Govt. decision to lease Trinco oil tanks to India a betrayal: Wimal

The Government decision to lease out Trincomalee oil tanks to India strategically betrayed Sri Lanka, Parliamentary Leader of the National Freedom Front Wimal Weerawansa said in a statement.

As a non-oil producing country, excessive oil storages is a vital factor to safeguard the energy needs of the country, he said.

Trincomalee has been a strong point in terms of military perspective and geo-strategy for Sri Lanka throughout history, he added.

“If we observe why India is so keen about these oil tanks, we can understand the real value of them. Under the 1987 Indo-Lanka agreement, only India has the authority to control the tanks. And so, since then, India has taken control of the tanks for free,” he said.

The statement highlighted the arrest of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation members during a renovation process carried out on the premises by Indian Oil Corporation staff. The bunkering project was offered to IOC without calling for tenders, Weerawansa said.

“At the moment, the Kolonnawa CPC storage terminal and Muthurajawela have the capacity to store only 450,000 metric tons of fuel. This only lasts for three weeks, so if the country were to face a fuel shortage, the stock will not be sufficient,” he explained.

The statement also pointed out that the entire county must stand against the Government’s decision in order to protect public property.  

Govt. attempting to hand over Trinco oil tanks to India: JVP

By Skandha Gunasekara

The JVP yesterday charged that there was an underhand effort to hand over the Trincomalee oil tanks to India and demanded to know what the status of the Trincomalee oil tanks deal was. 

Chief Opposition Whip and JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, raising a question under Standing Order 27/2, pointed out that the oil tanks in Trincomalee are to be shared between Sri Lanka and India. 

“The 15 tanks in the lower system have been given to the Indian Oil company while the 85 tanks in the upper tank system have been split between the Indian Oil Company and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation through a joint venture according to the Cabinet decision taken on 7 August,” he said, adding that according to the Cabinet decision, the joint venture would give 16 oil tanks to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO). 

He went on to say that the country and CEYPETCO could benefit immensely through the use of these oil tanks and that the CEYPETCO unions had pointed this fact to the Government.

“The unions have informed the Government of the benefit these tanks would provide the loss incurring CEYPETCO – not only as storage use for the local market, but also for the international market as well.”

However, the Chief Opposition Whip then said that when there was a sudden unexpected halt in the procedure to upgrade the Trincomalee tank system, suspicions were raised. “This sudden halting of upgrades is highly suspicious. One can only assume that this is underhand effort to hand over the entire oil tank farm to India.”He then posed a number questions to the Government, demanding to know what the current status of the agreement with India was, whether a majority of the tanks in the upper system would be given to the Indian Oil company, whether the Government will admit that Sri Lanka would lose its control over crude oilas the Indian company has a majority share of the oil tanks, and whether the Trincomalee oil tank – a national asset – could not remain with CEYPETCO.