A high-powered five-person team has come together to promote the growth of raw industrial hemp (medicinal marijuana) in Sri Lanka. 

They are Lead Marion Marithasan from Denver, USA, former Ambassador Buddhi Athauda from Washington DC, USA, Senior Advisor Entrepreneur Dr. Arosha Fernando from Colombo, Sri Lanka, Operations and Programme Management Head Nish Hettigama from Sydney, Australia, and Local Research and Development Head Lahiru Dileepa Fonseka from Colombo, Sri Lanka.   

Fernando in a statement said Marithasan is one of only twenty people selected to serve on the Biden-Sanders pre-election task force in the USA in 2020 assigned to investigate the legalising of cannabis at the federal level and served as an Advisor to the President of the USA Joe Biden. 

Marithasan has compiled the new task force for Sri Lanka from native-born Sri Lankans with specific skills who can work with the Sri Lankan Government to assist with any transition to growing raw industrial hemp within a responsible regulatory framework of international standards under the tag line of ‘for the service of the Sri Lankan Government and our people.’

“Raw industrial hemp is one of the world’s fastest-growing global markets. Over 70 countries worldwide produce raw industrial hemp, including the USA and China. 

Having never banned hemp, China is the world’s largest producer, and the global raw industrial hemp market is forecasted to grow by 300% or USD 10 billion in the coming five years. 

Sri Lanka offers some of the world’s best-growing environments for raw industrial hemp. Making our legislation capable of capturing this global opportunity, we are in a position to bring a large foreign revenue to Sri Lanka solving our current foreign revenue crises,” said Senior Advisor Fernando during the inaugural meeting of the taskforce held last week in the Galle Face Hotel.    

“In 2005 Marithasan founded Ceylon Solutions and since then, Ceylon Solutions has brought millions of dollars into the Sri Lankan economy. 

It has also brought jobs, knowledge, and training in cutting-edge international technologies, which has improved opportunity and living standards for hundreds if not thousands of Sri Lankans. 

“Today, Marion is at the cutting edge of the emerging cannabis and hemp industries that he co-founded and leads the regulatory and operational compliance organisation, Simplifya.

 Marion who is passionately a Sri Lankan bringing his expertise and resources to help Sri Lanka move ahead of the early market expansion, leverage global opportunity, provide jobs, education, and opportunities for fellow Sri Lankans, and more importantly solve our current foreign revenue crises,” Fernando added.

The group is expected to meet the key decision-makers in the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) in the coming days to discuss how best GOSL could help it to implement the proposed project by making the right legislation at the earliest possible not only considering the current financial environment of the country but also carefully evaluating the case studies from other countries including the USA.   

 “The hemp industry poses for Sri Lanka on multiple fronts: job creation, new manufacturing businesses, and tax revenue through exports. 

We also see the opportunity for the local manufacture of hemp-derived 100% earth-friendly biodegradable products, that will transition Sri Lanka from being one of the biggest users and polluters of plastics to being one of the first countries to become free of plastics, something that Sri Lanka can be proud of and showcase on the world stage,” Fernando added.

In a mission to provide emergency relief to the worst impacted families and communities in the country due to the ongoing economic crisis, Dialog Axiata PLC, MAS Holdings, Hemas Holdings PLC, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, and PwC Sri Lanka joined forces to launch the ‘Manudam Mehewara’ relief initiative.

Driven by its shared values and vision of providing immediate assistance to marginalised and vulnerable communities, the ‘Manudam Mehewara’ corporate coalition joined hands with like-minded partners including Sarvodaya, which will identify and provide emergency relief to more than 100,000 adversely affected families, especially communities in deep poverty.

PwC partnered with the initiative pro bono to monitor financial governance and reporting as per compliance requirements of the corporate partners. Furthermore, ITN, Siyatha, Swarnawahini, TV Derana, and Vasantham joined the effort as media partners.

Manudam Mehewara will commence operations on 10 April, where urgently required, essential dry rations packs will be distributed to families in need across all 25 districts.

Commenting, Dialog Axiata Group Chief Executive Supun Weerasinghe said: “We are grateful to MAS, Hemas, our project execution partner, Sarvodaya, and accountability partner PwC for joining us in this endeavour to provide emergency relief to more than 100,000 families in need across the country.

“As the trusted digital companion of over 17 million Sri Lankans, we recognised the immediate need to step forward to help relieve the impact on our adversely affected communities.

MAS Holdings Group CEO Suren Fernando said: “MAS is an organisation that is known for its social conscience, and at times like this we are privileged to be able to act upon one of MAS’ core values, giving back to the community and the country we call home.

“Having worked with Sarvodaya many times before, we are convinced that if anyone has the bandwidth and capability to significantly make a difference to these vulnerable communities, it is them. Sarvodaya is the ideal implementation partner, with its philosophy and its island-wide network of resources.

“I do sincerely hope that other corporates in Sri Lanka are inspired to join us, recognise the need to act now, and come together through this program or find ways that are within their means to support the people of this nation during their time of desperate need. This is our nation, our people, and our collective responsibility.”

Hemas Holdings Group CEO Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson said: “As a Sri Lankan corporate it is our responsibility to ensure that we address the immediate needs of our people across the country.

Our purpose, making healthful living happen, focuses on eliminating inequality and this partnership aligns with our ongoing efforts. In the upcoming months, we will continue to work with partners and carry out interventions that will relieve the burden of our communities and our employees.”

Expressing his thoughts on this initiative, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement President Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne said: “We are pleased to join hands with such high-calibre companies like Dialog, MAS, and Hemas to launch this humanitarian initiative to provide emergency relief to the families most adversely affected by the current economic crisis.

The Manudam Mehewara programme will be conducted for 60 to 90 days until a sustainable benefit transfer system is established in the country through an effective economic recovery plan.