A special report has been called by the Highways and Road Development Ministry jointly with the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry on the removal of several steel plates of oil tanks at the China Bay oil storage facility. Police in December last year arrested seven suspects who tried to cut and remove steel plates of the oil tanks to sell them for scrap metal. The suspects were arrested on a complaint made by the Security Division of Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC).
These oil tanks were built by the British during World War II and had been lying idle for many years.
The suspects were arrested and the steel plates recovered from them. Several incidents of theft of steel parts of tanks have also been reported previously. The Trincomalee oil storage facility comprises a total of 99 tanks and 15 of them located in the lower tank farm are currently being used by the LIOC. The government recently came up with a proposal to develop the idling oil tanks by way of a joint venture between the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and LIOC.
The Ministry spokesman said further action on the theft of steel plates would be taken based on the report.
According to the LIOC, the cost of damage has been estimated to be Rs. 9 million.
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