Features
Maha Kudugala Apple Farm Land Issue: A classic example of environmental misgovernance and mismanagement
By Emeritus Prof. Nimal Gunatilleke
University of Peradeniya
Chronological and Administrative/Legal History
There has been a long-drawn-out legislative battle between the government bureaucracy and politically influential cultivators of seasonal cash crops over the Maha Kudugala Apple Farm lands since its opening up in the 1970s. A total extent of 126 ha consisting of three land blocks each of 89 ha, 12 ha, and 5 ha respectively, is located entirely within the upper-most watershed mainly of Kurundu Oya in the Maha Kudugala GN Division of the Pidurutalagala (Pedro) Conservation Forest. The elevational range in the cultivation area is 1500 m – 2100 m (over 5000 ft.) having steep slopes mostly over 60o, (See Figure 1)
This land is also located within the ‘Central Environmental Fragile Area’ (a geographic entity that consists of the lands with sensitive natural ecosystems highly vulnerable to landslides which play a crucial role in sustaining water resources) depicted in the 2008-2030 National Physical Policy Plan and also in its updated version of 2017-2050 (Govt. Gazette No. 2127/15 – 12 June 2019).
The earliest records indicate that this land has been included in a forest area that has been declared way back in 1938 as state land for which survey plans were subsequently drawn up in 1942. The forest range was designated in this survey plan as Kurundu Oya Mukalana – the primary watershed forest of the Kurundu Oya. This 1942 survey plan refers to the entire forest range as a Climate Reserve for the protection of the sources and courses of streams arising from this forest area’ (FSPP 84B and 84C in the survey plan) highlighting its importance in watershed protection even at that time. It was later designated as Maha Kudugala Proposed Forest Reserve and included as a part of the Pidurutalagala Proposed Reserve according to the Forest Conservation Act which was resurveyed in 2004 and declared as a Conservation Forest by the Gazette No: 1527/22 on 14 Dec. 2007.
Cultivation History
Upon a request by the Nuwara Eliya District Co-ordinating Committee made on 08 Oct. 1970, the Forest Department had apparently issued a ‘no objection’ letter dated 11 Dec. 1970 to release 300 acres of this forested state land on the basis of a long-term lease in Maha Kudugala Proposed Forest Reserve for the cultivation of apple trees as a co-operative project to 97 members of the Ragala/Walapane Apple Growers’ Co-operative Society. However, these cultivators not only deviated from the original agreement to grow apple trees but also had not paid the annual lease for the land blocks leased out to them over several years. Consequently, upon a recommendation by the Forest Department, the then Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Land Development issued a directive on 23 March 1978 to the Government Agent/Nuwara Eliya to transfer back the entire land area to the Forest Department for reforestation. Since these directives were apparently not honoured by the apple farm cultivators, the issue has gone no less than to the highest legislative/executive authority – the President of the country.
The then HE President issued a directive in June 1990, approving the recommendations made by the Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Irrigation and Mahaweli Development on 14 May 1990 that all the occupants of the apple farm land (the members of the Ragala/Walapane Apple Growers’ Co-operative Society) to be evicted for deviating from the specific cultivation practices for which the land was originally leased out namely, for the cultivation of apple trees, thus causing extensive damage to this fragile landscape. The land to be reclaimed was once again recommended to be reforested.
However, the members of the apple growers’ co-op society (those with LDO permits as well as those who have established their long-term residence in the area) moved the Court of Appeal that the quit notice issued by the DFO, Nuwara Eliya in 1992 and the related actions pending in the Magistrate Court at Walapane be quashed. However, the Appeal Court issued the judgment on 20 Sept 2016 that the eviction order issued in 1992 is a legally valid document and that all ten notices requesting the repeal of the DFO order be annulled.
A second application submitted by 40 petitioners – all occupants of the said land, seeking to quash the Notice to Quit dated 31 Dec. 1992 issued by the Forest Department under Section 3 of the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act No. 7 of 1979 (as amended later), by way of Writ of certiorari was also dismissed (but without costs), at the Court of Appeal on 02 Dec. 2019 as the lands were initially released to promote apple cultivation, and that too not forever. During the delivery of the above judgment by the Appeal Court Judge in 2019 (CA Case No: CA/WRIT/6/2015) the statement made in their submission by the Forest Department that ‘the lands are situated over 5000 ft. altitude and part of the catchment area of the Randenigala Reservoir and the illegal occupation and the cultivation of the said area by unauthorised occupants including the petitioner by using hazardous chemicals severely affect the biodiversity of the entire conservation forest and cause siltation in the Randenigala reservoir’ was quoted in the Judgement statement thus under-scoring the conservation value of this forest landscape. (See Figure 2)
Conservation value of the Maha Kudugala Forest in the Pidurutalagala Range
The NE-facing upper montane rain forests are part of a separate plant geographic unit known as the Montane Intermediate Floristic Region (G1) which was recognised recently during the preparation of the 6th National Report for the Convention on Biological Diversity. These forests are among the most threatened landscapes within Sri Lanka for their exceptionally rich biodiversity and critical ecosystem services such as watershed and soil conservation functions they perform. In the pre-colonial era, these forest-clad landscapes provided year-round water security to the traditional rural communities of the present-day Walapane and Hanguranketha Divisional Secretariats lying in the eastern escarpments of the central highlands.
IV. Watershed Value
In terms of hydrological importance, the Pidurutalagala (Pedro) reserve was ranked number three (no. 3), just behind the Peak Wilderness and the Knuckles range, out of all the natural forests in Sri Lanka surveyed during the National Conservation Review (NCR 1996) conducted by the IUCN-The World Conservation Union with funding from the FAO. The main reason for gaining such a high rank is the contribution of fog interception by the natural forests to feed the streams originating from the forests thus ensuring year-round water security. According to the methodology used in the IUCN-sponsored NCR (1996), the horizontal precipitation by way of fog interception that feeds the streams foregone by converting forest into agricultural land use is about 860,000 cubic meters per annum (Personal communication by Prof. Nimal Gunawardena).
This is a substantial quantity of water in view of the issues currently faced by the Walapane Water Supply Scheme located downstream and the farmers who have been using the stream water of the Kurundu Oya for their subsistence for generations. Therefore, leaving the forests in the upper catchments is very important to regulate the stream flow since studies have shown that the fog contribution is significant, especially during the dry season. The NCR survey further indicated that there are 13 streamlets fed by the area covered specifically by the apple farm area and the lack of natural forest cover seriously affects the regulation of stream flow, which normally controls flash floods, soil erosion, and landslides.
One of the most harmful consequences of converting forests into intensive vegetable cultivation is the on-farm soil erosion and sedimentation of downstream reservoirs. The field studies in Nuwara Eliya district have shown that the soil erosion from intensive cultivation is about 100 t/ha/year whereas the soil erosion from the natural forest is as low as 0.3 t/ha/year. Almost all of such eroded soil released to the Kurundu Oya from the Apple Farm area ends up in the Randenigala Reservoir since there is a very steep gradient along the Kurundu Oya. This high level of soil erosion also increases the water purification cost at the Walapane Water Supply scheme due to the increased expense for chemicals to remove sediments from water and operate the pumps to flush out sediments from the filters at frequent intervals.
Heavy inputs of inorganic fertiliser, pesticides, and weedicides in vegetable and other cash crop cultivation in this area contaminate both surface- as well as ground-water thus affecting the drinking water quality of the downstream communities.
A land use management plan (still in the draft stage) prepared by the LUPPD/Ministry of Environment and Wildlife Resources (MEWR) under a UNDP/World Food Programme funded project titled ‘Addressing Climate Change Impacts on Marginalised Agricultural Communities Living in the Mahaweli River Basin” (https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000128802/download/), has identified and classified 297 water sources in Walapane DS Division fed by the three streams – Beliul-, Kurundu-, Halgan Oya into three water quality classes [Class 1 (127 – good), II (114 – fair), and III (26 – poor)]. This report strongly recommends that it is crucial to maintain a suitable land cover (tree-dominated), particularly on the higher slopes to reduce the runoff by increasing infiltration and minimising soil erosion. The UNDP report further recommends that the home gardens with seasonal cash crop cultivation in the slopes over 60% in the Walapane DSD need to be relocated, if possible. Alternatively, cultivation of these seasonal crops (vegetables and potatoes) should not be permitted in these home gardens and their land cover needs to be improved considerably by introducing tree crops (agroforestry practices) with intensive conservation measures. Since the Apple Farmlands are located further up in the watersheds of the three streams (Fig. 2 map on the right), the same evidence-based recommendations given in this report are applicable to them as well.
Biodiversity Value:
A recent biodiversity sensitivity ranking analysis conducted by University-based researchers using eight taxonomic groups namely, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fish, dragonflies and damselflies, butterflies, and land snails has clearly identified the Kurundu Oya Mukalana that includes the Apple Farm area harbor a high concentration of endemic and range-restricted fauna See Fig. 3 below.
V. Impact on National Commitments to Global Conventions:
As a signatory to the three Rio Conventions (UNFCCC, UNCBD, and UNCCD), Sri Lanka is under obligation to achieve the national conservation targets within a set time frame (by 2030). Among these are i) restore and improve degraded forests (80% in the Dry Zone and 20% in the Wet Zone) ii) Increase the forest cover from 29% to 32% iii) Reduce the rate of soil degradation to improve land productivity and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks and iv) reduce soil erosion of lands cultivated with annual and plantation crops.
Under the UNCCD, the Sri Lankan Government has reaffirmed its commitment to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 15 and Target 15.3 and participated in the Land Degradation Neutrality Target setting Programme (LDN-TSP) to identify national targets. (file:///E:/CP-%20SAM%20-%20Ch.%203%20_%20Montane%20zone/Apple%20Farm/Sri%20Lanka%20LDN%20Country%20Commitments.pdf). Among the Land Degradation Neutrality (LND) measures identified as national priorities, the following measures listed in the LDN national report (Box 3 on page 7) are directly relevant to the Apple Farm issue.
Change the policy of regularising the encroachment of state lands,
Halt the cultivation of annual crops in steep lands and facilitate the conversion of such lands to perennial crops,
Encourage the adaptation of sustainable management practices through incentives.
Summary
In summary, the above-detailed review of both scientific and legal evidence along with the nationally pledged commitments to the three international conventions (UNCBD, UNFCCC, and UNCCD), unequivocally underscores the fact that the current land use practices in the Apple Farm lands are being carried out in violation of National Policies and Legislation (National Physical Policy Plan, Forest Conservation Act, Soil Conservation Act, National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources, their Catchments and Reservations in Sri Lanka [2014]) and also contravening the legally binding international commitments made to the three Rio Conventions that Sri Lanka is a signatory to.
At present Sri Lanka is moving towards a green economic environment encouraging investments for sustainable and transformative green development projects addressing the nationally important sustainability issues viz. rapid loss of biodiversity, impacts of accelerated land degradation compounded by changing climate, especially on the critical upper watersheds of major river basins.
In such a situation, the current state of affairs on the Apple Farm Land issue creates serious precedence in environmental and social mismanagement and misgovernment, thus severely impacting our national drive toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and Land Degradation Neutrality targets through green economic pathways during this Decade of Forest Restoration (2021-2030).
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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