Govt. targets $ 64 m earnings from ETC: Sagala

• Tells Parliament ETC will be operational by end next year 

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Increasing the container throughput, the Government aims to earn $ 64 million from the proposed Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) project, which will conclude by the end of next year, Ports and Shipping Minister Sagala Ratnayaka told Parliament yesterday.

Revealing the urgent need to construct terminals with more depth, length, and capacity, the Minister said: “Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has no jetties with enough depth to berth mega-ships. So, the development of the Eastern Terminal is done keeping the controlling stake with the SLPA. We are working towards obtaining a loan from the Government of Japan, with an interest rate of 0.1% and a grace period of 12 years subjected to a payment period of 40 years.  

“Already the terminal, which 440 m long is developed but need to extend to 1,350 m, enabling three mega vessels to berth at the same time. We will fit equipment to 440 m during the first stage. Unless we take the correct decision now there will be a loss for the country. We are looking at starting the operations of this terminal by the end of next year.”

According to the Minister, the Government annually earns $ 15 million from SAGT and $ 25 million from CICT and the Eastern Terminal is expected to bring in $ 64 million income. 

Explaining the opportunity available for Sri Lanka to develop its ports increasing the transhipment capabilities, the Minister said: “Based on the geographical position of the country we have an advantage in transhipment of containers. This activity was started by Minister Lalith Athulathmudali who was in charge of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping with the construction of Jaya Container Terminal. Jaya Container Terminal supported our economy immensely. But it ran out of capacity and we had to find alternatives to move forward. Then the Government in 1999 initiated the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) as a part of public private partnership.” “Subsequently we ran out of capacity and the need came to develop another terminal. The specialty of this terminal was that the ships were getting larger and capacity was increasing. These ships were unable to berth in the other two terminals due to depth issue. Then came the Southern Terminal of the Southern Port, which was given to Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) by the then Government. All these terminals played the collective role of the Port of Colombo contributing to the transhipment activities where we were able to exceed container throughput of 7 million establishing a record last year,” he added. Minister Ratnayaka highlighting the importance of making right decisions on the correct time to avoid loss said: “Now we are facing a new issue with the delayed construction of the Eastern Terminal. The delayed decision making delayed the construction. We need to make our move fast in order to prevent the ships from berthing in other ports for transhipment requirements. 

“So, we are in the process of fast-tracking the works of the Eastern Terminal to increase capacity and depth. Then comes the Western Terminal within the Port of Colombo. We are planning to invite EoI to select the best for the country. It can also be 1,350 m long and be at the deep sea with capabilities to berth large ships. We are expecting this terminal to handle 2.4 million containers at the Western Terminal.”