The new order and its President

The period immediately following the election of 1977 was one of great hope. In the economic sphere certainly this seemed justified. Massive devaluation and a vigorously pursued open economic policy that contrasted sharply with the restrictions of the last seventeen years prompted much aid from the First World and its agencies, and a renewed interest in investment, local as well as foreign. Some of this was in a Free Trade Zone set up just north of Colombo, in emulation of Singapore and other success stories of the seventies. There was however general interest in the country as a whole, and a period of stagnation was succeeded by one of intense activity.

Tea prices too finally took off, while another large source of income developed through remittances from Sri Lankans working in the Middle East. The increase in oil revenues there had contributed to a proliferation of jobs for foreign workers, unskilled as well as skilled. The dearth of satisfactory employment in Sri Lanka in the preceding years had propelled many in that direction. Both these avenues opened up shortly before the elections, but their full impact was felt only afterwards, contributing to the feeling that the millennium had at last arrived.

There was a greater sense of purpose in the air, and several large projects were devised for concentrated action. Most important of these was the Mahaweli Scheme, planned some years earlier, but implemented very slowly, to harness the waters of the largest river in the country for hydroelectric power and irrigation of the Dry Zone.