The Hon. Arun Hemachandra

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, a complaint was received regarding an irregularity that occurred recently. I personally inquired into it. I say with great regret that the software system at our Bureau of Foreign Employment is very primitive. It was hard even for me to believe. Highly important and very sensitive information has been exchanged under an MS Excel format. Many in this House are knowledgeable about IT. MS Excel is very basic. You can edit, delete, and insert. At first, I did not believe the allegation. But when I myself deleted a few names there, those names disappeared. In truth, there are very honest officers. However, because of mistakes by some political authorities—some Ministers and some Deputy Ministers—the officers were blamed. Therefore, we decided to obtain expert opinion. We spoke with the Professor in charge of the ICT field at the University of Moratuwa. Within a week we got his presentation to the Ministry of Foreign Employment, reviewed it at the office, and have now decided to comprehensively overhaul the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) software system.

¶ 02 That is how we will work. But it is disappointing that while we are doing these things, some criticisms and allegations come from the Opposition without any basis. If instead we work together, we can go a long way. This is a great opportunity to lift the country. For that, we request the cooperation of the Opposition as well. Also, do not criticize everything without a basis. This is a country ruined for 76 years—a country that collapsed in every sense. Lifting it is a big task. We have now begun what is necessary to carry out that task successfully. We have proved it through our conduct. We only need a short time. You will soon see the transformation.

¶ 03 If we are constructing a great building or a grand dream palace, the foundation must be properly set. That foundation may not be visible. But it is this strong foundation we are now laying; that is our main objective.

¶ 04 Recently, a foreign employment delegation visited Sri Lanka. I will not name the country. During discussions, the officer heading the delegation said: “Previously, when dealing with your Governments, though we said we had thousands of vacancies, unsuitable people were sent to our country.”