Colombo,January 21 (Daily Mirror)- Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila has raised concerns over the President’s recent remarks in Katukurunda regarding the development of the 99 oil tanks in Trincomalee.

He further explained that the President presented this as a new initiative, although the project had already been finalised three years ago during his tenure as Minister of Energy.

“In 2020, when I was the Minister of Energy, the 99 tanks had been leased to India in 2002 .”

“Additionally, Lanka IOC was using 14 tanks to store oil, while 2 tanks were used to store water for the Prima Company, the remaining 83 tanks had been abandoned for 75 years,” he said.

Gammanpila stated that after extensive negotiations, 83 tanks were reclaimed, with 24 allocated to the CPC, 5 tanks undergoing cleaning at the time, and the remaining tanks assigned for joint development under the Trinco Petroleum Terminals Ltd, with the agreement finalised on January 6, 2022.

Furthermore, he mentioned that a picture on social media showed the new Minister of Energy cleaning the tanks. While the cleaning of the five tanks began in January 2022, all fi e tanks will be fully cleaned this month.

However, he criticised the President for visiting these facilities without recognising the work that had been done before his inspection

He urged the President to review the Ministry of Energy website and the book ‘Oil Tanks Back to the Country’, which he presented in Parliament, to avoid making misleading statements.