News

Corruption and red tape keep out substantial foreign investment into mining industry

Published

2 years ago

2024/01/31

Chirantha Weerawardena

Sri Lanka had failed to attract substantial foreign investment in the mining industry during the last 50 years mainly due to the high sovereign risks associated with Sri Lanka, Chirantha Weerawardena, a mining engineer, said during a seminar, titled ‘Blueprint for Developing a Sustainable Sri Lankan Mining Industry by Attracting Foreign Investment,’ organised by the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) recently.

Eng. Weerawardena said that mining was a long term investment and investors in the mining sector werevery concerned about the political and economic stability of a country. “They are worried about abrupt changes to mining related law and regulations, significant and abrupt changes to tax and royalty regimes, the lack of rule of law which can result in losing mining rights without valid reasons and the lack of an independent mechanism for appeal or arbitration against the regulator’s or minister’s decisions.”

Eng. Weerawardena said for a mining company exploration is a high risk investment because significant funds need to be spent before hitting an ‘economic deposit.’ Given that mining is an investment spanning 10 to 40 years, once an investment is made, a mining company is “trapped” as it can’t leave easily.

“A few years ago a London Stock Exchange registered company spent about 16 million US dollars to carry out initial exploration of three sites they acquired in Sri Lanka. Then the Geological Survey & Mines Bureau (GSMB) suspended the licence citing an issue with the local ownership requirement of the mining licence holder. In Sri Lanka there is a rule saying an exploration license can be taken by anyone, but the mining licence can be only taken by a company with majority local ownership. The company went to court. I have no problem with this law, but the GSMB should have brought this up at the start. And then the licences were reinstated by the Secretary to the Ministry of Environment under statutory appeal process. Now the issue has been sorted out and the company signed an MOU with the LB group in China – the second largest company in the world in TIO pigment manufacturing, who will invest 81 million dollars to build a mining separation plant at Oluvil,” he said.

That had been one of the two serious investments in the mining sector in the last 50 years, Weerawardena said, adding that the above case demonstrated that Sri Lankan officials and politicians were not interested in facilitating foreign investments and sometimes went of their way to make life difficult for investors. Such actions mainly stem from corruption, especially when they want kickbacks.

Weerawardena said resource nationalism, which was the tendency of people and governments to assert control over natural resources located in their territory, was also tied with sovereign risk. However, resource nationalism is based on several valid and good points and this is not inherently bad.

“However, we must realise politicians and some ‘experts’ sometimes overestimate in-situ value of mineral deposits for various reasons. There is also a widespread anti-mining sentiment among the people as well.

“We have to also be scientific when we estimate the in-situ value of deposits. There are various costs associated with extracting the minerals in the ground. There are ship loading costs, transport costs, processing costs, mining costs, brownfield drilling cost, overheads and amortisation of capital. We have to take these costs into consideration before we value the mineral deposits we have,” he said.

He added that mining is an economic multiplier. In Australia, each mining job creates at least four others in the form of support services.

However, mining can also have a negative impact if a country does not manage its operations properly, he said.

“You can end up degrading a non-renewable resource without much to show. This has happened in Latin American and African countries. Because mining is so profitable, it can lead to corruption and social disharmony among stakeholders and communities. The worst-case scenario is that there can be foreign interference in the country. If we understand both the positives and negatives of mining, the country can go through the correct process to harness the benefits of mining.”

He added that Sri Lanka is a country with high sovereignty risk. Despite opening up the economy in 1977 and although Sri Lanka has several world-class deposits, the country has only got a few mining investments because of this.

“We need to understand that mining companies prefer stable policies. They can’t be lured by promises of cheap minerals. You also need less corruption and red tape. Then mining companies will come to Sri Lanka,” he said. (RK)

All News Advertisement

News

PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand

Published

13 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

The Colombo Central Bus Stand, which has a history of over six decades and had remained without a proper maintenance for many years, has now been renovated under the current government’s development programme and vested to the public. Following that, the Prime Minister undertook an inspection tour of the newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand.

Originally constructed in 1964, the bus stand was refurbished with modern facilities to meet current needs and was officially reopened to the public on April 8. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide passengers with a higher-quality and more comfortable transportation service.

During the renovation process, special attention has been given to the comfort and safety of women, which was commended by the Prime Minister. In particular, a modern rest area designed to ensure privacy for nursing mothers travelling from distant areas received special praise.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the newly introduced passenger seat reservation system and information services established to assist commuters. In addition, the modern surveillance unit and other security measures installed within the premises to ensure passenger safety were also inspected.

During the visit, the Prime Minister engaged in conversations with passengers at the bus stand and inquired about their views on the newly renovated facilities and the quality of transport services.

It was emphasized that the government’s objective is to transform public transportation into a safe, technologically advanced service that can be used with convenience by all citizens.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

Latest News

Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

33 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

News

Opposition tells Minister Kumara Jayakody to resign

Published

2 hours ago

2026/04/10

Thilina Walpola

Prof. Peiris

No-faith motion to be taken up today

Former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (9) said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should remove Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody unless the minister stepped down on his own.Prof. Peiris, addressing a press conference called by the Opposition, said that Jayakody couldn’t under any circumstance continue to serve as a minister after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) moved the Colombo High Court against the government member over a previous financial scandal.

Pointing out that Minister Jayakody had been indicted of a corrupt deal struck during the yahapalana regime, Prof. Peiris said it was wrong for the NPP to retain him as a minister, claiming that the offence was not committed during his tenure as a Cabinet minister in the current government.

Prof. Peiris and several other Opposition members dealt with the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Jayakody that would be taken up today (10) with the academic calling the vote an acid test for the NPP. Having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP couldn’t protect Jayakody though he was widely believed to be close to President Dissanayake.

As the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertilizer Company, Jayakody is alleged to have committed the offence of corruption, according to CIABOC.

Jayakody has been accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the State by influencing and exploiting the procurement process.

Following the serving of indictments on 27 March, the judge ordered Jayakody’s release on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court directed that the defendant’s fingerprints be obtained and a formal report be submitted. The case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 6 May.

Prof. Peiris stressed that the CIABOC action against Jayakody is central to the NCM primarily moved over the irregularities ridden coal procurement process launched in 2025 that caused severe disruption to the power generation. Responding to The Island query after the media briefing, Prof Peiris expressed surprise that the JVP/NPP accommodated a person under investigation by the CIABOC. Having taken an utterly irresponsible decision, the JVP/NPP were now playing down the developing issue, prof. Peiris said.

The entire government parliamentary group faced the prospect of having its image tarnished by defending Jayakody, the former lawmaker said.

Prof. Peiris said that they intended to build a campaign around the issues involving the energy minister to expose the government. With yet another electricity tariff hike in the offing due to the growing demand for thermal generation as a result of coal-fired Lakvijaya power plant’s failure to meet the requirement[RA1] , the energy minister and ministry’s performances have to be examined, Prof. Peiris said.The timely release of the Auditor General’s report on controversial coal procurement should compel the government to decide on the energy minister’s fate or be prepared to face the fallout.

By Shamindra Ferdinando