Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office on Tuesday said that they scrapped the deal to develop a major port terminal with India and Japan.
Amid weeks-long protests by trade unions and opposition parties, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office on Tuesday said that they scrapped the deal to develop a major port terminal with India and Japan.
Previously, the neighbouring country had agreed to develop the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo port with India and Japan. 49% of shares, under the deal, were to be owned by India and Japan while Sri Lanka’s Ports Authority would retain the majority stake. The Sri Lankan government had said that it would instead develop the port’s West Container terminal with investment from India and Japan.
However, the Colombo port trade unions had opposed the proposal of investors from India and Japan buying 49 per cent stake in the ETC. As opposed to 51%, they had demanded the ECT to remain 100 per cent owned by the SLPA. 23 trade unions had come together to oppose the deal.
The proposed deal with India’s Adani Group, according to the protesting unions, was a sell out of the ECT.
The unions mostly affiliated to the ruling Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) forced the government not to go ahead with the deal.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan President, had recently said that stopping the deal would endanger the 66 per cent of Indian transhipment cargo handled by the ECT. However, the trade unions were able to mount public opinion against the deal in recent weeks.
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