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| Tuesday, 17 December 2002 |
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by Ravi Ladduwahetty Globally renowned Fortune 500 conglomerate- Mitsui will use Trincomalee as a base for repairing and maintaining ships while establishing a US $ 600 million coal fired 300 Megawatt power plant, the first of three such plants which will eventually generate 900 megawatts. The Japanese conglomerate will also invest in Eppawela Phosphate mines, considering the high quality phosphate that Sri Lanka has in comparison to the worldwide locations in which Mitsui works in such as Morocco and Jordan. Mitsui will also establish a Marine Training Institute in Colombo which will train youth for shipping jobs. The Mitsui Group has decided to use Sri Lanka's strategic location on the direct sea lane which will be ideal for ship repairs as over 250 ships pass Trincomalee every day, Mitsui Engineering and Ship Building Co. Ltd's Executive Managing Director Hirotoshi Yamaguchi told the Daily News in an interview at the Board of Investment head office yesterday. Yamaguchi is leading a high powered team from the Mitsui Engineering Group to Colombo for the preliminary works of both projects. The other members of the team are: General Manager of the Overseas Projects Department Hiroyuki Koyama, General Manager of the Power, Machinery Systems Shinichi Tatabe, General Manager of the Project Management and Plants Department Ichiro Shiramasa. Tatabe is also the Chairman of Colombo Power (Pvt) Ltd in which the Mitsui Group has a 50 per cent equity stake. Yamaguchi also said a location for the 300 Megawatt Trincomalee coal fired plant has been identified at Foul Point. Mitsui will undertake the feasibility studies which should take around a year. The project will commence in 2004 and will be ready by 2006, he said. Mitsui will be building the infrastructure for the project at Trincomalee for ships to unload coal directly to the power plant. The infrastructure will be ready for implementation at the commencement of the first phase of 300 Megawatts, he said. Mitsui will also operate two power barges both in Colombo and in Trincomalee on a Build-Own and Operate (BOO) basis. The project will supply power to the Ceylon Electricity Board. Mitsui Engineering's track record in power generation in Sri Lanka has been excellent. It has been the cheapest supplier of power at US 6.27 cents. It completed its quota by end October and is supplying power at a discounted rate for November and December from which the saving to the CEB is over Rs. 240 million. Yamaguchi was critical of the evaluation processes of the Sri Lankan Government, which he described as very slow. "We are not prepared to wait indefinitely. The Government of Sri Lanka must give us a word fast, whether it is yes or no," he said. Board of Investment's Head of the Japan Desk Amala Heengama said this project was consequent to the investment promotion mission that Minister of Enterprise Development, Investment Promotion, Industrial Policy and Constitutional Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris led to Japan in October at which he and BoI Chairman Arjuna Mahendran met the senior management of Mitsui. She said the Central Environment Authority had been hesitant to approve these projects in the bay area and that is why the location at Foul Point was given. The Mitsui delegation also met Industries Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, Acting Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping M.N. Junaid, SLPA Chairman Parakrama Dissanayake Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte. The delegation will also visit Trincomalee and Eppawela today. |
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