Port Bids

June 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has re-appointed project committees to award a container terminal concession to expand Colombo port, with fresh bids expected to be called by end-July, a top official said. Under the new agreement, the loan became effective in May while the government has agreed to award the terminal concession within 18 months.

Wickramasuriya said this meant they would have to call for fresh bids by end-July.

The successful bidder is expected to start work by October 2009 when building of the breakwater would have reached a stage to provide enough sheltered water to commence construction of the new terminal.

"The government is still committed to doing the project as a private-public partnership and to international, competitive bidding," Wickramasuriya said.

The original request for proposals is also to be changed to better reflect the SLPA's requirements in the long term.

Hyundai, which won the harbour infrastructure contract, has already dredged over a million cubic metres off Colombo and begun stockpiling rock to build the breakwater, Wickramasuriya said. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) plans to market the new terminal "aggressively", its chairman Saliya W