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Canal Project: Gunaruwan Committee members contest Irrigation Ministry Secretary’s claim
The following is a response by Prof. T.L. Gunaruwan, D.S. Jayaweera, Eng. Janaka Kurukulasuriya and Prof. Sohan Wijesekera pertaining to the Sunday Times October 24 news item, which contained the Irrigation Ministry Secretary’s reply, referring, inter alia, to the “Gunaruwan Committee”.
The ministry secretary’s reply was in relation to an article headlined, ‘Controversy looms over ADB-funded Rs. 85 billion tunnel project’ in the Sunday Times of October 17 on the irrigation canal cum tunnel project to carry water from the Moragahakanda reservoir to Hurulu-Wewa.
Prof. Gunaruwan, Mr. Jayaweera, Eng. Kurukulasuriya, and Prof. Wijesekera had been members of the Project Review Committee, until their resignation on June 30, 2021. Their response:
The article carried by Sunday Times on October 24, with regard to the Irrigation Sector Project to carry water from Moragahakanda to Hurulu-Wewa.
“This refers to the response made by the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation, which was published in your esteemed newspaper on October 24, as a reply to an article published previously, pertaining to the Canal cum Tunnel project to convey irrigation water from Moragahakanda Reservior to Hurulu-Wewa.
“As the members who served on the committee, appointed based on a Cabinet decision, to review Public Investment project proposals, we wish to state that the above-mentioned response by the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation could create an incorrect opinion in the minds of the readers that the ‘Gunaruwan Committee’ also endorsed or recommended this particular project.
“It is pertinent to emphasise that our committee has never endorsed or recommended this project; but, quite contrary to the implicit claim the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation appears to have made in his statement, our committee reviewed the subject project and made written submissions to the appointing authority, the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, communicating our profound concerns with regard to the appropriateness and techno-economic viability of this project in view of realising the desired objective of sending more irrigation water to Hurulu-Wewa within the threshold of optimal cost to the nation.
“We also wish to state that it becomes the duty of the Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation to substantiate his claim by publishing the ‘Gunaruwan Committee Reports’, which we believe, will enable the readers, as well as the concerned general public, to perceive the analytical comments made and the concerns raised by the committee with regard to this project and other project proposals in the water and irrigation sectors.
“For the benefit of readers, we hereby mention that the undersigned members served in the Project Review Committee until our resignation with effect from June 30, 2021. In order to assist the fulfilment of the nation’s development objectives, the committee has carefully evaluated many investment projects and submitted five review reports on public investment project proposals in Irrigation, Water Supply, Urban Development, Highway and Railway sectors for the consideration by the national development planning and financing authorities.”
n Prof. T.L. Gunaruwan is Professor in Transport Planning and Economics, University of Colombo, former General Manager Railway and former Secretary to the Ministry of Transport; D.S. Jayaweera is former Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and former Chairman of the Urban Development Authority (UDA); Janaka Kurukulasuriya is a Chartered Civil Engineer, former Chairman of the UDA and former Additional Managing Director of the
Sri Lanka Ports Authority;
and N.T. Sohan Wijesekera is a Chartered Civil Engineer, Chairman/CIDA, and Emeritus Professor of Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering, University of Moratuwa.