Hambantota Port Entrance channel rock blasting has been completed, The Port Chief Engineer Agil Hewageegana told Ada Derana a short while ago. He added that currently the blasted rock particles are being removed.
Hambantota port is being built by a consortium consisting of China Harbour Engineering Corporation and Sinohydro Corporation and funded with Chinese government loans at commercial lending rates.
The government came under heavy criticism for the late discovery of the rock and the additional cost of clearing it.
Sri Lanka’s port authority in August said it has asked China for $40 million loan to demolish a massive seabed rock obstructing the entrance of its new $1.4 billion Hambantota port, due to start commercial operations this year.
The island nation launched the port in August 2010 with an initial target of handling 2,500 ships annually, as a cornerstone of a $6 billion drive to rebuild infrastructure that was neglected during a 25-year civil war.
But large ships are yet to call on the port and the country’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has pointed to the rock as a sign of government mismanagement.
