New Delhi: Days after the Sri Lankan government claimed the China funded port city project in Colombo was still being assessed, a top Chinese official from the company executing it said the project was going ahead.
According to Zhang Baozhong, vice-president of the China Communication Construction Limited (CCCL), the project, in fact, was very much on.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had told the Lankan Parliament last week that the agreement was under assessment, contradicting cabinet spokesperson and health minister Rajitha Senaratne. Just a day before the PM's statement, Senaratne told reporters in Colombo that the $1.34 billion agreement to reclaim land and build apartments and malls had got the green-signal.
“For sure,” Zhang said as quoted by Hindustan Times when asked about the status of the project by reporters on Wednesday.
Zhang was in Quanzhou in south China to attend an international seminar on the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiative taken by President Xi Jinping.
“It is already approved,” Zhang added when questioned about environmental concerns related to the project.
The project, located near Colombo's iconic Galle Face beachfront, was inaugurated by Xi when he visited Sri Lanka last September.
The status of the project would likely be on the agenda when President Maithripala Sirisena visits New Delhi next week.
China's rising investments and influence in Sri Lanka had left India worried in the last few years during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime. But with Sirisena coming to power, and following his statements about India being the focus of Colombo's foreign policy, it had seemed that the diplomatic tide could be turning against Beijing.
Giving details about the project, Zhang said it will cover an area of more than 5.2 million sq metres building area with capacity for 160,000 people and will employ 83000 people.
