The newly-appointed Chairman of the
Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Dr. Priyath Wickrema has said
that he will focus on four major development projects
namely; the Colombo South Port Development Project, the
Hambantota Project, the Oluvil Port Development Project
and the construction of a Yacht Marina in Galle.
“The SLPA will invest Rs.100 million
for the Yacht Marina along with a Yacht Repairing
Centre. Currently there are around 10-15 Yachts that
call at Galle via Colombo. Our target is to improve the
number of yachts that are attracted to the Galle
coastline and create more opportunities for the
community in Galle to contribute to our economic
development. We are expecting to complete this project
within four months. The second phase of this project
will be to establish a dedicated passenger berth and
terminal which would be linked to the Unawatuna Beach.
As we know Galle has always been a tourist area and so
our primary focus will be to promote tourism-related
activities,” Dr. Wickrama noted.
Commenting on his new appointment as
the Chairman of the SLPA, he saw that it came in a
challenging environment that evolved as a result of the
global financial crisis. “Since the customers are
expecting quality and a reliable service, the SLPA is
gearing-up to establish a fast-responding web interface
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software program
to communicate with customers online. This software will
be implemented to perform financial, logistics and
terminal management operation. The initial part of the
project would cost around Rs.60 million to develop the
financial and logistics operations systems.”
Commenting on the Oluvil project Dr.
Wickrema noted that the “Oluvil port construction
project has already started and we have been waiting for
the last one and a half months till the Attorney General
released the document to step into the construction of
the Colombo South Port Development project of which the
breakwater system has already been completed. We are
well ahead of schedule in the Hambantota Harbour
Construction Project because we were supposed to
complete it within thirty-nine months. We are confident
of completing the development of the Hambantota Harbour
within thirty months,” Dr. Wickrama concluded.
Dr. Priyantha Bandu Wickrama was
appointed by the Minister of Ports, Aviation, Irrigation
and Water Management, Chamal Rajapaksha following the
resignation of SLPA former Chairman, Saliya
Wickramasuriya. Dr. Wickrama is the youngest Chairman
and the first-ever permanent employee to assume duties
as Chairman of the SLPA and counts for over 29 years of
experience in the SLPA. Dr. Wickrema’s three year
development plan which was presented simultaneously with
his assumption of office is also a first and includes a
portfolio of several key major issues such as the issue
on the development of rival ports within the region and
several solutions to be successful in the midst of a
global financial crisis.
