Sri Lanka Cement Corporation Chairman Jagath Dharmapriya said that during the past two months, iron valued at about Rs.120 million which was in the premises of the Kankesanthurai Cement Factory had been stolen. He said that since there is no proper security for the factory, residents in the vicinity enter the factory premises and take away iron and that complaints had been lodged with the Police on several occasions regarding this.
The Chairman said further that during the conflict in 1990-91 this factory had remained closed and from then onwards up
Chairman
Jagath
Dharmapriya
to now, nothing at all has been produced at this factory.
He said that while the Army had been deployed for security at the factory, the property had been protected to a certain extent and since soldiers had been removed under the programme to reduce Army personnel in the North there was no way of deploying them for the security of the factory and as a result some persons are motivated to steal iron from the factory premises.
Chairman Dharmapriya said that many of the buildings of the factory are made out of iron and there was more iron in the premises valued at millions of rupees.
He emphasized that a group had been deployed to prevent the theft of iron temporarily and for security and there had been arguments between these persons and residents of the area some times, and that if this situation escalates into a conflict there is a risk of a huge problem arising.
Although a Tender Board was established under the leadership of secretaries of three ministries, in 2019 with the objective of auctioning off iron in the possession of the corporation or through tenders, there has been no progress regarding those procedures up to now the Chairman said, adding that the iron should be removed from where it is with transparency and that removal should be expedited.
The Chairman said that a 50 kg cement bundle could be sold at less than Rs.1,000 each, if the KKS cement factory that has been closed is re-opened.
Asela Kuruluwansa