A port project obstructed by a rock

Wasantha Priya Ramanayake - Translated by A. A. M. Nizam

“Criticisms especially get levelled against those who are in power. Although the politicians in power know about problems relating to the economy of the country due to the desire of remaining in power and with the objective of getting a majority of votes in the next election, it seems that they are prevented from taking appropriate action to rectify the prevailing situations.” ‘ (Volume III of the Biography of J. R. Jayewardene)

It was an excellent lesson President J.R. Jayewardene taught during his time to those who look cynically at rapid development in a poor country. He did not work with a view to getting votes in an election. He took a decision to complete the 30 year Mahaweli development programme within five years. Surprised about this decision what the economists such as Dudley Sears said was “be cautious, your country may become a ‘banana republic’ or a ‘failed state’ due to a steep upsurge in inflation”. But J.R. Jayewardene, who was the first Finance Minister of this country, took up that challenge.

He did not delay the work. His political knowledge and experience contributed to this. In addition to the ‘Accelerated Mahaweli Scheme’ he also laid his hand on rapidly developing the Sri Jayewardene Pura, Kotte as the administrative capital of the country in order to reduce the congestion in the Colombo city. It was as a result of this that Parliament complex which was situated opposite the Galle Face was taken to Kotte.

“J.R. is mad! He is building a palace by filling a muddy land. Building a city to name after him. Wasting the finances of the country. Dipping the country in debt.” This is how some of those who were in the Opposition said at that time. J.R. did not consider any of these things worth a penny. Since this programme was not accelerated after J.R. even today we have to stagnate for hours in our vehicles on Colombo roads. The Colombo city is being prepared as a commercial city once again during the current period. It is only now that administration complexes are being shifted to Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte.

Historical evidence

Now everyone praises J.R. for constructing Jayewardene Pura. Today, a single project of the Mahaweli cannot be implemented at a cost of Rs. 50,000 million. The total cost of the Mahaweli project seems to be about ten times of Rs. 50,000 millions. The development of Kotte and the Parliament complex are also equally similar. Development of a country cannot be done as a day-to-day tour operation. It has to be done with a future vision. Hambantota harbour is also a similar futuristic investment. Branding it as the largest swimming pool in the world is another sign of those who look at things cynically.

People get affected with this disease when they are stranded in the Opposition. Even some people in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party thought this way during the 77 - 94 period. It seems that some of the UNPers who worship JR have fallen into this mould.

Even the past UNP governments proposed that a harbour should be constructed in Hambantota. There was also a decision taken about this. But the work was not started. When loan facilities were sought the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund stood against it. We do not know whether it was because of pressure from Singapore. The rulers of that period succumbed to that pressure.

The ‘Lamlin’ feasibility report relating to the harbour was released in 2002 when the UNP government was in power. The report pointed out several places suitable for the construction of a harbour and the ‘Kataragama Saltern’ area was one among them. In the ‘Riswell’ report released in 2005 also mentions about the suitability of the ‘Kataragama Saltern’ area where the new harbour is situated now.

The ancient Ola leaf document belonging to the second century stating that a harbour in this country levied taxes was also unearthed from a place called ‘Godavaya’ near the present harbour. Therefore, there is historical evidence available to prove that there were harbours in the Hambantota area since the ancient time.

There is no doubt that Hambantota is the closest point to the ‘East-West’ shipping route which is a main shipping route in the contemporary world. About 200 ships are reported to be using this route each day. Therefore, there is no dispute about the choice and the location of the place.

Development project

Now the talks centre more on the rock in it than the harbour itself. In the meantime it is also being questioned as to how many ships arrived in the harbour. There is a rock at the bottom of the Hambantota harbour. It is difficult to find harbours without rocks. At the initial stage the Colombo harbour was only 10 metres deep. Later it became 13. Currently it is 15 metres. On all these three occasions the deepening of the harbour was done by removing rocks.

Thousands of millions of public funds were used for this purpose. No one spoke of rocks at that time. But Hambantota starts with 17 metres.

Hambantota belongs to the 15 harbours in the world with this much level of depth. At the same time it is true that there is a rock in the Hambantota harbour. It is situated in the access route.

The area for removal of rocks amounts to about 4 percent of the total area. It seems that this can be done in a time frame of 45 days. The expenditure required for this purpose amounts only to 10 percent of the loans obtained recently. Therefore, it is not necessary to spend another Rs 1,500 million to blast a rock. Other expenses are required only for other works planned. A part of the loan is to maintain price increases.

Normally this kind of things could happen in a development project. After commissioning of the Samanalawewa project there was seepage of water from it. The amount spent to prevent that seepage amounted to Rs 2,000 million. There was also water seepage after construction of the Kotmale hydropower project. Therefore, a separate tunnel had to be constructed during the 1986 - 1987 period.

This tunnel is now called as the ‘access tunnel’. The millions spent for the construction of this tunnel were almost equivalent to the amount spent for the original tunnel. Even when constructing a house the estimated cost does not become accurate to the very decimal. It is not necessary to have specialist knowledge to understand this.

Hiding information

It was the government that covered up the rock in the Hambantota harbour. When it was questioned about the rock the government speakers responded even by insulting the Opposition Leader. They said there is no such rock. It seems that no one investigated deep into the matter because they felt that the government dodging over the right to know the information. The government also did not provide a correct response to the people. Therefore the Opposition was able to make the minor rock query into a massive hill. That was their efficiency.

There is no use of blaming them about this. It was similar tales of falsehood the people of this government told the masses about the Mahaweli, Kotte Parliament Complex and Gam Udava when they were in the Opposition. There is no foolishness worse than hiding information about development projects by a government. Due to this story of the rock the value of providing a harbour to the benefit of the country has been devalued. A wrong message is also being seeped into the minds of the people. This should be rectified.

Therefore it is no use of holding to the tail of the development activities being carried out by the present government with a view to get future investments. However, there is room for constructive criticism.

It is important to find out if there had been a malpractice. Finding out in this manner is the responsibility of the Opposition. It seems that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna has laid its hands on this task. That should be appreciated. Ultimately the loan installments of these activities with the interest will be paid from the public funds. Therefore, if the name is JR’s or Mahinda’s, the funds belong to the people.

When the temporary trusteeship of transacting public funds falls on a government, it becomes the responsibility of the Opposition to monitor such transactions properly. It is hilarious to confine such monitoring to a piece of rock in a harbour. Also it should go beyond counting the number of vessels in a harbour which was commissioned only last year.