We started the work on two container terminals and after your government came in you opened them. It is the two new terminals that contributed to the increased turn out of the Colombo Port. You are claiming your actions were the reason for the increased profits of port. But what you have done was to improve the oil terminal that was already in existence. According to figures, the ports have recorded minus growth for the last few years.
Ports are now on the verge of losing at the rate of Rs.
30 million a year. The proposed Oluville Harbour, according to experts, is a good harbour, provided the weather remains good. It is more a weather port. The Secretary to the Treasury, in a letter to the SLPA, has given clear instruction that no recruitment should be made except to technical grades. With regard to the proposal to increase the salaries of port workers, the recommendation of the Treasury was that the total salary Bill should not exceed Rs.