Sri Lankan Minister wants eGate fast-tracked at Bandaranaike International Airport.
Daily FT: Sri Lanka’s Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has instructed officials to expedite the procurement process for establishing electronic gate facilities similar to other modern and developed airports at international destinations at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).
At a special discussion with officials of the Airport and Aviation Sri Lanka Ltd., the Minister gave instructions to establish two such electronic gates at the Arrivals Terminal and two at the Departures Terminal under Phase I of the project.
“Although the project had been initiated in 2017 it had not been implemented due to various reasons. Therefore, I am instructing officials to expedite obtaining required approvals according to relevant procurement processes and reinstate the project immediately, with less expenditure and in a more advantageous manner to the country,” the Minister said.
It was also revealed at the discussions that the financial provisions for the project will be allocated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and that the process will take around one year.
The Minister emphasised for implementations through the financial aid from the IOM and until such time to establish as an urgent requirement utilising funds from the Airport and Aviation (Sri Lanka) Ltd. according to accepted tender procedures.
“I urge the assistance of the IOM for modernisation projects of the port sector as well as a joint committee to be appointed for this purpose. Under that committee, priority should be extended to obtain the scan machine that should be available very soon at the Kankesanthurai (KKS) Port. The technical assistance of the IOM should also be obtained for performing operations and other activities of the port with enhanced productivity,” the Minister emphasised.
The requirement for two scan machines for security scanning of metal and other material for the passenger ferry service between KKS and India to be launched in the near future was emphasised at the discussion and instructions were extended to obtain them without delay.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s development programme is aimed at addressing the expanding requirements of all key economic sectors. There has been a steady growth in foreign travellers to the country with the number of flights operated to Sri Lanka by international airlines also seeing an increase. All these are indicative of the expanding business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s airport and aviation sector. There is a growing need for Sri Lanka to upgrade its existing systems in the airport and aviation sector in order to be on par with the evolving international standards, especially with Sri Lanka targeting on becoming a business destination in the South Asian region. Therefore Sri Lanka is in need of technical expertise in the airport and aviation sector for the development of supplementary infrastructure facilities. Given the growth and business potential in the sectory, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka’s airport and aviation sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/22022023/X_3 |