Govt. to spend USD 132 mn on port development

Minister of Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva, on Saturday night, said the government would spend about 132 million U.S. dollars on port development projects.Revenue generated from Port operations would be utilised for those projects, the Minister said.

Speaking at the Sri Lanka Association of Non-Vessel Operating Container Carriers Licensed Agents (SLANA) AGM in Colombo, the Minister said the government had allocated over 100 million U.S. dollars for the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) and 32 million U.S. dollars for the Jaya Container Terminal.

Both terminals are fully owned subsidiaries of the state owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Minister Silva added that they expect to develop the Trincomalee harbour for bulk cargo operations while the Galle harbour will add value to the tourism industry with a yacht service and facilitate the anchoring of large ships.Sri Lanka expects to become a logistics and transport hub in the Indian ocean and successive governments have made significant investments on ports.