Financial Times - The dam problem

The dam problem

Sri Lankan engineers, not British

In The Sunday Times FT article headlined “Broaching the dam problem” published on August 20, Badhra Kamaladasa, Deputy Director (Dam Safety), Irrigation Department, who was quoted extensively in a public presentation she made on “Issues of dam safety management in Sri Lanka,” has sent the following correction:

“Your reporter has grasped nicely my presentation and put them in a very attractive order. Thank you very much for your valuable contribution in bringing this important but neglected subject to the attention of general public.

However there is a slight mistake in your article. I mentioned about the British rulers who took prompt action when a dam /rail disaster happened in 1923.

They implemented the recommendations made by the Royal Commission appointed at that time for inquiring the cause of the dam breach/rail disaster and prevention of similar disasters.

What happened during the 1957 floods was that the entire operation was handled by the Sri Lankan engineers who did a marvelous job by repairing all the dams breached within one year. (I said at that time there was a highly motivated group of local engineers who did the job).

There were no British engineers employed in Sri Lanka at that time.”

Back to Business