Hambantota port to revolutionise Ruhunu province
Lalin Fernandopulle reporting from Hambantota
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Vice Chairman SLPA, Priyath Bandu Wickrema explains the features of
the Hambantota Port to Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake,
Minister of Ports and Aviation Chamal Rajapaksa, Minister of Labour
Mervyn Silva and other officials at the launch.
Pic by Sudath Malaweera
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The second mega international sea port at Mirijjiwela, Hambantota
covering 2,000 hectares with 33 anchoring yards and a capacity to handle
20 million containers per year was launched by the Sri Lanka Ports
Authority (SLPA) on Thursday.
The Hambantota port will be a service hub in the southern region,
facilitating the export of cement, flour and other essential goods and
re-exports of vehicles and servicing ships.
The project which is expected to be completed in 15 years will be
implemented in three stages as a joint venture with the China Harbour
Engineering Company Ltd. and the Sino Hydro Company Ltd.
The first stage of the project which will be completed within three
years at a cost of US$ 420 million will include three anchoring yards
(600 meter long) with a draft of 16 metres, dockyard, cement and
fertiliser factory, vehicle distribution centre, warehouse facilities,
transshipment centres and a 300 metre oil terminal.
The project is estimated to cost US$ 3 billion.
A parallel program of the port development project includes a
modernised town with a super-highway road network, infrastructure
development, hospitals, schools and land allocated for houses.
Investment and free trade zones, two-way Colombo - Matara railway
network, export centres to offer better prices for agricultural and
industrial products are some of the key developments of the port
development project which is expected to boost the economy of the
southern region and develop the country.
Approximately 400 metres of the Hambantota road with a circumference
of 43 hectares and 17-metre draft dam will be erected for ships to call
at the port. The 100 ft. Road will be extended to Siribopura where the
new town will be built.
Vice Chairman SLPA, Priyath Bandu Wickrema said by servicing ships
alone a large amount of foreign exchange could be earned and create jobs
due to the number of ships passing via Hambantota which is over 200 per
day.
The southern port will be an incentive to the poverty hit people of
Ruhuna who will have ample opportunities to improve their livelihood,
develop their skills, manufacture new products and sell them at a
competitive price in the international market, he said.
He said the green port concept is an environmental and archaeology
friendly project. A zone will be set up for elephants and the safety of
other animals will be ensured.
Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said the Southern port
will revolutionise the country's economy and be a tower of strength to
develop the Ruhunu province.
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