• Deputy Min. says Col. ECT Pvt. Ltd. is entirely Col. Port-owned; cites operational efficiency 

The Government has denied allegations that it is preparing to privatise the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port, following criticism by the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) over the recent formation of a limited liability company to manage the terminal.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation, Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku said that the newly-formed company, Colombo Eastern Container Terminal (Private) Limited is a 100% Port-owned entity and that the move is aimed solely at improving operational efficiency. “This is not a privatisation model. It is a business model. The goal is to make the terminal run more efficiently and profitably. We are not privatising the East Jetty at all."

His comments come in the wake of remarks made by FSP Secretary for Education, Pubudu Jayagoda, who, at a recent press conference, alleged that the Cabinet of Ministers decision to establish the said company was part of a long-term strategy to hand over State assets to private and possibly foreign entities. He claimed that forming the new company was the first step in what he described as a covert plan to privatise the terminal. “This is how the Government operates now. They create companies to manage State property and then gradually sell off shares through the stock market. If the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is genuinely going to manage the terminal, why go through the trouble of creating a new company? This new company could eventually be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, potentially paving the way for private investors, including foreign firms to take control of it," he alleged.

Last week, the Cabinet had approved the incorporation of a limited liability company, the Colombo ECT (Private) Ltd., to manage and operate the ECT.