COPE reviews Colombo Port’s East Terminal delays & contractor’s Rs. 4,227M compensation claim

Extended discussions were held at the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding the delay in construction activities of the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port and the circumstances that arose due to the delay of the entire project.

These discussions took place at the meeting held on November 13 in Parliament under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament (Dr.) Nishantha Samaraweera, Chair of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), in order to examine the Auditor General’s Reports for the years 2022 and 2023 and the current performance of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, the Department of Communication of Parliament stated.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority was summoned before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on 10 September, and the Auditor General’s Reports of 2022 and 2023 and the current performance were examined. The matters that could not be discussed on that day were taken up for discussion at the Committee meeting held on this day.

The Committee pointed out that Cabinet approval had been granted in November 2021 to award a contract worth Rs. 40,273 million to an institution for the development activities of the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port.

Agreements regarding this had been signed in December 2021, and the construction activities were scheduled to be completed by 3 January 2025. However, due to several reasons, the construction activities were delayed, and it was revealed that after extending the time period, these activities are now scheduled to be completed in July 2026.

The Committee pointed out that due to the delay of 548 days, the contractor has claimed Rs. 4,227 million as compensation, and the Chair of the Committee instructed that a report containing all relevant particulars be submitted to the Committee, it said.

Officials present pointed out that development activities are currently being carried out very rapidly and that the work will be completed soon.

Attention of the Committee was also drawn to the food expenses of the employees of the Authority, and the Committee noted that the recommendations given by COPE in 2023 had not been implemented. Accordingly, the officials stated that measures have now been taken to reduce expenses and that a competitive tender procedure has been introduced to minimize costs.

Drawing attention to the taking over and eviction of all lands belonging to the Ports Authority, the Chair of the Committee emphasized that legal action should be taken regarding the lands for which the courts have issued orders to evict or recover. Officials stated that necessary steps have already been taken in this regard, the statement added.

Attention was also drawn to the change of the name of the Seeduwa Raddolugama Sports Club to Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sports Club, as well as the recruitment of players attached to that sports club as employees of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Members of Parliament Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law S.M. Marikkar, Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law MKM Aslam, (Dr.) Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam, (Dr.) S. Sri Bavanandarajah, Lieutenant Commander (Rtd.) Prageeth Madhuranga, Thilina Samarakoon, Samanmali Gunasingha, Sunil Rajapaksha, Chandima Hettiarachchi, and Dinesh Hemanta participated in this meeting.