No queues if the oil tanks were repaired: Handunetti

COLOMBO (News 1st); There would have been no queues if the Trincomalee Oil Tanks were repaired, says former JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti.

Remarking on the recent deal signed between the CPC and the LIOC, the JVP member stated that the tanks could have been repaired, even by borrowing funds from other countries. 

Speaking further, Handunetti stated that the Government would not have had to close down the Sapugaskanda refinery if the oil tanks were functioning properly, as India wants to build a new refinery at the place.

"It is us who should want to build a refinery. Then we would not be impacted by the oil prices in the world market. We can sell oil to the Maldives. Then we have oil within our region, we have gas deposits in Mannar," he stated.

Adding that India is a large region, the former MP stated that this proposed oil refinery would have been of great importance when Sri Lankans have found gas, and the citizens will not have to stay in line if the oil refinery stays within Sri Lanka's control.