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New tourist city to rise from Mt. Lavinia sea
A multi-billion rupee project to reclaim part of the sea off the Mount Lavinia area for mixed development projects including tourist-related facilities is to be awarded to a company from the Netherlands, a senior Government official said yesterday. Dr. Anil Premaratne, Director General of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, told the Sunday Times that 260 hectares (642 acres) would be reclaimed by pumping in sea sand to the area. The project is estimated to cost US$ 280 million (Rs. 36.4 billion).
He said the investors had met President Mahinda Rajapaksa and officials of the Defence and Urban Development Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank to initiate the project which is expected get underway later this year. The feasibility study for the project has already been completed.
The reclaimed land will be marketed by the Government and the private company which has obtained Board of Investment (BOI) approval for the project. Dr. Premaratne said that as part of the project the sea beach area extending from Mount Lavinia to the Galle Face would also be developed after removing the boulders placed along the beach.
In a related development the Coast Conservation Department has been directed to replace the boulders in the coastal area with sand pumped from the sea. Dr. Premaratne said the President had directed that sand should be pumped from the sea as the new sandy beaches thus created would benefit the tourist industry. He said that the western and the southern coastal areas would be earmarked for development first. Rs. 1.2 billion has been allocated for the project.
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