President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that due to the public sector engaging in business activities, the money that was available for the construction of 100 projects similar to the Mahaweli during the past decades, has been destroyed.

He noted that in the future, the public sector will stop engaging in business and open it to the private sector to create a free and productive economy, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

President Wickremesinghe mentioned this at the 71st commemoration ceremony of the late Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake at Independence Square today (March 22), the PMD reported.

Recalling that Mr. D.S. Senanayake’s vision was to create a free economy, the President said that business should be done by the private sector and that the country could be developed with the tax revenue obtained from them.

However, due to the nationalization in 1956, the Government started engaging in business and that is why the tax revenue was inadequate for the development of the country, the President pointed out.

He stated that the country has distanced itself from Mr. D.S. Senanayake’s vision, but following his vision, Singapore has become a developed country today and said that despite our politicians dreaming of making Sri Lanka a Singapore, the destruction caused to Sri Lanka in the last 75 years due to the decisions of certain political movements is immense, it added.

Therefore, the President further mentioned that Senanayake’s legacy should be carried forward to build a strong and powerful Sri Lanka. President Wickremesinghe also laid floral tributes at the statue of the late D. S. Senanayake.

The Chief Incumbent of the Kollupitiya Polwatta Sri Dharmakeerthi Monastery Venerable Dr. Bandarawela Wimaladharma Thera delivered a special sermon, according to the PMD.

Member of Parliament Vajira Abeywardena, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Advisor to the President on Climate Change Ruwan Wijayawardena, Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Former Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Rohitha Bogollagama, Karunasena Kodithuvakku, Rukman Senanayake, former Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake, former Provincial Councilor Shantini Kongahage, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage and several others had attended the event.