UNP says Hambantota Port is ‘world’s most expensive fishing pond’

The Hambantota Port built at a cost of US$ 500 million is fast becoming a white elephant, the main Opposition UNP charged yesterday.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told a media briefing that the Hambantota Port was nothing more than an oversized fishing pond for underutilised port employees.

He said visuals had appeared in the media of port workers fishing in the waters of the harbour.

Attanayake said that despite the multimillion rupee opening ceremonies and launches, the port had thus far not attracted a single vessel except for those carrying vehicle cargo.

“These were forcibly diverted from the profitable Colombo Harbour to Hambantota – even they did not opt to use the Hambantota Port of their own accord,” the UNP General Secretary said.

He said that the Government had claimed that this would be a golden project that would bring revenue and investment to Sri Lanka.

“It has been more than two years now – where are the investors? Where is the revenue? The port is just a way to increase the debt burden on the people,” the UNP General Secretary said.

The Government can now at least claim the credit for having built the world’s biggest fishing pond at hundreds of millions of dollars, he quipped.

(DB)