Sri Lanka Army troops, undertaking another giant national development project at the request of Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, commenced extraction of clogged and stagnant water out of abandoned Elephant Pass saltern for proposed reactivation of its production process, following an MoU signed with the Army for this specific purpose in late June.
Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise with the approval of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, sought the assistance of Sri Lanka Army for preliminary extraction of stagnant water from the saltern that has remained abandoned since 1980s after LTTE terrorism, escalated in the Jaffna region.
The Security Force Headquarters - Kilinochchi (SFHQ-KLN), commanded by Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, in response to the directions of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, undertook the responsibility for extraction of stagnant water and re-filling the saltern with fresh sea water after the SFHQ-KLN recently entered into an MoU with the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise with the blessings of Mr Douglas Devananda, Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise.
Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander, SFHQ-KLN, together with Brigadier C.M.D.P Chandrasekara, Brigadier General Staff at SFHQ-KLN and a few officers, inspected ongoing extraction work on Wednesday (2) after visiting the venue where a total of 18 soldiers of 18 (v) Gajaba Regiment of the SFHQ-KLN under two shifts, are on duty round the clock.
SFHQ-KLN expects to complete the water extraction and re-filling within a matter of one month, prompting the relevant Ministry to go ahead with onward production arrangements after the Army formally hands over the saltern to the Ministry.
Elephant Pass saltern, lying to the north and south of Kurunchaitivu, has 1946 acres in extent, had produced 60,000 - 80,000 metric tons of salt per annum but its operations ceased in mid 1980s with the escalation of LTTE violence and its subsequent destruction.
The proposed re-activation of the Elephant Pass saltern is to generate 2000 employment openings to youths in the northern region.
Elephant Pass saltern was one of the foremost salt manufacturers of Sri Lanka in the past and plans are afoot to start production process shortly while concurrently putting the nearby Paranthan Chemical Factory back into operation. Production of Elephant Pass salt will save a fair amount of foreign exchange, now being spent for import of salt.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
