Construction work has already begun on the Hambantota port with Chinese funds, leading to doubts in the local shipping community whether the new Colombo South Port, urgently required to expand capacity to meet surging cargo volumes, was being given the priority it deserves.
Hambantota is one of the island's most neglected districts where unemployment and poverty levels are high. It is also the home of the country's president, Mahinda Rajapakse.
"Even though there may be doubts that the South Port is not moving fast enough, the government wants to develop both ports," justice minister Dylan Perera told the forum organised by the Company of Master Mariners with the support of the Nautical Institute.
"It's not that the South Port has been stopped and Hambantota i