The Hon. Ravi Karunanayake

¶ 01 Sir, I congratulate the Hon. Minister for giving a precise Answer and I appreciate it. I hope that all the other Ministers would take cue from the Minister.

¶ 02 Hon. Minister, in your response, there was one specific elimination. The President cited the Hingurakgoda Airport as a way forward and that has not been brought into the Answer. I presume it is part of this with its constructions ongoing.

¶ 03 In this situation, I see that the Bandaranaike International Airport operates at a capacity of 142 per cent. You have two VIP terminals there. Why not convert one of them into an active terminal, because passengers are going through a very arduous procedure at the moment, and that does not go well with a person who leaves the country as the last point he remembers of Sri Lanka would be the airport. I propose that one of the VIP terminals be converted into an additional terminal. You can add in as 8, 9 and 10 because slots are there and they are not at the key points at key times. Hon. Speaker, I would greatly appreciate it if the Hon. Minister looks into that.

¶ 04 Furthermore, with the Middle East in turmoil for the next month or so, we will have to bear the brunt of what is going on there. Position Sri Lanka to take advantage of that situation. The Mattala Airport is a sleeping giant which could be awakened at this moment. There are Qatar Airways flights operating directly to Europe and to Muscat. Use the Mattala Airport to our advantage. You could even offer free handling because the concomitant advantages thereafter would be far greater. Qatar Airways handles roughly about 700,000 seats a week. Bring them in, speak to them and say, “We will give you free handling,” and the rest would flow thereafter. Likewise, with Etihad and Emirates, the same thing could be pursued.

¶ 05 The next one is cargo. Last time, I told the Hon. Minister of Fisheries that about 400 to 500 tons of fish perish due to lack of capacity. Ensure that these areas are converted so that we could earn foreign exchange at this decisive time. Hon. Minister, you have a big role to play with regard to both the Port and the Airport. You can bring them into Sri Lanka by sea and take them out by air. All these can be converted, if you adopt a forward-thinking approach.

¶ 06 All we can do is give you ideas and those must be crystallized soon because this type of situation would not last for the next two, three or four years. Seize the opportunity.