… condemns haste in tying up deals on eve of important national poll

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government continues to enter into secretive agreements with India, compromising the nation’s economic and political sovereignty, says Pubudu Jayagoda, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP).

Jayagoda told The Island yesterday that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Tuesday (20) between LTL Holdings Ltd., Sri Lanka, and Petronet LNG Ltd., India, for developing infrastructure related to the storage, regasification, and supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to the ‘Sobadhanavi’ Combined Cycle Power Plant at Kerawalapitiya was detrimental to the country’s energy security.

“People’s attention is now on elections and the government is busy signing vital international agreements, despite the widespread belief that President Ranil Wickremesinghe will not win the election on 21 September. The agreement signed on Tuesday will have devastating consequences for the country’s energy security,” Jayagoda stated.

Jayagoda claimed that the agreement between LTL Holdings and Petronet had stemmed from an unsolicited proposal, with the details not disclosed to the public. Wickremesinghe in his 2023 visit to India had agreed to integrate the energy sectors of the two countries and the agreement at issue was a part of that understanding, he said.

“India has been allowed to control the LNG supply to Sri Lanka without competitive bidding. Now, India has a monopoly. The procurement procedure has been bypassed. It is highly likely that the government has agreed to purchase LNG at prices higher than the market rate, placing an additional burden on the people of this country. It is evident that this agreement was signed under Indian pressure,” the FSP Education Secretary told The Island.

Jayagoda also noted that Sri Lanka was planning to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity from LNG in the short term, at the Yugadhanavi and Sobadhanavi power plants, as well as some sections of the Kelanitissa power plant, set to operate on LNG.

“India will be the sole supplier for these plants. You can imagine the control this gives India—it’s akin to having the main switch, trip switch, and fuse board of your house installed in the neighbour’s house,” he said.

A number of countries in the region had entered into similar agreements with India and those nations had learnt that when India gained access to those vital sectors, its control over them was used to push for political and economic agendas favourable to India.FSP Education Secretary said that if a future Sri Lankan government antagonised India in any manner, the Indian company could deliberately delay LNG supplies, crippling the Sri Lankan economy.