Lotus Tower entry ticket prices to be decided by new state body - official

The prices of entry tickets for Sri Lanka's Lotus Tower would be decided by a state body which would be formed to handle the activities of the tower, a senior Treasury official told Times Online.

According to the President’s Media Division, the 356-metre long tower which is the tallest in South Asia, would be opened to the public within a week.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who declared open the structure yesterday (Sept 16), said that a special state institution would be set-up to handle administration and security matters of the tower.

During his address, Mr. Sirisena heavily criticised the manner in which funding matters of the USD 19 million worth tower had taken place, since the government had paid Rs 2 billion to a fake company.

The government represented by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission had signed the agreement with China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC), and ALIT for the construction of the project.

The President pointed out that an initial deposit of Rs 2 billion had been paid to Aerospace Long-March International Trade Co. Ltd (ALIT), a Chinese company, which later turned out to be a fake one, for the project.

Upon learning that ALIT had been a fake company, the entity had been removed from the agreement in 2017, the President said.

He recounted that the Chinese EXIM Banka which was to provide a loan of Rs 16 billion for the project, had reduced it to Rs 12 billion afterwards.

More details on the tower could be obtained on www.lotustower.lk