Editor, News-in-Asia, 2 January 2018, where the title is Sri Lankan PM undertakes inspection tour of China funded Port City project””
Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Tuesday made an inspection tour of a 1.4 billion dollar mega port city which is being constructed close to the Colombo Harbour in the island’s capital.
The Colombo Port City, which will be the first of its kind in South Asia, is being constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). Wickremesinghe, who was accompanied by several ministers, was briefed by the Port City management on the overall project and the present stage of construction. “This project which will also be a financial center will convert Sri Lanka into a global hub in the Indian Ocean region,” Wickremesinghe told reporters at the site of construction.
“The CHEC is reclaiming land from the sea to construct this city and we must make use of it. In the future, this Port City will have at least 75,000 people residing here and 200,000 people moving in and out of the city on a daily basis,”
Wickremesinghe added.
The Prime Minister added that the Colombo Port City would have many facilities and would be of an international standard and would bring in new life to the Sri Lankan economy. “The Colombo Port City will be one of a kind and we thank CHEC and the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry for their dedicated work towards the Port City,” the Prime Minister said.
The Colombo Port City was launched in September 2014 but was suspended six months later due to certain issues which needed to be addressed. The project however resumed construction in March 2016 and to date 60 percent of land has been filled out of the 269 hectares.
The tallest that a building can be constructed within the Port City is 290 meters. The Port City will have many unique features such as a strong solar and wind power system, waste recycling and a treatment to harvest rain water. There will be several pedestrians and cycle lanes while the city will be connected to Colombo through a Light Rail Transport system. The Port City will also include residential buildings, schools, banks, shopping malls, a marina, parks, hotels and public beaches.
Once completed the Port City will attract 15 billion dollars worth of investments into Sri Lanka. The project is one of Sri Lanka’s largest foreign direct investments.
*** ***
ALSO SEE
Brook Larmer: “Mattala Airport in China’s Game Plan,” https://thuppahis.com/2017/09/18/mattala-airport-in-chinas-game-plan/
Michael Roberts: “Hambantota Port takes Off?” 7 October 2015, https://thuppahis.com/2015/10/07/hambantota-port-takes-off/