March 25, 2013 [Hindustan Times] - Sri Lanka announced on Thursday it would repossess part of a strategic oil storage depot from a state-run Indian firm.
Information minister Keheliya Rambukwella said there were provisions to repossess tanks that were not being used by the Indian Oil Company’s local unit, Lanka IOC, in the northeastern port of Trincomalee. “If they are not using the tanks, we can use them,” Rambukwella told reporters.
“This is for the country. If they are not using these tanks, the CPC (state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation) wants to take them back and put them into good use.”
“The CPC had wanted to expand. They need at least three tanks in Trincomalee to store their chemicals and other products,” he said, adding that there were legal provisions for the government to repossess the tanks.
Lanka IOC chief Subodh Dakwale said he was unaware of government plans to take back some of the tanks at the Trincomalee tank farm.
“We are right now spending $17 million to refurbish two tanks and we are quite unaware of the plan to take over some of them,” Dakwale told AFP.
