Oil tanks in Hambantota Port sinking

Saturday, 20 April 2013 

A senior official at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said that the newly built oil tanks at the Hambantota Magampura Port have started to sink. The oil tanks are sinking because the ground beneath them is weak. He added that cracks have also started to appear on the tanks.

Although a feasibility study was conducted prior to the construction of the tanks, the report had been ignored due to Presidential intervention. The official said that plans of off shore bunkering would now have to be put aside.

It was initially decided to provide aviation fuel required by the Mattala Airport from the Hambantota Magampura Port. However, due to the issue with the oil tanks at the port, fuel to the Mattala Airport would have to be transported by bowsers. Although a ship calling at a port is not a great news story, the state media has made stories out of any ship that calls at the Hambantota Magampura Port since it was built out of public funds to satisfy the President. The port was in fact built by digging a land mass. In a similar manner, the President is now engaged in personally meeting with visitors to the Mattala Airport to encourage them to use it more. Senior government ministers say that the best way to meet the President these days is to visit the Mattala Airport.