Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Since I joined Colombo Dockyard as CEO, the Deputy Finance Minister of Norway came to me requesting us to build UFAC, known as Ultra Fast Patrol Craft, similar to several aluminium crafts built for the Sri Lanka Navy.

He wanted us to finance the project, either through financing from Sri Lanka, and offered a sovereign guarantee from the Maldives.

We built them and also a special luxury vessel for the Maldivian President.

State banks, namely Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank, provided financing. It was the first time state banks funded a foreign project and made history.

Then Mr. Gasim, who was a budding politician of the Maldives and owned ships, came to me and requested financing to build two spherical LPG tanks and later oil storage tanks in Thilafushi Island (we called it Garbage Island). We later built steel landing crafts to carry garbage trucks from Malé Port to the garbage island for reclamation.

Today, that island is a modern industrial city.

Just like India needs us and vice versa, we need the Maldives to develop.

As stated before, this 2,000-island cluster of the Maldives, with the capital Malé and Hulhumalé, is a modern, thriving city.

In those days, we knew only about Maldive fish, extensively used in Malé, and today this small country is a leading exporter of tuna, out of which dried Maldive fish is made.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera