Mr. Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, emphasized while participating in the ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’ mobile service program that started in Badulla today (31), that the difficult journey of the glass vine bridge with iron shoes will not stop even in the last half, and the bridge will not be allowed to be demolished.
In the ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’ program scheduled to be held today and tomorrow (01), the minister specifically mentioned that there has been a delay in sending workers to Israel due to the protests by people trained only in agitation. Even so, the minister said that all steps will be taken to maintain affairs with the Israeli government as before.
“As the president said, we embarked on a difficult journey on a glass vine bridge wearing iron shoes. How difficult were those iron shoes for that journey. We had to come quickly. We are taking the rest to the front. Leave it to others and demolish the vine bridge, and the people of the country will suffer.
This is the program that will develop the country. There is a suspicion that an agitator called “Diyaw-Diyaw” was sent to disrupt that too. We face it. We have succeeded in dealing with Israel and are resuming the program to win the Israel . We will win that challenge as well,” said the minister.
“Even if I don’t have a microphone, I can speak and be heard by the last chair of this hall. That’s how the strength of the south was brought to us. It should be our responsibility as a nation to correct the small delays, errors, and omissions, accept those challenges, and move forward.
Badulla is the capital of the Uva province. More development has been achieved today than in history. A district with a large area where Badulla can develop further. Badulla is a district that can bring more tourists to Sri Lanka and make significant development.
Basic arrangements are being made for that. Plantations provide enormous support to Sri Lanka’s economy. By keeping the plantations the same way, by using the government’s plantations and our workers, by keeping the existing old tea trees and giving 1000 rupees to the laborers, we will change the system where only the employers get rich.
We are implementing the program of paying 1700 rupees to the plantation workers’ salary, creating a good, new, more productive plantation, developing modern technology and the cultivation industry. The President intervened and decided to increase the wages of plantation workers. Our Sendil Thondaman, Jeevan Thondaman, and Vadivel Suresh intervened and fought hard to bring the salary to 1700. Now the companies say that they are going to court. I am also waiting to see what the court order will be.
The President said that if they go to court, we will get the best lawyer available. If they say that working people can live on 1000 rupees, they are wrong. The cost of living has increased. The economic situation has collapsed, poverty has increased by 26%, and the highest poverty is in the plantation sector. The President advised me to use all the powers and apply the laws and go to court and present the facts. If they play games without paying such salaries, we are ready to take back these estates.
These estates are government-owned. They are only the renters. Invest in estates. To enforce the law, we have taken a decision together with Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva. If the plantation employers cannot do it, we will take it back and give it to the people who can do it for the protection of the plantation workers.
We are now going to court and fighting for a salary increase. But those who want to build the country do not even speak. I looked where the ”Kaiyanayaks” were, where the ”Puthano” were. They don’t say a word about it. It means that they do not think about the working people. They say loudly that they are ready to die on behalf of the people. However, did they speak a single word for the wages of these working people. Did they ask to give 1700, did they come to court as a party to support us. No, not at all. They remain silent.
Only Vadivel Suresh and the Thondamans stood with us and the President for the plantation workers. Those who spoke earlier are afraid of the company and now they are turning a blind eye because they take money from companies. Those big companies are the ones who give money to go around the country. That’s why they don’t open their mouths against the companies. We ask the Red comrades to open their mouths against these plantation companies. But they remain silent. That means money has been taken from the companies.
Our state minister said that the JVP told judiciary will be brought to the village. We remember that after the rebellion of ’71, during the terror of ’88-’89, such cases were heard in the village. They said not to turn on the lights. They said not to go on the road. If you don’t comply, your neck will be cut.
My father was also told not to turn on the lights. But he, my father, asked if he was not keeping the lights on as they wanted. My father was killed when I was eleven years old for the mistake of turning on the lights. He was a man who did normal politics in the village.
They made India protest and said not to bring goods from India. In those days, we called big onions “Bombay onions” as they were imported from India. We called dal “Mysore dal” because it was also imported from India. When the JVP banned Indian products, we had to change the names of these consumer goods too. During the period of 1988-1989, people who took 250 onions and 250 dal were sentenced to death by the JVP courts functioning in the village.
They organized anti-India classes, killed 60,000 people, went to India silently, and returned to Sri Lanka to denounce the conspiracy against India, only to say ‘sorry’ now. We built all these beliefs and hindered the development of our country for decades.
The reason why Badulla is famous is that the stanza begins with Mahiyangana. Now a monk of our NPP faction (National People’s Power) says that the Lord Buddha never visited Sri Lanka. This is the ideology of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. This attacks the faith of Buddhists in Badulla. It is useless to say ‘sorry’ after breaking people’s trust like this. We should not go to those places and rebuild the country. Comrade Wijeweera said that when we were building the Ella-Wellawaya road, it was to be built for landing American planes.
Jayagamu Sri Lanka – We want to lead Sri Lanka to victory. Starting with us, let’s work hard and take our country forward. Let’s win Sri Lanka. Join hands.
One decision taken by Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe during the 2015 government was to sing the national anthem in Tamil. We will move forward as a country with that unity,” said the minister.