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Giant gem mine shut down in tender fracas
View(s):The District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) of Ratnapura decided last Tuesday to immediately halt excavations at the Haraniyawatha gem mine, for which a permit had been issued on a bid of Rs. 135 million subsequent to open tenders called for by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA).
The reason cited is due to serious unrest among area people and local politicians regarding the transparency of this tender. They allege that an underhand transaction had taken place and that the Samurdhi beneficiary, poverty-stricken people, had been deprived of benefits.
The person awarded the tender, Ranga Wickremasinghe, owner of Lotus International Trade, has demanded that all his costs be repaid if the project is being stopped.
“If there were such problems, they should not have called for tenders,” he said.
The NGJA rejects the allegations made against the tender process.
“Politicians should not get involved in this project. This tender is legal and is 100 percent transparent. All benefits go to low-income families,” NGJA Chairman Nimal Weerasinghe said.
“Only if the DDCC’s objections are expressed in writing can we submit them to the minister in charge of the subject,the prime minister or the president. We will halt mining only if one of them instructs us to do so.”
“The DDCC spends state funds but we collect money for the government,” the Chairman pointed out.
On February 5, a protest was held against the project amid claims that a great injustice had occurred because the project to a businessman who came from outside the Ratnapura area. Mr.Wickremasinghe is a resident of Homagama, in the Colombo district.
Ratnapura DDCC Co-Chairman Akila Ellawala, who is a member of parliament, told The Sunday Times excavation at the gem mine should be halted immediately and a review carried out into the tender process.
“We decided to halt this on behalf of the poor people. There are many doubts about the tender. The advantage is to the businessman who was awarded the tender. Therefore, if we are to resolve our doubts, excavations have to be stopped and the tender reviewed,” he said.
“Everyone knows that the tender procedure in Sri Lanka is extremely corrupt.”
The Haraniyawatha gem mine is the first large-scale gem mining project in Sri Lankan history. The site in the vicinty of a main river is in the midst of six gramasewa divisions belonging to the divisional secretariats of Kiriella and Ayagama, on the left and right banks of the Kalu Ganga in Ratnapura.
In 2014, the NGJA commenced excavations without calling for open tenders but operations ceased when thefts of gems were discovered. The NGJA said he had earned almost Rs. 60 million during that time.
When bids were called for in 2017, Lotus International Trade submitted the highest offer. The tender was awarded only in January this year, the delay being caused by different appointments of chairmen to the NGJA and, latterly, the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the agreement, excavations were allowed to be carried out on one acre at Haraniyawatha in the Kalu Ganga. The work had to be completed within 365 working days. A quarter of the value of gems discovered were to go to Lotus International, another 25 per cent to 419 Samurdhi families in the Kiriella and Ayagama DS divisions, and the remaining 50 per cent to the NGJA.
According to the NGJA, local people were to participate in all labour, the objective being to direct all incidental benefits as well as the direct 25 per cent benefit to them.
“Our objective is to give the 419 families in the Kiriella and Ayagama DS Divisions, at least Rs. 500,000 each,” NGJA Chairman Weerasinghe said.
Mr. Ellawala alleges that fraud had been involved in the selection of the Samurdhi families.
Mr. Weerasinghe said the 419 Samurdhi families had been selected by the Samurdhi Associations in those areas and gramasewa officers, and that Samurdhi officials were aware of these lists.
He said those carrying out protests were people from the district, outside Kiriella and Ayagama.
“We have selected those who actually deserve benefits from the project. We are not able to provide benefits to the entire Ratnapura District,” the NGJA Chairman said.
Ratnapura Government Agent Malani Lokupothagama told The Sunday Times she would not comment on the issue and that questions should be directed to the NGJA.
Excavations commenced on January 25. To date, more than 100 divers and labourers have been employed daily at the mine. Regular supervision is carried out by a committee of officials of the NGJA, Central Environmental Authority, National Building Research Organisation, Road Development Authority, and the divisional secretariat offices of Kiriella and Ayagama and the police.
Lotus owner, Mr. Wickremasinghe, said excavations are being carried out according to the conditions being encountered, and since the use of machinery was prohibited, sand was being removed with baskets.
“Apart from small pieces of stones, we have not discovered any valuable gems as yet,” he said.
A top official of the Ratnapura District Secretariat said the objections voiced by local people and politicians were justified. By awarding a tender in 2021 for a bid made in 2017, he said the government had caused losses to be incurred.
“We think that a good job was carried out in a wrong manner,” he said.