A three-member probe panel will, within three weeks, identify those who are responsible for the recent petrol crisis and submit its report to the Cabinet, Petroleum Resources Development Ministry Secretary Upali Marasinghe said. He said the panel would likely be appointed tomorrow in consultation with Petroleum Resources Development Minister Arjuna Ranatunga. The appointment of an [...]

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Experts panel to find petrol-crisis culprits within three weeks

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A three-member probe panel will, within three weeks, identify those who are responsible for the recent petrol crisis and submit its report to the Cabinet, Petroleum Resources Development Ministry Secretary Upali Marasinghe said.

Queues for petrol: A common sight in Colombo two weeks ago. Pic by Indika Handuwala

He said the panel would likely be appointed tomorrow in consultation with Petroleum Resources Development Minister Arjuna Ranatunga. The appointment of an experts panel was recommended by the Cabinet Sub Committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to probe the crisis. “The Cabinet has decided the inquiry should be concluded in two weeks, but given the scale of the probe, we think it will take about three weeks,” he said.

The probe panel will comprise two experts from the ministry and an outside expert.

Earlier, the Cabinet Sub Committee issued a report strongly critical of the CPC. The report charged the CPC had failed to maintain a sufficient buffer stock to face a crisis situation like the one that occurred earlier this month. Addressing the media on Thursday, Minister Sarath Amunugama, who headed the Cabinet Sub Committee, called the lapse “unforgivable.”

Petroleum Ministry Secretary Marasinghe, though, said he believed rumours spread via SMS and social media on November 3 were largely responsible for precipitating the crisis.

“On November 3, we still had 20,000 metric tonnes of petrol in storage. Even if daily consumption reached 3,000MT, we could have managed for six days — enough time for ‘Neveska Lady’ to reach Colombo on November 9. But, when the rumour started spreading on the afternoon of November 3, people started hoarding petrol. Within four hours, all filling stations in the country ran out of petrol due to panic buying,” he said, adding that petrol sales island-wide soared to 4,500MT on November 4.

The Secretary said some recommendations in the Cabinet Sub Committee report could be implemented immediately, but there were others that neither the CPC nor the Ministry could do by itself. “For example, the Trincomalee oil tanks issue is currently a diplomatic matter. We can’t resolve that. We can only act as a facilitator.”

Mr. Marasinghe also claimed steps had already been taken to increase the country’s fuel storage capacity. Two 15,000 square metre tanks and two 7,000 square metre tanks are due to be installed in the next two years. One 15,000 square metre tank would be ready before the end of next year while the others would be completed by 2019, he said.

CPC trade unions, meanwhile, scoffed at the Cabinet Sub Committee report, terming it as a clear attempt to whitewash the Lanka Indian Oil Company’s (LIOC) role in the petrol crisis.

Ceylon Petroleum Common Workers’ Union (CPCWU) Convener D.J. Rajakaruna claimed the report had failed to probe the allegation that LIOC had waited until October 31 to inform the CPC that its replacement shipment would not arrive for at least three weeks. “There was evidence to prove this, but the committee has chosen to overlook it,” he charged.

He said there had been no attempt to investigate the Neveska Lady’s “highly unusual delay” in reaching Colombo.

The aspect of the report that causes most concern was the reference to the Trincomalee oil tanks, he claimed. The report emphasises the need to take a decision on the oil tanks.

Mr. Rajakaruna insisted that the report blamed CPC and exonerated LIOC to “clear the way” for LIOC to take over the tank farm.

“If they found fault with LIOC, there would have been a strong public backlash against any decision to give the tanks to the Indian company.”

There was also confusion this week regarding allegations made by Minister Arjuna Ranatunga that there was political pressure on him to permit the vessel carrying substandard petrol ordered by LIOC to unload its consignment.

At the weekly Cabinet media briefing, Co-Cabinet Spokesmen Dayasiri Jayasekara and Gayantha Karunathilake said Minister Ranatunga had told the Cabinet he had been misquoted regarding claims about political pressure and that he would send a clarification to the media.

However, in a voice cut sent by his own ministry’s media unit, Minister Ranatunga was clearly heard making the allegations.

“I have to tell you, not as a minister, but as a citizen of this country, that there was immense pressure on me to allow this ship in. There was also political pressure, but when I informed the President and the Prime Minister, they told me to do the right thing,” Minister Ranatunga says in the clip, forwarded to media on November 6.

The Sunday Times attempted several times to contact the minister regarding the matter, but he proved unreachable.

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