AJITH SIRIWARDANA 
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H’tota Port deal a violation of the Constitution: JO
The joint opposition (JO) said today the Hambantota Port agreement was unethical, beneficial to China and violates the Constitution.
It said the China Merchants Port Holdings, which would receive 80 per cent of the shares would be in a position to decide which ship enters the port and which ship should not.
“Only the government has the right to make such decisions. Allowing a private company to take these decisions affects the sovereignty and integrity of Sri Lanka,” former UPFA MP G.L. Peiris told the weekly news briefing.
He said the 80 per cent would later increase on the basis of the clauses included in the agreement and added that 500 acres of land belonging to the Port had been given to the company on a Rs.12,000 million lease for 99 years and said it was far below the standard value.
Mr. Peiris said the government which described the port as a white elephant and a swimming pool, initially said the income from the sale would be used to settle the loans but today it had deviated from that objective.
“The Central Bank Governor says it’s crucial to sell the port but does not mention anything about settling the loans obtained to construct the Port,” he said adding that there was no point in continuing the blame game and that the President should take the responsibility of any downfall resulting in going ahead with the port deal.
Meanwhile, MP Bandula Gunawardane said the government was hoping to receive US$400 million from the port sale but it had already wasted US$4,300 million by releasing dollars to the market to artificially maintain the rupee value against the US dollar.
“It is not SLFP policy to alienate state properties. It was former premier S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who nationalized the Colombo Port. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa created a port at a strategic location for the benefit of people and it should not be privatized,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
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