Sri Lanka’s Sapugaskanda oil refinery, a project long strangled by political theatrics and union resistance has returned to the national agenda. The irony could not be sharper: the National People’s Power (NPP), powered by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) trade union muscle is now aggressively seeking foreign investors to modernize the very refinery it once fought to keep frozen in time.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has invited global investors to double Sapugaskanda’s outdated 50,000-barrel-per-day processing capacity or build an entirely new plant.
Officials frame the plan as critical to reducing dependence on costly refined imports and bolstering energy security. But the echoes of the past are deafening: successive governments attempted similar deals, only to be derailed by CPC unions led by the JVP that branded such efforts as “selling out the refinery.”
No figure embodies that resistance more than Asoka Ranwala. Once a technician at Sapugaskanda, he rose through union ranks, rallying workers against modernization attempts.
He became the loudest voice in fiery campaigns, leading walkouts and marches, accusing successive governments of betraying national sovereignty. His populist rhetoric not only blocked billions of dollars’ worth of potential investments but also entrenched Sri Lanka’s dependence on imported fuel.
Ranwala’s trajectory from refinery floor to the Speaker’s chair ended in scandal. Appointed Speaker in late 2024, his tenure lasted less than a month.
Under fire for claiming a doctorate from Japan, Ranwala resigned amid accusations of falsifying academic qualifications a first in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history. He promised to travel to Japan to retrieve proof of his credentials, but to this day, he has failed to substantiate the claim. The “Japan PhD” remains an unproven and embarrassing chapter in Sri Lankan politics.
Today, the same JVP that once weaponized trade unions to paralyze refinery expansion now pitches the identical project to foreign investors under a build–operate–transfer model.
What was once vilified as privatization is rebranded as a “strategic partnership.” The contradiction is glaring: those who shouted the loudest to block the refinery’s progress are now in charge of delivering it.
The cost of this hypocrisy is staggering. For decades, Sapugaskanda has run on obsolete technology, unable to refine most global crude blends.
Sri Lanka has paid billions extra in fuel imports while governments dodged union fury. Now, the the JVP led NPP faces the uncomfortable task of selling the same plan it once buried.
For the people, Sapugaskanda is an economic necessity. For the JVP/ NPP, it is a test of credibility. Can a government that once mobilized street power to sabotage refinery modernization now convince investors it is serious about reform? Or will the ghosts of union politics and the shadow of the Ranwala saga doom another generation of promises to failure?
