The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answers are as follows.

¶ 02 1. Palaly Airport – 2025 Allocations: - Capital assets: LKR 157 million - Capital projects: LKR 494 million - Total: LKR 651 million Expenditure up to 21.09.2025: LKR 150 million.

¶ 03 2. Kankesanthurai (KKS) – 2025: - Budget allocation requested: LKR 3,455 million, intended for the advance payment on the civil works contract and milestone payments for the consultancy contract, under an Indian Government proposed funding arrangement (discussions at that time). - However, no disbursements had been made from the Budget as of 21.09.2025 because, prior to our Government’s assumption of office (during 2024), the KKS rehabilitation project had been halted. Although discussions resumed with a proposed Indian financing arrangement, the civil works had not commenced as anticipated; hence, the allocation was not expended.

¶ 04 Current status and reasons civil works have not commenced: - On 02.05.2017, Cabinet assigned the KKS rehabilitation to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Preliminary work proceeded via India’s EXIM Bank; consultancy began in 2020. Despite COVID-19 and adverse weather affecting the area, pre-construction tasks under the consultancy are now substantially complete. - The 2016 estimate, after review in 2021, rose from USD 45.27 million to USD 61.5 million due to: • 75% Indian content requirement under the Line of Credit (additional cost to the 2012 estimate); • Increases identified via 3D modelling—dredging volumes, design revisions, and slope changes. - SLPA requested India EXIM to upscale the credit by USD 16.23 million to USD 61.5 million; no response has yet been received. - Pre-qualification documents for works contractors were submitted for EXIM approval in January 2022; approval has not yet been granted. Approval for the Detailed Project Report was given on 07 Nov 2022. - The Indian Government also proposed a separate funding modality to restart the project; no final decision has been communicated. - Without these approvals, we cannot proceed and cannot specify a start date for civil works.

¶ 05 3. The position on smaller Northern harbours/landing sites remains as in the earlier answer.

¶ 06 4. Regarding lands at Palaly: - In 1950, under Department of Civil Aviation Plan No. PPA 1597, 349 acres, 3 roods, 35.9 perches were legally acquired with compensation paid. The Jaffna District Secretariat holds the payment records. - Other acquisitions are not being undertaken by the Department of Civil Aviation or its successor, the Civil Aviation Authority. Details should be obtained from the Ministry of Defence.

¶ 07 5. Acquisition of lands under the name of Palaly Airport expansion is presently being carried out by the Ministry of Defence. Details should be sought from that Ministry.

¶ 08 6. No other instances outside the North and East of private lands acquired for airport or port development have been reported.

¶ 09 7. A port intended to serve at international level must also serve broader regional and global trade. KKS is primarily a regional port serving a limited hinterland in the North and is presently not considered sufficient for international-level requirements; large-scale infrastructure for such purpose may not be feasible for a country like Sri Lanka. Palaly Airport, by contrast, is currently profitable: - 2022: LKR -82 million (net loss) - 2023: LKR 15 million (net profit) - 2024: LKR 76 million (net profit) - 2025 (up to August): LKR 85 million (net profit) KKS has outer-harbour depths of ~10–12 metres; deepening would be extremely costly. Considering projected demand and operations, converting KKS into an international commercial port is not economically viable under current conditions.

¶ 10 8. Because Palaly is relatively profitable, we are developing it in a limited, phased manner. Annual passengers are about 38,000—roughly 2,000–3,000 per month. Development is funded from Katunayake Airport revenues. We are also investing about LKR 1.2 billion to fully renovate the ferry service to the islands (e.g., Delft/Nainativu), addressing Northern connectivity. Business decisions must be taken on business fundamentals.

¶ 11 9. On the allegation that only the airport is being developed while the port is not, as a pretext for military/political land grabs without compensation: we meet local communities frequently; they have clearly stated they are willing to provide lands if genuine development occurs. For land specifics, please obtain details from the Ministry of Defence.

¶ 12 Thank you.