The Hon. Sunil Rajapaksha

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to speak about a key institution affecting the people of Sabaragamuwa that I represent. Every Sri Lankan child knows Sri Lanka is among the world’s foremost producers of gemstones, yet our share of the global gem trade is meagre. Our exports of gems and jewellery were USD 294 million (2021), USD 399 million (2022), USD 388 million (2023), and USD 282 million (2024). Of this, gems produced in Sri Lanka accounted for only USD 108 million.

¶ 02 While we struggle with a small market share, gem hubs like Hong Kong and Bangkok—countries without their own gems—do trade of USD 20 billion. When I asked our leading exporters why we cannot emulate them, they jokingly said, “They do not have a Gem and Jewellery Authority. If they did, they would be like us.” We have established an Authority to develop the industry, yet it fails to do what is necessary.

¶ 03 At COPE we examined the Authority and understood why we are stalled. Though the Act sets out multiple objectives, to reach them you need sound plans. The Authority has a corporate plan and annual action plans, but these are prepared not by its own leadership and stakeholders, but outsourced to external firms. Hence, the plans placed before Parliament, the Government and audit bodies are not truly owned by the Chairman, Board or stakeholders and are not aligned to the Act’s objectives or national economic aspirations.

¶ 04 They claim to have a plan up to 2027. For three to four decades, best practice has been rolling plans—each year you set a forward five-year programme, update annually based on performance and changes in markets and society, and align annual action plans accordingly. The Authority lacks such a dynamic, goal-aligned plan to bring in new technology, remove bottlenecks and focus on development, promotion and regulation, shifting from traditional to modern technologies.

¶ 05 Gems are not only in Ratnapura or Sabaragamuwa; they exist across Southern, Uva, North Central and Western Provinces as well. Plans to explore and utilize these resources are missing.

¶ 06 We aspire to build a USD 1 billion gem economy by 2027 and USD 5 billion within five more years. Without proper corporate and annual plans, this will remain a dream. Human resources are central. The Authority’s cadre has many vacancies: senior level 118, tertiary 168, secondary 13, primary 14—54 vacancies overall, with key posts unfilled for years: no Deputy Director-General since 2011; no Director (Assaying & Hallmarking) since 2018; no Director (Valuation & Gemmologist) since 2019; no Director (others) since May 2024. How can plans be implemented and regulation ensured?

¶ 07 About 7,000 legal mines operate annually, yet there are only around 19 enforcement officers nationwide, making effective regulation impractical and leading to major operational issues.

¶ 08 I propose recruiting adequate officers and rotating them at least every four years across districts to reduce malpractice.

¶ 09 An Opposition Member earlier spoke of recognizing and fulfilling people’s aspirations. The people changed a 76-year-old system because previous rulers neither understood nor fulfilled public aspirations. We are here to understand and deliver them. The National People’s Power will not hand this task to anyone else; we will realize a “Prosperous country - Beautiful life.”

¶ 10 Thank you.