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Monday, 29 December 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s manifesto for his third term has proposed converting Trincomalee to a free port similar to Colombo and Hambantota. “I will further develop Trincomalee port and make it a free port in the same manner we made Colombo and Hambantota free ports, thereby making the concept of free ports a reality,” the President has said in his manifesto Mahinda Chintana Lowa Dinana Maga. The reference to ports is under the chapter ‘Realising the Potential of the Ocean Economy’. The president has also said that by using the newly-built Oluwil port along with Kankasanthurai and Trincomalee ports that are being modernized, people in the North and the East would be able to produce at low cost and source local and foreign markets for their products. “To facilitate this process, I will establish a coastal navigation service,” he said, adding, “Associated with port-related development, I will create 300,000 high salary direct jobs, and 200,000 indirect jobs in the next six years. “The Colombo Port has already become one of the busiest ports in recent times. I will immediately initiate an efficient process to reduce the delay in clearing containers out of the Colombo port and thereby reduce the time wasted by drivers and other employees while also reducing their mental stress. “By enhancing the physical resources, adherence to international standards and by constantly improving the modernisation of the Colombo and Hambantota international ports, I will make Sri Lanka one of the mega hubs in the global maritime industry.” The President has said he will build two port-related cities in Hambantota and Colombo with comprehensive maritime facilities. “Through such an effort, I intend to create an environment within which in-country trade and maritime related mega entrepreneurial offices will be established. These offices will provide front and back office support operations,” he explained. “I will build two regional trade hubs around the two port cities consisting of tourist hotels, shopping complexes, entertainment centers, and exhibition and conference facilities. I will also prepare a special program to promote both local and foreign investments, in order that the enhanced production of goods, packaging and value addition will make Sri Lanka a regional hub.” The president also pledged to prepare a special program to promote small- and medium-scale domestic entrepreneurs, who provide ancillary services to large-scale maritime and port industries. “There is a high demand for indigenous food items such as breadfruit, jackfruit, potatoes and sweet potatoes from the maritime vessels that call in at Sri Lanka. In this context, I have already prepared a scheme to enable Sri Lanka’s farming community to increase their incomes by facilitating the collection, storage and preservation of food items and by adding value through supplies to the ships and vessels. Accordingly, I will introduce measures to set up 10 processed food collection centers around the country to support this endeavour. “I will make the city of Galle a very high tourist attraction center by completing the already planned Galle port development project. That will help raise the living standards of the people in the Southern Province, who make a living out of tourism. “Through all these development projects, I will initiate action to ensure that there will be additional foreign investment exceeding $ 10 billion during the next six years. “To enhance the scientific knowledge of our young men and women and to disseminate such knowledge among them in the fields of port, naval and maritime operations, I will strengthen the Ocean University,” President Rajapaksa revealed. The manifesto also states that the major resource for any island is the ocean surrounding it. However, the President believes that the country has not yet ultilised and benefited from its ocean resources. “I strongly pledge to transform the Sri Lankan economy to an ocean economy by 2020,” Rajapaksa said. The manifesto also states: I believe that the ability to complete the demarcation of the continental shelf/sea limit of Sri Lanka in 2007 was an exceptional victory we secured before the finalisation of the land war. In that context, I am very proud of the acceptance of my proposal in 2007 by the United Nations, which enabled Sri Lanka to extend its ocean zone from the norm of 200 to 800 nautical miles. Accordingly, Sri Lanka’s ocean zone will be 23 times bigger than the land mass of the country. This was another major victory for Sri Lanka, since the ocean zone which we can now claim, will contain ocean resources such as petroleum, gas and mineral sands of which the economic value could well exceed $ 1 trillion. As the Petroleum Resource Development Secretariat has already started the exploration of petroleum and gas in the Mannar basin, I will ensure that people will benefit from such operations before long. I will give priority to the production of sea-related medicine, fisheries, sea plants and to enhance the value addition from port services and sea wave energy technology. I will encourage the canned fish industry as a strategic industry, and for this purpose, establish five canning factories in five selected areas.
