No immediate plans to sell ECT: Ports Minister

Nimal Siripala de Silva
PIC BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA

• Instead invites private sector to invest in proposed North Port development project
• Colombo North Port to be used for liquid bulk, dry bulk, Ro-Ro and containers
• Says he is trying to automate state-owned terminals at Colombo Port
• Says construction of ECT progressing well; govt. already has paid US $ 100mn for cranes

By Nishel Fernando 

Contradicting with the earlier plans to handover the East Container Terminal (ECT) to Japan, Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva hinted that the government plans to retain the control of the ECT of the Port of Colombo while inviting the private sector to invest in the proposed Colombo North Port development project.

“Whoever comes to Sri Lanka, everybody comes and asks me whether I’m prepared to sell the ECT. I ask why? The productivity in the government sector is less than that of the private sector. That’s the nature that we have to live with but I’m trying my best to automate the terminal systems and give a new life to compete with the private sector. That culture must be brought into the shipping sector in managing the ports in Sri Lanka,” he said.

de Silva made these remarks addressing the sixth Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Association of NVOCC Agents, held in Colombo, recently. 

Last December, President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the government had offered the ECT to Japan and if Japan doesn’t take it up, he noted that the offer would be extended to others. 

de Silva noted that the construction of the ECT is progressing uninterrupted.  

According to him, the government had paid US $ 100 million for the cranes at the ECT and most recently paid US $ 6.9 million to the contractors. 

Meanwhile, he invited the private sector to invest in the terminals in the proposed Colombo North Port development project. 

“We have got the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance and we are doing the feasibility study for the Colombo North Port development, in order to expand. The final report is almost ready now.

Of course, the project may take one to two years but the basic structures are ready and the feasibility study is almost over. That’s our expansion plan,” he added. 

The proposed Colombo North Port may spread from the Kelani River in the Modara area up to the existing northern breakwater of the Colombo Port. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority intends to use the proposed Colombo North Port for liquid bulk, dry bulk, Ro-Ro and containers. The North Port has been planned to implement in stages, depending on the demand.

The feasibility study was awarded in early 2020; the funds were from the ADB-funded Transport Project Preparatory Facility.