News
Experts point out golden opportunity for Lankan businesses to meet Colombo Port City needs
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Sri Lanka’s private sector would have about five years to get ready to supply goods and services to the Colombo Port City, Sweden-based economist, Kasun Kariyawasam, said at a seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), organized by the Asia Progress Forum on Monday.
Kariyawasam said the Port City would need 500,000 floor tiles, 2.3 million square metres of carpets, 7,188 bedding sets, 480,000 gallons of paint, one million LED bulbs, and six million square metres of wall paper.
“The Port City will also need 160,000 sets of office furniture, 75,000 bathroom sets, 28,992 water closets and wash basins, 37, 500 sets of kitchen cupboards and 37,500 sets of living room furniture. Sri Lankan companies have an ideal opportunity to make money and gain international experience. They have four to five years to be ready, but unless they get their act together, the investors, at the Port City, will import these and we would have gained nothing,” he said.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) Dr. G. Weerasinghe said that by 2041, the Port City will have been fully occupied. There would be 75,000 permanent residents and 175,000 temporary residents.
“We can also supply food and services. This is an opportunity for Sri Lankan hotels, and other service suppliers to make money continuously. We need to expand capacity as well as efficiency. Right now, people have to wait months to buy things like tiles. This won’t work when it comes to projects like the Port City. We need to be more productive. Banks must also step in and provide finance,” he said.
Dr. Weerasinghe added that Sri Lanka also needed to ensure that adequate human resources were made available for the jobs created by the Port City.
“Instead of getting ready to reap benefits, some are grumbling about Chinese investments. Some powerful interests are creating the impression that Sri Lanka won’t benefit from the Port City. If we don’t take steps to get ready to reap benefits from Chinese investments, this will be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said.
Economist Kariyawasam said that Sri Lanka’s financial infrastructure ws weak and that the country had not established systems for cross border settlements. The Colombo Port City is a financial centre and it will do a lot to address these issues,” he said.
The Sri Lankan government must also take steps to establish payment gateways. Sri Lankans had been clamouring for that for decades but successive governments have done little, he said.
Dr. Waruna Chandrakeerthi and Prof. Samitha Hettige spoke of the importance of understanding the Chinese market to promote Sri Lankan exports there.
“The Chinese have been planting tea for thousands of years. We started tea in the 19th century, so we can’t assume that they will buy our tea. What they want is different and we must try to understand their demands. It is a big market, and we need to understand it. We need to have more sinologists,” Dr. Chandrakeerthi said.
Latest News
Ms. U. L. Mathisha Jinanjalie Jayathilake, appointedto the post of Commissioner, Department of Probation and Child Protection Services
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Women and Child Affairs to appoint Ms. U. L. Mathisha Jinanjalie Jayathilake, the officer in Grade I of Sri Lanka Administrative Service to the post of the Commissioner at the Department of Probation and Child Protection Services with immediate effect.
The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Damian Fernando paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Parliament, Dr Jagath Wickramaratne at the Office of the Speaker, today (7 July
2026).
The meeting marked the Commander of the Navy’s first official interaction with the Speaker following his assumption of command of the Sri Lanka Navy. During the cordial discussion, they exchanged views on the Navy’s role in matters of national importance.
The formal meeting drew to a close with an exchange of mementoes, signifying the importance of the occasion.
At least 26 people, including five prison officers and 20 inmates, have been confirmed dead following violent unrest at Negombo Prison, hospital sources said yesterday, as authorities struggled to restore full control over the facility.
According to unconfirmed reports the prison officers were killed by rioters yesterday morning, in retaliation, and weapons carried by those officers were grabbed by them.
Negombo General Hospital Director Consultant Dr. Pushpa Gamlath said nearly 100 injured persons had been admitted, following the clashes, and eight of the critically wounded had been transferred to the National Hospital, in Colombo, for further treatment.
The violence, which initially broke out on Sunday (5) between remand prisoners and convicted inmates, left two inmates dead and 38 others injured before being temporarily brought under control.
However, tensions flared again on Monday (6), with prison officials reporting renewed unrest inside the facility despite earlier assurances that the situation had stabilised.
Police said the initial confrontation was triggered by a dispute linked to the exposure of an alleged drug trafficking network, operating within the prison, and was reportedly orchestrated by a drug trafficker, identified as Suresh, who is said to have links to an underworld figure known as ‘Booru Moona’.
The violence rapidly escalated, with female inmates staging a protest on the Prison roof in support of those involved in the clashes, while relatives gathered outside demanding information on detainees. Police later facilitated visits for selected family members to hospitalised inmates.
The Negombo Prison, which houses around 1,800 remand and convicted inmates, descended into widespread disorder as rival groups clashed, with reports indicating that the violence later spread beyond the initial confrontation.
Authorities said rioting inmates had allegedly seized firearms during the renewed unrest on Monday, prompting heightened security measures.
The Sri Lanka Air Force deployed drones for aerial surveillance and a Bell 412 helicopter to monitor the situation, while additional military personnel were sent to reinforce security around the prison.
Prisons Department spokesperson A.C. Gajanayake said a special investigation team had been appointed, under the direction of the Commissioner General of Prisons, to probe the incident, while a separate police investigation is also underway.
Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told The Island that he had called for a detailed report on the disturbances.
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