Govt. considers leasing East Terminal for 35 years

The Sri Lanka Por ts Authority ( SLPA) is expected to lease out the East Container Terminal (ECT) for a period of 35 years with a possible partner from the region.

Port workers were informed by Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe during a recent meeting that the government has plans to lease out the ECT facility to another party for 35 years and not sell it, JVP trade union leader Chandrasiri Mahagamage told the Business Times.

This is similar to the type of arrangement that is currently in place for the South Asia Gateway Terminal and the Colombo Inter nat i o n a l Container Terminal.

A number of geopolitical issues, vested interests and economic reasons may have been the reason for the delay in finalising the commencement of operations of the ECT, a port official said.

The terminal is however, being held back from being granted to an international port operator following the Request for Proposals in 2016.

Meanwhile, the draft concession agreement prepared by the Asian Development Bank has been received by the SLPA.

Shipper’s Academy CEO Rohan Masakorala observed that while the ECT needs to be made operational without any further delay he noted that since India was the country’s biggest transshipment partner it was only right for Sri Lanka to engage an international port operator from India to run the terminal. (SD)