A massive explosion in an armoury at the Kosgama Salawa Army camp (33km east of capital Colombo) on Sunday (June 5) is yet another grim reminder of the callousness and utter disregard of public interest that was the characteristic of Rajapaksa regime. The blaze broke out at about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and continued till 10:00 a.m. on Monday,claimed one soldier’s life, left at least fifty injured and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. The military complex is located in a highly-populated area of Kosgama.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. It is the largest ammunition blast since an armoury explosion at Vavuniya in Northern Province during 2009.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed after the raging ammunition fire triggered a series of blasts that sent shrapnel flying into the air. Residents within a 6 km radius of the camp have been evacuated as a safety precaution. Army, Navy and Air Force personnel were deployed to provide security and fight the raging fire.
Soldiers and police are reportedly now trying to find and defuse unexploded bombs and rockets that fell on nearby villages. The army expects to clean up the area by Thursday
Salawa army dump was one of the biggest ammunition storages in the island nation. It is (was) home to a large stock of rocket-propelled grenade shells and heavy artillery weapons with at least 600 containers of ammunition.
The intensity of the explosions and fire was such that the fire brigade could only reach two kilometres from the location. Colombo Fire Brigade chief operating officer Rohitha Fernando said: “We have not handled this magnitude of armoury fire.”
Military Spokesman Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweera said the Sri Lanka Air Force had deployed a UAV and a B-200 aircraft to observe the situation as no one could reach the place by road due to explosions.
According to the area administrative officer, M.M.S.K. Bandara, about 300 houses and two factories within one kilometre were destroyed. Many homes in villages near the army camp, including Salawa, Kaluaggala, Suduwella, Mavilgama, Katugoda north, Akaravita, Bandigamapola and Kosgama north and east, have been badly damaged.
According to Bandara, about 18,628 people have been displaced. They are staying in 11 camps. Many are relatively poor rural people. Behind the Salawa army complex there is also a village built for disabled soldiers and soldiers’ widows.
The armoury was established in early 2000 as part of the huge military build-up during the 26-year war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
According to local media reports, the authorities built the complex without informing the local people without the residents being informed. Originally the place housed the state owned Plywood Corporation. The Army took over the buildings after the company went into liquidation.
In the wake of Sunday fire, Salawa Army camp will stand as yet another testimony to the authoritarian regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa. What an utter disregard for public safety? How could a government which was to be accountable to the people could go ahead with the setting up of a major ammunition depot deep inside a residential area.
Former President Rajapaksa now claims that his administration had planned to relocate the Salawa ammunition dump to a new area before he was defeated in the January 2015 presidential election. It is a claim that is neither here nor there.
President Maithripala Sirisena did the right thing by ordering a court of inquiry in addition to the routine police investigation. The findings of the probe should become the benchmark for setting up military facilities anywhere in the country.
– Malladi