What ..airport in a port?
View(s):It was like watching a recent clip on cable TV where, during a programme titled ‘Funniest moments’, a baby is seen laughing uncontrollably, gurgling with glee.
That’s one way to describe Kussi Amma Sera who was in peals of laughter in the kitchen while reading the newspaper. It was so loud that I rushed into the kitchen to find her holding her hips and shouting, “Mahattaya, buddu ammo” through the fits of laughter.
“Mokkak de … mokkak de? I ask. “Mey balanna … mey balanna …. Apita guwan thotupolawal dekkak balaganna be, dang thava ekak hadanawa.” Searching the newspaper, I find an article about a proposal for a second airport in the Colombo district, this time within the perimeter of the Colombo Port.
It appears that the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry has issued a statement to local media that it has submitted a proposal to the government to build an airport within the Colombo Port premises. The ministry believes that if this project becomes a reality, it would be the strongest port in the region, the report goes on to say.
And whose hare-brained idea is it? Minister Champika Ranawaka!
He says that if the proposal is implemented within the next 10 years, people can get on a flight from Colombo Fort instead of going to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at Katunayake.
This proposal is not even worth examining if not for the fact that many hare-brained schemes of politicians often get implemented just like the Mattala International Airport, described as the ‘loneliest airport on the planet’.
Many people are on the same page as Kussi Amma Sera, I discovered, talking to others who too find this not only funny, but stupid and coming at a time when the Government has far more pressing needs than another airport.
Airport at the Colombo Port? It’s beyond anyone’s imagination when you consider the kind of land area required for an international airport.
Consider this: The BIA is 438 hectares in extent, while the Mattala Airport is almost double that at 800 hectares. Both have just one runway. In the region, Bombay Airport with two runways has around 800 hectares, while Delhi International Airport with three runways is on 2,023 hectares. Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport, has two runways on 2,900 hectares of land space.
Now the total size of the Colombo Port is 550 hectares land area and 450 hectares (water area), while the under-construction Colombo Port city will have 233 hectares on completion.
The examples listed above show that a large land area is required to build an international airport. To take up Ranawaka’s proposal, is he inferring that the proposed airport — which would require at least a minimum 400 hectares — be built within Colombo Port’s 550 hectares of land space or is he suggesting that Sri Lanka create another (costly in terms of not only money but ecological repercussions) island like the Colombo Port city?
While the suggestion to build a new airport (probably turning the BIA into another ‘lonely airport with not a soul in sight like Mattala’) is to help people in the city, the fact is that airports are never located near major cities for the simple reason that it needs a lot of space for landing, take-off and high-decibel sound impacts on residents.
Travelling distances of 30 to 50 km to board a flight is not a problem in today’s technology-driven era of transport. In most cities, high-speed trains cover such distances in 10 minutes while expressways cover the distance in the same time. In Kuala Lumpur, you can board a train with your luggage and comfortably get to the airport rather than take the highway.
If Ranawaka’s concern for his fellow travellers is to reduce their travel time – from Colombo to Katunayake (in the first place why have an expressway?), then the best solution is to create the infrastructure in the city for a pick-up point and an airport transfer by train which should take less than 20 minutes, just like the temporary facilities created for the Commonwealth Heads of State or Government meeting held here a couple of years ago.
Having a high-speed rail service to the airport with a pick-up point in Colombo is a far less costly and more practical solution to reduce travel time than building an airport in the city. Imagine planes landing at the Colombo Port in the midst of towering new and old skyscrapers? Galle Face Green patrons will be swept off their feet while koththu sellers will have to run for cover!
On the other hand, why is the Minister only concerned about Colombo’s mega-class residents? What about thousands of others who travel distances of more than 100 km to get to the airport, like Sri Lankan migrant workers for instance? What about their rights and needs?
Thank heavens, the proposal was not presented to the Cabinet which ironically this week turned down a couple of proposals which bordered on nonsensical needs or ego trips of ministers, like the one by Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake to create an office of Chief of Staff (COS). The western-styled Chief of Staff (COS) concept was introduced by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe whose COS is Sagala Ratnayake. While President Maithripala Sirisena has a COS division, there is no COS position appointee as yet.
When Karunanayake’s proposal was examined by the Cabinet, it was rejected but not before the President asked his ministers as to how many would like a COS. The response – all hands go up! Whether the President was trying to be funny or serious, one would never know.
Another silly comment came from Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development Harsha de Silva. He told participants at a Colombo business gathering that he has never paid a bribe to a government or local government agency and faulted the business community for complaining about corruption when they were part of the problem (paying bribes).
The reality is that nothing moves in the city if businesses don’t pay bribes and one company that learnt this the hard way is Hayleys. For years, while others got things done with a little ‘something’ to get a contract, Hayleys stayed clear but wasn’t getting the business it needed and deserved (based on merit). One fine day, the Hayleys annual report alludes to this ‘bribe’ culture and raises alarm bells saying it was losing deals because it refuses to ‘pay’. Times have changed at this once, staid and ethically correct establishment which is now moving ‘with the times’ after powerful and influential businesses took control.
The reality is also that the buck must stop from the top itself – the politician and the public servant. If these people are honest, everyone else would follow suit.
Back to the hare-brained idea of an airport within the Colombo Port, the Government is already struggling financially and politically to resolve the Mattala Airport and Port, two white elephants. Any new airport will become another white elephant (Mattala cost the country US$270 million in loaned cash), with generations called upon to pay through their noses to settle loans.
So, listen to Kussi Amma Sera, she has some good points on extravagant spending. Take a cue from the Perera family of Gypsies fame who, probably taking a lesson from Kussi Amma Sera, came up with a stunning new song titled ‘Kussiya’. At least, someone is listening to some good, old advice from the ‘kussiya’ (kitchen).