There’s a plethora of defects in the EIA, but I will highlight just two. First, Section 33(b) of the NEA stipulates that the EIA must include “a description of alternative to the activity which might be less harmful to the environment together with the reasons why such alternatives were rejected”. The EIA contains no such discussion of alternatives; neither does it state why they were rejected. This alone invalidates the EIA in its entirety. It violates the National Environmental Act and so must be rejected. The NEA is unambiguous in this regard: no ifs, no buts.
Additionally, the EIA (and indeed, its terms of reference) are defective in that there is no consideration, or even mention, of the process or costs of decommissioning these structures when they reach end of life. Who will be liable for that? Certainly not Adani, and so the poor people of Mannar will have to carry the can for that, too.
I fully understand Prof. Samarajiva’s anxiousness to lead the cheer squad for Adani, but he would do well to balance his enthusiasm with the fact that this project will violate numerous laws, regulations, procedures and procurement guidelines. Although Samarajiva is apparently oblivious to it, Sri Lanka is a notoriously corrupt country. It has been slipping steadily down the Corruption Barometer of Transparency International ever since 2020 (www.transparency.org/en/countries/sri-lanka). What’s more, Bloomberg News reported as recently as 15 March that the “US [is] Probing Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani and His Group Over Potential Bribery the Adani Corporation” (www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-15/us-prosecutors-widen-investigation-into-adani-group-focus-on-potential-bribery?embedded-checkout=true).
But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Just yesterday, the CEB closed bids for 50 megawatts of wind power. The prices quoted in those two-envelope bids will be read out only about a month from now, but I will eat my hat if at least some of those bids don’t fall below the USD cents 8.26 the Government is paying Adani. And remember, a 50 MW project is much smaller than Adani’s 250 MW. It doesn’t enjoy the economies of scale and all the breaks that Adani is getting from the government. Question is, will Samarajiva eat his hat if I am right? Come on, professor, put your money where your mouth is. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if those second envelopes are never opened…
Our country became insolvent, a global pariah, because we allowed politicians to break the rules. Just two years ago, our youth evicted a disastrous president and demanded a system change. The failed ideology of that regime was crafted by eminent intellectuals such as Professor W.D. Lakshman, Professor Channa Jayasumana, Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya and Professor Priyantha Yapa. By espousing and turning apologist-in-chief for a multibillion-dollar deal that is notoriously untransparent if not downright illegal, Professor Rohan Samarajiva risks a similar fate.
Sri Lanka needs at least 2 gigawatts of wind power urgently. I am all for it. But like the wind, it must be transparent.
Rohan Pethiyagoda
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