Lanka extends China funded port city project

The Sri Lankan government on Thursday has said that it had decided to extend the agreement of the USD 1.4 billion Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project for a further six months. Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told journalists that the agreement signed between the Sri Lankan government and the China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC) in September 2014, expired on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. However since the project remained temporarily suspended, the government extended the agreement for a further six months, Senaratne added. "The company was supposed to complete certain parts of the project by September 2015. But they had to stop that. So we have extended the period by another 6 months," Xinhua said quoting the spokesman. He further assured that if the environmental reports called for by the government are favorable then the project would continue without further delay. The government on 6th of March 2015 temporarily suspended the Colombo Port City Project launched by the previous government in partnership with China in September last year. The government said it was reviewing the award of the project to China Communications Construction Co Ltd over the allegations that the previous administration breached local laws and sidestepped environmental requirements for the deal. However the government said recently that the project would continue and be part of its megapolis development in order to transform the country into a "smart and technologically advanced nation" in the coming five years.