Western Region Megapolis project faces mega obstacles
Sri Lanka’s ambitious US$40 billion Western Region Megapolis Planning Project (WRMPP) launched by the previous regime with the aim of re-developing the Colombo City and suburbs is now facing major obstacles in realising its 15-year vision, an official progress review report has revealed.
This project comprising 150 smaller projects will be revised in accordance with the present government’s vision and policy although the original plan may look good on paper, a senior Finance Ministry official told the Business Times.
Progress on these projects has been stalled due to the COVID-19 crisis, financial constraints and policy issues and is expected to be revised considering case by case basis based on the availability of funds, he disclosed.
It has been planned to establish a trade hub, a high-rise central business district including at least 60 new towers, a science and technology city, and a rapid transit system aimed at reducing traffic congestion in most populous Colombo City region.
The WRMPP has been planned to cover an area of 3,600 sq. km in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara with the objective of reducing the unemployment rate from 4 to 2 per cent by 2020, and then maintain that rate until 2035 by creating 2.1 million employment opportunities.
Plans have been devised at that time for developing two tourist cities and improve living conditions of 70,000 families living in shanties and slums.
But despite the imposing plan devised with the assistance of Surbana Jurong, a Singapore-based planning and engineering group, the WRMPP’s viability is now doubtful in the absence of proper financing arrangements, irregularities and its poor record of project implementation, the report revealed.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have initially given its consent to provide partial funding for the implementation of the plan under certain conditions, senior official said.
The project, initiated in May 2015, had been in operation for more than two years by the end of September 2017 and a sum of Rs. 330.23 million had been incurred for the project, a recent Auditor General’s report revealed.
However, Rs. 10.22 million had been spent in 2018 and Rs. 19.45 million had been spent in 2019 on salaries and allowances and operating expenses for the staff of the project.
The Western Region Maritime Cities Development Project has been launched under this initiative in 2017 with the objective of dividing the beach starting from Negombo beach to Calido beach in Kalutara into three parts.
Although a total of Rs. 47.2 million had been spent for this project in 2017 and 2018, the project had been implemented without obtaining a Feasibility Study report for the implementation of the Urban Facility project or an Environmental Impact Assessment Report to assess the impact of the project on the environment, the report disclosed.
A sum of Rs. 30.01 million had been spent during 2019 for the salaries of the project staff and for the other operating expenses of the project office.
According to the Auditor General’s report, the Western Region Aero City Development Project and Western Region Administrative Cities Development Project had been carried out under the WRMPP by spending Rs. 80.7 million and Rs. 29.13 million in 2018 and 2019 respectively for staff salaries and other recurrent expenditure of the two projects.