ECT struggle to intensify
Port workers are likely to intensify their struggle this week through the combined efforts of other trade unions in a bid to ensure authorities will disengage from any agreement with India to run the East Container Terminal (ECT).
Following an unsuccessful round of discussions on Wednesday between President Gotabaya Rajapakse and representatives of the 23 trade unions at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), All Ceylon General Workers Union General Secretary Niroshan Gorakanage told the Business Times they will be holding meetings with the newly-established ‘ National Council of Trade Unions to Safeguard the ECT’ tomorrow.
This new council of trade unions is a collaboration of a number of trade unions from other sectors that are now working together in their efforts to ensure that the ECT will be operated by the SLPA alone.
Mr. Gorakanage pointed out that during the meeting they were informed that the agreement with the Adani Group and the Indian government will be completed very soon that is likely to be by the end of this month or in February.
The President, he said had explained to them that Indian authorities had raised security concerns as a result of China’s presence in the Indian Ocean.
In fact, authorities had insisted that the government is therefore going ahead with the planned agreement of 49/51 per cent shares between Adani and the SLPA.
In this respect, the President had requested the trade unions to come to this agreement and submit their suggestions to the Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) last Friday.
Trade unions insist that Sri Lanka is unlikely to lose its transshipment business to India since the Colombo Port is in a strategic location.
Mr. Gorakanage pointed out that they were not in agreement with the government’s stance and that they together with other trade unions plan to meet on Monday and intensify their struggle.
Under the initial arrangement of the Memorandum of Cooperation ( MOC) entered into between the SLPA and the governments of India and Japan the formation of the Terminal Operation Company (TOC) would be jointly held by the parties with 51 per cent for the former and 49 per cent for the latter two.
But under the new arrangement Sri Lanka has informed Japan and India that it will honour the MOC on the condition that SLPA will not borrow further or provide guarantees but will support FDI in ECT while maintaining 51 per cent equity share in TOC of ECT by Sri Lanka under the SLPA.