Mr. President, abort this racket

Wednesday 15th June, 2022

Many conspiracy theories have been concocted to have us believe that some external forces have gone into overdrive to destroy this country. But is there any need for foreign powers to exert themselves when they can leave the task to Sri Lankan leaders? The incumbent patriotic government has ruined the economy and inflicted untold suffering on the people. The only thing these so-called leaders do efficiently is to sound ominous warnings as if to tell the public that they should stop grumbling about their suffering at present because the worst is yet to come. They are now making the most of the current economic crisis to carry out various crooked deals and line their pockets, the latest being an attempt to cut a deal with a foreign company, which is notorious for plundering minerals in developing countries.

Sri Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd., and Sri Lanka Cement Corporation planned to embark on a joint venture to extract ilmenite found in overburden red soil removed for limestone quarrying on a 5,352-acre land belonging to Sri Lanka Cement Corporation, at Aruwakkalu. The project was expected to yield a great deal of foreign exchange, but the aforesaid foreign company, backed by some venal government politicians and officials, derailed it in a bid to secure the contract for ilmenite extraction; the country will get nothing from this firm other than royalty.

The foreign company will only bring in machinery, which will be of no use to anyone after the conclusion of the project. The initial investment could be recovered in a few months, according to documents The Island has seen. No wonder some officials and politicians are all out to have the contract awarded to this firm.

Representatives of the foreign company and their influential lobbyists approached Wimal Weerawansa, when he was the Minister of Industries, but without success. Then, they tried to get around S. B. Dissanayake, who succeeded Weerawansa. Thankfully, he lost the ministerial post following the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Now, the same elements are trying to mislead Minister of Industries Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, we are told.

It behoves Minister Pathirana to act wisely if he does not want his reputation sullied. He should not allow the corrupt elements among his officials, and crafty lobbyists to mislead him into believing that the foreign company concerned will bring in much-needed dollars. It has not made any such commitment. Minister Pathirana ought to refrain from brushing aside views of the officials who have refused to take bribes, and are defending the interests of the country. He must ensure that besides royalty paid to the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, the Cement Corporation will get from the proposed ilmenite extraction project at Aruwakkalu a substantial amount of foreign currency, which should be determined at a meeting of all stakeholders including the Land Commissioner General.

We have called Minister Pathirana a decent politician in a previous editorial comment, and we hope he will not prove us wrong by siding with the corrupt. A witch-hunt has already been launched against the intrepid state officials who have taken on the racketeers disguised as investors. We urge him to secure a copy of the Supreme Court judgment (2000) in Bulankulama and Others v. Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development and Others—or the Eppawala case as it is better known—and peruse it so that he will know how to manage the country’s mineral resources.

It is incumbent upon President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to rein in racketeers in the garb of politicians and state officials and ensure that the state coffers will receive enough dollars from the mineral resources found on the Cement Corporation land. Or, there will be little he can do to prevent himself from being held accountable for another mega racket like the sugar tax scam. Let the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) be urged to conduct an investigation into sinister moves being made to plunder the country’s minerals.