• Tables purported agreement in House despite failure by Govt. to do so despite Opposition request
• Says two-year secrecy clause in agreement is anti-democratic and proves Govt. has lot to hide
• Opines Finance Minister and Treasury Secretary must be held accountable for agreeing on a transaction involving public asset

The JVP yesterday ruffled feathers in Parliament by tabling a purported agreement signed between the Government and the US’s New Fortress Energy on the Yugadanavi Power Plant.

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s move was made after the Government refused or failed to do so despite a request made many months ago.

Tabling of the agreement by Dissanayake was also despite the MP saying a clause in it bound the two parties not to publicise it for two years by either party without each other’s consent. 

“The agreement is on a State asset and public property, not private. Tabling in Parliament is the best democratic practice. Making the agreement binding not to disclose or publicise it for two years is totally anti-democratic and undermines Parliament’s supremacy. Why did the Government agree to this condition of secrecy?” questioned the JVP Leader. 

He alleged that the Government’s action only proved that the agreement was ‘a secret’ and unfavourable to Sri Lanka; hence, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and the Treasury Secretary should be held accountable. 

Opposition benches have been demanding the Government to table the agreement without success, even though the Power Minister Gamini Lokuge, in September, promised in Parliament that it would be tabled in a week’s time.

Dissanayake said the Cabinet approval was to sign an agreement with New Fortress Energy (NFE), but the final agreement had been signed with US-Orange Street Washington DC -registered NFE Sri Lanka Power Holdings LLC. Though it appears to be a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and a subsidiary of NFE, Dissanayake questioned the legitimacy of the agreement.

In September, New Fortress Energy signed an agreement to acquire a 40% ownership stake in West Coast Power Ltd. (WCP), the owner of the 310 MW Yugadanavi Power Plant in Colombo. It plans to develop an offshore LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal to supply the Kerawalapitya Power Complex, where 310 MW of power is operational today and an additional 700 MW is scheduled to be built, of which 350 MW is scheduled to be operational by 2023.

The agreement with WCP is subject to certain conditions precedent, and New Fortress Energy (NFE) expects that these conditions will be finalised in the first half of 2022.

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