Amended Colombo Port City Project Given the Go Ahead

SLPA The Sri Lankan Government has given the green light for the Colombo Port City Project, having amended the original agreement by reducing the extent of land to be reclaimed from the sea and denying any part of this area to be granted to China on a freehold basis, according to the countrys Prime Minister. The original agreement, signed by the previous regime, stipulated for the reclamation of 233 hectares from the sea adjoining the Colombo Port.  In addition, China Harbor Engineering, investing in the USD 1.4 billion project, was to retain 108 hectares including 20 hectares on a freehold basis with the rest on a 99-year lease while the rest was to be vested with Sri Lanka. However, the new Sri Lankan Government is working out amendments to the original agreement ahead of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to China on April 6. The countrys Strategic Development Minister Malik Samarawickrama and Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake will visit China on February 29 to discuss a matters related to the Port City Project and the setting up of an economic zone in Hambantota with an investment by a Chinese company. “We are not too keen on offering any reclaimed land to China on a freehold basis. We also intend reducing the extent of land to be reclaimed so that the project is environmentally firendly,” the Prime Minister said. The construction of a breakwater for the port city project funded by China was approved in March last year, following the project’s suspension by the new government amid environmental concerns. The project envisages new berths for vessels at the nearby port, hotels, shopping centers, office buildings and residential complexes, encompassing an area of over 5.3 million square meters. The investment is a part of China’s Maritime Silk Road initiative.