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Upper Kotmale power project on hold

by Ranil Wijayapala

The Upper Kotmale power project has been temporarily put on hold for a second time until a committee appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe makes a comprehensive study on the impact of the project on the environment and the plantation community.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe decided to appoint this committee after the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) informed him that they were not satisfied with the answers given by the Power and Energy Ministry regarding the environmental issues.

The committee will comprise representatives from the Ministries of Environment and Forestry, Housing and Plantation Infrastructure, Plantation Industries, Irrigation and Water Management and Power and Energy.

The committee is due to complete their report within one week and the committee members were due to be appointed last afternoon.

The issue was discussed yesterday at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and attended by Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya and Housing and Plantation Infrastructure Minister Arumugan Thondaman.

Finance Minister K.N. Choksy, Environment and Forestry Minister Rukman Senanayake, Irrigation and Water Management Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, Plantation Industries Minister Lakshman Kiriella and the officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Central Environment Authority.

Housing and Plantation Infrastructure Minister Arumugan Thondaman told a press conference yesterday that the CWC was not satisfied with the answers provided to them by the Power and Energy Ministry regarding the impact on the environment and the plantation industry.

"They provided only the original document which they presented to the CEA to obtain approval," the Minister added.

The Minister said the CWC is ready to consider implementing the project once the committee appointed by the Prime Minister completes the report.

The Minister said at the initial stage he opposed the project considering the problems faced by the plantation community. He was basing his protest on the environmental impact on the plantation sector.

If given the green light, the Upper Kotmale hydropower project will be the third underground power station of the country after Kotmale and Kukule Ganga. The estimated output of the project is 534 million units of power annually to the national grid.

The proposed hydropower project will be built in the upper stream of the Kotmale oya, near Talawakele town. The water needed for power generation will be fed by Devon Oya, St. Andrew's Stream, Kuda Oya, Pundulu Oya, Puna Oya, Ramboda Oya, Dunsine Oya and Kotmala Oya.

The entire project will cost Rs. 35 billion (US $ 380 million) and the Japanese Government has already provided a soft loan of Japanese Yen 33 billion to bear the cost of this project. The local investment on the project will be US $ 83 million.

The engineering services feasibility for the Upper Kotmale project was completed in 1994. The project was first opposed by environmentalists in February 1995.

Environmental clearance for the project was given only in March 2000 as environmentalists had protested against the decrease in the water flowing to two major waterfalls - St. Clares and Devon.

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