Rock blocks Sri Lanka's flagship port By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - Sri Lanka's Hambantota port project, the showpiece of its mounting
cooperation with China, has run into a formidable obstacle. A massive rock, its
tip barely seven meters from the ocean's surface, at the port's entrance is
blocking access for deep-draft ships.
The port was inaugurated by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in November
last year amid much fanfare and marked by the ceremonial berthing of a Sri
Lankan ship, Jetliner. But within weeks, speculation was rife that all
was not well. No ships had called on the port, fueling speculation that Sri
Lanka's ambitions for the project might have been excessive.
It emerged subsequently that at the time of its inauguration the
port was not fully ready to begin operations. Apparently, the government went
ahead with its opening on November 18 as it was the president's birthday - an
"auspicious day", as a statement issued last week by the Sri Lanka Port
Authority (SLPA) put it.
In April this year, the reason for the delay in completing construction became
public when opposition parliamentarian Harin Fernando drew attention to a rock
at the port's entrance. Only shallow vessels could berth at Hambantota,
Fernando pointed out, adding that the Jetliner had berthed at the time
of the port's inauguration with great difficulty.
The government responded by denying the allegations outright. Deputy Minister
for Ports and Highways Rohitha Abeygunawardena sought to deflect criticism by
trivializing the issue. He challenged Fernando to come to the harbor and show
him the rock.
A few weeks later SLPA chairman Priyath Bandu Wickrema dismissed the "rock
blocking port rumor" as "sheer nonsense". There is "no issue with regard to the
rock", he declared. He claimed that "the last strip of the rock" had been
blasted when the water was let in at the time of filling the harbor basin. "All
newspapers carried that picture," he said, claiming that "almost 85% of the
rock" had been cleared and the "remaining blasting would be completed during
the next few weeks."
After several months of denying the existence of the rock or that it was still
standing and posing problems to entry of ships, the government finally admitted
early this month that the port's operations had indeed been slowed by a rock.
The US$1.4-billion Hambantota port project is a key component of the Rajapaksa
government's effort to rebuild post-war Sri Lanka's infrastructure and to
jumpstart its economic revival. Located in Rajapaksa's home constituency, the
port is the centerpiece of an ambitious array of infrastructure projects
including an international airport, a convention center, expressways etc aimed
at transforming this once poor fishing village into Sri Lanka's commercial
capital.
Hambantota is 240 km southeast of the capital Colombo. The port was conceived
with an eye to relieving congestion at Colombo port. But more importantly, it
was expected to transform the island into a major transshipment hub. Its
location just six nautical miles from major sea lanes between the Arabian Sea
and the Bay of Bengal has made it a valuable shipping hub. Around 70,000 ships
a year reportedly ply the waters south of Hambantota.
This is undoubtedly an ambitious project. On completion, the Hambantota
Development Zone will include a liquefied natural gas refinery, aviation fuel
storage facilities, three separate docks that will give the port transshipment
capacity, dry docks for ship repair and construction, and bunkering and
refueling facilities.
China, which is the project's main backer, has extended a US$1.24 billion
commercial loan towards construction of the port as well as a bunkering
facility. It has funded 85% of the project's first phase. The Hambantota
project is being executed by a consortium of Chinese companies led by the China
Harbor Engineering Company and the Sinohydro Corporation. A substantial part of
the labor on the project is also reported to be Chinese.
The feasibility studies on a port at Hambantota were conducted by SNC Lavalin,
a Canadian engineering firm, and then by the Ramboll Group, a Danish
engineering, design and consultancy company. It is not known whether the
feasibility studies cautioned the government over the rock or why the
government chose to go ahead with the port construction if it knew of the
rock's presence at the port entrance.
Neither Ramboll Group nor the SLPA chairman responded to Asia Time's queries in
this regard.
The SLPA has now claimed that removing the rock will cost it an additional $40
million. Given the denials that have shrouded the project and its problems so
far, it is possible that the government is fudging these figures too.
The Chinese are reportedly loaning the money for removing the rock.
Neighboring India, which has been watching the newfound Sino-Sri Lankan bonding
over the Hambantota port project, will be relieved that it stayed out.
The Rajapaksa government is reported to have offered the project to India first
but Delhi did not show interest. The Chinese then grabbed the offer.
Delhi's failure to clinch the Hambantota deal has come under considerable fire
from Indian security analysts. "When Delhi slept over Colombo's invitation to
build a new port at Hambantota, China stepped in," noted strategic affairs
analyst Raja Mohan lamented.
Indeed, India's lethargy did leave the space open for China to step in to
construct a port at Hambantota.
However, the controversy currently raging over the port and its viability would
have put India in a difficult spot had it, not China, executed the project. It
would have provided Sinhala nationalists with ammunition to blame Delhi for the
port's troubles.
In the circumstances, Delhi will be heaving a sigh of relief. However this
relief is bound to be temporary.
Although the Rajapaksa government has gone out of its way to allay Delhi's
apprehensions over the Chinese involvement in the port and repeatedly stressed
that it will be operated by Lankans alone, Colombo's growing dependence on
China's economic, military and political/diplomatic support has India worried.
Will Sri Lanka's dependence on China compel its leaders at some point in future
to concede Beijing's demand for access to a port it constructed? Will Colombo
follow Myanmar's footsteps?
Interestingly, the ruckus over the rock at Hambantota port has not triggered
criticism targeting China. That would have not been the case had India
constructed the port. The rock might be blocking ships seeking to access the
Hambantota port entrance but phase II of Sino-Sri Lankan cooperation on the
project is poised to steam ahead. Besides, Sri Lanka and China recently signed
a deal on developing Colombo port as well.
India's High Commission at Colombo and the recently inaugurated Consulate at
Hambantota will likely be watching with concern.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore. She can be reached at sudha98@hotmail.com
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