Colombo Port City says permitted to carry out protective work during temporary suspension
Saturday, 21 March 2015 00:47
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
China Communications Construction Company Ltd. (CCCC) in a statement yesterday said it has received written approval from the Sri Lanka Government in a letter dated 20 March by the Secretary to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation to commence protective work on the temporarily suspended Colombo Port City Project.
All construction work on the Colombo Port City came to a halt following the Government’s official communication on 6 March to temporarily suspend ongoing work of the project, with immediate effect.
As a result of the immediate suspension, over 200 metres of the breakwater constructed for the project, was damaged and the company was unable to take measures to protect the reclaimed land area. The permission to carry out protective work on the site was granted following a request made by CCCC to the Government.
CCCC said it was appreciative of President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet of Ministers for granting permission to protect the reclaimed land area.
CCCC, a responsible Fortune 500 company having confidence in the future of Sri Lanka, invested $ 1.4 billion to build the Colombo Port City. This is the single largest privately funded Foreign Direct Investment to date in Sri Lanka.
As a result of the project’s suspension, CCCC estimates an initial direct loss for the company of over $ 380,000 per day. Further, the interest on the financial loan obtained by the company for the development of the project has to be paid regardless of the ongoing suspension.
The company will continue to cooperate with the Government on relevant evaluations of Colombo Port City.
The Colombo Port City project, which is a 100% privately funded FDI by CCCC, began construction following the signing of an Agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka on 16 September 2014.
