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Lanka lost billions in aid, says UNP leader
By Sujith Mangala Silva
Presidential candidate and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that the UPFA government’s failure to take the peace forward had cost the country billions of dollars in development aid.

Addressing a series of rallies in Kurunegala District, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the donor community had pledged US$ 4.5 billion to Sri Lanka to develop the country and resurrect its war-affected economy but the hardline stance taken by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and the JVP had now stopped this much-needed aid package.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka also lost Rs. 50,000 million in aid under the United States’ Millennium Challenge Account because of lack of progress in the peace process.

He charged that the worst affected section of society due to the government’s lack of foresight were the country’s youth who could have been given lucrative jobs if the aid pledged to Sri Lanka had come. Mr. Wickremesinghe said that persons who wrecked the future of the younger generation had no right to contest the election.
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