Government revives Jaya Terminal expansion
The government has reinvigorated the state machinery and streamlined official procedures to expedite long delayed operational expansion of the Jaya Container Terminal-the oldest container facility at the Port of Colombo.,
The new up-gradation is designed to extend and modernise the JCT. It comprises an extension in anchorage of 120 metres to extend it to a length of 1,400 metres.
Also, plans include adding three new gantry cranes and enlarging the container yard by 13 acres to meet growing demand.
Currently, the 600-metre-long terminal is not able to receive two large vessels, each measuring 330 metres in length, simultaneously.
In this context the construction work of the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT)-V Yard in the Port of Colombo has been awarded to Maga Engineering Ltd in a Rs.650.9 million contract.
The Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday granted approval for the construction works of the project to develop the yard area behind to increase the yard capacity.
According to the latest report by the National Audit Office, the revised cost of the whole project has been estimated at Rs.10 billion as against the earlier cost estimate of Rs.5 billion.
In July 2017 the Cabinet of ministers approved the expansion of the terminal and the deepening of the basin to 15 metres.
The agreement between the SLPA and the contractor was signed on November 29, 2018, at a cost of Rs. 5.04 billion sans VAT.
However, the project was plagued by delays in procedure. While the project was supposed to start within seven days from the date of signing as per the agreement, no such notice was given.
The Cabinet changed the contract in September 2020 and deferred the commencement of the project for two years to November 23, 2020.
But only 82.6 per cent of the project was completed as of December 31, 2023 although it was initially scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2020, recent government audit report revealed.
Despite setbacks, construction work was nearing completion despite the official inauguration had been scheduled for June 2024 by the previous regime, a senior official of the port and aviation ministry disclosed.
These delays were attributed to political instability of the country during election times and subsequent changes in government.
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