POLITICS-SRI LANKA: No Respite Ahead in Power, Water Woes

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Sep 19 2001 (IPS) - Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake brought glad tidings to his people when he promised that power and water shortages would be solved within the month.

He promised this, with his usual flair for making surprise statements, at an innocuous religious function outside the capital Colombo.

Still, Sri Lankans, though tired of an unending litany of never- kept promises by politicians and few expecting Wickremanayake to end the crisis by waving a magic wand, had their hopes lifted for a while.

Anything was better than suffering daily power cuts and water shortages that have been plaguing this island nation.

But the hopes were not buoyed for long. Last week, the prime minister said he could not keep to his promise due to the terror bombing in the United States as some U.S.-based companies were involved in efforts to find alternate sources of energy, according to a report in the ‘Sunday Times’ newspaper.

Probably under pressure for promising things he cannot deliver, the prime minister through his office issued a statement published in Monday’s newspapers. It said: “The urgent solution that was planned to overcome the power crisis has unfortunately to be put on hold. This is very much regretted.”

The statement said the plan had been to augment the national grid supply with generators manufactured in the United States. The airlifting of these generators had to be postponed as the movement of people and goods to and from the United States has virtually come to a halt.

It said that the government decided against an alternative possibility of bringing equipment from the United Arab Emirates, because it was not suitable for use in Sri Lanka.

The statement made no mention of another promise. Wickremanayake, during his earlier announcement on addressing the power cuts , also promised to bring in seawater desalination plants to solve the water shortage.

“These politicians think we are fools all the time,” said an irate accountant as power authorities began on Saturday to impose eight- hour power cuts. Earlier power cuts were two hours long.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst-ever drought and imposed power cuts in July, hoping that the delayed monsoon rains would come soon.

But except for a few welcome showers last week in the central regions, where most of the country’s hydroelectric power reservoirs are located, there has been no rain.

Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on monsoon rains for its agriculture, domestic water consumption and power generation.

There has been some rain in the central region, but it is not enough to fill the reservoirs that help generate hydroelectric power. Continuous rain in these areas at least for a week is needed for reservoirs to fill up, officials say.

As thousands of people across the country continue to pray in temples, churches and mosques for rain, authorities at the sacred Temple of the Tooth located in the central town of Kandy are planning a rare exposition of sacred relics from the Buddha from Sep. 22 to Oct. 7 in the hope of ending the prolonged drought.

Temple officials were quoted as saying that this was being done because of a large number of public appeals in this mainly Buddhist country to help ease the drought.

While the politicians scramble for cover as pressure mounts on the government for a solution out of this crisis, a debate continues on the best source of energy and water resources.

In addition to Wickremanayake’s offer last week of seawater desalination plants as a way out of water shortages, authorities in the southern district of Hambantota are planning to install 10 seawater desalination plants to meet the region’s water needs.

Hambantota has been the worst-affected by the drought, which has affected farming and domestic water requirements and close to one million people there and in surrounding areas.

Officials say the plants are likely to be imported from Singapore or the Maldives, which is also a great converter of seawater for human consumption in addition to harvesting rainwater for drinking purposes.

Most experts believe the future lies in thermal or coal power, as Sri Lanka has exhausted its resources of hydropower generation.

Lahiru Perera, executive director of the Colombo-based South Asian office of Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), an international NGO promoting alternative forms of technology, says that while Sri Lanka is facing a power and water crisis now, very little attention is being paid to a major water shortage expected in 2025.

Calling this a global crisis, he says Sri Lanka should also look for other water sources like rainwater harvesting, which is one of the best options for the country.

“ITDG has done some studies on the water quality of rainwater which is good,” Perera said, adding that the organisation’s projects on rainwater harvesting in areas where there is less rainfall have shown good results.

In the Hambantota district, where ITDG and other agencies have helped to install large teapot-like-giant concrete tanks in homes, residents have been able to use the collected water for drinking purposes for four to five months.

Perera believes buildings in Sri Lanka need to be better designed to enable more fresh air and ventilation, in addition to rainwater collection units. Right now “buildings are designed in such a way that fans or air-conditioners are compulsory,” he added.

He suggests that Sri Lanka should have more small coal or thermal plants instead of resorting to giant plants like the proposed coal power plant in the north-western region of Norochcholai, which has been stalled due to protests from environmentalists and the Catholic church.

That plant is expected to meet 20 percent of Sri Lanka’s power needs.

He says Sri Lanka should also rehabilite dozens of small hydropower plants lying idle in tea plantations, while noting that the use of wind-power to generate electricity was also an option.

Madhavi Ariyabandu, senior programme manager at ITDG, also said rainwater harvesting was the best option for Sri Lanka to the country’s drinking requirements. “Seawater should be a faraway option and it is also a costly option,” she said.

She says one of the main problems is Sri Lanka’s lack of preparedness for drought and its poor management of water resources. Explained Ariyabandu: “It is a question of whether Sri Lankan authorities are prepared or not for the drought situation — and the answer is no.”