Protecting ourselves from old bad habits

The proposal to construct an oil refinery in Hambantota is fraught with dangers.

- BY DR. RANIL SENANAYTAKE

The proposal to construct an oil refinery in Hambantota is fraught with dangers.

When the geography of the south of Sri Lanka is considered, one would have to be a total idiot or complete knave to propose building an oil refinery in Hambantota. Just watch what happens when the North East monsoon sets in with the pollution from India, which like a blanket of haze covers the lowlands.

Has anybody looked at the consequences of setting up an oil refinery in Hambantota ? What will happen to the air quality of the southern lowlands? The Walawe River basin, which accumulates the Indian smog during the North East monsoon will completely fill up with the toxic effluents from this proposed refinery. Given such a situation, has there been any public consultation on such a proposal or are we going back to the shady underhanded dealings of our corrupt past?

The project was initiated by the Rajapaksa government who borrowed heavily from China to fund the Hambantota port project, which was seen as financially mismanaged and was later leased to a Chinese company for 99 years to help pay off the debt.

Before we consider the effects of such an enterprise on this nation, let us consider a statement by the Union of Concerned Scientists issued in September, this year (2025) and outlines the current impact of oil refineries in America. They state :

1. Refineries endanger the health of billions of people around the world, contribute significantly to inequity and seriously degrade the planet's ecosystems.

2. They are often located near urban centres and highways, affecting fenceline communities continuously, as they run 365 days a year and occupy land which can be as large as several hundred football fields.