Plans ports upgrades countrywide

• KKS to be developed with assistance from India
• Galle Port to be expanded as Yacht Marina
• Developing ports in East “top priority”

Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that several major ports throughout the island would be developed in 2018, including the Colombo port which would be upgraded to cultivate the cruise liner industry. 

“We know that some 200 cruises pass through our seas but don’t stop at the Colombo port, as it doesn’t have adequate facilities. 

We will upgrade the Colombo port to encourage cruise liners to stop at out the Colombo port for tourism related activities,” said Samarasinghe.

The Galle Port will be expanded to establish a yacht marina, he continued: “The sea area surrounding the Galle port is too shallow for container ships therefore we will make it a yacht marina. Along with the Galle Fort, this venture will greatly help tourism in the Galle district.”

In addition, a $40 million credit line will be used to develop the Kankasanthurai (KKS) Port with the help of India.

“The Singaporean company has formulated a master plan for the KKS port. The SLPA owns some 5000 acres of land in the region. We are waiting for Cabinet approval to go ahead with the project,” Samarasinghe said.

With regard to the Oruville p0rt, the Minister said that it was still not operational due to several environmental issues.

“When the Oruville port was built the issue of sand filling the port had not been identified. We have now recognized that we must resolve this issue before it can be made operational. Also there is an issue of erosion in the surrounding coastal area affecting the local villages. We hope to resolve the two issues simultaneously,” he said, adding that they had sought assistance from the Department of External Resources for funds to begin renovation of the Oruville port this year. 

In addition, Samarasinghe said that the development of ports on the East coast was a top priority of the Government. “Just in the last three years we have lost Rs 3500 million worth of profits because of the lack of functioning ports on the East coast. We will be presenting a cabinet paper shortly regarding Ports in the East coast.”