Once envisioned as a vital link between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the global maritime industry, a semi-state company jointly owned by the SLPA (40%) and the Ceylon Shipping Corporation (15%) has now become a financial burden on the national economy.
Established to elevate the quality of port services to international standards, the company’s steady decline in profitability, operational inefficiency, and poor financial discipline have turned it into a defunct enterprise struggling for relevance.
The company was initially tasked with a wide range of functions from controlling port transportation and managing cargo handling to administering employment agencies, managing Galle Face Green, and recruiting Sri Lankan seafarers for international employment. Despite these strategic responsibilities, its financial performance in 2023 paints a grim picture of mismanagement and stagnation.
According to audited data, the company’s total income for 2023 amounted to Rs. 145.66 million, against an expenditure of Rs. 143.24 million, leaving a meagre profit of Rs. 2.4 million a sharp drop from Rs. 7.1 million in the previous year. The 3% decline in income reflects operational inefficiencies and a lack of strategic direction, raising serious questions about its economic viability.
The financial setbacks have not been limited to reduced profits. In a glaring example of mismanagement, the company entered into an agreement in 2014 with Tangyo Haulage (Pvt) Ltd to obtain carrier vehicles. Its subsequent failure to meet payment obligations led to a court-ordered compensation of Rs. 28.9 million in 2017, draining valuable public funds. This legal debacle remains a testament to weak financial control and oversight.
Further compounding its troubles, the company leased out a cafeteria at the Macculum Gate premises of the Ports Authority to a third party from 2008 to 2023. Despite the operation spanning 15 years, a sum of Rs. 4.5 million remains unpaid to the company, with no recovery action initiated even by the end of 2023. This negligence not only highlights lax financial governance but also exposes the absence of accountability mechanisms within the management.
Economists warn that the prolonged inefficiency of such semi-state enterprises imposes a silent but significant burden on the national economy. If a company with state ownership continues to generate negligible returns while holding valuable assets, it effectively ties up public capital that could be reallocated to productive sectors like logistics modernization, trade facilitation, or digital port management.
Given Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to reform and commercialize state-owned enterprises, the question of whether this company should continue to operate in its current form has become increasingly relevant. Analysts argue that unless the entity undergoes deep restructuring, transparent management reforms, and performance-based accountability, it will remain an economic liability rather than a contributor to national growth.
In the face of recurring losses, unpaid dues, and outdated operational practices, the company’s viability is now in serious doubt. Without decisive government intervention either through restructuring or strategic partnerships with private operators the once-promising venture risks becoming yet another failed state-owned enterprise draining scarce public resources.
Leave your comments
Login to post a comment
Post comment as a guest