Colombo south port’s east terminal to India!
- Sep 18, 2016
The economic management committee of the prime minister has decided to handover the Colombo south port’s east terminal to India, alleges convener of the Samastha Lanka Varaya Sevaka Sangamaya Chandrasiri Mahagamage. This will threaten the livelihoods of the local labour force, he warns. Added to this, if the ETCA agreement is implemented, income earnings of the country will get blocked and the influx of the Indian labour will be unavoidable, he says further.
At present, India accounts for 90 per cent of container handling in South Asia, and if it gets hold of the Colombo south port’s east terminal, that figure will go up to 95 pc. The government has cancelled a tender to buy machinery to bring this terminal to operational status. The union alleges the PM’s economic management committee’s decisions have become more powerful than those of the cabinet of ministers.
As per the plan to hand over the terminal to India, 85 pc of its income will go to India and 15 pc to Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the full ownership of the terminal will go to India.
