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PA resurrected the shipping industry - Mahinda Rajapakse

The PA Government which assumed office in 1994 after 17 years of UNP rule resurrected the shipping industry which was in the doldrums at that time. During the SLFP regime, the then government had a fleet of 17 vessels which the UNP sold to cronies. Only two were left.

During the two months I was the Minister the productivity of the Colombo Port has exceeded double. When I took over only nine to twelve containers were handled per hour.

This has now increased to 20-22 per hour.

We are going ahead with the port expansion plans such as the South Port of Colombo, the North Port, the QEQ, Hambantota and Trincomalee which will all enhance the country's cargo handling capacity.

We have also initiated a program of having a ferry service between Colombo-Chennai-Mumbai, which will eventually be extended to Dubai for passengers.

Despite the deleterious effects of the Katunayake bomb blast and its effects on the Colombo port, the Government was successful in negotiating for the reduction of the insurance premia which brought the industry back on track.

The Government has also initiated a program of increasing the productivity of the Colombo Port with the consent of the employees.

We'll bring Lalith era back to Port - Ravi Karunanayake

This Government has been so inept in the management of State affairs, and the shipping industry is also an example of the sectors that had been destroyed. The hallmark of the PA has been having square pegs in round holes.

Sri Lanka has out priced itself in shipping and ancillary services and the shipping industry has come to a situation where owners who operate thousands of miles away have found that there is no value for money using the ports of Sri Lanka.

There are visible drops in containerisation, productivity in port operations and vessels calling at Colombo. Today, there is no effective remedial action that has been taken to revamp this situation. The UNP virulently protested against the Government signing the agreement with South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt) Ltd as this type of haphazard divestitures would have long term deleterious repercussions.

On the contrary, the UNP has many plans for port development which includes the Ports of Hambantota and Trincomalee, and other services such as deep sea bunkering and other issues such as Multi Country Consolidation. This could be done where foreign buyers will use Colombo as a storage facility and supply base for purchasing countries in the US and EU countries.

We will once again resurrect the industry so that it will bear fruition and these developments will be consequent to those initiated by former Trade and Shipping Minister late Lalith Athulathmudali.

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