No compensation over delays in Chinese port city project:Lanka

Sri Lanka will not pay compensation to a Chinese company involved in construction of a port city here after it incurred losses following temporary suspension of the project, the government said today.
CHEC Port City Colombo had earlier sought compensation after the new Sri Lankan government decided to suspend work on the project after concerns were raised on the deal signed between the former government and the Chinese company.
However, the government announced in March that the project has been cleared to resume work after a one-year suspension.
Government spokesman and Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said that the company has agreed not to seek compensation from the government for the losses incurred after the project was temporarily suspended.

"The project company has agreed to withdraw all compensation claims for losses incurred due to the suspension of the project", Gayantha Karunathilake, the Minister of Information and government spokesman, said.
The new unity government of President Maithripala Sirisena decided to suspend the project in January, 2015 over environmental concerns.

By then the Chinese had already started building the port city which was a pet project of the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa government.
He said that when completed, the Colombo port city will have 111.19 acres of parks and 32 acres of artificial beaches, compared to 14 acres currently available to the public at Galle Face.

It was earlier decided that the port city will be converted to a Financial City to fill the vacuum between Singapore and Dubai. This will enable offshore operations.
The Financial City will make a major income earner and an employment provider for Sri Lanka, he said.