Oluvil habour will boost trade and investment in East

The newly constructed Oluvil harbour which was opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently will boost economic development in the Eastern Province. The harbour, once operational will connect the Eastern Province to the maritime network of Sri Lanka and to the region in general, said Chamber of Tourism, President, A.M. Jaufer.

He said that apart from economic development the harbour will attract local and foreign investors interested in investing in industries and the services sector. This will generate youth employment in various sectors.

The Chamber of Tourism is optimistic that the opening of the Oluvil harbour and the Government's efforts to improve infrastructure facilities will have a positive impact on tourism in the region.

The Oluvil harbour is focused on economic and infrastructure development in the East. The project was lunched under the Nagenahira Navodaya program in 2008 to expedite economic development under the five-hub concept.

The project comprises a commercial harbour and a basin for fishing craft. The harbour basin covers an area of 16 hectares of the sea spreading over 1.2 km along the coast line.

The commercial harbour will have enough depth to handle ships up to 5,000 metric tonnes and the fisheries harbour could hold more than 250 fishing boats.

The commercial harbour with shore facilities will cater to general cargo vessels that will supply the needs of the region, including coastal passenger transport, with provision for expansion in the future

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority is transforming Sri Lanka into a potential maritime and logistics hub in the region under the Mahinda Chinthana program, forming relationships with the giants in the emerging economic world.

The Oluvil commercial port and fisheries harbour, which also has an ice manufacturing plant, was built at a cost of Rs. 7,000 million with assistance from the government of Denmark.

This interest-free loan has to be paid back within 10 years.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will use the income of the two commercial harbours to pay back the loan. The commercial port comprises 330 metres of quay with a water depth of eight metres while the fishing port comprises 200 metres of quay with a water depth of three metres.

The breakwater of the two harbours is 1,500 metres.

The new jetty of the fishing port is 260 metres and the jetty of the commercial port is 390 metres. The fishing harbour will provide services for 500 boats at one time.

The fisheries harbour consists of an ice plant, cold room facilities and storage facilities for fishing equipment. The Oluvil Port will be the main fishing harbour in the Eastern coast.