Author: TELO Admin

The sea cucumber farm in the Northern Province has become a hot topic ‘internationally’. It is a joint venture between three companies, one being a Chinese company named Gui Lan (Pvt) Ltd. and two Sri Lankans. Sea cucumber farming was officially agreed upon in April 2021, according to a document obtained by Ceylon Today.

It’s about the Chinese in the Northern Province who have attracted many into doing a business of an untouched market – sea cucumber, something that the Sri Lankans were not introduced to on big scale.

In 2015, the SL Aquatech International commenced commercial seed production of sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) and it was the very first commercial hatchery established in Sri Lanka. Also, this Company has been involved in the breeding of sea cucumber, since 2015, in their hatchery at Ambakandawila, Chilaw in small-scale. This company produced advanced juveniles in nursery ponds at Muthupanthiya. This hatchery and the nursery ponds are supervised by the National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA)

The new sea cucumber farms – part of the sea located in Ariyalai and in Gowdarimunai, some 6km distance from each.

Gowdarimuani is where the sea cucumber hatchery is located and it is run by the Chinese company.

The land for the hatchery has been leased for 10 years by a local in the Jaffna peninsula. Under the Technology transfer act of 1996, Act No. 3, under the ethical approach, the license has been obtained, it has been revealed.

The licence for the hatchery has been obtained from the NAQDA though the Gowdarimunai Fisheries society.

According to reliable sources, even the Fisheries society has not obtained the licence as it is a new project, however, the Government is speeding up the process to let the Chinese breed sea cucumber in Jaffna.

It is also revealed that the Fisheries Ministry has already earmarked a sea cucumber hatchery farm on the Delft Island (Nedunthivu) and the survey had been conducted last week.

There is a history of good sea cucumber found in the waters that had not been tapped for a long time. The Chinese have been advised that Northern Province is ideal for sea cucumber farms. Hence, they entered the North as a partner and today they are selling each juvenile sea cucumber for exports at a rate of Rs 25, Ceylon Today learns.

Sea cucumber is found in plenty in the Sri Lankan waters, however it is not a favorite sea food of Sri Lankans and there is no demand for it in the local market.

The Chinese have tapped the market and brilliantly, at that. However, the Fisheries Minister says that they would in future let the Chinese train the locals in sea cucumber hatching and hand over the business to the locals.

The international market for sea cumber is huge. The Alibaba online market has advertised 1kg of dried sea cucumber at between USD 120 -180.

Currently, Sri Lanka is exporting 300MT of sea cucumber per annum generating revenue of some USD 10 million. Also, 90 per cent of the sea cucumber is exported to China, NAQDA said.

China is selling as well as buying Sri Lanka’s sea cucumber, but breeding and selling sea cucumber in the Northern Province seems to be benefiting the Chinese at large. The market value being so huge, sea cucumber production can reap much more than what it does now in terms of price.

Sea cucumber cultivation existed in Sri Lanka from 2013 but on a small scale. However, it was only when the Chinese were spotted in Jaffna, that the people were alerted. This is perhaps due to the geopolitical tension in which Sri Lanka is trapped. However, there is a demand for this creature and the export of sea cucumber has been a considerably good deal at a time when Sri Lanka is facing a financial crisis.

It is said that only the Chinese have the know-how techniques from the hatchery to adult sea cucumber, which is one of the exquisite delicacies served in many parts of the world, including the Far Eastern region.

Tamil National Alliance MP Sritharan revealed about the Chinese in the North, however the fact remains that they have been at the Gowdarimuani hatchery only from April this year. The MP claimed it is part of the sea in Gowdarimuani where the Chinese are stationed and since there are no human settlers around and it in the corner of a lagoon, no one knew there was a hatchery in operation.

Many of MP Sritharan’s claims were dismissed by the Government officials, yet, the Chinese are the only ones who know the technique of artificial insemination to hatch sea cucumber for exports. Will they be stationed there for too long? The Government says they will not.

The Chinese are involved only in nursing of the sea cucumber until they reach 8cm as juvenile sea cucumber and then they are transferred to the farm in Ariyalai that is run by the Jaffna Sea Cucumber Cultivators’ Association and their society.

Once the nursing of the sea cucumber is over, which takes about 25 days, it is transferred to the farm until it become an adult of 2 inches or five grams. These are sold to cucumber farmers who are involved in exports.

A NAQDA official said the Chinese are engaged in breeding using the artificial insemination process.

The Chinese help in breeding the creatures and thereafter the locals attend to the nursing, farming and processing before they are exported, noted the NAQDA official.

The Chinese company’s licence will expire in November 2021 (three months from now). It is believed that the Minister of Fisheries, Douglas Devananda, will consider keeping them for another year or so until the breeding techniques of sea cucumber, using artificial insemination, is learnt by local producers. The Minister has told several local media that once the locals learn the techniques, the Chinese would be made to leave and the locals allowed to run the business entirely, according to NAQDA.

Currently, 25 persons are employed in the Northern Province sea cucumber farm and about four Chinese are stationed, there added the official from NAQDA.

The Chinese have obtained the permit to support the sea cumber society of Jaffna and the permit has to be extended. The Chinese have asked for a larger area for the hatchery and the nursing of sea cucumber, but it seems that the Chinese have not obtained a license for that purpose.

However, the people in the Northern Province have realised the value of the sea creature and feel the Government should have ‘trained’ them in large numbers long before these controversies were highlighted.

There has been open daylight robbery in the case of the seafood farm, says MP Sritharan and he charged that top politicians are also complicit with this venture.

Speaking to the Northern Media, he added that in the Kilinochchi District of Jaffna, under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Fisheries, projects to provide seafood farms to Chinese nationals are ongoing.

Gui Lan has set up a seafood farm, in the Kalmunai area of Gawdarimunai, which borders Kilinochchi. Permission for this has not been obtained from the Divisional Secretary or the Fisheries Department, he alleged.

The fact that citizens of another country are forcibly setting up farms within the boundaries of the Fishermen’s Co-operative Society, without the permission of that association and occupying those lands, has long affected and will continue to affect fishermen, he lamented.

“It is true that our people need new technologies and equipment in this regard. It must be provided by someone, but not someone who plunders the resources in the areas where these resources are located. Minister Devananda told the locals that anyone can set up a farm and no one can stop it. Sritharan said that such statement raises concerns from the people.

“In the interest of the fishermen of our area, we could have done that programme by training the people and providing them with the equipment so that they could run such sea cucumber farms, but when we went directly to the Gowdarimunai, arrangements were being made to transfer juvenile sea cucumber to Ariyalai from Gowdarimunai.

He also alleged that the Divisional Secretary is not aware of this.

Also, NAQDA recently announced that it is widening its services to the coastal people in Northern Province, by opening a new hatchery at Oleithuduwai in Mannar, which is expected to produce one million juveniles per annum. Production will gradually be intensified with the experience gained by the technical staff.

Sea Cucumber Hatchery, Oleithuduwai was ceremonially opened by Minister Devananda, in March 2021.

It is in the interest of generating revenue for the country that many of the Cabinet Ministers are engaged in promoting business, however, if such a luxury sea food business can be completely run by the locals, the revenue can be doubled.

It is still unclear how much a kg of Sri Lankan cucumber fetches in China. If it’s a good price, well then the deal is good. (amiesulo@gmail.com)

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has signed “operation and maintenance advisory services” (O&M) contracts worth around US$ 67mn–amounting to Rs 13.3bn at prevailing rates–with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) in the ten years since its commissioning of the Lakvijaya power plant, some of them without prior Cabinet approval, authoritative sources said.

The CEB is unable to settle around US$ 20mn (Rs 4bn) of these contracted amounts since it had not obtained Cabinet’s approval for several contracts signed with CMEC since 2017, they added. A Cabinet paper is due to be presented shortly to obtain covering approval for the payments.

CMEC, which built all three units of the Lakvijaya coal power plant in Norochcholai–a total of 900mw–was working with the CEB to construct a fourth 300mw coal power unit without tender. The CEB set up a project management unit, hiring lawyers and financial experts to prepare documents.

But even a decade after Lakvijaya was commissioned as a plant fully owned and operated by the CEB, Chinese workers are assisting with operation and maintenance, the sources said. The contracts were signed between the CEB and CMEC at different times since July 2011, when the first 300mw unit was handed over.

“Chinese nationals have also continued to work at the plant providing these O&M services for nearly 10 years since the commissioning of the plant, despite many CEB engineers being given extensive overseas training on the operation and maintenance of this plant,” a source pointed out.

CEB signed the first six-month contract with CMEC in December 2011 for around US$ 3mn (Rs 600mn). Cabinet approval was obtained claiming that several shortcomings and defects remained after taking over the plant. There were multiple media reports regarding repeated breakdown.

In the agreement, CEB agreed to pay the Chinese employees monthly salaries (including CMEC profit and overheads) ranging from US$ 16,000 (Rs 3mn) for senior managers to US$ 6,500 (Rs 1.2mn) for technicians. There were also several Chinese translators who had worked full time as part of the expatriate team. But even after the first contract expired, the CEB continued to employ “hundreds of Chinese personnel at the plant without formal approval”.

In April 2017, the Power and Energy Ministry obtained Cabinet approval for CEB to pay CMEC about US$ 47mn (Rs 9.3bn) for O&M services for the period May 2014 to August 2017. This included payments owed by CEB to CMEC for five separate contracts valued at US$ 6mn (Rs1.1bn), US$ 24.7mn (Rs 4.9bn), USS 5.6mn (Rs 1.1bn), US$ 7.4mn (Rs 1.4bn) and US$ 3.3mn (Rs 656mn). Amounts up to August 2017 have been settled.

But the CEB continued to employ CMEC personnel on two-year contracts even after August 2017 without Cabinet approval, the sources said. The Government Procurement Guidelines mandate the CEB to obtain prior Cabinet sanction to sign these contracts upon being recommended by a Cabinet-appointed tender board.

“However, the CEB Board has signed two agreements worth US$ 4.6 million (Rs 915mn) and US$ 8.4mn (Rs 1.6bn) and another agreement worth US$ 6.7mn (Rs 1.3bn) in 2019 (by the present Board) with no Cabinet approval,” the source said. “The Chinese company is now negotiating the next two-year contract with the CEB for the period beyond October 2021.”

“The CEB has also increased the rates payable to Chinese personnel from time to time, and also agreed to pay 12 percent interest as delay charges,” the source revealed.

The national movement for a just society held a conference for opposition parties in Colombo today.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and the Deputy Leader of the United National Party Ruwan Wijeyawardena were present.

Other attendees included Patali Champika Ranawaka, Hemakumara Nanayakkara, parliamentarians M.A. Sumanthiran, and Mano Ganesan.

“This meeting today is a historic one. The strength that we have here will enable us to face off against any elements of injustice in society,” Karu Jayasuriya, the chairman of the National Movement for a Just Society said.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said the aspirations of the late Ven. Sobitha Thero should be taken into account before embarking on a new one.

“We need to look into all of those and unite to prevent this democratic society from sliding down into a dictatorship,” Premadasa noted.

“I have expressed my opinion that all of us need to come onto one stage if we are to pressurize this government,” Ruwan Wijeyawardena, the
Deputy Leader of the United National Party said.

He added that the UNP is dedicated to protecting democracy and the people’s rights.

Patali Champika Ranawaka, a Samagi Jana Balawegaya lawmaker said, a new class of poverty has been created in the country.

“The most important thing is that the trust of the society in the government, as well as us, will break down, in this crumbling society,” he said.

The debt-ridden Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is heading towards an unprecedented financial crisis due to a dollar shortage in state banks to settle its fuel import payment bills when clearing shipments from the port.

The CPC had to face severe difficulties in clearing its recent crude oil shipment which arrived on July 5 at the port and another refined petrol cargo is expected on Thursday July 22, a high ranking Customs official told the Business Times.

The reason was the depletion of foreign reserves in two state banks and its inability show its US$ allocations for LCs opened on behalf of CPC, he said adding that the corporation owed $3.3 billion to these banks.

The Central Bank cannot engage in dollar transactions at this moment and the banks cannot make commitments on behalf of the CPC under the present circumstances, the official explained.

A CPC source said that in a bid to strengthen the financial position, it is in the process of exploring the possibility of obtaining a long-term refinance facility of $1 billion from foreign markets.

CPC is planning to enter into government to government agreements to buy crude oil on long-term credit from oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

The aim is to import crude oil at concessionary rates under a special quota system with a long-term payment period, the source disclosed. The corporation is still paying for the oil imports for the first quarter of 2020, the source said.

Meanwhile a Treasury report said that the CPC’s total import cost of the petroleum products increased by 28 percent to around $894 million in the first four months of 2021, compared to $699 million in the same period of 2020,

In this context, persistence in fixed retail price has partly deteriorated the financial performance of CPC, with the entity incurring a gross loss of Rs. 8.2 billion in the first four months of 2021, compared to the gross profit of Rs. 8.4 billion recorded in the same period of 2020, the report revealed.

This trend led the CPC to end up with a net loss of Rs. 45.3 billion in the first four months of 2021.and the outstanding dues to CPC from various enterprises mainly from the Ceylon Electricity Board and SriLankan Airlines stood at Rs. 149.6 billion as at end April 2021.

Altogether, CPC reported accumulated retained earnings worth Rs. 382 billion as at end April 2021.

As a result, CPC’s outstanding borrowings from two state commercial banks increased this year to Rs. 670 billion as at end April 2021 from Rs. 529 billion as at the end of 2020.

Former MP Duminda Silva, who was serving a death sentence over the killing of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra but was released from jail on a special presidential pardon last month has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority.

His appointment has been endorsed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the relevant letter has been forwarded to Keerthi Ranjith Abeysiriwardena, the Secretary to the State Ministry of Rural Home Construction and Building Materials Industry Promotion by Secretary to President Dr. P.B Jayasundara.