Sri Lanka’s 30-year National Physical Plan slides into political crisis
Sri Lanka’s revised National Physical Plan for 2018-2050 devised by the Urban Development Authority has been blocked by the President after he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the cabinet on October 26.
The government was expected to invest US$400 million for initial infrastructure development activities over the 30-year period while attracting over $4 billion foreign investment of some of the mega projects under public private partnership.
President Maithripala Sirisena has still not given his approval to this physical plan which is crucial for the country in the next three decades, a top official of the UDA told the Business Times adding that the country’s infrastructure facilities cannot be improved without approving the plan.
He pointed out that the National Physical Plan for 2011-2030, which was gazetted in 2011 is now outdated as several key national and international developments have taken place since then.
Therefore the government has decided to revise and update the plan, he disclosed.
Main objectives of the plan were to formulate national physical policies, plans and strategies and to ensure and monitor the implementation of such national policies and plans regionally and locally.
The aim is to promote and regulate integrated planning of economic, social, physical and environmental aspects of land and territorial waters of Sri Lanka, he said.
According to the proposed plan, the future development initiatives in the corridor, such as industrial estates, cultural development zones, tourism zones, urban service centres will be concentrated in six major population centres in the corridor.
The corridor consists of Colombo Megapolis, Gampaha Metro Region, Negombo Metro Region, Kurunegala Metro Region, Dambulla Metro Region and Trincomalee Metro Region.
It has been proposed to develop Colombo-Trincomalee as the main economic corridor along with three other sub-corridors, while Anuradhapura and Kandy are also to be developed separately as metropolitan areas, he disclosed.
The National Physical Plan should be approved by the National Physical Planning Council headed by the President as per Section 3(1) of Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act No 49 of 2000.
This plan has been devised by the National Physical Planning Department (NPPD) under the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry, with the consultation of various stakeholders, during over one and half years.
The previous cabinet of ministers chaired by the President reviewed the draft plan in December 2017.
The final plan was submitted to the National Physical Planning Council for the President’s approval, but he has not signed it following the change in the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry, he disclosed.
The key component of the plan is the proposed Colombo-Trincomalee economic corridor, consisting one-third of the country’s population.
The Asian Development Bank has been conducting a detailed study, which is expected to be released shortly, he added.
The Colombo-Trincomalee economic corridor has been identified as the best area for development activities while attracting a majority of the future investments to Sri Lanka and more export-import activities would take place through the corridor, he opined.