People’s Tribunal to debate reality of Colombo Port City Project
Colombo: Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has organised a People’s Tribunal in order to ascertain the reality and truth behind the fate of the controversial $1.4bn Colombo Port City Project (CPCP), being constructed with Chinese funds.
The People’s Tribunal is being held on Thursday at the Public Library auditorium in Colombo. A set of eminent personalities will serve as a Judges’ Panel, while leading lawyers will conduct the prosecution.
The aim of the exercise is to help the citizens of Sri Lanka to assess the publicly declared long term socio-economic benefits to Sri Lanka, against the contingent risks to the nation in the matter of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The 100% privately funded project had begun construction on September 16, 2014, following the signing of an agreement between ‘Fortune 500’ company China Construction Communication Co (CCCC) and the Sri Lankan government, then being run by former President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
The project was suspended on March 6, shortly after the newly elected government of President Maithripala Sirisena determined that several vital clearances, including environmental impact assessment, had not been undertaken before the project was launched.
President Sirisena, however, assured the Chinese government during his recent visit to that country, that the CPCP would be resumed once the clearances had been obtained.