Bids have already arrived for the construction and completion of the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port, billed for completion by 2023.
The bids for civil works, equipment have arrived and will be evaluated and completed within a month Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, UDC Jayalal told ‘Daily News Business’ yesterday.
The Ministry has received three bids for civil works and six for equipment, he said.
He also said that the Shareholders’ Agreement for the West Container Terminal (WTC) between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and John Keells Holdings PLC and the Adani Group of India, which will have an investment in the excess of US $ 700 Million, is to be expedited and finalized by September this year and the work to be completed by 2023-2024.
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority will own 51% of the shares and the remainder will be held by the John Keells Holdings PLC Group and the Adani Group of India.
Meanwhile, Ports and Shipping Ministry’s Additional Secretary (Development) Kumari Somaratne said that the First Phase of the East Container Terminal which commenced during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Presidency in 2013 and completed in 2015, had completed the Quay Wall which was 600 metres and the basic infrastructure spanning 18 Hectares.
The cost of the project was US $ 100 million comprising a US$ 80 Million Loan from the Bank of Ceylon and remaining US $ 20 Million from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The final and the second phase will be completed by 2023-2024.
The West Container Terminal would handle 3 Million TEUs with the berthing facilities of at a depth of 20 metres and terminal area of 54 hectares.
Meanwhile, she said that the consolidated capacity of the remaining terminals JCT, CICT and SAGT were only 7 Million TEUs per annum , but with the additional ECT and WCT, would add up to another 6 million TEUs per annum on their own. That will be the time that Sri Lanka will be able to successfully handle 13 million TEUs per annum.
[Trincomalee, Galle Ports before Cabinet soon]
“The Ministry of Ports and Shipping will also submit two Cabinet Memoranda for the Trincomalee Port to be developed as an Industrial Port and Galle Port to be developed as a Tourism Port soon”, the Secretary said.
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