Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the incident at the Hambantota Port caused harm to the country’s image and also created a problem regarding the port while the government has also been asked by shipping companies to pay for the damages. 

He was speaking to reporters after meeting with the Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, who handed over a report detailing the recent navy operation carried out at the Hambantota Port while protesting employees had blocked vessels. 

Two shipping companies called me and asked that their ships, which were prevented from leaving, be protected and safeguard from any harm, the prime minister said.

“After discussing with the President and the Defence Secretary, I asked the Navy Commander to go and protect those ships and helped them leave the harbour.”

“Because we have to hand over this port to a new company on January 7th,” he said. 

Wickremesinghe said that the government has to protect these ports according to the international agreements and that ships will not return to Sri Lanka if those are not implemented. 

“We asked the Navy Commander to act on that. The navy faced obstacles when attempting to clear the ships. However, they managed to remove them from there.” 

He said that a permanent navy camp will be established at the Hambantota Port because unlike Colombo, a petroleum refinery and a LNG plant will be established in Hambantota  

He, however, emphasized that this incident caused harm to the country and created a problem regarding the Hambantota Port. 

He also said that the government has now been asked to pay damages for the losses incurred by the shipping companies. 

The PM said that legal action will be pursued against anyone who is found to have damaged property or violated the law in any manner.