10 tanks, instead of Mattala airport, would have made Rajapaksas gods - Chamal

 Friday, 04 April 2014 

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa says the people would have been grateful to the name of Rajapaksa and treated them like gods for the next 100 years had 10 tanks been built in Hambantota, instead of the Mattala airport.

He was responding to inquiries by several senior ministers with regard to the UPFA’s election setback, especially in his Tissamaharama electorate.

“Mattala was built due to the pressure by Namal. Children should be listened to. But, country and people should have been the priority. My advice was not heeded. The Mattala airport has given no proper job to anyone in this area. There is no income source. It is true there is massive development in Hambantota. But, its dividends are not being enjoyed by the people. In this area, Chinese surpass the number of our people. Had they voted, we would have been through. The only outcome was the revival of the JVP. That is a serious matter. In the future, this will adversely affect the presidential election,” he has said.

In the political circles in the recent past, it was a popular saying that ‘Milk for Hambantota – cucumber for the country’. A media hype of a heaven-like Hambantota was made over the port that was dug out of the land by spending massive loans obtained from China; Mattala airport that would otherwise have been the home for wild animals, a conference hall bigger than the BMICH; and the highways system not second to those in Europe.

Anyhow, before Hambantota became a heaven, in 2009, the UPFA won the district at the provincial council election by polling 66.95% of the votes, but after Hambantota became a heaven, it gained only 57.42% of the votes at Saturday’s election. However, minister Dullas Alahapperuma, the media spokesman of MP Namal Rajapaksa who had led the election campaign, had told a pre-election media conference that the UPFA would poll more than 65% of the votes from Hambantota.