{"id":87514,"date":"2026-03-23T01:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T05:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=87514"},"modified":"2026-03-23T05:20:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:20:34","slug":"re-developing-the-second-world-war-era-oil-tank-farms-in-trincomalee-district-is-the-permanent-solution-to-the-energy-crisis-says-foreign-minister-vijitha-herath-govt-taking-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=87514","title":{"rendered":"Re-developing the Second World War-era oil tank farms in Trincomalee district is the \u201cpermanent solution\u201d to the energy crisis says Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath : Govt taking steps to expedite the project backed by India and the United Arab Emirates."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Re-developing the Second World War-era oil tank farms in Sri Lanka\u2019s eastern Trincomalee district is the \u201cpermanent solution\u201d to the energy crisis, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, adding that the government was taking steps to expedite the project backed by India and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cTemporary solutions are not sustainable, we need a long-term strategy to deal with oil storage and distribution given the global energy situation,\u201d Mr. Herath told The Hindu on Saturday (March 21, 2026), reiterating his recent Parliament address.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why at the very beginning, our government signed the MoU with India and the UAE.,\u201d he said, referring to the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the three parties in April 2025, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to the island nation, to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The move drew attention as one of the first major MoUs on strategic projects, signed by the Anura Kumara Dissanayake administration after its big win in the November 2025 general elections. The move is widely perceived as a big shift, since the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main constituent of the ruling National People\u2019s Power, had long opposed Indian involvement in the project.<\/p>\n

After the signing of the MoU nearly a year ago, the three parties have met once, and Sri Lanka has put forward a concept note for the other two partners to respond to, sources familiar with the discussions said. \u201cThere are some technical aspects being addressed by the Energy Ministry. Once that is done, a tender process will be initiated to bring in investors,\u201d Mr. Herath said, adding that the government was working to \u201cexpedite the process\u201d.<\/p>\n

For over four decades now, since the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, New Delhi has been negotiating the redevelopment of the strategically located oil tank farms with various governments in Colombo. However, the project has seen little progress beyond initial agreements. However, the current energy crisis, which threatens to severely disrupt global supply chains and economies, has put the once-contested project back in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Although Sri Lanka does not import fuel through the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 its sources are India, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore \u2014 the closure of the strait impacted global supply, Minister Herath told Parliament last week. \u201cWhen a situation like this erupts\u2026the entire country must face the ramifications. We are facing that same situation today,\u201d he said, while speaking on Sri Lanka\u2019s response to the crisis in West Asia, including Colombo\u2019s refusal to entertain requests from both the United States \u2014 ground access to its war planes \u2014 and Iran, which sought port calls for its vessels.<\/p>\n

Amid escalation in the war in West Asia, following the United States and Israel\u2019s attack on Iran, and its retaliation, Sri Lanka switched to a digital QR code-based system to ration fuel sales last week, in what authorities called a \u201cprecautionary measure\u201d. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Re-developing the Second World War-era oil tank farms in Sri Lanka\u2019s eastern Trincomalee district is the \u201cpermanent solution\u201d to the energy crisis, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, adding that the government was taking steps to expedite the project backed by India and the United Arab Emirates. \u201cTemporary solutions are not sustainable, we …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Re-developing the Second World War-era oil tank farms in Trincomalee district is the \u201cpermanent solution\u201d to the energy crisis says Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath : Govt taking steps to expedite the project backed by India and the United Arab Emirates.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87515,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87514\/revisions\/87515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}