Hili la Hambantota Port (Bandari ya Sri Lanka) nilishawahi kulielezea
hapa!
In short, unlike proposed Bagamoyo Port Project, Bandari ya Hambantota ilijengwa kwa mkopo kutoka chini (as of now, taarifa zinazofahamika kuhusu Bandari ya Bagamoyo, ujenzi wake utakuwa financed under BOT Scheme).
Ukweli ni kwamba, Hambantota Port imejengwa sehemu nzuri sana, kwa sababu ipo jirani sana moja ya shipping lanes kubwa sana duniani. Katika hali ya kushangaza, Bandari ya Hambantota ikawa inakosa meli za kutosha za kuifanya bandari kuwa commercially viable pamoja na kuwa imejengwa kjirani kabisa na njia kuu ya meli zinazotoka Ulaya na America (Atlantic) kwenda Asia.
Kwavile bandari ilikuwa inakosa meli za kutosha, ikaanza kuelekea kuwa White Elephant Project! Mkopo waliochukua ukawa unazidi kuongezeka mwaka hadi mwaka, na kuelekea kutolipika!!
Utawala uliokuwa umejenga bandari ile ukawa umemaliza muda wake, na ulipoingia utawala mwingine ukakuta zigo la deni la ujenzi wa bandari linazidi kuongeza!!
Kutokana na hilo, utawala mpya ukaamua kubinafsisha ili isiendelee kutia loss!!! Hakuna taarifa za moja kwa moja za kampuni ngapi hasa zilijitokeza kutaka kuuziwa hisa za bandari hiyo lakini itoshe tu kwamba, China Merchants Port Holding wakauziwa 70% ya hisa za bandari husika!!!
Hapa ieleweke kwamba, kilichofanyika Hambantonta hakina tofauti na tulichofanya Tanzania pale Container Terminal tuliyowakodishia TICTS!! Tofauti za msingi kati yetu na Sri Lanka ni:-
1. Wao wamekodisha Hambantonta baada ya kuona bandari hiyo inaelekea kuwa White Elephant Project, kiasi cha kufanya mkopo waliochukua ushindwe kulipika, sisi hatukuwa na deni lolote!
2. Tofauti ya pili ni muda... wakati sisi tumewakodishia TICTS kwa miaka 25, Sri Lanka wamekodisha kwa miaka 99 (sijui walikuwa wanafikiria nini)!
REMEMBER: Bandari ya Hambantota ilibinafsishwa 4 years baada ya kutangazwa kwa the so-called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)... a Chinese Initiative inayolenga kuiunganisha China na mataifa mbalimbali duniani kupitia infrastructure! Moja ya infrastructure zinazopewa kipaumbele kwenye BRI ni bandari.
Kwa bahati mbaya sana, Marekani na Washirika wake (ingawaje wameshaanza kusalitiana) wanaiogopa BRI kama ukoma!! Sasa kwavile Hambantota Port ilibinafsishwa katikati ya kilele cha BRI, habari ambayo ilisambazwa duniani haikuwa tena "Sri Lanka wanabinafsisha bandari" bali ikawa "Wachina wameipoka Bandari ya Sri Lanka" ili kujilipa deni lao!!
Yaani vyombo vya magharibi vikataka kutoa picha kwamba, kilichofanyika ni kama kile kinachofanywa na taasisi kama Bayport pale wanapokudai!!
The New York Times kwa mfano, waliandika:-
Yes, though feasibility studies said the port wouldn’t work. Yes, though other frequent lenders like India had refused. Yes, though Sri Lanka’s debt was ballooning rapidly under Mr. Rajapaksa.
Over years of construction and renegotiation with China Harbor Engineering Company, one of Beijing’s largest state-owned enterprises, the Hambantota Port Development Project distinguished itself mostly by failing, as predicted. With tens of thousands of ships passing by along one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the port drew only 34 ships in 2012.
And then the port became China’s.
Kinyume na The New York Times ambayo habari yao imekaa kishabiki na kichochezi zaidi, wanaojali taaluma,
The Financial Times la Uingereza wanaandika:-
The $1.3bn port was opened seven years ago using debt from Chinese state-controlled entities. But it has since struggled under heavy losses, making it impossible for Colombo to repay its debts.
In 2016, Sri Lankan ministers struck a deal to sell an 80 per cent stake in the port to the state-controlled China Merchants Port Holdings.
Baada ya ubinafsishaji huo, current performance ya Hambantota Port huioni kupitia magazeti kama The New York Times lakini angalau,
India Today wanatujuza:-
In the pandemic year of 2020, the RO-RO transshipment hub has seen rapid growth in vehicle volumes while bulk cargo volumes have also grown by 44 per cent. Total RO-RO units handled during 2020 fell to 388,031 from 411,027 as coronavirus hit global shipping and Sri Lanka banned vehicle imports but transshipment have started to grow rapidly in recent months.
By December 2020, volumes had pickup up to 58,996 units which is a rise of 25.9 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2019, driven almost entirely by international volumes as imports dwindled to 215 units in 2020 from 4,214 a year earlier. In January 2021 the port had handled 55,068 units, up 29 per cent from a year earlier. Vehicles coming from India, Korea, Japan, and China are discharged at Hambantota for transshipment to the Middle East, South Africa, and South America.
Sasa tukiacha mapungufu ya mkataba husika ambayo watu wa nje hawawezi kuyajua zaidi ya Wachina na Sri Lanka wenyewe, lengo la kubinafsisha hiyo bandario ilikuwa ni kuifanya iwe commercially viable kama inavyoonekana kutoka kwenye habari ya India Today hapo juu!
Na ikumbukwe kwamba, media hizo hizo za US zilikuwa zinaandika kwa mwelekeo huo huo pale Serikali ya Ugiriki ilipokaribia kufilisika, na hatimae kuamua kuuza hisa za Bandari ya Piraeus kwa Mchina!!
Leo tunapoongea, Bandari ya Piraeus ndio leading Mediterranean Port, huku ikikaribia kuwa among Top 5 Performing Ports in Europe, wakati miaka kadhaa tu iliyopita, haikuwa hata among Top 15!!!