Chinese aircraft maintenance centre in Trinco
RW raises QUESTION, GL admits
BY ZAHRAH IMTIAZ- July 23, 2014
Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament yesterday sought clarification over the report that the China National Aero Technology Import-Export Corporation (CATIC) had been granted permission to build an Aircraft Maintenance Centre in Trincomalee.
The Aircraft Maintenance Centre would service, maintain and repair all Chinese aircraft in the Sri Lankan Air force. The project is to be built with a loan of Rs 5 billion.
Minister of External Affairs, G.L Peiris in response, denied all plans to set up an Aircraft Maintenance Centre in Trincomalee. He instead said the government had only agreed on setting up such a Centre, but had not thus far agreed on a possible location for the project. "Aircraft repair, maintenance and servicing is very expensive and we spend a lot of money sending it abroad, thus this project will save the country a lot of money. It will also help train our local engineers", said the minister.
To this Wickremesinghe said, "We only have 44 Chinese aircraft and it costs one million rupees a year to maintain them. They are so old, even China does not even produce them anymore. For years we have managed with our local engineers repairing them". Thus he questioned the logic of obtaining a loan of
Rs 5 billion to build an Aircraft Maintenance Centre for the aircrafts. Minister Peiris said there were only three possible locations for the project and these had to be areas which could land jet planes. The areas were Katunayake, Mattala and Trincomalee. Thus the most suitable would be decided when all factors are taken into consideration Wickremesinghe added that there were not three areas but four possible locations for the project, "you forgot Hingurakgoda minister" quipped, the Opposition Leader.
Wickremesinghe also asked whether the project would be detrimental to relations between India and Sri Lanka, as according to the Indo-Lanka Accord signed in 1987, "it made provisions not to allow our respective territories to be used for activities prejudicial to each other's unity, integrity and security. This included not allowing Trincomalee to be used in a prejudicial manner to India."
Wickremesinghe hence asked whether the government consulted India before getting into such an agreement with China and whether the matter was raised when the External Affairs Ministers of the two countries met.
The Minister in reply said, "These are baseless allegations. When I met the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, she simply mentioned the project to me. She did not object to it. There are many large scale investments made by China in India itself. The Opposition is simply trying to create problems where there are none".
RW raises QUESTION, GL admits
BY ZAHRAH IMTIAZ- July 23, 2014
Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament yesterday sought clarification over the report that the China National Aero Technology Import-Export Corporation (CATIC) had been granted permission to build an Aircraft Maintenance Centre in Trincomalee.
The Aircraft Maintenance Centre would service, maintain and repair all Chinese aircraft in the Sri Lankan Air force. The project is to be built with a loan of Rs 5 billion.
Minister of External Affairs, G.L Peiris in response, denied all plans to set up an Aircraft Maintenance Centre in Trincomalee. He instead said the government had only agreed on setting up such a Centre, but had not thus far agreed on a possible location for the project. "Aircraft repair, maintenance and servicing is very expensive and we spend a lot of money sending it abroad, thus this project will save the country a lot of money. It will also help train our local engineers", said the minister.
To this Wickremesinghe said, "We only have 44 Chinese aircraft and it costs one million rupees a year to maintain them. They are so old, even China does not even produce them anymore. For years we have managed with our local engineers repairing them". Thus he questioned the logic of obtaining a loan of
Rs 5 billion to build an Aircraft Maintenance Centre for the aircrafts. Minister Peiris said there were only three possible locations for the project and these had to be areas which could land jet planes. The areas were Katunayake, Mattala and Trincomalee. Thus the most suitable would be decided when all factors are taken into consideration Wickremesinghe added that there were not three areas but four possible locations for the project, "you forgot Hingurakgoda minister" quipped, the Opposition Leader.
Wickremesinghe also asked whether the project would be detrimental to relations between India and Sri Lanka, as according to the Indo-Lanka Accord signed in 1987, "it made provisions not to allow our respective territories to be used for activities prejudicial to each other's unity, integrity and security. This included not allowing Trincomalee to be used in a prejudicial manner to India."
Wickremesinghe hence asked whether the government consulted India before getting into such an agreement with China and whether the matter was raised when the External Affairs Ministers of the two countries met.
The Minister in reply said, "These are baseless allegations. When I met the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, she simply mentioned the project to me. She did not object to it. There are many large scale investments made by China in India itself. The Opposition is simply trying to create problems where there are none".
