Harsha says Spence move fallout of Expropriation Act

UNP MP and Consultant Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday opined that the Daily FT reported pullout of Aitken Spence Plc from the Colombo port’s new terminal project as a direct fallout of the contentious Expropriation Act.

He alleged that the move was a “retaliatory act” by business leader Harry Jayawardena who controls Aitken Spence as Chairman as well as via 30% stake held by Distilleries.  Distilleries-controlled Pelwatte Sugar Industries was acquired by the Expropriation/Revival Act as an under-utilised asset two months ago. Highlighting another setback, UNP MP also said that despite being a highly government-to-government (Sri Lanka and China) supported project the lender China Development Bank insisting international arbitration in the event of disputes was a serious indictment on the credibility of the Sri Lankan Government.

As reported in Daily FT’s article yesterday, Chinese dominance in the new Colombo port terminal is certain to raise alarm bells further in Sri Lanka’s giant neighbor India which prefers that the East Asian dragon has less influence in South Asia and its waters. Analysts said the Spence pullout has far reaching ramifications than how Colombo stock market investors viewed the latest undercurrent in South Asia’s hub port’s upcoming mega terminal with a capacity of 2.4 million TEUs in two stages with first phase earmarked for completion by mid-2014.