Speech of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka

Hon. Ministers
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am happy to see Hon. Ministers from the SAARC Region and other specialists in sanitation
and related subjects visiting our country to participate in this South Asia Ministerial Summit on
Sanitation.

You are gathered to discuss a key indicator of progress in societies. Proper and adequate
sanitation has an important bearing on the health, social, economic and environmental
betterment of a society.

As societies progress with increased populations in urban centres and the rural sector looks
towards more development sanitation impacts on the wellbeing of the person, the family and the
community. It is important for the good health of a society and improvement of conditions of
those who are less advantaged.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am aware that we in the SAARC Region have made three important Ministerial Declarations to
ensure good sanitation for our people. As with all other such declarations there is the necessity
for the political will to implement them. Sanitation for the people cannot be limited to words. It
must be translated into action. In this context, it is important that all countries in our Region seek
to achieve the Millennium Development Goals with regard to sanitation.

Sri Lanka already has a commitment to provide universal access to water and good sanitation
by the year 2020. We are confident of achieving this, as we have already achieved the
Millennium Development Goals in a key area such as the lowest maternal mortality rate in South
and South East Asia.

We are well on the way to achieving the MDGs in universal primary education, gender parity in
primary education, and maternal and child health. Our country is on course to achieve the MDG
target for declining poverty by 2015. Sanitation and related good hygiene plays a significant role
in all of this.

Friends,

It is necessary to note that there are areas in the field of sanitation to which, Sri Lanka and other
countries of our region need to pay greater attention. These include sanitation in schools,
facilities for the differently-abled, the adequate provision of toilets in public places, and very
importantly, sustainable arrangements for the care and maintenance of these amenities.

At a time when the world is faced with so many disasters both natural and man-made, it is also
necessary to be prepared to face the sanitation needs in such situations. Sri Lanka can take
reasonable pride in our ability to have met the challenges of sanitation in two extremely difficult
situations, in recent years. The first was the tragic tsunami in December 2004. The next was the
rehabilitation and resettlement of nearly 300,000 people, after the successful defeat of terrorism
in 2009.

Both these situations presented very difficult and complex issues which were tackled by a
combination of commitment, innovation and a humanitarian approach to the problem.

In fact, due to our readiness to address the problems of sanitation, Sri Lanka was able to
disprove the many predictions made about the possibility of outbreak of diseases and epidemics
in both these crisis situations.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

We note with gratitude the assistance extended to us by our regional neighbours, and friends in
other parts of the world, to meet these challenges.

In the development of sanitation as a key aspect of social and economic progress, we have also
received much help from development banks, multi- and bilateral aid agencies, non-government
organizations with a good agenda of service, and many other international and local agencies.

We are now becoming more aware of the importance of water for the progress of humankind.
As much as it is needed to sustain life, water is also essential for good sanitation which brings
dignity to life. Sri Lanka, therefore, through our policy framework of the Mahinda Chinthana,
works on policies to safeguard and use the water resources given to us by nature. We are
aware of the importance of water in the development of human capital. We understand the need
to be socially inclusive for the saving and proper harnessing of water, and for the use of
appropriate technology and mechanisms for its storage, distribution and proper use.

In this, Sri Lanka is strengthened by its great history, culture and religious traditions that have
played an important role in the storage and harnessing of water. Our ancient cities are living
examples of the engineering skills of our forefathers, who built great tanks and reservoirs and
also developed drainage systems that impress the engineers of today. Our traditions of working
in harmony with nature did not encourage the pollution of water. These are traditions we want to
follow to preserve and develop, for the needs of today, and the future.

Our policy in sanitation has also focussed on the rural needs. Over the last five years, our
government has been successful in improving a range of rural infrastructure. Water resources,
their preservation, providing safe drinking water to the rural population have all been part of our
rural development strategies. I am happy to note that migration to urban areas from rural
environments has been on the decline. We have been able to provide facilities including those
for sanitation in rural areas making the quality of life of our people better.

I strongly believe that Economic growth alone is not beneficial to the people. It must produce
wide spread benefits to the people while improving basic needs of the society. Access to –
water, sanitation, shelter, electricity, health and education - is key, to open the doors for a
society to enjoy quality basic needs. ‘Mahinda Chinthana - Vision for the Future’ - our
government’s development framework, is based on this fundamental philosophy in economic
development. Rural- centric emphasis is essentially to liberate rural people from incidence of
poverty and ensure that all have access to basic needs. I strongly believe that a meaningful
development cannot exclusively target growth alone. Economic development must be
democratic enough … to ensure that every citizen has access … to gainful opportunities.//

The colossal sums of monies that nations spend on conflicts and wars must be diverted towards
development, research and technology to reduce poverty and suffering. Sri Lanka’s
humanitarian initiatives have enabled the government, not just to end conflicts but to divert
resources earlier spent on conflicts, now towards welfare and development. Public expenditure
on rural centric initiatives and on farmers, on children and similar expenditures on the provision
of water, sanitation and clean environment are more productive and beneficial to the welfare of
the citizens. Therefore, at a ministerial conference such as this, our determination should be to
appeal to the world to divert their defense expenditure on development.

I am in a position to participate in that process as our government not only has ended a painful,
costly war against terrorism, but also reduced our defense expenditure well in excess of 5
percent of GDP before 2005 to around 3 percent in 2010. This is a level that is required to
provide national security and to sustain peace in the country.

This Ministerial Conference has much significance and therefore, it is necessary for me to
extend my special appreciation to UNICEF for the support extended to make this event a reality.
Regional cooperation and collaboration are both essential in our efforts to reach the best
standards of water conservation and sanitation.

The countries of South Asia have, in their own ways, developed traditions that give the highest
importance to the conservation and best use of water. I trust your discussions at this conference
will share this experience, both from the past and present, for the advancement of sanitation,
improvement of hygiene and health, and see how the lessons learnt can be taken to the future.

I wish this Ministerial Summit every success in its deliberations which would be fruitful for the
people of our region and those outside.

I also wish our visitors a pleasant stay in Sri Lanka, to take back memories of a friendly people
and a beautiful country.

May the noble Triple Gem Bless You.