Ranil Wickremesinghe Makes Special Statement in Parliament about “Colombo Port City”Built at 1.3 BillionUS Dollars Cost by Reclaiming Sea Beyond Galle Face.

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Saman Indrajith

UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe urged from the government yesterday to present to Parliament all the documents pertaining to the Colombo Port City Project being built by reclaiming the sea near the Galle Face Green.

Making a special statement to Parliament Wickremesinghe said: “The media has reported that a city called ‘Colombo Port City’ is being built beyond Galle Face Green, Colombo by filling the sea. According to those reports quoting sources of the Ministry of Ports and Ports Authority, this city will contain an extent of land of some 233 hectares.

The media has also reported that this project would cost 1.3 billion US dollars. This is the first instance in Sri Lankan history where such a vast area of land has been filled. As such, this is the largest reclamation project in Lankan history.

It is a practice in any country that the legislators are consulted before implementation of such mega projects. We, too, had in the past brought instances of such mega projects to Parliament for debate.

We could cite a large number of instances to prove this point. The Mahaweli Development Project, Gam Udawa, the 200 garment factories project, Iranawila, Samanalawewa, Kandalama Hotel, Sri Jayewardenepura capital, new Parliament, the colleges of education, launching of television transmissions, the golden canopy for the Temple of

Tooth Relics, the World Trade Centre etc were some of them.

However, Parliament has not been enlightened at all about this Colombo Port City Project. Neither has it been opened for any exchange of ideas or a dialogue in Parliament.

Against this backdrop, I would like to ask the following from the Prime Minister: What is the reason for launching such a project? Is it because the required lands cannot be found from the city of Colombo that the sea is filled for this project? What is the total amount spent for the construction of this city. How would that be found? Were the tenders and proposals called for such a huge project? If so, what are the dates and in which media they had been published? Or else, on what basis the investors and companies were selected for the purpose? On what basis was it decided that nearly half of the Colombo Port City be offered to a Chinese Company? What is the extent of land of this city that the government of Sri Lanka would keep in its possession after this construction? What is the authority with powers vested to carry out this project? What are the tax concessions offered, if any? Under what regulation had they been offered? What are the commercial and economic benefits the country would gain out of this project? Will there be hotels, cafeterias, or flats built in this city for the general public? If so, what are they? Will the cost preservation and environment be adversely affected by the sea filling made for this project? Have the reports been received from recognized institutions on the environmental impact and other matters pertaining to this project? Will he present all reports and letters pertaining to the above questions and the said project to parliament?”

Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne said that he would respond to those questions on Feb. 18.

COURTESY:THE ISLAND