President Mahinda Rajapaksa
said development goals
cannot be achieved by
opening old wounds or by
digging for dirt.
The President was addressing
the gathering after
commissioning the newly
constructed Oluvil
commercial port and
fisheries harbour and ice
manufacturing plant
yesterday. The harbour
project was constructed at a
cost of Rs.7,000 million.
The President said the
opposition levels baseless
allegations that the
government is going to
privatize many government
entities, including the
People’s Bank, Bank of
Ceylon and Savings Bank. As
a people friendly and
country friendly government,
state entities will never be
privatized. “This is not the
era to sell government
entities, but, to regain
those privatized ones” the
President added.
“The opposition can do
nothing but level baseless
allegations at the
government.
The President urged the
people not to fall prey to
those baseless allegations,
which were levelled for
petty political gains.
“We all are children of one
mother. Therefore, we should
all come forward to take the
country forward forgetting
minor issues” the President
noted.
The President further added
that the newly constructed
Oluvil harbour is the
Eastern link of the
development chain of the
government. This can be
considered as the largest
development project to be
undertaken in the Eastern
Province.
Due to this mega
construction, the province
will actively participate in
the national development
process.
The President added that the
country has been place on a
rapid development track.
After liberating the area
from the clutches of the
terrorism, the entire
country is being developed.
A few years ago, government
officials were transferred
to Digamadulla as a way of
punishment. But, that
situation has entirely
changed now. Every one is
witness to the development
dividends.
“According to this
development initiative,
thousands of development
activities were carried out
at a cost of Rs 60,000
million. Under the
government initiatives to
set up a modern port system
in the country aiming to
become the naval hub of
Asia, many ports are being
constructed throughout the
coastal belt,” the President
said.
“The Government has
allocated approximately Rs
7,000 million for the Oluvil
Port project with the
financial assistance of the
government of Denmark.
The construction of the
Oluvil commercial harbour
and the fishing harbour
commenced on June 20, 2008
under the Neganahira
Navodaya development program
of the government.
The completion of the
harbour is expected to boost
economic infrastructure
activities especially in the
Eastern Province.
The Oluvil Port consists of
two sections, a commercial
harbour and small craft
harbour (fishery harbour).
The commercial port has a
330 metre quay with a water
depth of 8 metres, while the
fishing port comprises 200
metres of quay with a water
depth of three metres.
The commercial harbour comes
with all other harbour
related institutions and
buildings such as
warehouses, police station,
generator and transformer
building, communication
centres, fuel storages,
while the fisheries harbour
consists of ice plants, cold
room facilities, storage
facilities for fishing
equipment and many other
facilities.
A light house for the Oluvil
harbour has already been
constructed for the benefit
of both commercial and
fishing crafts. The
commercial harbour would
have enough depth to handle
ships up to 5,000 metric
tonnes and the fisheries
harbour could hold more than
250 fishing boats
simultaneously.
The construction of the
commercial and fishing port,
which consists of two phases
has been completed by a
Danish construction company.
During the first phase, two
breakwaters were constructed
and during the second phase,
dredging was undertaken to
enable the port to handle
vessels of up to 16,000
tons.
Moreover, the port will form
the south-eastern link in
the developing chain of
coastal harbours in the
country and will provide
more convenient and cost
effective access to and from
the south-eastern region for
goods and cargo originating
on the west coast.
(DN
-02092013)