|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 14 December 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Colombo port to get high-tech container monitoring devices The Sri Lanka Customs will set up X-ray and Gamma scanning machines at the Colombo Port in the near future to monitor export and import containers. Sri Lanka is one of the signatories of the US-based Container Security Initiative (CSI) scheme, which requires every container that reaches the ports of United States to be scanned. The installation of these scanning machines is important to Sri Lanka because a considerable proportion of Sri Lanka's exports goes to USA, a Customs official said. More than 50 per cent of Sri Lanka's exports are said to be to USA. "If we do not implement these monitoring machines with immediate effect, it will affect local exports," said Director General, Sri Lanka Customs, C.S.W. Jayatilake. One machine will cost around US$ 5-6 million and the total investment would be around US$ 20-30 million. The Customs will initially set up five machines at the Colombo port. He said that every single container is currently monitored manually, which has not served the purpose as this is time consuming and requires expensive operational factors. Jayatilake said it is mandatory to set up the scanning machines under the CSI agreement, and many US consultants are here to evaluate the Sri Lankan ground situation. According to Jayatilake, the Sri Lanka Custom intends to introduce this monitoring system to encompass the whole clearing import and export system, but will start on a selective basis. Containers will be manually handled where the machine does not respond to it. The Colombo port annually handles more than one million containers, and it is physically impossible to scrutinise each and every one manually. The Cabinet has appointed a Tender Board to find ways and means to set up scanning machines at the Colombo port, he added. At the beginning, this will only be introduced to exports, Jayatilake added. The Customs chief said they are looking for outside operators to implement this novel system at the Colombo port. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
