28 % CIFC land reclamation completed, says Minister

Some 28 per cent of land reclamation from the sea in the Chinese funded, controversial Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) has now been completed following the expediting of the work under the present government, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka revealed.

The land allotments of CIFC will be made available for building construction within the next two years and it is aimed at establishing an offshore financial centre as the centerpiece of the reclaimed land adjoining the Galle Face Green, he told the Business Times following his inspection visit to the site on Thursday.

In 2016 the Colombo Port City, the project’s former name, was again included in the Megapolis plan after receiving the clearance from a Supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment, he said.

The CIFC is expected to be governed under a new Act named Colombo International Financial Centre Law.

The 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea will be vested in the UDA and up to 40 per cent of the land will be leased to the Chinese firm on a 99-year lease with the balance held by the government which would include 60 hectares of commercially usable land for its own use.

The aim is to develop the area to “fill the vacuum between Singapore and Dubai” and touted as a “major income earner and an employment provider for Sri Lanka”, he disclosed.

The project is aimed at creating at least 83,000 new employment opportunities within different sectors, attracting over US$ 13 billion in foreign investment from investors and developers from countries including India, Singapore, Malaysia and China while also increasing the number of tourists visiting Sri Lanka within the next 20 – 30 years.

The Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs will provide facilitation of physical and human resources for the CIFC Project which will proceed under the entire supervision of the ministry, a senior official of the ministry said.