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ECT Council to write to India

20 Jan 2021

  • Plans to hand over letter to Indian HC

  By Dinitha Rathnayake   The newly formed National Council for the Protection of the East Container Terminal (ECT) will hand over a letter to the Indian High Commission in Colombo opposing the planned acquisition of a 49% stake of the terminal by India’s Adani Group. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (20), Progressive Workers Association for Commercial Industry and Services (PWACIS) Chief Secretary Shamal Sumanarathna said that before taking this step, the Council would hand over a proposal tomorrow (22) to Ministry of Ports and Shipping and Southern Development Secretary (Retd.) Admiral S.S. Ranasinghe. “We will hand over the proposal tomorrow and we will not stop until we get a proper solution for this. We will be handing over a letter to the Indian High Commission as a part of our plan.” He added that this proposal would explain how to keep the ECT completely under the purview of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). The Council is not willing to agree to anything less than 100% ownership of the ECT remaining with the SLPA, and believes that any argument about the loss of business does not hold water. "Our aim is to retain the ECT's operation 100% under the SLPA. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his administration had renegotiated the agreement, according to which Sri Lanka would hold 51% of ownership of the ECT and the SLPA would manage the terminal's operations. According to the President, there is a danger of the Colombo Port losing 66% of transshipment business coming from India, which the Port currently handles. We told the President that, if that is the case, we would still lose the 66% business even after the new deal was inked," Sumanaratna said. He went on to say that the purpose of establishing the National Council is to “stay strong” and oppose the Government’s decision to sell 49% shares of the ECT to the Adani Group, thereby “favouring” India. The National Council has among its membership, ports workers, leftist political parties, nationalists, and civil society groups. “These groups have little in common with each other but on this particular issue, they have made a common cause and even make joint efforts to protect the ECT,” added Sumanarathna. Trade unions across the political divide have united to reject the foreign investment in the ECT and raise objections over the ECT passing into foreign hands, thereby allegedly resulting in an erosion of the country’s sovereignty.

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