For the first time US-Bangla Airlines, the leading premium airline of Bangladesh will fly to Colombo from November 1.
Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunge said that with the successful COVID vaccination drive and the drastic reduction of deaths and infections, Sri Lanka Tourism is once again picking up and this is the reason for new airlines to fly to Sri Lanka and the country being removed from the ‘COVID Red list’ too has helped towards new airlines patronizing Sri Lanka.
AEROFLOT airlines will launch flights from November 4 and the frequency is two a week. In addition Russia’s largest Charter airline AZUR Air, will fly to Colombo from October 11.
Neos airlines is an Italian leisure airline that has included Colombo to their radar and will operate flights from November 1. AIR FRANCE too will add Colombo from November 1. Minister Ranatunga said that in addition the second largest airline of Israel, Arkia Airlines is in talks to operate flights to Colombo this year. In addition Swiss Air Lines, the flag carrier of Switzerland, too would touch Sri Lanka at the end of the year.
Currently Colombo international airport is serviced by 16 international cargo and passenger airlines. The Minister also said that in addition to Colombo, four airlines are expected to operate flights to Mattala as well. Meanwhile SriLankan Airlines too will announce several new destinations commenting from the end of the year.
The awarding of the contract for Colombo’s West Container Terminal to Adani Group marks the first time that an Indian firm will manage such operations in Sri Lanka. At the same time, a state-backed Chinese company already operates the Hambantota Port on a 99-year lease. The same Chinese company is also developing another port terminal at Colombo.India’s largest private ports company APSEZ has signed a 35-year lease with Sri Lanka’s state-owned operator of major commercial ports SLPA (Sri Lanka Ports Authority) to develop and run the West Container Terminal at Colombo under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model, an official told Sputnik.The signing ceremony to seal the contract was held virtually on Thursday.The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd. (APSEZ) is a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, the Indian business conglomerate backed by billionaire Gautam Adani.
As per the terms of the lease agreement, APSEZ will develop and manage operations at the Colombo port terminal in partnership with its local partner John Keells Holdings PLC.In a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange on Thursday, John Keels Holdings said that work during the first phase of the terminal will commence early next year and would be completed within a span of two years.While Adani will have a 51 percent stake in profits from the port operations for the next 35 years, the Sri Lankan company will have 34 percent ownership in the lease venture.The Sri Lankan Ministry of Ports and Shipping and the SLPA awarded a letter of intent to run the operations of the container terminal in March, as per a company statement.The Indian company said that it intends to reach an operational capacity of 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) over the next three decades. The quay length at the proposed container terminal will be around 1,400 metres with a depth of 20 metres.At least 45 percent of the trans-shipments originating from or destined to India pass through the Colombo port, which currently has five functioning terminals — Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), Unity Container Terminal, East Container Terminal (ECT), South Asia Gateway Terminal and the Jaya International Terminal.The West Container Terminal is one of the three proposed terminals slated to come up in the future.The Sri Lankan government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had in February this year scrapped a government-to-government contract signed between his predecessor, and the Indian and Japanese governments to develop the ECT. It was done in the wake of protests by local trade unions and opposition objecting to foreign ownership” of the strategic asset.In fact, Sri Lankan Minister of Ports and Shipping Rohitha Abeygunawardena has said that the government would own a 100 percent” stake in all Sri Lankan ports after 35 years.At the time, the Indian foreign ministry accused Sri Lanka of dishonouring” their international commitments and said that discussions were underway to make Colombo understand the importance of adhering to international commitments”.
Sri Lanka Cancels Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s Address to Parliament to Avoid ‘Clash’ With India22 February, 12:50 GMTSri Lankan Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage termed the awarding of West Container Terminal contract to the Indian company as a compromise”, meant to make up for the decision to boot India and Japan out of the government-to-government contract to operate the East Container Terminal.
India’s ‘Security Concerns’ Over China’s Influence in Sri Lanka
Another of the Colombo port terminals — Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) — is being developed by Beijing’s state-backed China Merchants Port Holdings, a Hong-Kong headquartered company.During the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Sri Lanka in 2014, Beijing also proposed to develop a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) comprising the land reclaimed from the sea.
We have been closely following recent developments from our security perspective. We have also noted the concerns that have been raised in Sri Lanka regarding several aspects of the framework for the Colombo Port City.”
“We expect Sri Lanka will remain mindful of our excellent bilateral cooperation, including for mutual security in our shared environment, which includes the maritime domain,” an Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in June, addressing queries on potential security implications for India from an increased Chinese presence in Sri Lanka.
‘Pushback Against China’
Former Indian Navy officer Seshadri Vasan, who currently heads the Indian think tank Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S), told Sputnik that the awarding of the WCT contract to India should be viewed as a pushback” against Beijing’s rising influence in Sri Lanka, which shares close cultural and economic ties with New Delhi.The port project was possibly offered as a face-saver to the Indian company. The Sri Lankan government wanted to pacify India, while at the same time it doesn’t want to antagonise China,” says Vasan.He says that the involvement of an Indian company in Colombo serves India’s and economic as well as strategic interests”.
Given the fact that a huge amount of our container traffic passes through Colombo, it is only in India’s interest that we have a presence there.”
“On the other hand, it also serves to negate China’s advantage in potentially controlling merchant vessels coming from and bound for India,” explains the Navy veteran.The think-tanker also reckons that the Sri Lankan government must have been under tremendous pressure” from China in snatching away the contract for developing ECT in February this year, noting that China has disputes with both Japan (East China Sea) and India (Ladakh border standoff).
Eight prisoners detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) at the Anuradhapura prison today filed a Fundamental Rights petition in Supreme Court against the alleged criminal conduct on the part of the State Minister Lohan Ratwatte. The petitioners are seeking an order in respect of the alleged serious offences committed by State Minister Ratwatte at the Anuradhapura Prison on I2th of September 2021.
The petitioners are also seeking an interim order transferring them to a prison in the Northern Province where their cases are lodged. The petitioners stated that on 12th of September around 6.05 pm, the ten detainees were asked to come out into the Prison complex’s courtyard. They said State Minister and another person who appeared to be his Secretary, some others who looked like his security detail and some Prison guards were there.
They said State Minister told the detainees to stand in a semi-circle and ordered them to kneel before him. The petitioners alleged the State Minister started to abuse them in Sinhala saying that the President had given him all the power in relation to PTA Prisoners and that he could either release them or shoot them dead. The petitioners further said the State Minister had a pistol in his hand and appeared to be intoxicated.
“The State Minister then demanded to know what crime each of the detainees had committed. He kept shouting abuse at the detainees for a while and then ordered eight Petitioners to go in. The detainees were all in great shock and fear. Later, the Prison officials told them that the Minister has gone out of the Prison and for them not to be fearful,” the petitioners stated.
The petitioners are seeking a declaration that their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles12(1) and 12(2) have been infringed by the respondents. They also seeking an interim orders to enlarge them on bail. State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, Justice Minister Ali Sabry, Prison Superintendent of Anuradhapura M.H.R. Ajith, Commissioner General of Prisons Upuldeniya and Attorney General were named as the respondents in the petition.
The petition had been filed through Attorney-at-law Mohan Balendran. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)
Health guidelines to be followed once the quarantine curfew imposed country-wide is lifted tomorrow (October 01) have been issued by the Ministry of Health.
The quarantine curfew imposed on the whole country will be lifted with restrictions from 04.00 am tomorrow.
As per the new guidelines, all non-essential travel is restricted from 10.00 pm to 04.00 am daily.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, groceries, and shops are only allowed to serve 10% of the accommodation capacity at a time.
Further public transport will be restricted to seating capacities.
In addition, indoor or outdoor parties, celebrations, gatherings are not allowed until further notice.
The guidelines dictate that tuition classes are also not permitted to be held even after the curfew is lifted. However, pre-schools can be opened to children up to 50% of the capacity of the premises.
Salons and barbershops may operate on an appointment basis.
Wedding ceremonies may be held with 10 attendees in presence between October 01-15.
Further, funerals of non-COVID-19 deaths must be carried out within 24 hours of releasing the body with only 10 persons attending at any given time.
India’s Adani Group has signed a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement with its local partner John Keells Holding s (JKH) and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), to jointly develop the West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port.
The agreement will be an investment exceeding USD 700 million.
In March, the WCT of the Colombo Port was approved to be developed as a Public-Private Limited Company in partnership with India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ Consortium) along with its local representative John Keells Holding PLC (APSEZ Consortium), and SLPA.
The terminal is to be developed on a 35-year Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) basis with the aforementioned stakeholders.
The port terminal will have a quay length of 1,400 meters and a depth of 20 meters, making it a prime trans-shipment cargo destination to handle ultra-large container carriers, according to the filing from Adani Ports.
It will be the first-ever Indian port operator in Sri Lanka and hold 51% in the joint venture.
An inquiry has been initiated into the unprofessional and irresponsible behavior displayed by certain officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) by interrogating several media persons disregarding the instructions not to do so, the Police Headquarters says.
Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara yesterday (Sep. 29) called for an inquiry into the relevant incident.
The relevant directives were given to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne.
Further, the minister has instructed the IGP to hand over the investigations into the garlic scam from the Peliyagoda Special Crimes Division to the CID and to conduct a comprehensive probe.
Reportedly, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had directed the CID not to question the journalists who reported the recent garlic scam, however, despite the instructions, the investigators had recorded statements from them.
Director-General of Health Services on Wednesday (Sep. 29) confirmed 59 new COVID-related deaths in Sri Lanka.
According to the Department of Government Information, 28 males and 31 females have succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the recent past.
New victims include 11 people aged between 30 – 59 years and 47 others aged 60 years and above. One female youth aged below 30 years has also succumbed to the virus.
Following the latest development, Sri Lanka’s COVID-related death toll now stands at 12,906.
When the
Portuguese captured the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka they found a
flourishing export trade in elephants, developed over the centuries by the Sinhala king. The
Portuguese , who had never seen an elephant
before, found that the Ceylon elephant
was superior, compared to elephants from other countries, and traders were
prepared to pay twice or even up to four times for them. The Portuguese quickly
got involved in the elephant export trade. They established a special unit
called the Elephant Hunt for the capture and export of elephants. When the
Dutch defeated the Portuguese in 1655, the Elephant Hunt had nearly 3 000 men
in its employ.
The elephants were caught in two kraals. The person in charge was called the
Gajanayake. The Portuguese maintained an annual demand of
37 elephants for export from the kraals. Elephants were led, tied to tame ones,
to the Jaffna peninsula and to Kayts for export. The Portuguese used Kayts for
the export of elephants. The elephants
were driven into the Jaffna peninsula by a shallow ford that separated it from
the mainland. This was later bridged and given the name Elephant Pass. It is most unlikely that the Portuguese would
have created this route. This would have been the existing trade route.
In 1507 the Viceroy of India sent a gift of a
small elephant, imported from Ceylon, to King Manuel of Portugal. After seven
years in Lisbon this elephant, named Annone, was presented to Pope Leo X and
moved to Rome. Annone, lived in Rome for three years but died after developing
stomach trouble due to the variety of food given to it by visitors and
admirers. There is a memorial in Rome to Annone the first elephant in the
Vatican (Hulugalle, 1969).
The Dutch who also had never seen an elephant before found, in their turn, that the elephant trade was a lucrative one. They too latched on to
it. They increased the size of the Elephant
Hunt so as to increase their income through the export of elephants
(Jayewardene, 1994).
The Ceylon elephant continued to be greatly
desired in India for war and as draught animals. Bengal and Golconda Muslim
merchants came along to purchase them. The sales took place in the port
of Kayts , reported the Dutch .
During the colonial occupation of the country,
elephants are known to have been captured in the Avissawella, Negombo,
Mannar, Kalutara, Matara, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee,
Batticaloa, Buttala area. During the Dutch period, an elephant had even
found its way into the Colombo Fort. This shows that the elephants were in a
habit of moving down from the thick forested hills in search of food and water.
Elephants were usually captured when
they ventured into the forests in the lower plains.
The Dutch had to obtain permission from the Udarata king to capture elephants which were
within the Udarata kingdom. The king agreed to the Dutch capturing 20 to 30
animals each year, but the Dutch constantly exceeded this figure, capturing
around 150 each year and 200 in one year.
Considering the 100 year duration of Dutch
rule, the possible total number of elephants exported is a staggering 11,250 specimens in their prime, said
Ashley de Vos.. The trade brought in an average of 100,000 Guilders per year.
Elephants were caught in kraals, in the Matara
Dissawa area and Udawalawe. A group of persons known as
Baddenas were sent into the jungles to look for suitable herds of elephants to
be captured in kraals .When the herds were sighted, the Dissawa of the area was
informed, and he in turn gave instructions to hold a kraal.
The kraal was an elaborate and specialized operation which was carried out by a caste of
people whose occupation it was”. There
was a Master of the Hunt who was
responsible for the whole organization. Those engaged in capturing and training
elephants held land in payment for their
work.
A very large stable had been built to house the
captured elephants, , with a Gajanayake in charge, in Matara. These
stables were at the site of the present
Kachcheri. In 1697 there were 97 elephants in these stables. The animals were bathed twice a day in a
nearby river, very likely the Nilwala.
The animals that were for sale, were marched northwards to
Jaffna by land along the coastal road to Mannar or Kayts. They were marched
tied to tame elephants. This route had a special problem, many rivers had to be crossed. This was a problem. The elephants
were shipped in large flat bottom wooden barges, ten at a time, to the Coromandel Coast in India. The elephants were
often sold before they were properly trained.
The elephant caravan had to pass through the Udarata Kingdom on
their way and special permission had to be sought for this transit. One notes that under Sinhala rule, elephants
would not have had to do this long trek from Matara to Jaffna. They
would have been captured higher up.
Johann Wolfgang
Heydt was a German who worked for the VOC in Sri Lanka . He spent over two
years in Sri Lanka. Heydt has
given a detail description of how the Dutch elephant trap” works. Near
the gates, on which entrance they have ready some tame elephants, which must as
if show the way, and must enter first. These then the wild ones follow,
until they are brought into an open space provided with 2 or 3 drop-gates, on
which men sit hidden. As soon as these see that the wild elephants have been
brought through by the tame ones, they cut the Rottangs (rattans) which hold up
the gate, so that they fall and enclose the place. Then they take again the
tame elephants and let them show the way to the wild ones, until they lead each
into a very long and narrow path, so that he cannot turn around unless he is
very small: and so he goes along this passage until he comes to the end of it,
and as soon as he is there, they quickly push in some tree trunks behind him,
so that he cannot now go backwards.
Then they try to tie him up, and bring him
slowly forward, between two tame elephants. If now he will not go forward, they
set a third behind him, which must belabour him with his trunk in a most
pitiful manner, so that he begins to weep and to cry out: and afterwards they
bring him into a place destined for this purpose, and look after him well, and
seek daily, now with kindness, now with beatings, to make him tame, seeing that
they have a quite extraordinary intelligence, more than other beasts”.
Heydt has an equally interesting account of
what happens to the elephant after capture and the need to partially train them
prior to export. He refers to Matara fort as being full of trees, bushes and
coconut gardens, which are very abundant, not only inside the fort but outside
as well, creating the impression of a forest totally hiding the buildings .a
large number are brought to Matara yearly, or at least every 2 years. The
elephants are placed for safety between trees, which are planted 4 by 4
conveniently for this, where they can be better disciplined than in the
stables.
Heydt then goes on to describe how animals are
measured, examined and priced for the international market and then escorted
tied to tame elephants to the point of shipment. While I was still in Colombo,
there came thus (tied) beside tame elephants yearly 50 – 60 which had been
taken here, to be sent from there to the Coromandel Coast and Bengal: since the
Kings there buy them from the Company to use them for their pomp. They remained
usually for 3 to 4 weeks near Colombo before they went further, and first must
be measured, according to the custom there, both in height and length.
At this measuring attention was given also to
the tail, whether it were complete; and had also its tufts complete, on which
are hairs, very thick which are about 4 or at the most 6 inches long, hanging down
on both sides of the tufts .When selling or purchasing these beasts one also
looks very closely at the ears, seeing that in the case of many these are
highly torn. Those which have good ears
and tails, and no visible defects, are highly valued:
The impression
given by such description, specially for
gullible readers is that the Dutch, due to their innate superiority, were able to
improve on the elephant capturing methods used for centuries by the Sinhalese. This is most
unlikely. The Dutch were not familiar with elephants and knew nothing
about capturing them and shipping them. What they did was to latch
on to the trade established by the Sinhala kings,
use the methods developed by
them, use the trained groups who were traditionally engaged in this work and
take the profits.( continued)
Sri Lanka, an island nation south of India, is experiencing a food and economic emergency. Just a decade ago, the country emerged victorious from the destructive and protracted war waged by the Tamil Tigers occupying the northeastern part of the country. After winning the battle against the internal insurgents, the Sri Lankan government started to rebuild its economy. Its march to recovery was successful until it was halted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Already reeling from the adverse effects of Covid-19, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the costly mistake of banning the importation of all chemical fertilizers. He wanted to make his country the first in the world to be recognized as a hundred-percent producer of organic agriculture products. However, nature operates differently and the decision backfired.
Organic agriculture farms have lower productivity levels than those using chemical fertilizers. Thus, overall, Sri Lankan farm productivity declined at a time its people direly needed adequate food supply. Due to lower productivity, organic agricultural products are priced higher. Given the loss of jobs and incomes as a result of the pandemic, organic agriculture made it difficult for the Sri Lankan government to ensure adequate food supply.
During a light banter I had with a group of agricultural scientists at the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, Dr. Emil Javier, former UP president and current national scientist, reprimanded another colleague who advocates for a comprehensive adoption of organic agriculture in the country. Javier claimed that what they were doing was verging on foolishness and nowhere was it based on science. He cited that in palay (unmilled rice) production, one needs to bombard the plant with nitrogen when it is in the “panicle stage” to ensure that the grains developed robustly.
He then asked, “Where would you get that massive amount of organic fertilizer to provide the proper amount of fertilizer to the palay crop?” “So, you have to gather all the carabao, cow and horse’s dung or gather and process tons of rotting leaves to provide adequate nitrogen to millions of hectares of our palay farms?” he continued. Unsurprisingly, the agricultural scientist colleague of ours, who associates himself with the so-called “progressive groups” in the country, could not provide a satisfactory response.
The Sri Lankan government made matters worse by subsidizing the importation of organic fertilizer. This placed tremendous pressures on their foreign exchange reserves and led to the depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee. The government tried to impose exchange controls to ensure access to badly needed foreign exchange to buy organic fertilizer, and eventually, in importing more food as the food supply situation tightened. Again, this led to the further depletion of their foreign exchange reserves, the depreciation of the Sri Lankan currency, and expectedly, higher inflation.
Eventually, the government had to call in the military to prevent hoarding, speculation by traders, and to ensure orderly rationing of food commodities. It had to resort to foreign borrowings to be able to access valuable foreign exchange as its reserves were already depleted. In such a bind, the Sri Lankan government will undoubtedly taste the bitter pill of the conditionalities that its creditors will impose. Definitely, one of these bitter pills will be the abandonment of the comprehensive organic agriculture program.
Lest I be misunderstood, I am not an anti-organic agriculture advocate. The point that I am driving at, as in many issues in development, is that there is no absolute truth that one should peddle and prescribe as a panacea to the problems of a country, particularly a developing one. There is indeed a place for organic agriculture in the development of our agricultural sector. But its insertion must be made in a manner where its benefits considerably outweigh its costs.
Organically produced agricultural products serve a niche market. Those who can afford them and/or who are health conscious are the sure consumers of these products. The rest of the consuming public, particularly the poor, may not be able to afford them, except if they are tillers themselves who plant their farms or their backyards with organically grown crops. In fact, organic farming is best suited to small farms as it benefits from labor rendered free by the family members. Organic agriculture is a labor-intensive undertaking.
It is with a sense of realism that organic agriculture advocate and my friend Pablito Villegas, co-convenor of One Organic Movement, admitted that “immediate conversion from chemical to organic is not recommended due to the consequent loss in crop yields.” This is the kind of mindset that must imbue pro-organic agriculture groups so that they are anchored in reality while slowly building organic agriculture’s base and strength for greater acceptance and adoption by the farming community.
The most valuable lesson that can be derived from the economic and food emergency situation in Sri Lanka is that agriculture is a science and successful agriculture follows sound economic principles. One cannot chart the direction of agriculture development based on gut feel, common sense, and worse, ideology. The result will be a disaster such as the one manifested by the Sri Lankan experience.
Agriculture development requires an understanding of the country’s agronomic strengths and which among the crops/products being cultivated in the country enjoy a comparative advantage. It demands a better understanding of the markets (both local and international) and the strength of institutions mandated to promote agricultural development. It needs a better appreciation of the behavior of agricultural producers to determine which among the array of incentives will move them to a certain desired change in direction. And more importantly, it seeks a leadership dedicated to promoting the rapid and sustained growth of the sector toward improving not only the overall welfare of farmers and fishers but the consumers who constitute the vast majority of the people in a country.|
Sri Lanka has suspended importing organic nitrogen fertilizer from a Chinese company for the Maha Season, says Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.
The decision was taken after harmful bacteria were identified in tested samples sent by the relevant company.
Although the laboratory test results had revealed that the samples contained harmful microorganisms and bacteria, fertilizer stocks imported from the said Chinese company have been distributed among the farmers after changing the laboratory records, Minister Aluthgamage added.
In this backdrop, the focus of the government has fallen on providing sufficient fertilizer to the farmers without any shortages for this year’s Maha Season, he noted.
As a responsible government, we will continue to ensure that harmful fertilizers are not imported to Sri Lanka,” the Agriculture Minister stressed.
The Sri Lankan family of four were part of a group of impoverished refugees living in Hong Kong who agreed to shelter Edward Snowden for about two weeks after his bombshell revelations in 2013.A family of four who offered shelter to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in their Hong Kong apartment when he was on the run after blowing the lid on NSA spying have been granted asylum by Canada.
Supun Thilina Kellapatha, Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis, and their children Sethumdi and Dinath landed in Toronto on Tuesday to start their new lives,” according to a statement by non-profit group For the Refugees. Originally from Sri Lanka, the family were faced deportation in Hong Kong after their refugee claims were rejected.
The family was part of a group of seven refugees from Sri Lanka and the Philippines who offered Snowden shelter in 2013. The whistleblower went on Twitter to applaud the best news in a long time.”
The non-governmental group also previously helped two other Snowden guardian angels,” as they were dubbed; Vanessa Rodel and her daughter Keana, originally from the Philippines but living in Hong Kong at the time, were given asylum in Canada in 2019.The seventh member of the group, Sri Lankan army deserter Ajith Pushpakumara, remains in Hong Kong, where his safety is still at risk,” according to For the Refugees.
We are happy with the end result – at least for six of the seven,” For the Refugees President Marc-Andre Seguin was quoted by AFP as saying.We are asking that Canada [again] do the right thing and admit the last of Snowden’s guardian angels before it’s too late,” he added.Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong and then to Russia after revealing thousands of classified documents exposing vast US surveillance put in place after 9/11.
Edward SnowdenHe spent more than a month stranded in a Moscow airport while Washington was trying to get him deported to America to face a criminal trial on spying charges. He was granted asylum in Russia and received a three-year residence permit in the summer of 2014, which was extended and eventually replaced by a permanent one.
Electrical union and opposition politicians blast the deal on economic and environmental grounds
A tanker transporting LNG. While natural gas is considered a ‘bridge fuel’ toward sustainability, its extraction, processing and transportation emit greenhouse gases. Photo: iStock
On September 17, New Fortress Energy (NFE), a US-based energy infrastructure company, signed a momentous legal agreement with the government of Sri Lanka. The signing apparently took place in the dead of the night, at 12:06am, and the foreigner who came for the signing swiftly returned to the US on a flight at 2am.
The back-door deal allows NFE to build a terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the coast of Colombo. It also enables NFE to purchase, for US$250 million, the Sri Lankan Treasury’s 40% stake in West Coast Power (WCP), which owns the Yugadanavi 310-megawatt power plant in Kerawalapitya, a contributor to the national electricity grid.
NFE would have the right to build a new LNG terminal aiming to increase output to 700MW, with a target of 350MW by 2023. NFE will initially supply an estimated 1.2 million gallons (4.54 million liters) of LNG a day to the government, with expectations of significant growth as new power plants become operational.
This complex deal, involving a floating LNG terminal (also known as a floating storage regasification unit, or FSRU), power plants and energy sales estimated to be worth $6 billion, is likely the largest contract the Sri Lankan government has ever made with a private company. It also threatens Sri Lanka with a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, and a serious compromise of the country’s energy security.
Interestingly, the chairman and chief executive of New Fortress Energy is Wes Edens, the American billionaire deemed the new king of sub-prime lending” by the Wall Street Journal in 2015 (and a slumlord” by community protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin). He is also a big donor to the US Democratic Party and a co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.
Celebrating his deal with pandemic-ravaged, debt-ridden and economically desperate Sri Lanka, Edens said: This is a significant milestone for Sri Lanka’s transition to cleaner fuels and more reliable, affordable power. We are pleased to partner with Sri Lanka by investing in modern energy infrastructure that will support sustainable economic development and environmental gains.”
Local opposition
In Sri Lanka, however, the trade-union alliance and other mass organizations, as well as several cabinet ministers and members of Parliament, are protesting the agreement. They are calling for its abrogation on grounds that it threatens national political, economic and energy security.
The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) is championing the resistance, and says the agreement violates the government’s own National Energy Policy, approved in August 2019.
The policy clearly states in Strategy 3.1.2 that considering the impact to the national energy security, operation of the first LNG terminal and LNG procurement shall be kept under state control.”
The policy also states in 3.8.2 that the procurement of plant, equipment, crude oil and other fuels as well as power purchase agreements and similar concessions, will be made through a streamlined competitive bidding scheme ensuring transparency and accountability.”
The CEBEU argues that the NFE’s unsolicited proposal” contradicts the procurement policies and principles” of the National Energy Policy and the Sri Lanka Electricity Act.
As CEBEU president Saumya Kumarawadu explains, the signing of the NFE agreement during the ongoing bidding process has completely disrupted the transparent and formal procedures to procure a LNG terminal facility and pipelines through competitive offers from other parties more favorable to Sri Lanka.
The CEBEU fears that the agreement would result in the Ceylon Electricity Board, the longtime provider of electricity to the country, losing its ability and mandate to supply the cheapest source of power under its least- cost operating guidelines.
The CEBEU has extensively examined the pricing formulas for LNG supply in the NFE agreement, and considers them very much disadvantageous to Sri Lanka.” It cites offensive conditions of the agreement, including:
Inclusion of very high Take or Pay (TOP) gas volumes than the actual minimum requirement of the country with strict conditions that NFE should be paid irrespective of whether the contracted volumes are consumed or not.
Contract term initially for five years with almost definite compelled further extensions.
Exclusive rights of suppling LNG to Sri Lanka electricity generation.
NFE being granted all tax exemptions/benefits/investment incentives available under Sri Lankan law.”
Sri Lankan activists argue that under the NFE agreement, the supply of LNG may not be limited to just the electricity sector but could also extend to other sectors such as transport and domestic usage, giving a foreign company enormous control over the country.
As the CEBEU points out: The main aim of NFE is not the mere US$250 million investment in shares of WCPL but the securing of multibillion-dollar LNG supply contract without a competition and with exclusive rights of supplying LNG to the whole country with undefined extended duration beyond five years with massive controlling power on the country’s national security and energy security and with guaranteed exorbitant profits.”
Given the Asia-Pacific Strategy of the US to control the Indian Ocean, including strategically located Sri Lanka, local activists point out the dangers of complete dependence on the US for LNG supply to local power plants. The Frontline Socialist Party lamented that the US will not let us off the hook once they establish their foothold here. We are in deep trouble.”
An August 2 press release by the National Joint Committee of Sri Lanka points out that the current government was elected into office with a massive mandate to safeguard national resources and strategic assets from neocolonial exploitation. The current economic crisis and external political pressure should not be excuses to sell the country for short-term political and economic expedience.
This, of course, is the situation for many countries, not only Sri Lanka.
NFE and LNG in global context
NFE is a global company with an expanding network of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, power generation facilities and natural gas logistics infrastructure” around the world. With operations in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa it has positioned itself to be the leader in the world’s transition to LNG and to light the world.”
As in Sri Lanka, NFE presents its global LNG projects as clean, cheap and safe alternatives to coal and oil.” However, activists (and energy experts critical of greenwashing”) question its assumptions and practices.
As the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) points out in its report Sailing to Nowhere: Liquefied Natural Gas is not an Effective Climate Strategy,” expansion of US-produced LNG could have enormous environmental impacts and costs for decades to come.”
LNG production involves extensive use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking”) – the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks to force open fissures and extract oil or gas – and LNG processing can increase air pollution and contaminate water supplies, harming human and environmental health.
Fracking-driven expansion has transformed the US from a gas importer to a gas exporter, aggressively seeking overseas markets to sell its oversupply. While natural gas is considered a bridge fuel” toward sustainability, with lower carbon-dioxide emissions than coal or oil, the extraction, processing and transportation of gas emits greenhouse gases, including through leaks and releases from wells, pipelines, storage and processing facilities.
Methane, the principal component of the gas, is the second-biggest driver of climate change, and gas production systems are the second-largest emitters of methane in the US.
The NRDC concludes that using LNG to replace other, dirtier fossil fuels is not an effective strategy to reduce climate-warming emissions. In fact, if the LNG export industry expands as projected, it is likely to make it nearly impossible to keep global temperatures from increasing above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold for catastrophic climate impacts.”
The Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit organization that researches connections between corporate and government power, argues: Financial firms like Wes Edens’ New Fortress Energy are critical players in propping up the fossil fuel industry, which is responsible for our current climate crisis.”
Ecological alternatives
Social and environmental activists also point out that while NFE and other power companies seek to make huge profits from LNG, flooding energy markets in places such as Puerto Rico and others in the Caribbean with fracked gas will not build resilience.
Instead, they call for localized renewable energy sources, such as rooftop and community solar and distributed micro-grid technologies, which are more sustainable and more resilient to natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes than centralized fossil-generated power.
Sri Lanka, like Puerto Rico, is an environmentally challenged island that needs to heed these warnings. The recent environmental devastation off the coast of Sri Lanka caused by the explosion of the X-Press Pearl ship carrying toxic cargo should provoke similar demands for action. For example, strict regulations on the maritime transport of toxic substances, including LNG, are desperately needed to avoid further disasters.
If the Democratic administration in the US is genuinely committed to mitigating climate change, it needs to move away from the global export of dangerous and controversial LNG. Instead, economically struggling countries and regions like Sri Lanka and Puerto Rico need to be allowed, with their sovereignty intact, to develop truly clean, safe and cheap energy sources, such as solar and wind power, that uphold local and bioregional paths to environmental and human protection.TAGGED:Electricity generationLNGOpinionSri Lanka
ASOKA BANDARAGE
Asoka Bandarage PhD is the author of Sustainability and Well-Being, The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka, Women, Population and Global Crisis, Colonialism in Sri Lanka and many other publications. She serves on the boards of the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate and Critical Asian Studies and has taught at Yale, Brandeis, Mount Holyoke, Georgetown, American and other universities.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that the mill owners are not able to determine the price of paddy, and it is done only by the Government.
The Minister stated this in response to a statement made yesterday (28) by the owner of a large-scale paddy mill, Dudley Sirisena.
Although the Cabinet decided to remove the control price imposed on rice yesterday, the relevant Gazette Notification has not been issued yet.
However, convening a press conference yesterday, businessman Dudley Sirisena announced the new prices of rice and paddy in front of the mill owners.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage responded to his statement at a media briefing held in Colombo today (29). The Minister stated that businessman Dudley Sirisena could not decide the price of rice in the country.
Despite the Minister making such a statement, rice was being sold in many parts of the country at the prices announced by Dudley Sirisena yesterday.
Meanwhile, queues were seen in many parts of the island to obtain milk powder.
People, as well as shop owners, stated that there is not enough cement in the market to carry out production activities
The Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena says that permission has been granted to administer the Pfizer vaccine as the third dose for those over 60 years and several other groups.
He stated that it has also been decided to provide the Pfizer vaccine as the third dose for those between 30-60 years with disabilities, cancer or kidney ailments as well as to health sector workers and frontline workers.
Speaking to reports today (29), he said that the Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) has given them permission to administer the booster dose to those over the age of 60 who have received the Synopharm or AstraZeneca vaccines as first and second doses.
Therefore we intend to provide them with that vaccine at that time, he said.
The government has decided to lift the quarantine curfew, which is currently in effect across the island, on the 01st of October.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed to lift the islandwide quarantine curfew at 4.00 a.m. on Friday (01), Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said.
He stated that the restrictions and new health guidelines to be implemented following the lifting of the curfew will be notified later.
The quarantine curfew had been initially imposed on August 20 at 10.00 p.m. following a rapid rise in new Covid-19 cases and it was subsequently extended on several occasion.
As the daily count of deaths from COVID-19 infection continues to drop below 100 in Sri Lanka, only 61 fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Tuesday (Sep. 29).
According to the Department of Government Information, 25 males and 36 females have succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the recent past.
The new victims include 14 people aged between 30 – 59 years and 47 others aged 60 years and above.
Following the latest development, Sri Lanka’s COVID-related death toll now stands at 12,847.
The daily total of new COVID-19 cases moved to 941 today (Sep. 29) as 256 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said.
All new cases have been associated with the New Year Cluster.
This brings the tally of coronavirus infections confirmed in the country to 516,465.
According to Epidemiology Unit data, 46,761 active cases are currently under medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and homes.
Total recoveries from the virus infection reached 456,857 earlier today as 770 more patients were discharged from medical care upon returning to health.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered 61 new COVID-related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Sep. 28. The new development pushed the official death toll to 12,847.
Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara has called for an inquiry into the incident where the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had interrogated media persons despite the instructions not to do so.
The relevant directives have been given to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne.
Further, the minister has instructed the IGP to hand over the investigations into the garlic scam from the Peliyagoda Special Crimes Division to the CID and to conduct a comprehensive probe.
The Ministry of Defence says that the news circulating on social media platforms and electronic media sources stating that a likely terror attack on Sri Lankan churches was based on basic information which is neither analyzed nor confirmed by the respective authorities.
Further, the Defence Secretary Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne reiterates that there is no reason to panic over the incident, the statement said.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has requested the visiting delegation of the European Union not to discontinue the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) concessions granted to Sri Lanka.
This was mentioned during a meeting held between the Opposition Leader and the EU envoys yesterday.
An EU delegation of five high-ranking officials arrived in Sri Lanka earlier this week to engage in discussions with Sri Lankan authorities pertaining to the GSP+ concessions.
Speaking in this regard, SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said the visiting EU delegates are looking into civil rights, rule of law, and human rights in Sri Lanka. He said the Opposition requested them not to terminate the GSP+ concessions despite the concerns regarding human rights, rule of law, and civil rights.
The EU envoys have also called on Justice Minister Ali Saby, PC, who briefed them of the positive developments in the country’s judiciary.
The delegation stated that the EU is satisfied with the situation in Sri Lanka.
The GSP Plus is a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance. It completely slashes the tariffs for exports from low and lower-middle-income countries that implement 27 international conventions related to human rights, labour rights, protection of the environment, and good governance.
A total of eight countries including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Philippines are benefitting from the current GSP+ facility.
Previously, Sri Lanka had benefited from the GSP scheme, which provides partial or full removal of customs duties on two-third of tariff lines. However, the EU, in 2010, decided to put a halt to the provision of preferential treatment to Sri Lanka’s exports, citing the failure to address alleged human rights violations in the country.
In July 2016, Sri Lanka applied for GSP+ and the granting of the preferences came into effect in May 2017.
According to the European Commission, the EU is Sri Lanka’s second-largest trading partner after China and its second main export destination, absorbing 22.4% of Sri Lankan exports in 2020.
In 2020, Sri Lanka was the EU’s 69th largest trading partner in goods accounting for 0.1% of EU trade.
In June this year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the repeal of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as the law is deemed incompatible with the conventions that the country has to implement under the GSP+ granted to the island nation.
In the resolution, the EU Parliament called on the European Commission to consider temporary withdrawal” of Sri Lanka’s preferential access to European markets, which cuts trade tariffs significantly for Sri Lankan exports, including apparel, ceramic, and rubber.
Many articles have been
published against the construction of
the Walkway on the bund of the Parakrama Samudra.
We should be thankful to the
irrigation engineers and to Austin Fernando once the Government Agent at
Polonnaruwa for their ideas. I too voiced my ideas but mine appeared only in
Lanka Web.
Despite all this the
authorities have decided that the construction of the Walkway will be done.
What is most important is to
note that the Government Agent and the irrigation engineers have detailed their actual
experience. They are responsible senior officers who once struggled and strove
to save that tank.
To me the most important fact that has been
revealed is that with the monsoon rains the waters have topped the bund at a
number of places in several years. This to my mind is a serious situation. I
would kindly request the irrigation engineers who are involved in the
construction of this walkway to give some definite thought to this factor.
To be frank I know little of
irrigation work compared to the knowledge of trained engineers, but as an
administrator I have a trained mind to be able to grasp factors fast. . I have
been in charge of minor irrigation work for some five years and had the
occasion to learn from engineers with whom I worked at Anuradhapura. To my
thinking there should never be a situation of the waters in a irrigation tank
topping the bund. That is a No No situation and
if ever the waters of a tank overflow the bund at any point, it calls
for the engineers to look at the spillway, expand the spill. This has to be
done fast and the funds earmarked for the Walkway would be better spent to
develop the spillway. I have not seen the spillway of the Prakrama
Samudraya but if necessary and possible
the spillmay be done on the OGEE spill basis.
One day when I was the senior
Assistant Commissioner in charge of
minor irrigation at Anuradhapura I received instructions on the phone to meet
Dr Nag, an irrigation specialist from India the next morning and told to take
him to a few of our tanks. He had been headhunted from India for a few
days. I selected the Horowpotana tank
and a few others. He was flown in a helicopter
and I showed him the details of the tanks I had selected. He decided to
see the tank at Horowpotana. His observation
after seeing a number of our tanks was that we should build OGEE type of
spillways. He got back to Colombo that evening itself. I inquired about the
OGEE spillways from the irrigation engineers with whom I worked. It is a type
of spillway of a peculiar shape which increases the outtake of water.
Perhaps in developing the
spillway, the engineers may consider whether Dr Nag’s ideas may be feasible.
In my paper I had suggested
that the Relapanawa should be immediately restored. The Relapanawa is the
bulwark to ensure that the waters do not wash the bund and it has to be
restored immediately in October as otherwise the waters are very likely wash
away the bund. With what I have read of
the experiences of the Government Agent and the irrigation engineers and their action taken to save the
Parakrama Samudra in earlier years I wonder whether the irrigation personnel
involved in the removal of the relapanawa have had their minds brainwashed.
To everyone involved, please
save the Parakrama Samudraya. If you tinker along it is likely that the entire
town of Polonnaruwa and many colonies will get washed up in the fury of the
waters, causing, deaths to many and untold misery for years. Let that not
happen.
