29 August 2016 08:11 pm
JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake told a media briefing that Cabinet approval was given to a paper presented by Ports Development Minister Arjuna Ranatunga for a joint venture with the private sector to administer the Eastern Container Terminal with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) having a 51 per cent stake.
He said this however, had been changed with the intervention of the Finance Ministry and other senior government officials.
Mr. Ratnayake said under the new proposal the SLPA will have a reduced stake of 15 per cent and that according to the proposal the Eastern Container Terminal is to be managed as a joint venture for 35 years.
“The joint venture will result in the SLPA losing control of the profit-making Colombo Port. At the moment SLPA owns only two terminals while the major stake on other terminals held by others including China,” he said adding that the control of one terminal was handed over to China by the previous administration.
"The proposed joint venture is not a healthy arrangement for Sri Lanka,” Mr. Ratnayake said adding that this matter had been disclosed by some of the trade unions and confirmed by SLPA officials at a probe carried out by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
“It is true that SLPA is running at a loss but the Colombo Port does not contribute to these losses which are caused by the Hambanota and Oluvil Ports,” Mr. Ratnayake said. (Yohan Perera)