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Tue 9 Sep 2008, 09:36 GMT

Lanka Marine given two-day extension


John Keells bunkering unit has until September 12th to vacate tank farm.

Lanka Marine Services (LMS) has been given a two-day extension to vacate the tank farm it currently occupies at the port of Colombo.

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court yesterday gave LMS, the bunkering unit of John Keells Holdings (JKH), until September 12th to leave the premises it has been using to store product for its bunkering operations at the port of Colombo and hand the land over to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

The decision follows a ruling made in July, where the Supreme Court decided there had been serious irregularities in the manner in which LMS had been privatized by John Keells Holdings Ltd.

The court ruled that the sale of land at Bloemendhal Road, Colombo, without a valutation and Cabinet approval was unlawful. It then proceeded to cancel its tax holiday agreement with LMS, ordering John Keells Holdings to pay back taxes and give up the land it used for refuelling ships.

Last month the Supreme Court gave LMS an extension until September 10th to vacate the land after LMS reportedly said it was unable to leave the premises as it still had approximately 755,000 litres of lubricants and Rs. 1.43 billion worth of bunker fuel belonging to a number of companies. The company was also said to have had difficulties in removing fuel at the storage facility as workers were refusing to do their job.

In yesterday's ruling, the Supreme Court is said to have decreed that any oil remaining in the tanks after September 12th would be kept by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

According to local sources, LMS confirmed to the Court that it will vacate the land as per the Court order and has already begun the process of handing over the land to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

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