COLOMBO: The controversial Sri Lanka-China agreement on the Hambantota deep water port in southern Sri Lanka is likely to go through another revision by Aug 8, its second, in a saga which began in 2008 and has not seen an end despite the inking on the ‘amended’ agreement last Saturday.

President Maithripala Sirisena told the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) on Tuesday, that the agreement his government had signed with the China Merchant Port Holdings Company (CMPort) on July 29, will be amended, yet again, to the advantage of the SLPA.

Answering criticism from the media and the Joint Opposition that the deal, as it stands, is disadvantageous to Sri Lanka because the business part of it will be entirely with the Chinese company, the President said that a revision will be discussed with the Chinese company and a new agreement will be tabled in parliament for a debate on Aug 8.

Trade unions from Sri Lanka’s port and petroleum sectors, supported by the Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, are demanding that the bunkering business be taken over by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority as it is a profitable line. At present bunkering is to be handled by a company in which China Merchant Port Holdings Company has 85 per cent share and SLPA only 15pc.

The unions had embarked on a strike over this demand last week, giving up their strike action only when President Sirisena assured them that he would rectify their grievances. It is likely that President Sirisena will instruct Sri Lankan negotiators to yet again persuade CMPort to hand over bunkering to Sri Lanka Ports Authority and persuade the Chinese to agree to this new amendment.

According to the amended agreement signed on July 29, two companies will be formed to run the Hambantota port one is the Hambantota International Port Services Company Ltd with a capitalisation of $600 million.

And the other is the Hambantota International Port Group Ltd with a capitalisation of $794m. The total investment in the port will thus be approximately $1.4bn.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2017