28 July 2017 12:59 pm
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today announced that the government would sign the agreement on the US$1.1 billion Hambantota Port Project tomorrow.
Flanked by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the Premier told a news briefing held at its auditorium that the country had lost a staggering Rs.46 billion from the Port since 2011.
“Had we saved this amount, we could have provided medicine and medical treatment for 2.5 million Sri Lankans free of charge,” he said.
The Premier said members of the Opposition were given the opportunity to debate the port project agreement on Friday but they had not availed themselves of the opportunity because they had no grounds to oppose the agreement.
Addressing the concerns of the security related to the Port, he said its commercial, civil and naval activities would be managed as a joint venture but land and security matters would be handled by Sri Lanka.
Commenting on the Mattala Airport, the Premier expressed optimism that the government would be able to enter into an agreement by the end of this year.
“However, we have bad news with regard to the Sooriyawewa Cricket Stadium. There are no takers for this stadium. We will have to pay from our taxes for this project,” he said. (By Lahiru Pothmulla)