Sri Lanka to call tenders for port terminal project

Colombo: Tenders for the long-delayed first container terminal in the planned new Colombo south port will be called in the next 2-3 weeks, a senior Sri Lanka Ports Authority engineer said.

Janaka Kurukulasuriya said construction work on the new Colombo breakwater will start as soon as the current south-west monsoon ends.

A loading point is being built at Waskaduwa, south of Colombo, to supply the huge amount of quarry material by barge to the project site off Colombo.

The contractor selected for the infrastructure work, Hyundai, has already started dredging work, said Kurukulasuriya, chief engineer - development of the SLPA.

'For the terminal operation, we're going to select an operator on BOT (built-operate-transfer) terms to operate the first terminal, the south terminal.'
To start construction work on the first terminal, the contractor has to wait until at least 2,000 metres of breakwater is done.

'We're now preparing the RFP (request for proposals) documents to call for tenders in two or three weeks to select the terminal operator,' Kurukulasuriya told a seminar on transport infrastructure organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry Tuesday.

The terminal project is to be completed by early 2012 and the operator will get a concession for 35 years.

'There is a very high demand for the south container terminal,' Kurukulasuriya said.

He said the project was needed to ensure Colombo retains its status as south Asia's container transhipment hub.

Its status is being challenged by the development of competing ports in the region, especially Indian ports.

The Sri Lankan shipping industry is worried that Indian port modernisation and India's own ambitions of developing hub ports could threaten Colombo.

Kurukulasuriya said cargo forecasts for Colombo for the next 25-30 years show that the present growth rate is higher than even the highest forecast growth rate.

'We're reaching our max capacity,' he said. 'We need a bigger port, deeper piers, wider yards to handle the new generation of container ships.'
The new south port is several years behind schedule.

The government cancelled bids for the first container terminal earlier this year in a controversial move as it was unable to decide between the two main contenders, Port of Singapore Authority and Hutchison Port Holdings.