Modern warehouse complexes with Spanish aid

Spain will provide a 47 million Euro (7,285 billion rupee) loan to build a most modern warehouse complexes mainly for food storage at Hambantota, Dambulla and Galewela, Chief Government Whip, Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said.

The loan facility has been made available after talks the Minister had with the BBVA Bank of Spain.

The loan will be repayable in the long term, he said. The Hambantota warehouse complex will have modern storage and chilling facilities for fish as well as fruits and vegetables and will also have an ice plant that could manufacture 1,200 tons of ice for the fishery industry of the area giving the fishermen of the South a new opportunity to store and market their produce, Gunawardena said.

He said, another facility that would be built in this complex is a vegetable and fruit de-hydration plant allowing any waste. The warehouse complexes would also have facilities to store excess paddy harvest from areas where extensive paddy cultivation takes place, he said.