Japan
awaits approval of Upper Kotmale project
Japanese officials have rejected claims that the Sri Lankan government
has given the go-ahead for the controversial Upper Kotmale project.
"No, there is no change in the status. We are still awaiting
word from the government," said Shinya Ejima, Chief Representative
of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
Recent
media reports quoted government officials as saying the project
had been approved. Funding by the Japanese government of the long-delayed
Upper Kotmale power project is in jeopardy if the project designs
are changed to suit political and environmental considerations.
Ejima
told The Sunday Times FT that they were not convinced that the proposed
changes to the controversial project are necessary and have explained
this position to the authorities.
"We
are not convinced that the changes to exclude the five tributary
intakes from the main dam are necessary. If that happens, the power
generation will be reduced by 20 percent. I am not saying we would
pull out but normally the Japanese government doesn't accept changes
after a project is approved," he said.
The
Upper Kotmale project has been steeped in controversy beginning
from the former UNF regime where it ran into environmental concerns
- coupled with dislocation of families raised by the Ceylon Workers
Congress (CWC) - from environmentalists.
The
controversy has spilled over during the current UPFA regime whose
Power and Energy Minister Susil Premjayanth is keen to launch the
plant as soon as possible due to an acute shortage of short and
long term power. But the government is constrained by desperately
needing CWC strongman Arumugam Thondaman's support - which would
come only if the UPFA bows to his demands.
Ejima
said, "We may accept the changes if they are reasonable or
inevitable. Normally we don't accept if the changes are due to political
considerations. I'm not saying that may be the case (situation)
here. We don't know when a decision would be made on this. But I
hope it is soon." Upper Kotmale takes four years to complete
and if project work starts right now, completion would be by end-2008,
he added. |