News
Colombo Port City project continues regardless of controversy
Neither the Chinese contractors nor the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has a valid sand-mining licence for Colombo Port City, officials said this week, adding that the Company was only issued a temporary permit for the project’s inauguration in September 2014.
“They were given a licence for the opening ceremony based on a special request, but it was clearly indicated that there were a number of conditions,” said an authoritative source from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB). “One of the most important of these was that they would obtain clearance from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). It seems they have not got Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) clearance. Therefore, there is no validity in that licence.”
The source, who requested anonymity, said that the sand-mining licence did not specify the number of days, but “clearly mentioned it was subject to EIA clearance”.
The GSMB has had several discussions, including with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and made the Government aware of the factual position. “We have given all the information,” the source said. “Perhaps they will recommend something in their report.”
The Government has set up a Cabinet sub-committee to review all projects, but there is no sign of a report or decision being taken with regards to Colombo Port City. The contractor, China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), continues to build the artificial island by mining sand from the sea.
Available information already shows that many procedures were flouted or “put off” to facilitate a quick commencement of the project. For instance, the mandatory EIA was divided into three parts and only one, pertaining to land-filling, was conducted.
“There is no EIA for extraction or for construction of the whole city,” said a senior environmentalist who is studying the project. “What we have is an inadequate and incomplete EIA, not a composite one. There is also no technical feasibility study without which a proper EIA cannot be conducted. Giving clearance to landfill or sea-fill without a technical feasibility study is, frankly, nonsense.”
Official sources said that the CCCC and the SLPA could be ultra vires—or in excess of the power given to them by laws or corporate charters—in continuing with the project. Ironically, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang this week urged Sri Lanka “to offer a sound legal environment for Chinese investment”, at a meeting with visiting Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
One of the main issues with the project is the involvement of the SLPA under former chairman, Priyath B. Wickrama, a senior official said. Another is the “unholy speed” at which approvals were granted, despite the failure to fulfill basic, critical and mandatory criteria.
In 2010, the SLPA indicated that it wished to develop the project. Within months, in April 2011, the CCCC also submitted a proposal to build a Port City. It was claimed at the time that there were no alternate proposals.
The Standing Cabinet Appointed Review Committee (SCARC), which was set up to review single-bid proposals, recommended that the project be opened out to other prospective investors. It also suggested that the Port City be developed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
But the Ports and Aviation Ministry Secretary requested the SCARC to reconsider these recommendations. Just five months later, in September 2011, approval was granted for the signing of a ‘non-committal Memorandum of Understanding’. The suggestion that the project be opened out for bidding was shelved.
A part-EIA was passed by the Coast Conservation Department, which was under the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. It was decreed, however, that final approval will be subject to the submission of an environment management plan including the methods to be adopted for reclamation.
The senior environmentalist earlier quoted said CCCC will need heavy input of sand from other areas of the country to build the artificial island. “However, there has been no GSMB approval granted for such mining,” he said. “It is not known where this sand will come from.”
On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena instructed police to strictly implement laws and regulations to prevent “unauthorised mining and transportation of sand”. It is not clear how CCCC’s or SLPA’s plans will work out in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s (AG) Department pointed out in September 2014 that existing laws did not permit the SLPA to undertake the Colombo Port City or reclaim land. It held that it would be ultra vires to conduct residential, commercial and leisure development projects or reclamation. Neither could the SLPA transfer land, as envisaged in the project. The AG advised that the SLPA Act be amended. This has not been done to date.
There is a lack of clarity regarding many other matters related to the project, said Eran Wickramaratne, Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion. “Good banks have an approval process,” Wickramaratne, a banker by profession, observed. “Bad banks have a justification process. What has happened with this project is a justification process.”
He also said there were efforts to erase the paper trail. “Even after they lost power, elements are working at destroying documents or doctoring documents or filling files to justify what has happened,” he revealed. “There is a lot more information to be collected in arriving at a concrete decision.”