"If the Colombo South Harbour Terminal did not exist, I would probably still be seeking employment overseas to earn money to support my 5-member family," said Yuri S. Kannangara, the assistant general manager of the operations department of the Colombo South Harbour Terminal located in Sri Lanka's capital.
"The South Harbour Terminal gives me hope for a stable future. The economic and social benefits generated by its construction and operation has contributed to thousands of local households," Kannangara explained.
Standing on the terrace of his office at the Colombo Port, overlooking the yard filled with containers, the quay cranes and RTG machines with the giant "Shanghai Zhen Hua", Kannangara continued "It's an impressive sight you can see vessels on the India Ocean sea-lane from here."
In front of the container yard, the 49-year-old told Xinhua that before his employment with South Harbour, he had been employed in South Africa, far away from his family. However following his recruitment here, Kannangara is happy to be back home and settled with his family.
Describing his life, he went on to say that in the past, in order to provide a better life for his three children, he had to travel back and forth from South Africa in order to earn a stable income and that although he had gained economically, he had lost quality time with his family.
In 2012, Kannangara finally received a job in Sri Lanka and was recruited by the South Harbour. This job not only provides him a higher income, but also expands his career and offers him a brighter future.
Kannangara said that during his five year employment with South Harbour, he has been sent to China four times for training, which he valued. During his time in China, his Chinese friends taught him many operational techniques which has benefitted him in his career. He also witnessed the rapid growth of China's economy.
Kannangara believes that the strong bond shared between China and Sri Lanka would continue to benefit both nations.
He said the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposed by China would also bring tremendous development opportunities to Sri Lanka and benefit the local people.
Moreover, Kannangara said he valued the traditional friendship shared between China and Sri Lanka, and looked forward to more development projects such as the South Harbour Terminal when building the maritime silk road so that Sri Lanka can further develop and benefit from such a vast project.
Thousands of local employees, like Kannangara, have gained stable employment and higher salaries during the construction and operational process of the South Harbour.
Xiaoqiang Zhang, general manager of China Harbour which is responsible for the construction in Sri Lanka, told Xinhua that during the construction of the terminal, their company directly hired 1,500 local workers and created approximately 4,000 indirect employment opportunities.
They have also trained a large number of skilled workers and related engineering constructional personnel, building a strong human resource base for Sri Lanka to become an international maritime hub.
Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) is a joint venture which is 85 percent owned by China Merchants Holdings International Company (CMHI) and 15 percent owned by Sri Lanka Ports Authority. The 550 million U.S. dollar facility is the largest foreign investment project in the island country so far that has been put into operation.
CICT is not only one of the first approved important strategic
development projects in Sri Lanka, but also a flagship project under China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative.
Since the South Harbour commenced operation in 2014, Sri Lanka's economic and social growth has been in the spotlight.
Chairman of CICT Nelson Liu said that until May 25, Colombo Port reached 2.21 million TEUs this year, an increase of 10.87 percent compared to the previous year. However, the throughput of the South Harbour accumulated up to 740 thousand TEUs, an increase of 36.85 percent, which is a significant increase.
Liu said that in 2015, the throughput reached 1.5 million TEUs, a 1.2 times increase compared to the previous year. This had led to the Colombo Port achieving a 5 million TEUs history.
Since 2014, following the early completion of the South Harbour construction, the service effectiveness of Colombo Port had been significantly increased, thereby getting rid of the slow growth situation.
In 2014, the Colombo Port reached a record 14 percent and topped the list among the world's 30 largest container terminals, in terms of growth rate.
Within the past two years, the Colombo Harbour has shown rapid development momentum due to the early completion of construction by CICT. It benefits from CMHI's globalized terminal network resources.
Under the trend of bigger vessels in the world's shipping industry, as the only terminal that is able to unload large containers in South Asia to fill the gaps of the Colombo Port, the South Harbour has become a hub of a growing number of large vessels. As such, Colombo's regional shipping center has gradually been improved.
Nelson said "We have set the 'Chinese speed' in the construction of overseas terminal and operations in Sri Lanka. With an ABC philosophy of American supervision, British standard and Chinese speed, the South Harbour project was completed in a record time of 28 months, 32 months ahead of schedule.
"In addition, the construction time was saved significantly, and we also achieved normal operation within 6 months, which won the recognition of international clients."
"Along with other Chinese-funded construction projects, we have played an important role in Sri Lanka's post-war reconstruction and economic and social development," he added.
