Response from CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd to comments made by speakers at the Methodist Church event in Colombo on February 28:

It is clear that certain NGOs continue to spread disinformation about Port City. This time they have regrouped under a new banner to bring out the same rhetoric whereas all relevant points of contention have been explained in various press responses and the 2 EIA studies. We believe there is a hidden agenda to the spread of this misinformation.

For example, that Colombo city buildings will sink and the main roads will crack, was a result of a hypothesis presented by one particular private company at the Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) a couple of months ago. This got blown out of proportion in the media. Ms. Carmel Corea is basing her arguments taking this report as truth when there is no scientific basis to back the hypothesis. This is irresponsible behaviour and fear mongering.

As for the central hill forest cover being erased leading to reduced water supply, we have no idea as to why Port City is being accused of deforestation. If this has anything to do with granite mining, we have to clearly state that the Port City project does not get its rock material from the central hills. Granite for the project is obtained from 11 quarries (which have their own EIA approval) in the Colombo and Gampaha districts amounting to only 7 per cent of the quarry reserves of these districts. We have to categorically state that no coral reefs have been destroyed due to the Port City project and this was addressed in the SEIA. Also, the Coast Conservation Department has confirmed that there is no coastal erosion due to the project.

Reduction in fish catch is debatable as there is fluctuation in the catch around the island, and this has been attributed to many reasons i.e. from global warming to unsustainable fishing methods used by fishermen etc. This aspect too has been extensively covered in the SEIA.

As for sewage disposal, Sri Lanka, probably for the first time, will experience very sophisticated methods for disposing waste when the Port City becomes operational. Not merely because it would be the right thing to do, but because it would be mandatory for a city of the future to have sustainable practices to make it marketable to an international audience. Whilst Sri Lanka’s tourism plans are always centered around resorts, beaches and out of Colombo attractions, Port City will be a catalyst to attract tourists who want to experience the city; therefore it will only add to the country’s tourism attractions mix.

In analysing a project such as Port City, one has to take a logical and scientific approach, and the way to do that is to look to the various experts who have been hired by the Government to see that development happens in an orderly and sustainable manner. We need to point out that 26 Government agencies monitor the reclamation and development of Port City and the project is a partnership between CHEC Port City Colombo and the Government of Sri Lanka who is represented by the UDA and the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development.

We are sensitive to the social issues prevailing within the fishing community and therefore Port City has provided Rs. 500 million to the Fishermen’s Livelihood Support Society Limited, which is entirely administered and funds disbursed under the supervision of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development and the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development. The programme has within the past year or so, become an acceptable and sustainable mechanism for hundreds of fisher families. Projects implemented under this programme cover a wide range of activities such as building community halls, revamping preschools and common facilities, providing necessary equipment to schools, installing beacon lights for fishery anchorages, conducting health camps for fisher families and funding cataract operations and replacement of lenses, conducting training camps on self-employment for women, conducting beach cleanups and Negombo lagoon cleanup, funding vocation training courses for youth, disbursing Rs. 2 million each as a grant to 56 registered village-based fishery associations and funding the insurance premium of ‘Divi Sayura’ insurance scheme for more than 5000 registered fishermen from Uswetakeiyawa to Palangaturai.