Columns

The Government has called a sudden halt to the winds of power that will blow across the Mannar isle in the near future.

This sudden decision, taken at the eleventh hour, when mass protests against Hayleys’ 50 million dollar wind power project rise to a climax and threaten Hayleys’ launch of the first phase in December this year.

But will a presidential pledge to ban future wind power projects on the island of Mannar unless the people’s consent is obtained, placate the wrath of protesters who are vehemently opposed to the irreversible damage that will be done to the environment they live in should this present project be allowed to go on.

NATURE’S WIND FORCE: New wind power projects doomed

Or will they, on the strength of the presidential assurance, lay down their protesting placards and take them home, so that, in the event a future wind power project gains approval without the people’s consent, they can be raised again to protest?

The new taboo – while sparing three investors, including Hayleys – will also blow the hopes and dash the dreams of those who have been unlucky not to have gained a foot in to start on their wind projects before the new ban came into effect.

But, perhaps, they, with a tinge of sour grapes, regard it as a blessing in disguise to have been kicked out from the exclusive bus of three sacred cows, rather than to have been allowed to build their wind power projects on the shifting sands of public opinion.

Had they been allowed to build, they may have seen their multimillion-dollar investments in renewable energy, halted in mid flow, still born before its birth, with the costly groundwork expended on the ambitious energy project come to nought as Indian billionaire Adani, even with strong connections with Modi, must have felt after experiencing his Sri Lankan folly, much to his own regret.

Except for those three investors who gained a slice each of Lanka’s wind power cake, those who had arrived late for the party, there wasn’t a slice left.

For those denied a slice of the celebratory cake, gone with the wind will be modern day windmills sited in strategic locations where the winds blow with sufficient gusto and with consistent strength throughout the year  to turn their massive blades to generate electricity for the people at the cheapest price possible so far, as economists tell us, and with the least possible damage done to the environment as experts on global warming point out to us.

Both the sun and the wind will be the natural fuel of the future; and though, no international deadline has been set so far to impose a total ban on the use of fossil fuels, there is a notable trend towards ‘transitioning away from fossil fuel in energy systems’.

Currently on the world stage in Belem, Brazil, world leaders are gathering to hold talks at the 30th annual Conference of the Parties – called COP for short -  between the 10th and the 20th of this month to discuss and challenge the threat posed by global warming to the world; and, perhaps, renew the call made two years ago by nearly 200 countries to move toward achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

When world leaders are meeting in Brazil to discuss global warming as a  primary result of burning oil, it’s surprising to note the Government has effectively banned wind power as a renewable source of energy.

If the ban on new wind power projects continues, there will be no more wind power harnessed to turn turbine blades to generate electricity.

Nor is there in Sri Lanka a more optimum location than Mannar Island where nature’s invisible force, the wind, consistently blows strong throughout the year though the Kalpitiya Peninsula and the Central Highlands come marginally closer to compete for the best spot.

If J. R. Jayewardene hadn’t placed the public interest above the parochial interests of the local community, there would be no Mahaweli hydro power to turn the turbines to generate electricity.

Neither would the drought-ridden lands in the northeast areas have been opened up for human settlement but stayed arid if not for waters from the diverted Mahaweli to irrigate them to flourish in all seasons.

J.R. Jayewardene had vision coupled with the resolute will to see it implemented. So had Ranasinghe Premadasa. They both saw they could not hold back the dawn of technology’s unstoppable march. And when it’s for the benefit of the people, one shouldn’t even attempt to try.

Every foreign direct investor, provided they have the necessary credentials and conform to the regulatory framework, must be allowed to enter power generating terrains of Mannar, Kalpitiya, Ambewela and Hambantota where furious winds blow the strongest and stay steadfastly consistent.

But the most destructive winds are fickle winds that blow an agreement once reached and signed and sealed. They are the winds that take the puff out of the sails and leave

a ship stranded in mid sea with no help in sight.

They are the winds to avoid at all costs as identified in the US  investor advisory in its section on Sri Lanka.

The US   advisory states:

‘U.S. firms continue to explore opportunities in sectors such as: ICT, energy, aviation, and defense.

‘However, regulatory unpredictability, bureaucratic hurdles, and selective transparency continue to limit broader participation.’

‘The government’s institutional capacity to encourage an open investment environment remains limited despite positive rhetoric. ‘

‘Overall, investors report that doing business remains difficult, frequently citing concerns about project reversals, regulatory shifts, slow decision making, and inadequate support for established businesses. ‘

‘The IMF and local business chambers stress the need for comprehensive structural reforms, including trade facilitation, digitization, and stronger governance mechanisms.’

It will be the biggest turn off for any busy, genuine foreign investor to discover that after a series of long-winded discussions, with terms mutually agreed, and a handshake closing the deal, he finds a vacillating government had changed its mind, and he’s back to square one. He will feel he’s wasting his time as Adani felt he was wasting his.

It’s what Anura Kumara described in his opposition days as  ‘all whistle, no bulti’ or in English. ‘All  talk and ceremony, no action.’

Meet the shameless scroungers that Sunil Handunnetti condemns HANDUNNETTI: Scathing attack on those below the poverty belt JVP Minister Sunil Hadunnetti did not denounce the welfare programme for the totally destitute, ‘Aswesuma’ – begun by Ranil Wickremesinghe during his presidential reign and continued by the JVP Government – as one perpetuating poverty or suggesting one in the lines of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s ‘Janasaviya’ which was aimed at helping those ensnared in the poverty trap in getting back on their two feet again and begin fending for themselves. Instead, it was to denounce those unfortunate lot, receiving the Government’s meagre monthly handout, as being shameless to receive it. Handunnetti declared, with the loftier air of one far above the lowest depths of existence, ‘Aswesuma’ beneficiaries should be ashamed. It is like begging legally. If we want to develop as a nation, we must move away from this dependent mentality.’ How true. These scroungers on the public purse, akin to scroungers in Colombo’s beggars mafia, pretending poverty and, while having millions stashed in their bank accounts, exploiting the people’s sympathy are, no doubt, as Handunnetti accurately describes, the shameless scum of the earth, the vermin of the world to live on another’s hard earned money without a qualm nor an iota of remorse. As Handunnetti says: ‘The goal should be to end Aswesuma through a clear programme and plan. The government has no intention of continuing the Aswesuma programme indefinitely or using it as a political slogan. I would be happy to see the day when this subsidy no longer exists. It is up to the people to decide will poverty always exist, or will we challenge it and move forward?’ The JVP, of course, have ended their own lean days in the wilderness and moved forward, ascending the uplands of power and breathing its pristine air, far removed from the stink of the sewer. They may, perhaps, not care to remember those bygone days of yore but they’ll never forget in their conscience, how they exploited the largess of their supporters and used poverty as their parroted slogans even though, as their mandatory asset declarations for last year have now revealed, some had millions secretly stashed in numerous accounts at banks. Take for instance, Wasantha Samarasinghe. As revealed in his mandatory asset declaration list, he has two commercial buildings, one worth 150 million and the other, a three-storey commercial building worth 75 million, totaling a combined worth of 225 million rupees. Furthermore, he has declared a house worth 10 million and two solar power units worth 6.5 million and 3.25 million, respectively. And that’s not all. He has a Toyota Prius car worth 15 million and 17.5 gold sovereigns worth 4.5 million and two fixed deposits, one worth 1.1 million and the other worth Rs 650,000. He also has 21,000 shares in LOLC worth 12 million and 3000 crypto chips worth 1 million. He’s worth a total of 279 million. Now the income he gets from various sources: He receives a rental income of 5.1 million and 7 million. A company income of 3 million and solar power income of 200,000. All in all, he gets an income of 15.3 million. As he revealed in a Swarnavahini TV interview: ‘It’s like this. Let’s say I have to go to Ratnapura for some work; then the supporters there will give me some money for fuel and, on the way back, will give me some vegetables, some plantains and, if they have, some rice. If I go to Anuradhapura, some rice, some coconuts. In Kurunegala they will give me some coconuts and some dry fish if they have. That day I went to Puttalam, and I got Rs 3000, I went to Anuradhapura, and I got Rs 3000; I went to Batticaloa, and I got Rs 5000.’ Is JVP comrade Sunil Handunetti who has publicly admitted on many a YouTube channel that he depends on the largess of his supporters for his existence. He says, ‘I have received all shirt and trousers, even my belt, from friends and party supporters.  Even my underwear has holes in it.’ How sad. How pathetic. How terribly poor he must have been to have holes in his undies beneath the borrowed feathers he wore. Thus keeping concealed 6 million rupees in his bank account and not disclosing he owns over a quarter acre of land was vital for him to flaunt himself as a man of poverty. But he paid the price for his political humbuggery when he ironically won the elections and was compelled by law to disclose his assets which revealed that, far from being a pauper, he was relatively a wealthy man, His heartless attack on the unfortunates below the poverty belt for being shameless to accept Government handouts whilst he himself, with six million in the bank, has been nor only shameless but remorseless to scrounge on friends and supporters for his sustenance, feigning pathetic poverty. It is somewhat similar to the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it? Archchuna’s big snooze in  the House during budget JAFFNA MP ARCHCHUNA: Budget siesta in the House Jaffna District MP Dr. Archchuna was found fast asleep throughout the President’s budget speech in Parliament on Friday. Since the budget speech ended before 6 in the evening, it led to fears that Archchuna had acquired the same sleeping sickness that former SLFP leader Nimal Siripala de Silva had of habitually falling asleep whenever others spoke on important issues in the House. It was feared whether breathing the extremely dry air that prevailed within the chamber of the House had induced Archchuna’s sleep? Wonder whether he snored loud enough to drown the President’s speech? But SJB MP Harsha de Silva stayed alert throughout the speech, at the end of which he gave his summary in a scathing one liner: A budget from a confused government.