Trinco Port has the most opportunities:

Investment proposals to be called

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has already provided the infrastructure and it is the duty of investors and operators to use those facilities, said Deputy Chief Engineer, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Agil Hewageegana.

Agil Hewageegana

He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Port Development in the North and the East’ organised by the Chamber of Construction Industries at the Galadari Hotel recently.

He said that these facilities would help to contribute to the national income, create job opportunities and attract foreign currency.

The Trincomalee Port has the most opportunities of the seven ports in Sri Lanka at present and proposals for business ventures will be called for in the near future by the Government on Built Operate Transfer (BOT) terms based on the lease of land, equity share and royalty fee.

Under this system, land owners who do not have the wherewithal to invest on business can give it to an investor who will invest in it and operate a business. After 10 years the land owner will get his land back with the business.

Business opportunities in Trincomalee include port related activities, fertilizer transshipment, new logistic development, port related industries, separate industrial zone, ship repair and ship-building facilities and tourism related activities. Once tourism activities such as whale watching, elephant rides, boating, yachting and surfing begins a passenger transport service could also be operated, he said.

Meanwhile, development activities at the Port of Kankesanthurai are also in the pipeline.

This include wreck removal, harbour dredging, jetty rehabilitation, breakwater rehabilitation, road and yard improvement, construction of a 100m-long new jetty and a facility building and a 100 ton deck barge, he said.

Work on the Point Pedro Port is also in progress and cargo handling could be done using barges except during bad weather.

The Oluvil Port with a commercial harbour and a fisheries harbour will be completed by September 2010 at a cost of Rs. 7,000 million, Hewageegana said.