The Colombo Port City is a brand new city on 269 hectare artificial island intended to become the future economic hub of the country. It is built on land reclaimed from the sea; adjacent to the Gale Face Green. As an extension of the Central Business District of the country’s vibrant commercial capital of Colombo. It is a massive development project that is capable of making or breaking the country. Located between Dubai and Singapore, is intended to be South Asia’s premiere residential, retail and business destination.
The government is forced to achieve this through many new approaches; it has created many waves of opposition in the country. Already a dozen petitions were submitted to the Supreme Court by opposition parties, civil society groups, and labour unions challenging a recently-gazetted Bill on the Port City in capital Colombo, arguing it “directly affects” Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. The cases are scheduled to be heard soon by the top court.
However, these petitions submitted have challenged the constitutional validity of the proposed legislation for the Port City, touted by the government as an investment hub for foreign capital.
In this scenario, the country needs to get the gazetted Bill, titled ‘Colombo Port City Economic Commission’passed in Parliament outlining proposed laws for the $1.4 billion-Port City. It is expected that the Bill will get passed with a changes on the recommendations of the court. For the success or failure of this project depends on how soon authorities take to find solutions to these problems. At the same time avoid hurting foreign invested projects already in the country!
Northern Breeze 