Douglas Ladduwahetty

In Sept 2021, Douglas Ladduwahetty, a charismatic member of the Sri Lankan Engineering fraternity, took leave of us. He led a full life, dedicated to the engineering profession for more than five decades. His participation in the development of irrigation systems in the country made drastic improvements to the lives of many thousands of peasant families in Sri Lanka. With his departure, Sri Lanka certainly has lost a great son of the country who made an enormous contribution to the irrigation sector, in particular, the Mahaweli Development Program.

In 1977, when a new government was elected to power, the country was facing significant issues including 20% unemployment, severe shortage of housing, lack of agriculture facilities and a high demand for electricity to name a few. The new PM JRJ had studied the on-going Mahaweli Development Program (MDP) which was scheduled to be completed in 30 years. The PM wanted to expedite the progress of this massive project, as a means to provide much needed redress to the people.

With this background, JRJ had sent a message for Mr Ladduwahetty, with whom he had had contacts before, and sought his opinion on how soon the MDP could be completed. Mr Ladduwahetty, it is said, had simply replied that it could be even done in six years provided necessary funds are made available. This had spurred the PM to summon a special Cabinet meeting with all the Irrigation sector Engineers and technocrats and took a daring decision to accelerate the Mahaweli Project as the most prestigious program of his government. This changed the entire landscape of the country. And the rest is history.

Mahaweli Authority was formed to implement the MDP and CECB was assigned with large-dams construction works. Mr Ladduwahetty was made the Chairman of Mahaweli Development Board (MDB) to implement the downstream development works in Systems H, C and B. I was privileged to commence my career in engineering under his tutelage. It commenced in 1976 in the jungles of the North Central province where I had my first posting as Project Engineer with MDB in Kalawewa. Mr. Ladduwahetty was the Resident Project Manager for the Kalawewa under MDP.

As young graduates, we were inspired by his leadership. He had his own methodology in managing people and work. He never wanted to get trapped into highly bureaucratic rules and regulations that prevailed during the day and wanted to expedite progress of work at sites. During those days, malaria was rampant, and this region was infested by elephants. We were accommodated in temporary housing and hardwater in the area available for drinking and bathing was not something we were used to.

With meagre facilities available, a good number of engineers and supporting staff left MDB to join other departments and corporations, as they preferred to work in cities. But Mr Ladduwahetty who had vast experience in working in rural areas such as Gal Oya and Walawe Projects before, gathered all of us around and encouraged us to remain and develop the areas taking the task as a challenge. He shared his many years of experience working in such conditions.

To encourage us, he had frequent meetings with all officers and advised us the importance of dedicating our time to develop the rural sector and in the process help the poor farmers who were struggling to survive. Douglas Ladduwahetty held many critically important positions in Public Service, where his knowledge, energy and enthusiasm assisted in policy making and implementation that made a difference to many in our society.

After his Mahaweli assignment he worked as a Consultant Engineer, and many approached him to seek his advice on construction and management aspects. Later on, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services Ltd where he served for five years and made important improvements to the Bandaranaike International Airport and its security. Even though he was brought up in a busy and even tumultuous environment, he always found time to read books on various subjects. He was a living example to prove Francis Bacon’s statement that ‘Reading Maketh a full man’. He had acquired a vast knowledge on various subjects and filled with new information and ideas to inspire others.

Due to this very reason, we found him not a conventional engineer but one who always tried to come out with innovative and progressive ideas. Hailing from Galle where he schooled at Richmond College, He was the eldest in a family of five. A great family man, he was devoted to his wife, Sita Lakshmi, who stood by him like a rock for nearly 60 years and pre-deceased him. His four children, Ravi, Indira, Chandrika and Senaka have lost their loving father. To us he was a great engineer and leader who made lasting contributions and moulded the life of many engineers who were privileged to work with him.

May he attain Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.

D Sarath Gunatillake,

Former Chief Engineer of MDB.