President appoints committee to look into container terminals of Colombo Port

July 07, 2020: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a five-member Committee to examine and report on the concerns regarding the development of Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port, the President’s Media Division said.

The Committee is headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, M.M.P.K. Mayadunne. Secretary to the Ministry of Industrial Export and Investment Promotion, M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana, Secretary to the Ministry of Roads and Highways, R.W.R. Pemasiri, Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, Wasantha Perera, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Gen. (Retd) R.M. Daya Ratnayake are the other members of the Committee.

The Committee is required to look into the following:

1. Procurement procedure and related concerns with regard to the development of JCT(V)
2. Assessment of the compliance to the Cabinet Decision and the observation of the Minister of Finance connected with the Cabinet Decision dated 26th July 2017 on Enhancing deep berth capacity and modernization of Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
3. Examine as to why JCT (V) was not developed prior to ordering of required machinery.
4. Examine the cost implication of the unsolicited procurement actions and shipment of them prior to the building of the terminal.
5. Agreements entered by the Government of Sri Lanka with other Governments with regard to Colombo Port and in particular ECT.
6. Financial implications and cost – benefit analysis of ad-hoc decisions taken by Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Line Ministry and the Government with regard to 1, 2 and 3 above.
7. Identify those who are responsible for the above and recommend actions against them.
8. Recommend the way forward to develop the above mentioned two terminals to get the maximum benefits for Sri Lanka for the development in Trade, Shipping and both in domestic and foreign investments.

The Committee is requested to consult relevant line ministries, stakeholders and submit their report within 45 days from today (03).

Source: Colombo Page