(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was awarded the Ports Authority of the Year 2018 Award by the Global Ports Forum (GPF) at the fourth GPF awards ceremony held last week at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The awards ceremony, followed by the conference forum is organized annually by the GPF, in continuation of the commitment of improving global ports and furthering the interests of ports globally through collaboration between members of the port ecosystem.
SLPA Marketing and Business Development Chief Manager Upul Jayatissa and Communication and Public Relations Chief Manager Nalin Aponso received the award on behalf of SLPA from Muna Al Maeeni, Deputy Director of the Economic and Trade Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE.
The South Asia Gateway Terminal of the Port of Colombo, which received the ‘Best Terminal in South Asia’ Award for the Indian Subcontinent at the GPF awards 2017 held in Dubai, won the award this year too.
The two-day ports forum, which commenced on 21 February, also included discussions on key topics such as Port Strategy and Developments, Port Automation, Port Finance and Port Efficiency.
The GPF Awards 2018 aimed to recognize the most valuable contribution made by organizations and professionals in different areas of the Ports and Terminals Industry and acknowledge their roles and achievements in different categories. The awards are awarded based on the nominations received by the GPF and also in recognition of the important contributions and achievements made by organizations and professionals across the industry during the previous year.
Under the leadership of Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, and instructed by the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, the positive increase at the SLPA-controlled Jaya Container Terminals, especially the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT), is reasoned towards direct and straight forward decisions reached by the management, that has also won employee recognition and credibility for such implementations.
The JCT, which is owned and operated by SLPA, has expressed steady growth of operating volumes since October 2017. Accordingly, container operations at the JCT has increased by 5.3% in October, 8.2% in November and 13.9% in December 2017. At present, productivity at the JCT has increased by 3.2% for Feeder Vessels and 9.4% for Main Lines.
The relationship between the management and SLPA trade unions and collaborative support by all parties and stakeholders engaged in the port operations process has effectively contributed to the increase of productivity at SLPA. Creating history, the Port of Colombo for the first time has recorded 6.2 million container operations in December last year.
The SLPA at present has prepared a three-year development plan to expedite the port sector development process in the country to further increase container volumes. These developments are aimed at making Sri Lanka a maritime center in Asia.
