Sri Lanka insists mega port city project has met key conditions

The Sri Lankan government, on Thursday, insisted that a mega port city project has met some key conditions and has therefore been approved to resume work.

The approval for the project was given this week after it remained suspended for a year.

Local environmental groups have raised concerns over the project and its impact on the environment.

However Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the environment concerns over the project has been cleared.

He insisted that the project was never cancelled but only temporarily suspended till the conditions put forward by the government were met.

He said the government ensured the concerns, including those raised on the impact to the environment from the project, were addressed before the project was cleared to recommence work.

The Ministry of Ports and Shipping, in an official letter to the CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd this week, said that the company could resume the construction of the project immediately.

The 1.4-billion-dollar project which will be the first of its kind in South Asia began construction adjacent to the Galle Face Green and near the Colombo Harbour in September 2014 under the previous government.

However, it was suspended by the new government of President Maithripala Sirisena in March last year, six months after it began construction. The new government said that the project needed to be reviewed. Endit