Sri Lanka fires fresh salvo at Chinese firm over Port City project
Minister pulls up Colombo Port City company; says Xi Jinping sprang a surprise by telling Sirisena that China, Lanka and India should work closely in future
The Chinese company involved in the controversial US$1.4 billion Colombo Port City project has failed to furnish the necessary documents within the two-week deadline set by the new government, which is also reviewing other Chinese projects including a high-profile telecommunications tower, Sri Lanka's finance minister said yesterday.
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Ravi Karunanayake also said President Xi Jinping surprised the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday when he said China would like to have India as an important component of regional cooperation.
Karunanayake, in Hong Kong for a day to address the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference before heading for the Boao Forum, said the row over the stalled Colombo Port City project should not deter Chinese investors as Sri Lanka is only trying to ensure a business-friendly and clean atmosphere by cleansing a system that had become "deeply corrupt" under the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
"We are telling Chinese companies that we are keen to have clean, transparent accountable investment. Port City should not be the benchmark. There are serious problems with that project that we are trying to fix. It has nothing to do with our attitude to Chinese investment."
Promoted by state-owned and Hong Kong-listed China Communications Construction Co (CCCC), Colombo Port City has become a bone of contention between China and Sri Lanka. The new government headed by Sirisena, who defeated Rajapaksa in January's elections, put it on hold earlier this month alleging large-scale irregularities.
The finance minister maintained the company did not have the requisite clearance from the government and had failed to come up with the documents to show that it was given the go-ahead to start the project.