JVP flays Champika for constructing nuclear lab

A mountain being made out of a molehill – AEA chief

By Dasun Edirisinghe-June 23, 2015

The JVP yesterday lodged a complaint at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) against Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka over building a laboratory of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) in the Halbarawa village.

 Addressing the media after handing over the complaint, JVP Western Provincial Council member Sunil Watagala said Minister Ranawaka had laid the foundation stone for the laboratory two months back in middle of the Halbarawa village situated in the Kotikawatte-Mulleriya Pradeshiya Sabha area between Kaduwela and Kolonnawa.

He said that the proposed laboratory especially designed for nuclear tests, but the site was in a densely populated area.

According to international standards the tubes of the laboratory should be laid 14 metres inside the earth, but at the Halbarawa site they planned to lay tubes only at a depth of two metres, Watagala said.

He said that the government had not conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) or the Kotikawatte-Mulleriyawa Pradeshiya Sabha, too, were not aware of the project, he added.

"We first complained to the CEA and they said they were not aware of such a project, especially to carry out nuclear tests," Watagala said, adding that though the CEA had informed them that the project had been stopped, the construction was still going on.

The AEA insisted that the Halbarawa area had been selected to build the lab as officers have easy access to the place, Watagala said.

The JVP Provincial Councilor said that Minister Ranawaka was building a nuclear laboratory without following necessary safety standards though President Maithripala Sirisena was the Minister of Environment.

"We are not against development or such laboratories in Sri Lanka. We only ask them to build in a deserted area without exposing the people to danger," Watagala said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Authority of Sri Lanka, Lakshitha Jayawardena, contacted for comment, said the JVP was blowing the issue out of proportion. The expansion of the Kelani bridge had necessitated the relocation of the AEA laboratory and administrative section. He said no major nuclear tests were conducted in the country and the residents of the area had not raised objections to the siting of the facility there, he said, noting that Minister Ranawaka had consulted the people after laying the foundation stone for the new lab and administrative block and there had been no protests. The construction of the facility and tests to be conducted would conform to international standards, he assured. And therefore there was no need for an EIA, but the ministry had taken steps to obtain an IEA report out of its own volition and the construction work had been suspended until such time, he added.

The AEA chief said some provincial politicians were trying to gain some mileage by making an issue of the construction of the lab, he alleged.