The Sunday Leader newspaper has reported that the Ministry of Irrigation has suspended a contract that was given to a Chinese joint venture, which was supported by the Asian Development Bank.

It further states that the multi-billion rupee project was suspended after the project showed less than three percent progress in the last 18 months.

The news report further states:

The Rs 10.7bn initiative to build the North Western Province’s two largest reservoirs called Mahakithula and Mahakirula is now set to be further delayed as the ADB has said it cannot release funds for at least three years in view of Sri Lanka’s debt default.

The project was awarded to a joint venture between China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. (CAMCE) and Qingdao Municipal Construction Group Co. The contract falls under the ADB’s Mahaweli Water Security Investment Programme’s North Western Province Canal Project (NWPCP). The start date was March 31, 2021, and it was due to be completed in two years.

As early as November last year, however, officials had drafted termination letters as work was only inching forward.  The companies bought time and eventually also cited the fuel shortages that started in March 2022.

A project report published on the ADB website this month states that physical progress was recorded as 2.4 percent by the end of June this year when it was expected to have been 45.4 percent.

“Work has been stopped by the contractor and physical progress has dropped,” it documents. “The main reasons for the slow progress of the contractor include delays in mobilising of contractor’s staff and equipment, delays in submitting the contractor’s deliverables, delays in carrying out site establishment activities and preparatory works, fuel shortage, and the broad incompetence of the contractor’s management team and senior engineering personnel.”

It was decided at a meeting between Treasury and Irrigation Ministry officials on Friday that termination notices will be served on the joint venture. It is likely that costs will be recovered from the bid bonds, authoritative sources said.

The objective of the NWPCP is to supply water from the Mahaweli River to areas experiencing scarcity through reservoirs and canals. Other phases of the project are continuing.

For instance, NEM Construction (Pvt) Ltd has made full physical progress in improving the Wemedilla left bank main canal up to Nabadagahawatta and in building a new sluice and tail canal, the ADB report indicates. The project cost is around Rs 926mn.

China State Engineering Corporation Ltd is implementing the Rs 7.2bn construction of the main canal from Nebadagahawatta to Mahakithula reservoir inlet tunnel.

“Key construction work and the progress achieved up to June 2022 includes canal construction, concreting and backfilling (73.80%), tunnel works (61%), canal structures (43.3%), and construction of transitions (28%),” the report states.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered to suspend the transportation of beef and mutton at district and provincial level with immediate effect in order to safeguard public health considering the sudden death of cattle, buffalos and goats in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The President has also instructed the relevant district officers and the Police to act responsibly in this regard.

Cattle, buffaloes and goats have suddenly died in the vicinity of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the Northern Province and Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts in the Eastern Province on Thursday (08) and Friday (09).

According to the statistics by the Department of Animal Production and Health, 358 cattle and 191 goats have died in the Northern Province, while 444 cattle, 34 buffaloes and 65 goats have died in the Eastern Province.

North and East Animal Production and Health Department fficials and veterinarians are visiting these places providing necessary health facilities to the animals.

Veterinary Investigation Officers, in the first phase, have conducted preliminary investigations through the District Veterinary Investigation Centers in the respective districts of the Eastern and Northern Provinces, and they suspect that these animals have died due to a shock caused by the unexpected cold weather throughout the country.

Under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture, the intervention of the Department of Animal Production and Health, it has been decided to commence the laboratory tests today.

Accordingly, a team of veterinarians and officers from the Animal Health Division of the Peradeniya Head Office of the Animal Production and Health Department collected the specimens of the dead animal from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts today.

Director General of the Department of Animal Production and Health Dr. Hemali Kothalawala said that that specimen of animals will be subjected to laboratory tests at the Gannoruwa Veterinary Research Institute today and tomorrow.

However, the President has ordered to suspend the transportation of beef and mutton at the district and provincial level with immediate effect in order to safeguard the public health, until these research activities are properly concluded and the reports are being released.

The price of a kilo of imported oranges has increased to Rs.1,990, fruit importers said.

They said the prices of fruits including oranges have to be increased due to the increase in import costs and taxes.

A few months ago, three imported oranges were sold at a price between Rs.100 and 200.

Imported oranges are the most sold orange variety in the Sri Lankan market due to the export of Sri Lankan oranges.