… hopes new minister will sustain successful operations

By Shamindra Ferdinando

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa yesterday (20) said that he hoped Lanka Phosphate Company would continue to achieve success under the purview of any other ministry.

A spokesperson for NFF quoted Minister Weerawansa as having said that he wished Phosphate deposit at Eppawela would be utilised in a way beneficial to the country for generations to come.

The Minister said so in the wake of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa bringing Lanka Phosphate under Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage by way of a special gazette notification. This has been done at the expense of Minister Weerawansa.

The NFF official emphasised that the loss-making Lanka Phosphate Company had been transformed during Weerawansa’s tenure as the Industries Minister and by June 2021 the state venture recorded Rs 104 mn operating profit.

The NFF also released relevant documents pertaining to losses suffered before Weerawansa took over the Industries Ministry. Pointing out that the public sector enterprise had suffered an operating loss of Rs 80.8 mn loss in 2016/2017 financial year, the NFF said that Industries Ministry under Weerawansa’s leadership proved that bankrupt institutions, too, could be turned around.

The new administration now bore the responsibility for sustaining the successful operation, the NFF said, adding that the party expected the continuation of work undertaken by Minister Weerawansa. The NFF pointed out that Lanka Phosphate Company undertook production of organic fertiliser during an initial Covid-19 eruption and was aiming to expand its operation. Had the company achieved success valuable foreign exchange could have been saved, the party said, estimating annual expenditure on fertiliser imports at Rs 33 bn.

The phosphate project has been under the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau since its inception in 1974. Having set up a Phosphate company in 1991 and an abortive attempt was made in 2000 to sell it off to a private company, the NFF said, pointing out that since then the enterprise remained under the Industries Ministry. However, the previous government brought it under the Agriculture Ministry as the then minister in charge of portfolio Duminda Dissanayake represented the area where the Eppawela phosphate deposit was, the NFF said.

After the change of government in 2019, Lanka Phosphate Company was brought back under the Industries Ministry, the NFF said.

Minister Weerawansa explained measures taken by him to transform the loss-making venture and manage the operation in a way that brought benefits to the farming community.

He said that at the time of the issuance of the gazette they were planning to launch a new product Biogenic Microbial Phosphate as part of the overall development of the enterprise. The former JVP heavyweight denied accusations that he interfered with the management or in any other way hindered the smooth running of the operations.

The NFF said that it wouldn’t worry over the transferring of Lanka Phosphate Company to the Agriculture Ministry though some believed that the development should be examined against the backdrop of emerging differences between the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and its constituents. Minister Weerawansa last week joined seven other lawmakers to issue a statement condemning the General Secretary of the SLPP Attorney-at-Law Sagara Kariyawasam for demanding Energy Minister Attorney-at-Law Udaya Gammanpila’s resignation over hike in fuel prices.

The NFF said that the government at least didn’t inform the party of the intended change. It could have been handled in a much better way, the party said, urging the SLPP administration to be mindful of the relationship among the constituents.