Construction Agreement for Hambantota harbour to be signed today

Direct result of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent State visit to China:

Ranil WIJAYAPALA

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will observe the direct benefits of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s State visit to China, today with two Chinese Companies, signing agreements with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for the construction of the proposed Hambantota Harbour.

The two Chinese companies, China Harbour Engineering Company Limited and Sino Hydro Corporation Limited will sign the construction agreement with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority at Temple Trees today.

“The process of finalising the construction agreement with the two Chinese companies was speeded up with President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself taking up the matter with the Chinese authorities during his recent State visit to China”, Vice Chairman of the SLPA Priyath Bandu Wickrama told the Daily News.

The Chinese Government has already consented to provide 80 percent out of the US $ 420 million that is estimated as the total cost of the project.

“A delegation from the Chinese Government is also due to arrive in Sri Lanka at the end of this month to finalise the financial assistance for the project after studying the feasibility study report submitted to the Chinese Government”, Wickrama added.

The two Chinese construction companies during the discussions they had with President Rajapaksa in China agreed to commence the construction of the Hambantota harbour project within three months without waiting for the release of funds from the Chinese Government.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has given an assurance to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to provide the necessary financial assistance for the Hambantota port development project as he emphasised the necessity to commence this project immediately.

“Once the construction work of the port is completed it can produce 6000 direct employment and 50,000 indirect employment opportunities”, the SLPA Vice Chairman added.

During the first phase of the project, an industrial port with a 300m jetty and a dedicated oil terminal will be constructed at Hambantota and it will be expanded to a container handling port during the next two stages to handle 20 million containers per year.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed within the next three years and the whole project is expected to be completed within 15 years.