What fills this port is the future prosperity of our nation

– President at Hambantota Port ceremony

“Every drop of water that fills up this great port should dissolve and wipe out the feelings of weakness and inability that once prevailed among us”.

It is not sea water that will fill this port, but the future prosperity of our nation. From this port will emerge our true economic independence.  This a great symbol of our moving away from the days when we said we are unable to develop for lack of funds, to a time when we can show how the country can be developed through our own strength, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the large gathering at the Karadiyawara Mangallaya, the ceremonial sea water intake completing Phase One of the Hambantota Port Development today (15).

President Rajapaksa said: “We are now engaged in building our future. Ours is the rising economy in Asia. This is our own vision. It is of our own construction.  This new emerging economy will be enriched with a knowledge economy in addition to the physical and infrastructural facilities.”

He added that: “We must announce to the world that this is a massive technological achievement built in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we will not anymore be a nation that is satisfied with supplying only fuel and water to ships.  This port must lead to the emergence of tens of thousands of employment opportunities.”