Major plan to develop harbour cities
 

by Channa Kasturisinghe

Ports and Aviation Minister Mangala Samaraweera said yesterday that his vision is to develop areas where important harbours are located into major cities. He said however, such plans should be implemented based on an environment friendly approach.

The Minister was addressing the 7th symposium of International Network of Affiliated ports (INAP 2005) held in Colombo yesterday.

Minister Samaraweera said the Sri Lanka Ports Authority has contributed immensely towards improving the environment surrounding the Colombo Port by implementing the Beira Lake restoration project. He said that it is important to promote the `green port' concept here.

"We should develop the Trincomalee and Galle areas into major cities where the other important harbours are located," Samaraweera said.

He said the INAP plays a major role in such efforts as its long term vision is to promote an environment friendly society.

The Governor of Kochi Prefectural Government of Japan, Daijiro Hashimoto handed over a tsunami relief donation to the Minister on this occasion. Hashimoto is a founder father of INAP along with the former Minister of Ports A.H.M. Ashraff.

He said one of the major challenges faced by the international shipping industry is the ever rising oil prices.

He said the INAP member ports should closely watch the situation. However, he said that in spite of the negative impact of oil prices Asia's trade volume is also improving due to various bi-laeral and multi-lateral negotiations among the countries especially after China becoming a WTO member.

SLPA Chairman Dileepa Wijesundera was appointed as the new Chairman of the INAP at its General Assembly held at SLPA Board Room on Monday. He replaced Mariano C.J. Martinez, General Manager of the Cebu Port authority.

Wijesundera said the SLPA recorded a significant improvement during the recent past in terms of throughput. He said the INAP members support towards further innovation would enable the Colombo Port to improve more.

INAP's inaugural session was held in Colombo in 1998. It was established to formulate a network among he member ports by integrating each individual affiliated-port relationship.