Hambantota White Projects Eat Up

Economy
By Nirmala Kannangara-Thursday, July 02, 2015

Multi-million rupee white-elephant mega projects in

Hambantota, the constituent district of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, are
now idling and have become a massive burden to the countrys economy.
Hambantota has been the focal point since Rajapaksa was elected to office in
November 2005 and billions of rupees have been spent on unnecessary projects. It is
distressing to note the huge amount of money the previous regime has spent
unnecessarily on unwanted projects that the country could not afford.
Amongst the white elephant projects of the Rajapaksa administration are the
Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port, Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket
Stadium, Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala, Magam Ruhunupua
International Conference Hall and the Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele Cinema Park.
The construction work of the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa International Port
initially cost the country US$ 360 million but later the former government sought
more money from China to remove a massive seabed rock near the entrance. The
Sunday Leader at that time exclusively broke the story that a rock, 10 metres in length
and seven meters in depth, submerged at the mouth of the harbour.
This was after the port was opened with much fanfare in November 2010. The
Hambantota rock couldnt be blasted at once because it could have damaged the

costly infrastructure at the Hambantota Port. Hence the authorities initiated blasting
the rock little by little. However, the deeper the blasting, the cost went up very high.
The government had been warned by a Canadian consultancy firm SNC Lavalin about
this rock during a feasibility study carried out during the President Chandrika
Kumaratungas tenure between 1994 and 2001. Thereafter yet another feasibility study
was carried out by Ramboll of Denmark when President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the
Ports and Fisheries Minister during the tail end of the Kumaratunga regime at a cost of
US$ 2 million which was borne by the SLPA. Subsequently, it is learnt that an
additional US$ 82 million (Rs. 9 billion) obtained from China had been spent on
blasting and removing the rock, sources said.
This was however substantiated by the then Chief Engineer of the Hambantota Port
Agil Hewageegana who said that the Chinese funded harbour may cost the country
US$ 361 million.
Now the country is in debt and the only solace is the arrival of vessels that bring
imported vehicles to the country. Since the Rajapaksa regime assumed that more ships
would arrive at the Magampura Port, in order to ensure a congestion free traffic, a sixlane highway, a flyover and an interchange were built in the Hambantota District
spending millions of dollars. These roads are now empty. Some internal roads that
lead to the airport are now being used by villagers to dry pepper crop. In addition to
these wastages, the Colombo-Matara railway line is now being extended and the
southern expressway is to be linked to Hambantota very soon costing millions of
dollars, an official at the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity said that if not for the vessels carrying
vehicles, the Magampura port would have been an utter failure.
Overlooking the port is another nonessential building the Magam Ruhunupua
International Conference Hall. The only international event that was held at this
conference hall so far was the 2013, 9th Youth Forum of the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM). Other than few local events, no major events have
been held at this venue since then.
This International Convention Centre has been constructed on a 28-acre land at
Siribopura in the Hambantota District at a cost of US$ 15.3. It has restaurants,
exhibition halls, modern sound and recording facilities as well as an open air theatre.
All these are idling now and the government is spending millions of rupees on
maintaining this International Conference Hall. When this country does not hold
much international conferences, it is questionable why such a large conference hall
was built spending public money unnecessarily which would have spent on
concessions being given to the people who suffer from the high cost of living, the
sources added.
Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele Cinema Park stands on 235 acres in Ranminitenna

in Hambantota. The total cost for constructing this park was Rs. 2 billion.
According to an official in the Hambatota District Secretariat, funds for the project
were obtained from taxes levied on foreign films and tele-dramas. According to him,
modern studios and locations such as hospitals, police stations and courts are housed
in the premises.
Lodging facilities for over 100 people, restaurants, a separate building to hold
workshops and a large vehicle park have also been provided.
However this is yet another white elephant. Since its opening in March 2010, there has
been little or no film shooting at this center.
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Suriyawewa is yet another white
elephant project. Built at a cost of Rs. 700 million, the stadium was declared open in
2011 for the World Cup matches. According to the Hambantota Divisional Secretariat,
only a few matches including the two World Cup matches have been played on this
ground. With a seating capacity of 32,000, the Suriyawewa cricket stadium, built on a
47 acre land, stands desolate now.
According to the sources, the Sri Lanka Cricket spends money in vain on maintaining
the stadium. Watering the grass on the ground alone has become a huge cost.
In order to hold day night matches, the flood lights that were fixed at the Rangiri
Dambulu International Cricket Stadium was removed and shifted to the Suriyawewa
grounds. This is a waste of money. The Rajapkasa regime did not consider the
consequences but spent lavishly on any project they wished as if the public money was
their private property. During the two world cup matches held at Suriyawewa, the
government went to the extent of bringing a few tamed elephants and chaining them at
nearby trees, to give an impression to the international players and audience that this
cricket stadium is environment friendly and even the wild animals are roaming freely
nearby. This alone showed the ignorance of the our previous leaders and the officials
who work under them, sources said. Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport the
second international airport in the country stands on 2,000 hectares of land.
Although Rs. 39,600 million was spent on this project, international airlines rejected
landing there. Therefore, it faced difficulty in achieving the target.
Earlier this airport was to be built in Weerawila but due to strong protests from
environmental organizations, the then government had to drop the venue and started
the work at Mattala which is home for many wild animals including elephants. Despite
the protests the Rajapaksa regime ignored environmental warnings and feasibility
studies and went ahead with the project. This is a route for migratory birds as well, and
Sri Lankan flights experienced collisions many a time with these migratory birds and
aircraft windscreens got damaged as well. The area was an elephant corridor and even
after the opening ceremony, wild elephants roamed the airport premises, sources

added.
This airport was built to land Airbus A380 which cannot be landed at the
Bandaranaike International Airport. The Airport and Aviation Services Limited
claimed all international airlines that land at the Colombo airport have showed
interest in landing at Mattala, but not a single international airline fulfilled their
promise. It was designed to accommodate more than 1000 passengers at peak hours.
In addition to the unnecessary expenditure, the then President came to the airport on a
Sri Lankan Airline flight spending further millions of rupees to commence the airport
operation. This is the only airport in the world disregarded by international airlines.
Other than Sri Lankan and Mihin Lanka, the only airline the Mahinda Rajapaksa
International Airport provides its service was Fly Dubai a budget airline.
According to the sources, because of the huge cost of maintaining the airport, soon
after the presidential election on January 8, the new President ordered Sri Lankan and
Mihin Air to discontinue their flights via Mattala and to switch off the terminal air
conditioning units and decorative water fountains which has been estimated to save
about US $20 million annually.
Hambantota Botanical Gardens is yet another failed project carried out by the previous
regime. It is said that the botanical garden which has been constructed on a 300-acre
land needs bowsers of water every day to keep its non-native plants alive. Villagers in
the area which receive little rain, they who is scratching a living, meanwhile have to
receive their drinking water that is being trucked into the area.
We are growing wet-zone plants which are not native to this area, a curator told to
AFP during a tour of the garden opened by Rajapaksa during the Commonwealth
summit. If people know the true extent of the water being wasted here, there may be a
riot, said a university professor who declined to be named. We thought this was to
conserve plants in the area, but to take care of plants that require a lot of water may
not be sustainable, sources added.
Posted by Thavam