Green port city, with solar and wind power

With the aim of building a green port city with solar and wind power, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development has commissioned a special Social Environment Impact Assessment Report, an official said.

The decision was made after a team of officials from the Ministry and other government institutions linked to the Port City project visited several foreign port cities.

The team included officials of the Coast Conservation Department, the Central Environment Authority and the Urban Development Authority (UDA).

The visits were undertaken to study how artificially created islands could have an impact on people or communities living around them.

They visited the Palm Islands in Dubai where three artificial islands have been created, the Forest City in Malaysia and the Marine Bay Sands in Singapore.

Some of the main concerns are garbage collection and disposal, sewerage, the types of vegetation that can be planted within the newly built area and the impact on marine life.

The study will be undertaken by the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau ( CECB) and will be carried out by local and foreign experts.

“We want to design it as a green port city. We want to harness solar and wind power as well as make the buildings eco- friendly,” Megapolis Ministry Secretary Nihal Rupasinghe said.

The report is expected to be completed before the end of January.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has decided that within the common area of the Port City, buildings will be designed in the architectural style of the Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandyan eras.

The Chinese too have been requested to adopt similar styles in the Chinese side of the project and they have agreed.

From April next year, a public gallery will be opened at the Port City to enable members of the people to see the construction work on the project. There will be guided tours for school children.