Fresh discussion on naval and maritime hub opportunities and risks
Thursday, 13 March 2014 00:00
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The Sri Lanka-Norway Business Match Making Program coming under the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and funded by NORAD, recently organised a stakeholder meeting to discuss Sri Lanka’s journey towards becoming a naval and maritime hub and what needs to be done to facilitate the process.
Accordingly, a discussion was held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, under the title of “Marine Safety and Minimising Oil Spill Damage”, with the participation of key stakeholders, coming from the public and the private sector and also the academia.
Officials of the Sri Lanka Port Authority, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Marine Environmental Protection Authority, Sri Lanka Dockyard and also the representatives of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce were present at the meeting.
The discussion commenced with a welcome speech delivered by Secretary General/CEO of the Chamber Harin Malwatte, who went on to highlight the importance of stakeholders coming together to help/support the Government’s ongoing hub concept.
During the discussion, the participants were of the view that the ongoing port projects, proposed petroleum refinery project, which is set to come up in Hambantota, ongoing oil exploration work, which is also expected to further expand and the growing bunker and ship repair industry will help Sri Lanka’s vision of building up a ‘Naval and Maritime’ hub.
At the same time, stakeholders also spoke of the risks that could hurt the country’s goal of operating a naval and maritime hub.
Here, the stakeholders agreed that the biggest risk Sri Lankan waters face is the possibility of an oil spill risk that could severely affect several key sectors of Sri Lanka’s economy, such as fishing, tourism, port and also cause major environmental damages.
Speaking during the occasion, MEPA Manager Operations Jagath Gunasekera, the regulatory body formed towards prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution in Sri Lankan waters from ship-based and shore-based sources said that the “National Preparedness Status of Sri Lanka” to face oil spill damage is at a minimal level.
He says, the Sri Lankan seas are highly vulnerable for an oil spill risk, as 25% of the world’s oil transportation, which runs up to a quantity of 550 million tons per annum, passes via Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone.
The risk, he says will increase further with the proposed maritime based development projects in the country and also already functioning utilities such as the oil tank farm in Trincomalee etc.
Stakeholders, present at the meeting agreed with Gunasekera’s point of view and discussed ways and means to come up with a comprehensive oil spill disaster management plan/contingency plan to face an oil spill disaster.
Both public sector and private officials, who were present during the occasion, representing agencies such as, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, MEPA, Colombo Dockyard and academia agreed to extend their support towards developing a contingency plan to minimise the threat.
