H’tota Port: Govt. optimistic

Colombo: The first phase of the Hambantota port is expected to be completed by 2011, and the second phase by 2015, said Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa in Parliament last week during the Committee stage of the budget debate.
Minister Rajapaksa said construction work on the Hambantota port harbour would commence next year through soft loans obtained from the China Exim bank with the tender calling process getting underway earlier this month.
“A hundred and fifty to two hundred ships pass Hambantota daily, but successive governments have failed to capitalize on this and develop the port to international proportions. Once the port is made it will help economic growth and increase foreign capital. It will also create direct and indirect employment opportunities to the people of the area”, he said.
The Minister said the government had offered an attractive compensation package to local people, including agricultural incentives and alternative plots of land, in order to procure land for development work.
The Minister added that apart from work on the Hambantota port, the government would also begin the expansion of the Colombo south harbour, develop the Galle port and build a harbour in Oluvil, in the Ampara district, by next year.
He said soft loans obtained from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would be used for the expansion of the Colombo south port, and the tenders would be called for the project soon. “In addition to this we hope to computerize the Colombo port and buy new equipment as well”, he said.
He said the Galle port development project would be done through loans obtained from the Bank of Japan, and the Oluvil port through loans amounting to 50 million euros, granted by the Denmark government.
The Minister added that the government planned on launching a new government owned shipping line, under the Sri Lankan flag, by next year.