By Tharindu Chaturanga Hambantota Port officials refused to make any statement on the revenue made so far by the port after the operations were taken over by the Chinese. A group of local journalists were taken on a visit to the port last weekend to be briefed on its operations. However, when asked how much the port has made after it was handed over to a Chinese company, port officials said they could not comment. Meanwhile, port officials said that the Hambantota Port is ready to accommodate the Southern Naval Command. The Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Captain Ravi Jayawickrama told The Morning that since the Government had decided to shift the Southern Naval Command to Hambantota, the Hambantota Port was considered as the likely location. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in June that the Sri Lanka Navy will move its Southern Command to the Hambantota Port. He stated that it was made clear to the Chinese leaders that the Hambantota Port would not be allowed to be used by China for any military purposes. Unable to pay back the billions of dollars borrowed from China by the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa-government to build the former president's namesake port, the Government decided to lease, on a 99-year term, a 70% stake in the strategic port for $ 1.12 billion to state-owned China Merchants Port Holdings. In June, China Merchants Port Holdings paid the final payment of $ 585 million out of the $ 1.12 billion deal.