Surcharge Those Responsible For Mattala Air Port
By Madawala Hemananda –July 27, 2015
Madawala Hemananda
I read the article by R.M.B Senanayake published in your esteemed journal, the Colombo Telegraph, and it provoked me to respond in a rather lengthy detail, as the idea of surcharging is such a foolish idea, because it will just prove to be a case of adding insult to injury, in addition to throwing good money after bad, without benefitting anyone, other than lawyers perhaps. It will certainly be an absolute waste of time and money, while the Airport remains moribund. The reality is that there is a brand new International Airport ready and waiting to be put into good use. What needs to be done is to come up with bright ideas and suggestions to make the best use of what is already there, without sloshing more money down the drain. With this in mind, I would suggest the following long term plan, if implemented will be of great benefit to the economy at large and to Hambantota District in particular.
Current state
In April 2014, I visited Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and what I witnessed, without a shadow of doubt, was terribly disappointing, not only because of sheer visible inactivity, but an investment of such magnitude not being put into proper economic use. I saw large sections of the newly built access roads to the Airport being used by farmers, living in the vicinity, to dry their newly harvested rice spread over the tarmac, in the hot mid-day Sun. The conclusion that one could safely draw from that was that the farmers were sufficiently convinced – due to obvious lack of traffic – that there would not be any vehicles to disturb their illegal use of the Public Highway.
Allocation of blame
It is easy to blame the Government and the political party, responsible for that inapt decision, but people of Sri-Lanka must now wholeheartedly acknowledge that there is, in fact, a newly built Airport at Mattala. It is absolutely true that this is a glaring instance, where the ‘cart is before the horse’, because it is well-neigh impossible to establish a well thought out business rationale for an Airport to be located at Mattala, other than to attribute it wholly to a politically motivated decision. It will no doubt continue to be a white elephant, for the new Government, calling on scarce resources, which the country can ill-afford. Also, it must be borne in mind that no real purpose will be served by the new Government, throwing good money after bad, trying to investigate and punish the wrongdoers. Instead, all efforts must now be concentrated in exploring, as a matter of urgency, using the best brains in the land, to hammer–out an economically viable strategy, to put this modern facility to the best possible use.Read More