ADB to help prepare National Port Master Plan
SLPA to be restructured:
The Asian Development Bank has approved assistance to prepare a
National Port Master Plan (NPMP) for Sri Lanka, covering all ports and
connected urban and industrial activity as well as multimodal links. The
master plan is financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.
A key element of the plan will be restructuring the Sri Lanka Ports
Authority, to make it more efficient and better able to compete with
international port operators, long term shipping and cargo forecasts and
priority projects for the ports of Colombo and Trincomalee, according to
a Technical Assistance (TA) report of the ADB released last week.
The project will help the government develop a national master plan
for its port sector, including the restructuring of Sri Lanka Ports
Authority (SLPA).
The impact of the project will be the realization of the most
competitive and preferred ports and shipping destination in the region.
The outcome will be harmonized and balanced port development
facilitated in the nation.
The project has two outputs: national port master plan and technical
review of the final design of the port access elevated highway.
“Maritime related industries have not yet grown in the country, although
the Colombo port is a dominant container hub port in South Asia.
In comparison, Singapore has a diverse and large cluster of maritime
industries including shipbuilding, ship registration, bunkering, trade
credit insurance, vessel charter market, logistics, consulting, and
international maritime arbitration.
The presence of such a cluster reinforces its function and
attractiveness as a hub port.
Sri Lanka’s ports need a strategy to foster such auxiliary
functions,” the TA adds. A team of ADB officials conducted a
fact-finding mission in May/June this year and key aspects of the TA
were discussed with officials of the government, SLPA, and other
stakeholders.
Sri Lanka needs to keep strengthening its ports’ capacity and
competitiveness by improving infrastructure, operational efficiency, and
institutions, in order to maintain its role as a regional transport hub
despite severe competition with the ports of other nations. The
introduction of larger vessels and the emergence of gigantic container
shipping line alliances have exacerbated the competition between
international ports.
Due to Sri Lanka’snational economic growth and the rapid growth of
international container shipping demand, the country urgently needs to
strengthen its port capacity.
Being left behind these recent trends will lead to the loss of
economic opportunities and growth impediments in the South Asia
Sub-regional Economic Cooperation region, the report highlighted.
The Colombo port is constrained due to the urbanization of and
growing congestion in Colombo City.
The Colombo port development must cope with urban development on the
land side. At the same time, the Colombo port cannot accommodate all
development needs due to its limited port area inside the breakwaters.
SLPA is complex, large, and inefficient in comparison with other
competing international port operators. The TA will support the
government to develop the NPMP and identify priority projects, which
will contribute to scaling up future ADB interventions in the nation.
The TA will technically support the government to coordinate with the
road sector and ensure that the operation and development of the Colombo
port in future will not be unduly constrained by the planned road
development which will run through the port, according to the ADB’s
Technical Assistance report. |