Mattala International Airport Giant step towards Asia’s aviation hub
Recognition of Sri Lankan Engineers greatly valued:
Jayasri Jayakody
The answer to the question “Does Sri Lanka need another international
airport?” is an emphatic “Yes.” Sri Lanka needs a backup for the
Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake, the only operative
international airport in the country. It is an accepted fact that a
backup should be maintained for any important system for the correct
application of BCP (Business Continuity Plan) of an organization or a
country. The way the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and the
Ruhunu Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Harbour are positioned, so many
kilometers away from the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport,
gives Sri Lanka an excellent BCP, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL)
President Engineer Tilak De Silva told Daily News.
Eng. Tilak De Silva, President, The Institution of
Engineers, Sri Lanka |
“At a time such as the present when nature is striking civilization
with sudden environmental disasters such as floods, tsunamies and
tornados of unheard of magnitude, a BCP for a country is a must. The
distance between Colombo and Hambantota makes an ideal place to position
backup installations. Establishing backup data centres of the existing
data centres of the country is an excellent idea.
In the not-so-unlikely event of a natural or man-made disaster of
high magnitude striking the western part of Sri Lanka putting airports,
harbours, data centres and other essential installations out of
commission, the country does not have to undergo any hardships as a
ready-made international airport, a harbour capable of handling vessels
of any draft and duplicate data centres as well as other important
installations are existing in Hambantota,” De Silva said.
“Airport engineering is a very complex subject requiring engineering
knowledge in varied fields. The main requirement is designing and
constructing a terminal facility used for aircraft takeoff and landing,
including facilities for passenger and cargo handling and aircraft
servicing. Facilities at airports are generally described as either
airside, which commences at the secured boundary between terminal and
apron and extends to the runway and facilities beyond, such as remote or
navigational air traffic control emplacements, or landside, which
includes the terminal, cargo-processing and land-vehicle approach
facilities,” De Silva said.
“Airport
design involves providing for convenient passenger access, efficient
aircraft operations and conveyance of support materials and cargo.
Airports provide facilities for changing transport modes, such as people
transferring from cars and buses to aircraft, cargo transferring from
shipping containers to trucks or regional aircraft supplying passengers
and cargo for intercontinental aircraft,” elaborated Engineer De Silva.
“Selecting a site suitable for the development of a new airport is
also not as simple as it sounds. Few metropolitan areas, especially in
countries such as Sri Lanka, have large areas of relatively undeveloped
acreage within reasonable proximity to the population centre to permit
development of new airports. To establish a new airport, the following
factors must be evaluated : proximity to existing highways and major
utilities, demolition requirements, contamination of air, land and
water, air traffic constraints such as nearby smaller airport
facilities, nearby mountains, number of households affected by
relocation and noise, potential lost mineral or agricultural production
and costs associated with all these factors. When these factors are
evaluated, Mattala fits the requirements to a tee.
The airport is within close proximity to the Southern Highway and the
Ruhunu Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port, the demolition requirements are
almost nil, land, air and water contamination is minimal, no small
airport facilities and mountains exist in the area. The number of
households affected by noise and relocation is also minimal as the
population density is very low in the Mattala area. There are no known
mineral deposits on the site of the airport and agricultural production
is not affected.
“I remember, several years ago, when the Government in power wanted
to expand the Air Force Air Field at Weerawila, several farmers in the
area made a strong protest saying that the expansion of the air field
will call for the filling up of their traditional paddy fields. The then
Government had to shelve their expansion projects due to strong protests
from paddy cultivators and their associations. As the site for the
Mattala International Airport is a vast piece of unutilized land, no
problems of this nature arose,” said Engineer De Silva.
“As the President of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, I am
delighted that many of our members have got the opportunity of working
in this mega development project, giving them and the country
recognition. The hotel and other infrastructure developments associated
with the opening of a new international airport, and the airport itself,
will require the services of many more Engineers of diverse fields.
The development of this international airport is ushering in to a
hitherto undeveloped area and the valuable foreign exchange it will be
generating for the country, augurs well for the future. The opening of
this Rajapaksa International Airport at Mattala will be a giant step
towards Sri Lanka becoming the aviation hub of Asia,” concluded Engineer
Tilak De Silva, President - IESL
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