MATTALA AIRPORT DEBATE

Does Mattala need an airport?

What is the need of an air port in a place where nobody loiters?- Ravi asks

We are not like Killinochchi and Vavuniya, what we do, we do it properly- Priyankara

As the latest project of the government, Mattala International air port is being built at Hambanthota these days. So far only Ratmalana and Katunayake air ports were under the Authority of Aviation and from that too, Katunayake was the international air port and Ratmalana is being used for internal air services. Apart from that, 11 internal air ports are under the control of  the air force.
There was the debate as to whether we really need an air port in Mattala and whether it is a practical decision. The fact that the passengers have to take a journey of three hours to reach the capital was another joke.
However, as  the government points out, all these are done with a plan ahead and with hopes of making Hambanthota a prosperous city.
Recently, there was a debate between Ravi Karunanayake and minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratne in the parliament about this air port.

Ravi: Airports are built at places where there is population…. And Mattala is not such a place… so what is the point of building an air port after spending
millions of money.

Priyankara: We had the need of a second International air port in Sri Lanka. Even though all the government’s planned it, nobody could do it. We should thank president, Mahinda Rajapakse for taking the necessary initiative to do it. We expect 40% of the passengers to land there and 6 organizations have agreed to come to Mattala.

Ravi: this like breaking the attic to make a chair instead. 

Priyankara: What we do, we do it right.

Watch the video below: