“Village should be the priority of development”

Former prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe has stressed that villages should be prioritized while implementing the development programs. Wickremesinghe speaking at a talk program titled ‘Post Conflict Economic Management-Sri Lanka’s Experience’ hosted by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) on Sunday said recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation should begin at the village level with massive public investment on infrastructure development like irrigation, roads, electricity, and social factors of health and education. He also suggested that such development activities should be based on need and demand basis, rather than planned at the centre. Wickremesinghe also opined that managing economy in transition was not only a challenging job but also a good opportunity to examine socio-economic conditions, by taking different approaches. He also said that politicians should be concerned over making people’s life better and public investment should be made in sectors which could have an impact and give relief to people from getting out of the trauma of conflict. Drawing an example from the ceasefire period between the Sri Lankan government and rebel group LTTE in 2001, Wickremesinghe said that politicians should not fear making mistakes, but rather they should learn from them. Economy should be a top priority following the political settlement of any problem, he said. “The government and private sector should join hands in creating wealth and job for people and transferring the society from a semi-feudal one into a modern on, if we could overcome a major challenge that is providing better economic opportunities and option for people, the economy in transition could take a better shape,” he added.