Trade unions were silent during the reign of the previous government

"The new government that came into power in 2015 cancelled the order we placed to import gantry cranes for the port" Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said. He was speaking about the conduct of trade unions, with regard to the East Container Terminal. "The trade unions of the SLFP, and SLPP, who are protesting at the port premises at present, remained silent on this matter back then" he added. "During those five years, not a single gantry crane was brought into the country. Sri Lanka is deprived of revenue amounting to millions of rupees every day" he further said. Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said that there is a challenge to transform the operations at the terminal into a profit generating venture and sustain it.