Foolhardy adventures
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Many years ago when the controversial Hambantota airport was being built, I was seated next to an environmentalist in a plane during an overseas trip and our conversation steered towards the impact on bird life at the proposed airport.There were concerns from environmental groups over the danger to birds and also elephants as it (airport) was being built in an elephant corridor. “As far as birds are concerned, there are airports in the world adjoining areas teeming with bird life. In a bid to avoid any impact, sirens are sounded to scare the birds away when a plane lands or takes off,” he said, adding that such initiatives have proved successful.
I didn’t follow up after that to find out where such airports existed because the discussion on the new airport centred on a costly exercise which today has turned out to be counter-productive. The airport named Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) was a costly, political misadventure and received an uncomplimentary tag of the ‘loneliest airport in the world’ due to its lack of passengers. There was no market research done on promoting the airport, or market research done beforehand on the suitability of the location for an international airport. All the new infrastructure in Hambantota – a new airport, a new conference hall with 1500 seat-capacity built with South Korean support (as big as the BMICH), a new port and wide roads – hasn’t brought in the intended returns. The airport was built at a cost of US$209 million, with $190 million received as a high-interest loan from the Exim Bank of China. As far as the port was concerned, the government secured a near $1 billion loan from China and when it became difficult to repay it, handed over its control and management (85 per cent stake) to China Merchant Port Holdings (CMPort) on a 99-year lease of $974 million.
Why am I talking today about the Hambantota airport and port developments? This is because of a conversation this Thursday morning with Ruwanputha, a young economist. “Did you hear about plans to redevelop the Hingurakgoda airport, built during the Second World War in 1942 for the British airforce, as an international airport?” he asked me.
“Yes I read somewhere comments by Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva saying construction has begun in this development,” I said.
It was stated that the 2024 budget had allocated Rs. 2 billion for its initial construction and development. In Phase I, the current 2,287-metre-long and 46-metre-wide runway will be extended to 2,500 metres, news reports said, adding that construction is scheduled to be completed in six months to accommodate Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. The airport is close to the town of Polonnaruwa. The total construction cost after all phases are completed is said to run to several billions of rupees.
“Will this be another wasteful use of funds like the Hambantota airport?” Ruwanputha asked, adding that it looks like local politicians will never learn.
“With express highways coming up across the island, which is a realistic investment as access to people is important for economic empowerment, the government should rethink its priorities pertaining to developing airports to an international status. By this time we should have learnt from the costly Hambantota example,” I said.
The only re-developed airport that has shown a return is Jaffna, in the north where daily flights are in force between Chennai (South India) and Jaffna. It is said that many of the Tamil diaspora in Europe and North America visit their relatives in South India and then take a flight to Jaffna.
According to an official audit report, the total losses incurred by the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport were nearly Rs. 43 billion during the years 2017 and 2022.
Unbelievable! The country doesn’t need another international airport. This money could be well spent on other much needed development like hospitals, children’s services, public transportation, social welfare and poverty alleviation. But since some people get kickbacks from development contracts, they will continue to push for wasteful spending. The Japanese, involved in the development of the Colombo airport, were believed to have been dismayed by claims that a bribe was being sought by a local politician.
The intention of the government to develop small domestic airports into international ones is probably to provide faster access to resort areas for tourists visiting Sri Lanka. For this purpose however it would be wise to restrict the development of airports to Katunayake, Hambantota (needs to be marketed properly) and Jaffna while encouraging domestic airlines like Cinnamon Air to increase their frequencies across the island.
As I reflected on yet another unwise investment, I walked into the kitchen to see whether Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya in his mobile bakery, had brought my favourite breakfast food – the t-bun. Indeed he had, and along with a steaming mug of tea, I opened the window and could hear the trio in conversation under the margosa tree.
“Mama giya sumaney irida polata gihin elavalu-mila dakela puduma wuna. Bonchi kilo ekak rupiyal panseeyayi. Giya avuruddey rupiyal thunsiya thihai (I went to the Sunday fair last week and was surprised at the price of vegetables. Beans was over Rs. 500 per kg compared to Rs. 330 last year),” said Kussi Amma Sera.
“Biththara mila adu wela wagey (Egg prices seem to have come down),” noted Serapina, while Mabel Rasthiyadu added that fish prices were still high compared to last year.
“Den ething chandey langa hinda mila adu wewi (Maybe prices will come down now that an election is close by),” said Kussi Amma Sera.
Returning to the foolhardy decision to invest billions of rupees on developing small airports (expressways are also coming up which would provide speedier access to the east and its tourist infrastructure), one hopes that there is re-thinking on such costly adventures, after the election is over. As an initial step, there needs to be some re-assessment of the Hambantota airport where one of the proposals is to create a regional hub for aircraft recycling there – bringing in discarded aircraft, strip it and sell the usable parts.
Well….as I wind up today, election fever is at its peak and most probably we will see one of the most complex presidential elections ever with many decisions like the sale of loss-making state-owned companies on hold.
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