard. When I travelled along Papua and West Papua in Indonesia I found vast areas of forests removed by an American company. They were exploiting land to make money. They wanted to mine the place. The people living on these lands had no say what so ever. Some corrupt politicians were given money in order to allow them to exploit the place. This is exactly what has happened to the whole blessed planet where human beings do not know how to honour and cherish this planet. Craving for money, craving for power you can see even hitting our own country. You can see areas around Polonnaruwa dug out for sand mining without any concern for the beauty of the place. If you are close to a politician you can get all of that done. This system which we have enjoyed over the years is a violent system wounded by sin. Sinfulness of Man has destroyed our planet. Even the tsunami is a result of our own selfishness. We do not appreciate the gifts of God.