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China offers free feasibility study

by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi

The Ports and Shipping Ministry yesterday decided to accept the offer of the Chinese Government to conduct the feasibility study on the proposed Hambantota port, free of charge.

"The Chinese gesture will enable Sri Lanka to save a sum of Rs 150 million which would have otherwise been spent on this study." a senior Ports Authority official told the Daily News yesterday.

He said, 28 tender applications had been received from local and international bidders for this study and out of them, eight bids were shortlisted." However, after evaluation, the Ministry decided to accept the Chinese offer for a free feasibility study."

The official said; The Port of Hambantota has a great potential for the future and when developed, it is likely to be the deepest Port in the world with a depth of 25 meters.

At present, Rotterdam is the world's deepest port with a depth of 23 meters while Singapore which is the deepest port in Asia has a depth of only 15.3 meters.

The project is expected to provide thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities to people in and around Hambantota.

Meanwhile, a maritime training centre and a project office in Hambantota to work out ground arrangements for the project will be declared open today.

The training centre is expected to provide all training facilities in the maritime sector for Sri Lankans so that they can even seek foreign employment.

The project office will provide accommodation for foreign experts expected in Sri Lanka for completing the feasibility report.

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