Environmentalist and scientist Dr. Ajantha Perera, who is the only female presidential candidate contesting the 2019 polls, said that under her potential government Sri Lanka would be freed from debt through negotiation under a new foreign policy.
“I will save Sri Lanka from debt traps and will not obtain excessive loans that create a debt-ridden country. I have well-established foreign connections around the world from India to Germany, the UK and US to Fiji, so I will use all those links to save the country from debt traps,” Dr. Perera said, adding that she would negotiate with her counterparts to write off a sizable portion of the country’s debts.
Dr. Perera, contesting from the Sri Lanka Socialist Party, is the first female candidate contesting a presidential election in 20 years following former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge’s candidacy in 1999.
She said the country’s situation under the Yahapalana Government, which had left the country in disarray, had compelled her to take the challenging decision to contest the forthcoming presidential election.
Dr. Perera, who has themed her political campaign ‘Let’s recycle Sri Lanka’, said that under her government the country would be subjected to many changes, with her giving priority to protecting the environment and solving alarming waste disposal issues.
Spelling out her main concerns, she said ruling the country at this juncture was similar to recycling the country’s entire system to bring development, prosperity and peace.
Having previously advised many ministers, she said that as an academic she expected those ministers to utilise the advice given by her to implement national policies and plans to address many burning issues within the country but they had failed to initiate those changes over the last two decades. Dr. Perera said her manifesto was mainly based on environmental protection, peace and security to develop the country, since she said it was in need of a speedy development process.
She said she would make rainwater harvesting compulsory in each household to solve drinking water scarcity and introduce a fine system for those who had no rainwater harvesting units in their houses.
According to Dr. Perera, she will introduce and facilitate composting and bio-gas units in each household while strictly imposing a ban on all polythene products, implement plans to reduce traffic congestion, introduce green zones to increase the country’s green cover in urban areas to mitigate global warming and enforce laws to maintain a buffer zone along the country’s coastal areas to mitigate coastal erosion and possible future tsunamis.
Meanwhile, she also said she would keep her Cabinet to a maximum of 70 ministers who would be qualified to hold their respective ministries.
(FT)