Sri Lanka – After “Port City”, GoSL Set to Sell Colombo Fort and few Heritage buildings

Deputies and activists stated that China continues to control strategic places in the capital, Colombo and that officials in the Sri Lankan government are ready to sell hundreds of acres of the mainland in the capital, the areas of Slave Island and ports to Chinese companies, putting in place various precise mechanisms in addition to helping the judiciary carry out their tasks of selling public property. They added that the projects implemented by the government did not bring economic benefits, on the contrary, it increased Sri Lanka’s debt to China, and the government recently awarded the contract for the construction of the 17 km Kilania-Athurugiriya highway to the China Ports Engineering Corporation without a competitive bidding process as the Chinese company became the first foreign company to own a major highway in Sri Lanka. Over the next two years, the government plans to sell hundreds of acres of state-owned land in Colombo Fort and its adjacent Slave Island area, including property currently used by the Sri Lanka Air Force and the Army.