16th November 1997

CEB officials see no wrong

Officials of the CEB speaking to The Sunday Times said that studies have proved the feasibility of the site at Noraichcholai. "Coal is the cheapest power option for the country and this is the single largest power plant which is scheduled for the future. If this fails, the entire nation is in trouble." D.C. Wijeratne, Additional General Manager (Transmission ) said.

At the moment the consultants, Electrowatt, are proceeding with drilling on site with police protection. This has been made necessary to avoid skirmishes with the volatile villagers. "The feasibility study should conclude in December. We have already submitted the first draft of the Environmental Impact Assessment to the Coast Conservation Department (CCD)," Mr. Wijeratne said.

He reacted strongly to the protests that have been launched by various groups against the project.

"We (CEB) have written to the Bishop of Chilaw seeking interviews and discussions with him on the subject of the shrine at Talawila, but he has not responded" he alleged.

Mr. Wijeratne added they have had certain informal discussions. "Some of my engineers barged in to the Bishop's House and spoke to him. We have explained that the type of erosion that he is talking about cannot happen at Norachcholai."

Mr. Wijeratne said the type of jetty construction envisaged for the power plant would not cause severe erosion northwards. The coal will be off loaded at a 3.5 metre jetty built in the sea and brought to the plant through conveyor belts running on concrete stilts located 40 metres apart. The diameter of each column will be around one metre. Therefore, Wijeratne said, there will be no large scale sea erosion. "If there is a problem after the plant is constructed, we could always take some measures to protect the beach." The earlier chosen site was moved to its recent location by the CEB because of its proximity to the church. The shrine and the site are now 10-12 km apart.

The CEB has had several discussions with the people of the area about the social and environmental issues involved. "The Deputy Minister and the Chairman have gone to the site for discussions. But it's like banging our heads against a rock," he said.

Mr. Wijeratne pledged to take every mitigatory measure to ensure that pollution levels are at acceptable standards, saying also that it is impossible to do a project of this magnitude without causing some disturbance to the environment.

What is the guarantee that in the future these pollution control measures will be maintained?

"We are trying to obtain ISO 14000 standards for our power projects. Already there are discussions with consultants on the eco standards we should adopt to be eligible for the ISO classification. This would be one way to ensure that pollution control measures are adhered to," he said.

The money for the feasibility study which is ongoing at Norachcholai came as a soft loan from the Japanese government. They have also expressed their willingness to fund the entire power plant through a similar easy term loan. But there was a great time lapse between the time of signing the feasibility loan agreement in 1994 and the commencement of work on the study. "This is because the government which came to power in 1994 froze all projects that were approved by the previous government in order to scrutinise each deal carefully."

But has there been any delay due to the protests at Norachcholai?

"Only a lapse of a few months," Wijeratne said. "Which is remarkable when you consider the opposition we have to put up with".

He added there is no debate as to the importance of the project on the power scenario planned by the CEB for the future years. "On completion this plant will supply 900 Mw of power, that is almost what we have in all our projects at the moment. We hope to have this plant in function by 2003, if all goes well. At the present rate of development and demand for electricity, it looks like we will have trouble by year 2000."

Mr.Wijeratne said he regretted the politicising of national issues such as this. "There will be great development in the area after the project. Hotels, telecommunications- all this will come.

"We are quite willing to discuss the matter with all parties, especially with the church. It is regrettable that there is no opportunity for rational discussion even on a project as important as this," he said.

Continue to Plus page 3 * Let's end 'over the dead bodies' politics * Stop this violation of human rights

Return to the Plus contents page

Read Letters to the Editor