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FSP picks holes in Trinco Tank Farm deal

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By Rathindra Kuruwita

An agreements signed on Thursday night to develop the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm as a joint venture between Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Lanka IOC was illegal and Sri Lankans should not accept them, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Pubudu Jayagoda said yesterday.

Jayagoda said that usually such agreements had three parts, – lease agreement, a modalities agreement and an agreement on the joint venture company, i.e. Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd. However, only the modalities agreement had been presented to the Cabinet in late December and it was that agreement the Cabinet approved on 03 January 2022, he said

“Did the government sign the lease agreement too? From what we hear, a lease agreement was signed on Thursday night. However, the Governor of the Eastern Province needs to sign the agreement for this lease agreement to be valid and legitimate. Since the Governor had not signed the agreement, the lease agreement is not legitimate and the entire agreement is null and void without a lease agreement. So we would like to tell Sri Lankans that there is no reason for us to accept or respect this agreement,” he said.

On Thursday night the lease agreement was signed and the signatories were Treasury Secretary, Land Commissioner General, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), LIOC and Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd., the Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila said in a Tweet.

The Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party said that the government had started to sign important agreements in the middle of the night. Earlier an agreement was signed, in the middle of the night, with US based, New Fortress Energy to transfer 40% of Yugadanavi shares and to handover the monopoly over the supply of LNG, he said.

“These strategically important agreements that have significant impact on our lives are not even presented to the Cabinet, let alone the people. These agreements are against our constitution and the law,” he said.

Jayagoda said given that the people had no access to the full agreement, they had to depend on the statements made by Minister Gammanpila. However, most of the statements the Minister made were false, he said.

“The Minister claims that agreements in 1987, 2003 and 2017 had already granted India the access to the old tanks in Trincomalee. These claims are contradictory. If the 1987 agreement had given the tanks to India, why sign another one in 2003 or 2017. Despite the Minister’s claims, there was no formal agreement to hand over 14 tanks to India in 2003, he said. A MoU was signed, but a formal agreement was never executed. The 2017 agreement between India’s Sushma Swaraj and then Minister Malik Samarawickrama too was only a MoU. So, IOC was holding these tanks illegally. However, when this agreement is signed it will formally have these tanks. The Minister also claims that the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka accord earmarked these tanks for Indian use. However, the agreement only states that if we develop these tanks with a foreign partner that partner will have to be India. So Gammanpila is bending facts,” he said.

Jayagoda pointed out that it was now widely acknowledged that Sri Lanka didn’t sign the Indo-Lanka agreement voluntarily. India twisted the arm of then President J.R. Jayewardene to make him agree. The agreement did not even have clauses on what steps to take if one party violated the agreement, he said.

“The agreement had been violated so many times and it is a joke to say that we are adhering to a non-existent clause of this agreement. There really is no reason why we should accept the accord at all,” he said.

The current agreement signed on Thursday allows LIOC to make changes to the structures in the tank farm, Jayagoda said. The 2003 agreement only allowed IOC the use of the tanks.

“This is why this is a more dangerous agreement than anything signed in 1987, 2003 or 2017. Moreover, the agreement states that Sri Lanka can’t enter into agreements with other companies to operate in the tank farm for another decade. The worst part is that under the 2003, any issue that arises between the two parties could be solved by Sri Lankan law but the 2022 agreement says that we have to go before arbitration courts in Singapore to settle any dispute. Our previous performances before arbitration courts have been less than stellar,” he said.



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Festival advance for government officers to be increased

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In terms of the provisions of the Establishments Code on payment of festival advance to government officers, there’s a possibility of obtaining rupees 10,000/- as an advance for celebrating festivals of Theipongal, Ramazan, Sinhala and Hindu New Year, Wesak, Deepavali, and Christmas as well as for pilgrimages (Sri Paada pilgrimage and Hajj pilgrimage).

Provisions have been given to recover the said advance in 08 installments or if required earlier without interest. It has been proposed by the Budget 2026 to increase the said festival advance up to rupees 15,000/-.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local governments to revise the relevant provisions so that the festival advance can be increased up to rupees 15,000/- .

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Providing underutilized lands/properties to suitable investors for optimal utilization.

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As per the approval given by the cabinet meeting held on 02-06-2025, action is being taken at present to offer the underutilized lands/properties of the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Etate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation Company which are under the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure which have been identified under stage one  to suitable investors.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of  Plantations and Community Infrastructure to provide following lands/properties on a lease basis to the suitable investors for optimal utilization following the prescribed procurement procedure.

• underutilized lands/properties identified under stage two owned by the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Estate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation
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Implementation of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy

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The drafting of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has commenced with the objective of equitable distribution of the benefits of the fisheries industry and the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture. This policy has been updated from time to time according to current requirements. However, steps have not been taken to obtain the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for that purpose.

According to the policy declaration of the present government, ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor’ the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has been redrafted, updating the aforementioned policy in line with the economic and development objectives of the government.

The recommendations of the Department of National Planning have been received for the drafted policy.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Marine
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