https://mobile.twitter.com/ChinaEmbSL/status/1245689708711198724
Historical day for the Hambantota Port and Sri Lanka as the Port welcomed the first oil tanker “Melody” yesterday. The vessel berthed at the port to discharge fuel to commence the much awaited bunkering services opening new chapter in in the ports operations.
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යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව කරපු තව අනර්ඝ වැඩක ප්රතිඵල ලංකාවට තිබුණා නම් අපිට මේ වැඩේ ලස්සනට කරන්න තිබුණා අපරාදේ China වලට වරාය දෙනකොටත් තෙල් ටැංකි හදලා තිබුනේ. මුලින්ම ගලක් තියෙනවා කියලා බොරු කතා කිව්වා පස්සෙ බලයට ආවම අවුරුදු 99 ට දිලා දැම්මා
Galak thibba kivve boruvatada kiyala meken penava:
'...Chinese laborers began working day and night to get the port ready, officials said. But when workers dredged the land and then flooded it to create the basin of the port, they had not taken into account a large boulder that partly blocked the entrance, preventing the entry of large ships, like oil tankers, that the port’s business model relied on.
Ports Authority officials, unwilling to cross the president, quickly moved ahead anyway. The Hambantota port opened in an elaborate celebration on Nov. 18, 2010, Mr. Rajapaksa’s birthday. Then it sat waiting for business while the rock blocked it.
China Harbor blasted the boulder a year later, at a cost of $40 million, an exorbitant price that raised concerns among diplomats and government officials...'
Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html