Features
“Mahaweli’s ultimate gift can unite this nation”
by Chanaka Wickramasuriya
(Continued from last week)
Downriver of Bowatenna along this river is the spanking new Moragahakanda reservoir, the latest and last of the ambitious Mahaweli Development Program projects. Completed as recently as 2018, Moragahakanda also comprises of the Kalu Ganga reservoir scheme. The latter, completed at the same time and originating deep in the recesses of the Knuckles range, is itself a tributary of the Amban. The waters of this reservoir are nevertheless diverted via a 12km long tunnel to Moragahakanda as the confluence is downriver of the dam.
The Kalu Ganga reservoir harbors a little known yet now defunct and inundated secret of the Hattota Anicut. This is a 30km diversion built by Agghabodhi in the seventh century to divert waters to the famous Elehara canal down river of the Moragahakanda Dam. Having harnessed these waters from the Kalu Ganga, as well as from the Thelgamu Oya, the Moragahakanda reservoir is being earmarked for a further ambitious effort via the Upper Elehara Canal Project (UECP) currently under construction, to transfer waters via South Asia’s longest irrigation tunnel at 28km and a further 65 km of canals to the Mahakandarawa, Manankattiya tanks and again to the Hurulu Wewa.
In parallel is the construction of the North Western Province Canal Project (NWCP), which will tap into an outlet from Lenodara and carry Mahaweli waters via a series of tanks and 78km of canals into the Mi Oya and Deduru Oya basins. These two river basins are both replete with ancient irrigation networks of their own, spanning from pre-Vijayan times to Parakramabahu in the late 10th Century. Like a giant octopus whose tentacles are gradually encasing the island, these two canal projects will thus complete the Mahaweli’s western most encroachment.
Literally yards below the Moragahakanda dam along the Amban lies the iconic Elehara anicut and Yoda Ela canal. Remnants of the original stone dam built by Vasaba in the first century, increased in height by Mahasen in the third, likely restored by Parakramabahu in the 10th are still visible today. The diversion was slightly relocated as the canal was restored by the British during the early part of the 20th century.
The waters thus diverted travel along the picturesque Yoda Ela, originally also built by Vasaba, over 30km to the Minnneriya (Mahasen third century) and Giritale (Agbo seventh century) tank complexes. Water is further transferred from Minneriya to the larger Kaudulla tank, also attributed to Mahasen, but steeped in legend as actually a construct of his estranged sister. Princess Bisobandara, banished from the palace for her love of a commoner.
Waters from Kaudulla then find their way to the Kantale (Gantala) tank, built by Agghabodi in the seventh century, and the spent waters of this system finally find their way into the Tampalakamam bay in Trincomalee, a little north of the Mahaweli’s natural estuary in Koddiyar, and 95km as the crow flies from the commencing diversion at Elehara.
As the Amban, after its confluence with the Kalu, continues as the western and northern boundary of the Wasgamuwa National park, it makes its final bequeathment to this island’s ancient and modern civilization at Angamadilla. Originally built by Upatissa around the fourth century, along with the Akasa Ganga canal to divert waters to the Thopawewa, the prolific Parakramabahu enhanced both dam and canal to amalgamate five existing tanks and create and feed the great ‘Sea of Parakrama’ or Parakramasamudraya, considered the largest of the ancient world’s reservoirs.
Having thus exhausted itself, the Amban continues further east to eventually coalesce with its great benefactor the Mahaweli at the southern border of the now aptly named Flood Plains National Park.
But our story must now double back to where we stepped off the great river at the Polgolla barrage. After this remarkably significant diversion, the Mahaweli meanders its way through the salubrious suburbs of the historic city of Kandy, into the now inundated Teldeniya valley. And here it emerges at what is probably the jewel in the crown of the modern Mahaweli Development Scheme: Victoria.
A gigantic double curvature dam standing 122m tall and with a crest length of over half a kilometer, it was mostly funded by a grant by her Majesty’s government in 1978. Coincidentally and perhaps suitably named in recognition of both the Royal bequeathment and the submerged Victoria falls, the dam’s primary function, with 722m cubic meters of storage, is delivering an installed capacity of 210MW of hydro power, the highest of all along the Mahaweli system, and capturing and regulating waterflow for the myriad of irrigation schemes further downriver.
Twenty km downriver from Victoria is the equally impressive Randenigala Dam. Completed a few years after the former with German engineering, Randenigala, though a rock filled dam of only 90m height and a crest of 300m, nevertheless creates the largest reservoir in the Mahaweli scheme at over 860m cubic meters of storage capacity and has an installed hydroelectricity capacity of 120MW.
Under 3km downriver from Randenigala, straddling the famous Rantambe gorge, is the small Rantambe dam creating a reservoir of 21m cubic meters and an installed capacity of 52MW. Just below this dam the Mahaweli once again embarks on a generous dispersion of its wealth, instigated by both ancient and modern man.
On the left bank lies the ancient Minipe anicut. Originally built by Dhatusena in the fifth century, extended by Agghabodhi in the sixth to around 22km, and thought to have been further extended a staggering 78km by Sena II in the ninth century all the way up to Angamedilla, the weir of the modern Minipe is currently being further raised to divert even greater volumes of Mahaweli waters into what is known as the Mahaweli E system, one of the many agricultural zones labeled with alphabetical nomenclature along the modern Mahaweli scheme.
On the right bank, directly opposite the ancient Minipe anicut lies the ‘new’ Minipe anicut and the modern Loggal Oya canal. Running 30km up to the Ulhitiya and then Ratkinda reservoirs, these are feeder tanks that eventually carry Mahaweli waters through a five km long tunnel to the legendary Maduru Oya reservoir, to feed the largest resettlement systems of B & C of the Mahaweli scheme.
Still shrouded in debate and mystery as to its origins, the Maduru Oya dam is famous for the revealing of its ancient sluice upon modern man’s survey and excavation for the optimal site for a new reservoir. Dated to the first century BC, and thought to have been constructed by Katukanna Tissa, further excavation and analysis of earthen works speculates that the original dam may have pre-dated Vijayan times. The modern Maduru Oya reservoir, sporting a surface area of 6,400 acres, is only second to the giant Senanayake Samudra in Gal Oya, and harbors an inland fishing industry replete with idyllic fleets of colorful sailing outriggers.
Having dispersed a considerable share of its wealth, and finally stepping off the central highlands, the Mahaweli now continues its journey from Rantambe north along the great flat lands of the north east. Past the sacred city of Mahiyangana, its literal translation meaning ‘flat land’ in ancient Pali, the Mahaweli now enters the natural wonders of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves. All legally constituted as part of the accelerate Mahaweli Development Program starting in the early 1980s, these parks, though now the purview of its denizens of herds of wild elephant, mugger crocodiles and white bellied sea eagles, still harbor the secret relics of an ancient relationship between the river and its people.
Approximately 55km north of Mahiyangana along the Mahaweli lie the Dastota Rapids and Kalinga Island. Now part of the Wasgomuwa National Park, and the first of a series of large islands along the Mahaweli, legend has it that Kalinga, with its gigantic hardwood trees, was the repository of a great ship building industry from which ships were launched and navigated to sea.
While the island is littered with little explained monolithic ruins, ancient narratives and topographical evidence also speak of two spectacular canals, one on each bank just above the rapids that nourished fields and habitats far beyond. On the left bank are the remnants of the Kalinga Yoda Ela. Allegedly built by Dhatusena, it merged with, and with some spectacular engineering ingenuity, crossed the Amban at a weir downriver of Angamedilla and carried water over 50km north to nourish the fields as far as Kaudulla.
On the right bank are the remains of the Gomathi Ela, built by Mahasen; it carried waters over 40km to the Maduru Oya basin. Thus, Mahaweli waters had long been utilized for the nourishment of a civilization that the modern system has only begun to replicate in the late 20th century.
Further down river, about half-way through the Flood Plains National Park, the Mahaweli enters a controversial zone of its geological history. Aerial photographs, and now with the benefit of online satellite imagery, show the faint trace of a dry riverbed to the west of the current trajectory. This trace runs approximately 25km before re-joining the current path of the river.
The famed Somawathiya Chaitya lies adjacent to this dry river, on its eastern bank, but now well toward the west of the current river. Chronicled to have been built by Kavan Tissa circa second century BC of the Ruhunu Kingdom in recognition of his sister Princess Soma, and whose kingdom bordered the Mahaweli, it gives further credence to the fact that the river has likely changed course over 2,000 years ago.
But the historical civilizational consequences of this are profound and speculatively mysterious. Closer scrutiny at the possible trajectories of the river show that the original course would have crossed what is the current trajectory at almost right angles, both just a little north of the Somawathiya temple, as well as closer to the sacred site.
Given the hydrological power of the flow, this author will postulate that the ancient Mahaweli, prior to its change of course, would have contributed a greater volume of perennial water to both the Verugal Ara as well as the Kandakadu Ara, two branches of the Mahaweli that veer off to the east at the exact site of these crossings.
These two waterways, while today barren and dry during most of the year, save for a seasonal man-made sand bagged barrage at Kandakadu, would have, over 2,000 years ago, carried a far greater volume of water into what is Gangapahalawela, Angodavillu, Mavil Aru and the Allai tank in Seruwawila.
These names and the areas they refer to evoke legends, folklore, and cryptic references in chronicles of ancient irrigation networks and an ancient thriving kingdom in and around today’s Serunuwara and Somapura. The jungles of Somawathiya Sanctuary today are replete with scattered ancient ruins, mostly undocumented, un-referenced and likely yet undiscovered giving further evidence to the existence of a kingdom of this island’s history that is largely unknown, and more importantly for this narrative, the Mahaweli’s likely contribution toward it.
The Mahaweli, along the remainder of its northern journey, meanders through large flood plains, where evidence lies of historical seasonal usage of their alluvial soils, as well as modern efforts of trapping some of these seasonal floods into man-made lakes such as Janaranjana Wewa a little south of Sooriyapura. North of the Allai-Kantalai Road, the Mahaweli starts to break up into mangrove wetlands and numerous deltas prior to breaking free into the ocean at Koddiyar bay.
But the story of man’s dalliance with the Mahaweli has not ended here. The second phase of the North Central Province Canal Project is to carry the Mahaweli’s water all the way up to the Northern Province to Iranamadu, the island’s northern most tank. Perhaps again on the back of ancient tanks and channels built by Mahasen (Kalnadinna), Vasaba (Thannimurippu) and Agghabodhi (Vavunilkulam), the waters of the Mahaweli will reach this ultimate destination.
May be then this island will be finally united. Not just from north to south, but across class and caste, language and philosophy, and political partisanship. Hopefully driven by a newfound sanity among its denizens, yet symbolically attested to by the waters of the Mahaweli.
(Concluded)
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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