Udaya Gammanpila, Minister of Energy on 04.10.2021 The statement made by the Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila that the Trincomalee oil tanks already belong to India is false and has been condemned by the Ceylon Petroleum General Employees Union as a treasonous statement.
They say this is merely a statement to mislead the society into enforcing his proposal to hand over the Trincomalee oil tank complex to India for 50 years.
The Ceylon Petroleum General Employees Union points out that as a lawyer he is well aware that oil tanks have not yet been legally handed over to India.
Nowhere in the Indo-Lanka Accord signed on July 29, 1987 is there any mention of oil tanks as a direct condition and when Mr. JR Jayewardene was attempting to lease those tanks to the US it could have an impact on regional and Indian security. Rajiv Gandhi sent a letter stating that the oil tank complex should be developed jointly with India.
The two letters referring to this are attached to the relevant 1987 agreement.
They further point out that this does not indicate that the oil tanks were handed over to India anywhere.
They further point out that this is a ruse to implement the proposal made by this Minister to hand over 15 tanks in the lower yard under LIOC and 24 tanks in the upper yard under CPC and the remaining 61 tanks to India as a LIOC / CPC public company for 50 years.
The Ceylon Petroleum General Employees Union has stated this in a press release.