The Hon. D.V. Chanaka
Hon. D.V. Chanaka argued that recent renewable energy projects being claimed by the Government, including the 50 MW Mannar project and Siyambalanduwa solar project, were largely initiated, tendered, evaluated, or signed under the previous administration. He said the Government’s role was limited in these cases and cautioned against taking credit for prior groundwork or for private sector investments. He also criticized the JVP’s past opposition to hydropower projects such as Uma Oya, claiming it harmed the power sector by obstructing low-cost electricity generation.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, when the UK began renewables, the first project was at 18 cents; only after 1,000 MW per year came online did prices fall. Many bid but never build; land hoarders abound. Let’s see once they build.
¶ 02 On the much-lauded 50 MW Mannar project, the tender was called under Minister Kanchana; the TEC evaluated; SCAPC approved; after selection, the second bidder went to court; when the new Government came, the case was withdrawn; thereafter you only signed the PPA—nothing else. It is fine to lead the parade, but do not say you hauled the tusker when you did not.
¶ 03 Siyambalanduwa solar is the same. The land was acquired under State Minister Duminda Dissanayake. Tender was called; RFP and feasibility were done; and I was present at the PPA signing under Minister Kanchana. Yet the President says “we brought Siyambalanduwa.” These are private investors; Government’s only task was to attend Supreme Court when required. Do not claim others’ groundwork.
¶ 04 Finally, the JVP caused severe damage to the power sector by opposing hydropower—the cheapest source at Rs. 3–4; even mini-hydro at Rs. 15–16. When Uma Oya came, they protested for eight years claiming cracks and disasters; what happened in the end?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 20 November 2025 ·No. 22934 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/4423
Cite as: The Hon. D.V. Chanaka. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 20 November 2025. No. 22934. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/4423