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Port city: Vital report before Thursday
View(s):The future of the controversial Colombo Port City project is to be decided on the findings of a fresh Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report due shortly, a senior official said. The EIA report prepared by the Coast Conservation Department is due to be handed over before Thursday to the 10-member committee appointed to review the project, a senior Committee member said.
The report comes in the wake of a visit by the Chinese government’s special envoy to Sri Lanka this week. The envoy, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, met President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, among others.
Soon after the EIA report is handed over, Finance Ministry and other officials are to closely study the financial aspects of the agreement and the need to extend its term.
Their observations will be handed over to the Economic Management Committee chaired by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe before being submitted to the Cabinet. “The Chinese envoy wanted the Sri Lankan Government to expedite the project. One of the points stressed was the losses incurred as a result of the delay,” the committee member said.
Coast Conservation Department Director General Prabath Chandrakeerthi told the Sunday Times that the CCD had found that some of the requirements of the previous EIA had not been fulfilled in carrying out the project. He said one of the shortcomings was that the EIA failed to cover the entire project while there were changes in the construction of the breakwaters. In addition, the pumping of sand and obtaining rock stones for the project were not in accordance with the EIA report.
He said the Chinese government has been informed about the upcoming EIA report. The project is estimated to cost US$ 1.4 billion with the potential of drawing investments amounting to US$ 13 billion and some 83,000 job opportunities.