Opinion

I did not demand pm post for MR, i remained neutral: Thilanga

23 Jul 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The former Deputy Minister of Skills Development and Vocational training, Thilanga Sumathipala in an interview with the Dailymirror stated that Sri Lanka need to pay attention on a skilled labour force. He said he accepted the Minister’s post knowing that he would be able to work only for a shorter period of time. He further said although he inherited money from his father’s businesses he has nothing to do with gambling and was well within the March 12th Declaration.

You were appointed as the Deputy Minister Skills Development and Vocational Training. Knowing that the Parliament would be dissolved what made you accept the post?

Well it was a policy matter. SLFP decided to be a part of the government. And in the context of continuing the efforts of having the 20th Amendment in Parliament, we were making the last efforts to bring the 20th Amendment. Especially after four Ministers resigned there was a requirement of solidarity and stability between the UNP and the SLFP for the sake of changing the constitution regarding electoral reforms. It was a strategic requirement and a need. Whether you are there for one year or one week it does not matter.

As a politician it makes it a difference with regard to voters’ point of view

There seems to be a split in the SLFP. There is one group which supports former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and another group which support President Sirisena. To which camp do you belong?
Well, there were definitely three groups. One was saying they need Mahinda Rajapaksa as a Prime Minister then there was a group saying that we didn’t need him at all. We went in between. We did not deny his right to contest. From the grassroots, our SLFP cadre wanted him back in politics. So there was no question of him coming back. The matter we had was whether he should be declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Maithripala Sirisena being the Chairman of the SLFP, it was not possible to accept this condition.

I was in between. I was not articulating on the matter whether he should be the Prime Ministerial candidate or not. We were trying to bring people together. As a Party we could not afford to have a division there. I have never worked for President Maithripala Sirisena. I have worked for the Party.

What is your opinion about Rajitha, Arjuna and others who are contesting under the Elephant symbol?
It was a very quick decision. They were forced to form an alliance to contest with the UNP. When you take drastic decisions, it is very difficult to sustain in politics. Anyway, Rajitha was in the UNP before. Arjuna is a very strong minded person. He was very outspoken. They had their own reasons. We have to see how successful that is.

You believe in making Colombo “the hub of excellence”. Under the previous regime although pavement hawkers were removed and were given separate shop spaces now they are back. What do you think about this?
It is absolutely a sad story. This is a wonderful city. I must mention that the former Defence Secretary made a tremendous effort in keeping the city clean. We are reversing the whole development process. In my opinion it is a very bad and destructive move. This creates a huge problem to many parties.
The pavement hawkers obstruct the shops as they set up their sales points in front of other shops. On the part of the consumers they are also at a disadvantage.

I did not demand pm post for MR, i remained neutral: Thilanga

When they buy from the pavement hawkers there is no responsibility or guarantee. Also there are issues of quality and after sales. The pavement is for the pedestrians.

It is not for the sellers. It is a very bad move and I am highly disappointed.

I addressed this issue and took it up with the President. He has appointed a committee to look into the matter. After Ramazan those shops should be removed. People who are seriously engaged in pavement business can be provided with a special area to engage in their business.

You have openly protested against street vendors back on the street, don’t you feel that some of your votes have been affected with this?
Yes, spot on. I thought you must put country before yourself. There were many who said that they would make sure that I would be defeated at the election. But I thought we were all responsible for the country we have being appointed by the people for that. If we take our personal and political gains and not perform our duties it is not going to be fair.

You are contesting the upcoming General Election from the Colombo District. What are the plans you have for the people of Colombo to uplift their lives?

Colombo district has the highest number of unemployed people. We have the most unskilled workforce in the country. We desperately engaged in unskilled, untrained, disorganized calibres. I think vocational training is needed especially for youth who complete their Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations. They must be trained on various specialised areas.

Colombo needs employment based skills development training. We need to aim for this. Poverty is getting reduced in Colombo. When you say poverty there are various ways of measuring. However, poverty in Colombo is not high when you compare with other districts such as Badulla, Monaragala etc. I would say we must consider making every household get a minimum of Rs. 50,000 income during the next three years by raising it to Rs.70,000. Also, we have to make an assessment of trained, skilled manpower for a workforce. If we concentrate on that for the next three to five years instead of us sending people abroad for labour we can send mechanics, nurses instead of housemaids etc. Because they are skilled they will be paid more than what they get now if they are trained and skilled. We have developed various modules in vocational training like level 3, level 4 which are equal to Advanced Level to National Diploma Level. This is something I am very interested in to transform our workforce in to a skilled, well trained manpower. With unskilled and untrained labour force we can never compete in the market.

Many complain that the present government do not pay much attention on city beautification. As an MP who represented the former government and who is in the current government is there any truth in this?
Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister never bothered about the beautification in any sense.

He never had any style in anything what he did. Can you compare anything that Mr. Wickremesinghe is interested in doing? He is not bothered. He will always look at the economic aspect in every decision he takes. What he doesn’t understand is, if you do not have an Airport Road that gives you a wrong message.
Value addition to the country reflects the knowledgeable workforce, for example if you have a good highway and good infrastructure, the country is developing. When the investors come they look at our legal system then security of their investment, tax policy, uninterrupted power supply. These add to the quality of standard of living.

If you ignore that the country can never be developed. In that context I think UNP has failed.

According to the March 12 Declaration, one of the 8 points is to avoid people who are involved in businesses of gambling and to remove them from politics. What is your comment on this, because it is a public secret that you do own betting centres?
My father was involved in business. I lost my father when I was 15. I had nothing to do with the gambling business. After I finished the Advanced Level I joined the University and I am a printer by profession. I have nothing to do with gambling, it was my father who was in the business. Some of the wealth I have, the buildings, land and other properties, of course came from my father. I have lot of assets which came from both my parents. I do not do any socially unacceptable, unethical businesses or anything of that sort.

So I am well within the points of that declaration which I support wholeheartedly.

Opinion

I did not demand pm post for MR, i remained neutral: Thilanga

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