Hambantota Port

Sunday August 15 marks a red letter day for Sri Lanka with the first waters the Hambantota Port being filled, signifying a watershed in the development sphere of the country. Up to now the Colombo Port was the only commercial port in the country. The Hambantota port is the first port to be constructed in post-independence Sri Lanka.

The Port, the brainchild of the native son of Hambantota President Mahinda Rajapaksa could be considered a gift to the people of the South who had for long years been living on the fringes while Colombo was the focus of all economic development and prosperity.

Now they will not only receive a new lease of life but also lay claim to recognition in their own right as proud people set to receive the economic bounties denied to them all these years.

Every Southerner who had nothing to call their own in terms of economic endowment can now walk with their head held high. For the implications of the Hambantota Port scheme cannot be overemphasized for a people who had not known any development let alone a gigantic project such as a fully fledged harbour right in their midst.

Tens of thousands of people have already visited the site of the new Hambantota Port which will have its first water filling on Sunday where unprecedented crowds are expected.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will grace the occasion with his Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign dignitaries. This indeed would be a historic occasion not just for Hambantota but the entire South which has been languishing in hibernation all these decades.

The new Harbour as well as the airport in Mattala would give the South not just a massive facelift but a whole new dimension in terms of development and prosperity.

The Hambantota Port development scheme no doubt would be the showpiece in the renaissance of the South, the epicentre of two rebellions due to its marginalization by the Colombo centric administrations of the past.

With the completion of the port and the Airport Hambantota will be converted into a commercial hub offering the youth of the South the economic opportunities they were deprived of all these years giving rise to the slogan Kolombata Kiri Apita Kekiri.

The massive infrastructure development that would accompany the port development scheme and the ancillary structures would herald an employment boom in the South. Besides the new harbour would also usher in a change in the demographic pattern of the South in the form of reverse migration.

While earlier it was Southerner who came to Colombo in search of the pot of gold now it will be the turn of the Colomboite to settle down in the South. Such will be the openings and opportunities that would emerge with the completion of the Port.

Not only that. Big business, foreign investors and banks are bound to move into the new commercial hub in Sri Lanka to avail themselves of the economic bounties that will open up.

The economic activity surrounding the Colombo harbour will now be transposed in rural Hambantota, from the massive cargo clearing and container business to the well known harbour lunch packet trade. Land values too are bound to escalate in this one time backwoods with property developers cashing in on the business boom.

On the international front Sri Lanka will be in the limelight with the coming up of the Hambantota Port which is indeed an achievement for a country which is only just emerging from the economic bruises suffered by a debilitating war.

No doubt the economic bounty to the country by the new port would be incalculable. The Hambantota Port is set amidst a busy sea lane navigated by rich commercial vessels and its advantage is bound to accrue to the country. It is ideally sited for transhipment and bunkering facilities more than the Colombo port.

The Government should take steps to obtain the maximum returns from the Hambantota facility with a mega plan drawn up to tap the multiple opportunities that would be thrown up by the new port.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa who is familiar with the terrain should appoint a team of experts to come up with ideas to obtain the full potential from the project.

The area could also be transformed into a popular tourist destination with resort planning. The abundant wildlife in the area too should be included in a well coordinated program for tourism development to maximize gains from the Hambantota Port project.

The project no doubt is going to awaken the entire South from its isolation to display its traditional enterprise and drive. They are bound to be grateful to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Chinese Government for providing this opening to afford them an opportunity to realize their true potential.