Decades-old Elephant Pass saltern to be activated fully to address salt shortage

By Huzefa Aliasger  

In a bid to address the salt shortage, chairman of National  Salt Limited Gayan Wellala said plans are underway to fully activate  the saltern including one in Elephant Pass in the north by March, this  year to increase production of salt in the country.   

Mr. Wellala told the Daily Mirror that the Northern area  salterns including the Elephant Pass that have been inactive since the  civil war and is still not completely restored are being developed to  help increase production.   
In 2001 Elephant Pass administration came under National  Salt Limited by the Cabinet decision, after liberating the area in 2009  the Saltern was taken over by the Ministry of Traditional Industry &  Small Enterprise Development, and they did renovation activity at a cost  of Rs.100 million. Meanwhile, the Cabinet approved Rs.125 million for  phase-2 activity in 2015.   

The saltern is now again transferred to the National Salt Limited  administration by the Gazette notification of 21st Sep 2015. The  renovation activities now have been completed 95% in Phase -1 and  phase-2 area in 2018. With the current renovation, production is expected  to reach around 20,000 tonnes per annum.  

Salterns usually begin with seawater as the initial source  of brine but may also use natural saltwater springs and streams. The  water is evaporated, usually over a series of ponds, to the point where  sodium chloride and other salts precipitate out of the saturated brine,  allowing pure salts to be harvested.

The salt shortage is attributed to the recent adverse  weather which prevailed in the country, which has created a big drop in  salt production. As a result, the anticipated salt production targets  were not met. One of the main reasons is the inflow of rainwater into  the lagoon affecting the salt concentration and thereby the production  and absence of salt production at the salt pans in 2023 with a 40 per  cent decrease in production.  

Cabinet approval has been granted to import 30,000 metric  tons of non-iodised salt before January 31, 2025, as a precaution against  any anticipated shortage. Salt is being imported for local consumption  after 15 years.  
 “With the inflows of the imports and the restoration of  the salterns the shortage is going to be temporary, about three to four  months” Gayan said.