UNP’s Harsha De Silva decries Port City plans

UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva yesterday issued the following statement over the Government’s plans to build a Port City:

“Is it a cruel joke on the already suffering people that US$ 900 million, before the usual cost escalation of at least 50 per cent, is to be wasted to reclaim 234 acres of sea to build, among others, a golf course? That is exactly Rs. 500 million per acre or Rs. 3.125 million per perch just to fill the sea.

Golf courses need vast expanses of land. Even a small 18-hole golf course like the Royal Colombo is on 100 acres. The Victoria course in Digana is on 500 acres. The Water’s Edge course used to be on 200 acres. Even if one puts in only 9 holes, a decent golf course will need at least 75 acres.

Where is the business case for such an investment? If the Government were to build a golf course, they should look for cheap land or reclaimed land from other uses; say a former solid waste land fill, an abandoned industrial site or a flood damaged area outside Colombo.

Having an imperfect land would make an interesting course with fairways guiding the difficult landscape to make the golf interesting. Anyone willing to put in four hours for a round of golf would certainly not mind driving half an hour to a good golf course; after all now the Air Force flies golfers to its facility and back in Trincomalee for a round. The Chairman of the Ports Authority, an accomplished golfer himself, would agree.