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Who sold urea plant? Wajira ducks Vasu’s question

Published

4 years ago

2022/11/21

By Shamindra Ferdinando

General Secretary of the Democratic Left Front (DLF) Vasudeva Nanayakkara, MP, yesterday (20) said that the UNP had sold the urea plant at Sapugaskanda to a foreign buyer who set it up in an Arab country.Having brought the machinery as scrap iron the buyer had re-installed the machinery and today Sri Lanka procured urea from that facility, Nanayakkara said.

The veteran politician called what the UNP had done a crime by the nation. The former minister said so when The Island sought an explanation from him about his brief exchange with UNP National List MP Wajira Abeywardena on Saturday (19) during the fifth day of the 2023 Budget debate.MP Nanayakkara said that those who had sold such a valuable national asset owed the country an apology as the hapless people struggled to cope up with the ever-worsning economic-political-social crisis.

When MP Abeywardena recalled the assassination of Industries Development Minister C. V. Gooneratne about a week after he informed Parliament of an agreement Sri Lankan entered into with a US firm to produce fertiliser here, Nanayakkara asid, “Who sold the urea plant as scrap iron, please tell us?”

MP Abeywardena only said that Sri Lanka had a lot of scrap iron, which had to be disposed of. The UNPer refrained from responding to MP Nanayakkara’s query.An LTTE suicide bomber killed Minister Gooneratne along with 22 others, including his wife, at Ratmalana, on June 7, 2000.

Abeywardena entered Parliament in July this year, filling the vacancy created by Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election as the President to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksas’s five-year term.Nanayakkara alleged that Budget 2023, presented by President Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, on 14 Nov., had revealed that the latter’s strategies hadn’t changed. It was clear that the incumbent government was taking advantage of the current economic crisis and planning to dispose of many profit-making public sector ventures, the former minister in charge of water supply and drainage told The Island.

Lawmaker Nanayakkara quit the Cabinet after the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked his Cabinet colleagues Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila in the first week of March this year over their opposition to the sale of 40 percent shares of the Yugadanavi power plant to US-based New Fortress Energy.Responding to another query, MP Nanayakkara, who represented the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya, said that its members wouldn’t vote for the Budget. The outfit consists of lawmakers who entered Parliament on the SLPP ticket and National List MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana of Our Power of People Party (OPPP).

At the onset of MP Abeywardena’s speech, he dealt with a spate political assassinations and attempted assassinations, beginning with grenade attack on the UNP group meeting in Parliament, chaired by the then President J.R. Jayewardena, in August 1987. Having referred to the 2019 April Easter Sunday carnage, lawmaker Abeywardena asked whether Sri Lanka’s economy was being controlled by external elements. The former minister stressed the responsibility on the part of the Central Bank to work in accordance with the policies of the government, whether they were right or wrong.

MP Nanayakkara questioned who benefited from the sale of the urea plant.Geologist Dulip Jayawardena, involved in the examination of the Sapugaskanda site, said that the plant had been built in the early 80s by British firm Kellogg Overseas Corporation. Jayawardena said that the plant built over a period of nearly four years was capable of producing 980 tons of urea a day.

The State Fertiliser Manufacturing Corporation (SFMC) had been established as a wholly-owned Government entity, under the State Industrial Corporation Act of 1973, and was expected to meet Sri Lanka’s demand, the former official said.

Jayawardena pointed out how the powers that be deprived urea plants of raw material naphtha by exporting the same. According to him, international bids were called in 1986 and the plant was sold to an Indian company. Jayawardena claimed that the selling price of the urea plant that had been in operation from 1982 to 1985 was never disclosed.

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Advisory for High Waves for the sea areas extending from Colombo to Pottuvil via Galle, Matara and Hambantota

Published

2 hours ago

2026/08/26

Priyan

Advisory for High Waves
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre Issued at 03.30 p.m. on 26 August 2026 Valid for the period until 03.30 p.m. 27 August 2026

An advisory for high waves has been issued for the sea areas extending from Colombo to Pottuvil via Galle, Matara and Hambantota and naval and fishing communities engaged in activities in the aforementioned sea areas, as well as coastal communities living in the aforementioned nearshore areas, are advised to remain vigilant in this regard

The swell waves (about 2.0 m – 3.0 m) height (This is not for land area) may increase in the sea areas off the coast extending from Colombo to Pottuvil via Galle, Matara and Hambantota. There is a possibility that near shore sea areas off the coast extending from Beruwala to Matara via Galle, may experience surges due to swell waves.

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We must create social awareness to ensure the physical and mental well-being of children with disabilities – PM

Published

4 hours ago

2026/08/26

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that, given their particular vulnerability children with disabilities require protection, and stressed the need to foster social awareness to protect them from negative social influences while promoting their physical and mental well-being. She emphasized the need to implement awareness programmes for parents, teachers and other members of society towards this end.

The Prime Minister made these remarks on Tuesday [August 25] while visiting and observing the National Institute of Special and Inclusive Education – Shishyodaya, located in Veniwelkola.

The purpose of the Prime Minister’s visit was to observe the institutional structure and gain an understanding of the areas that require further development.

The Prime Minister emphasized that a systematic mechanism should be established to transform the institution, which was established in 2019 outside the basic standards and plans for Inclusive Education, into an institution that provides quality education to children and fulfills the targeted objectives of inclusive education. She also proposed appointing a special committee to make the necessary recommendations in this regard.

The Prime Minister further stated that steps would be taken in coordination with the Ministry of Health to address the shortage of therapists and medical professionals required to provide clinical services to students at the institution. She also stressed that the maintenance of equipment and buildings should be carried out properly using the financial allocations provided for such purposes.

The Prime Minister further noted that finding sustainable solutions to the issues faced by the institution is essential, while immediate interventions should be made to address issues that can be resolved without delay. The welfare of the teachers serving at the institution was also discussed during the visit.

Member of Parliament Anura Panagoda, Chairman of the Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha Kasun Rathnayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, ministry officials, parents and students were present.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

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Govt. determined to press ahead with 22A: Justice Minister

Published

14 hours ago

2026/08/26

Sahan Weerasooriya

Nanayakkara

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said yesterday that the government would proceed with both the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, and the Judicature (Amendment) Bill, because the government could not achieve its goal by increasing the retirement ages of a section of the judges.

The Attorney-at-Law declared that the government would go ahead with both Bills, whatever the obstacles. The Minister was responding to The Island query whether the government would go ahead with the Judicature (Amendment) Bill that hadn’t been so far challenged in the Supreme Court, pending the decision on the controversial 22nd Amendment facing tough legal challenge.

Nanayakkara emphasised the importance of the enactment of both Bills. The 22nd Amendment seeks to increase the retirement ages of Supreme Court judges to 67 from 65 and Court of Appeal judges from 63 to 65. The Judicature (Amendment) Bill seeks to increase the retirement ages of the High Court judges to 63 from 61, and that of the District court judges and and Magistrates to 62.

Minister Nanayakkara said that the enactment of both Bills simultaneously would make a significant contribution to improve the overall situation, particularly dealing with a backlog of 1.1 million cases.

Joint Opposition and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), too, acknowledged that petitions against the Judicature (Amendment) Bill were yet to be filed.