Galle Fort reclaimed – exit the Moragoda mantra
People have reason not to be too sanguine about Sri Lankan affairs. This is particularly after the recent performances in the Sri Lankan parliament. On top of it there is a gathering sense of insecurity. The government has announced that it is taking "precautionary measures'' against possible LTTE bomb blasts in the city.

People who are used to more than two years of peace, can be forgiven for wondering whether they are cursed. But while Sri Lankan people can be excused for all their apprehensions, they have a right to rejoice at some of the good news.

This week it was announced that Cabinet had decided to re-impose the 100 percent tax on all land purchases in the country by foreigners. The Galle Fort land grab, first highlighted in this newspaper, was seen by many right thinking people as the worst manifestation of the economic policies of the Moragoda set.

These days Moragoda is seen making lame attempts to salvage whatever is left of his image on television. But for the moment at least his robber baron policies have been deservedly buried. His and the UNF government’s, one must add.

There is a possibility of striking oil beneath the soil in Kalpitiya, and Norwegians among others were also engaged in a frenzied land buying exercise when the Cabinet decided last week to reimpose the 100 per cent land tax. Norway is the world's second largest oil exporter next to Saudi Arabia, and Norway's interest in land that will possibly yield oil in the Northern regions of Sri Lanka in this context is not possibly just coincidental. Norway is an interested peacemaker as much as it is an interested hunter for fossil fuels anywhere in the world.

But, the UNF's robber baron economists were not aware of any of these subtleties, and they would have gladly sold our virgin forests, our water resources, our world heritage sites and possibly any potential oil reserves to aliens who promised support for the UNF government.

The new Culture Minister the JVP's Vijitha Herath has delivered on the promise for Galle Fort in record time. He had the tax on land purchases by foreigners reimposed when most of the expatriates living in Galle Fort for instance were engaged in a campaign with the connivance of some UNESCO officials to legitimise their activities in the Fort.

Their objective is to make Galle Fort a holiday resort, and plainly put, a white man's playpen, as opposed to a living breathing city. UNESCO bestows World Heritage city status only on inhabited cities; not on holiday resorts. In this way, Sri Lankans were fast running the risk of losing a world heritage site. Very soon, the foreigners in Galle Fort would have probably barred any Sri Lankan entry to the Fort area. This was to be accomplished no sooner than a majority of the dwellings in Galle Fort came under the ownership of foreigners.

There was not only a risk of Galle Fort being "psychically'' inaccessible and lost to Sri Lankans, but there was also the obnoxious aspect of Sri Lankans being alienated by a bunch of pushy foreigners in their own lands. This was also symptomatic of the most obnoxious aspect of the policies of the Moragoda set.

The Moragoda set, simply put, did not have any notion of national self respect or any notion of the difference between mortgaging an economy as opposed to funding its development. Successful economic managers such as Takshin Sinawatra are aware for instance that a country must first secure (and own) its assets before putting them to good economic use. Leaders like him therefore will not be entrapped into mortgaging national assets to Western interests which promise support in return for wholesale transfer of assets.

That's why Takshin Sinawatra recently met Fernando Lula of Brazil. This story about Takshin meeting Lula is a good illustration of the basic difference between a genuine patriot such as Takshin and a robber baron 'patriot'' such as Moragoda.

Would the UNF's jet-set economic managers ever have dreamt of meeting a Third World leader with distinctly leftist leanings such as Lula? No. These guys were more American than the Americans, they were more neo-liberal than the World Bank and more anti-welfare than the IMF. But the results they yielded? Next to nothing. At least there was no palpable development in the city or in the outskirts which is why they were given a good kick in the pants by the people despite their fondest illusions about being comfortably returned to power.

Takshin is a different story. His country is on a speed development curve; the first subway is being opened in Bangkok very soon and Thailand is almost considered one of the Tiger economies now.

But even so, Sinawatra doesn't think it is infra dig to meet Fernando Lula. He has told the people of Thailand on the eve of his departure to Brazil that he is visiting Brazil to "learn something from Lula.'' Obviously these real capitalists such as Takshin know how to be real capitalists. They are acutely aware that the country cannot be run by the Moragoda-Malik Samarawickreme type bush shirt capitalist comprador cabals who have various patronising notions (refer Moragoda's current economic bore-lessons on TV) about how they can efficiently "manage'' the economy for the local yokels. The yokels of course get nothing out of this arrangement.

In Galle Fort the policies of these safari suited pretenders to economic knowledge were roundly defeated. But that does not mean the danger is over. The rot has set in. The foreigners are not about to forget oil interests or real estate interests and scoot off. They could try to circumvent the laws by resorting to various loopholes in the legal system.

They must be given the clear message that Sri Lanka welcomes investment and wants foreigners to enjoy the benefits of a land that offers infrastructure and benefits for the foreign entrepreneur who wants to work in a symbiotic business environment with state interests. But for foreigners who want to buy out the country and its assets -- the message should be that their land grab is over. Their patrons are no longer in power. The people have reclaimed their land.

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