Sri Lanka formally hands over Hambantota port to China on 99-year lease, opposition dubs it as a sell-out

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Saturday formally handed over the strategic southern port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, in a deal dubbed by the opposition as a sell-out. Two Chinese firms — Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) and Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) — managed by the China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority will own the port and the investment zone around it, officials said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during a visit to China in April had agreed to swap equity in Chinese infrastructure projects launched by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in his home district. [caption id=“attachment_4250837” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A Chinese engineer watches the excavation process at the construction site for a deep water shipping port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. Reuters[/caption] Sri Lanka owed China $8 billion, the then-finance minister Ravi Karunanayake had said last year. “With this agreement we have started to pay back the loans. Hambantota will be converted to a major port in the Indian Ocean,” Wickremesinghe said while addressing the handing over ceremony held in parliament. “There will be an economic zone and industrialisation in the area which will lead to economic development and promote tourism,” the prime minister said. The government’s grant of large tax concessions to Chinese firms have also been questioned by the opposition. The opposition and trade unions have dubbed the deal as a sell out of the country’s national assets to China. The Sri Lankan government had signed a $1.1 billion deal in July to sell a 70 percent stake in the Hambantota port to China. Sri Lanka received $300 million as the initial payment under the 99-year lease agreement which the opposition had described as a sell out. The port, overlooking the Indian Ocean, is expected to play a key role in China’s Belt and Road initiative, which will link ports and roads between China and Europe. In order to allay India’s security concerns over the Chinese navy’s presence in Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe had earlier ruled out the possibility of the strategic port being used as a “military base” by any foreign country.