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A protest against the China funded port city project was held on 3rd of April 2016 , participants included priests, environmental activists and fisherman. They demanded the government halt a $1.5 bn Chinese funded project.
The city is planned to built on reclaimed land off Sri Lanka’s west coast. The port city will be comprised of golf course, marinas, apartments, hotels and malls. About 500 people participated in the protest that was in Colombo, shouting taglines and displaying boards reading, “Port city will destroy the whole country,” “Don’t disturb our fishing”, “Stop port city” and “Save our nature.”
According to Catholic priest, Sarath Iddamalgoda, a member of the People’s Movement Against Port City, the project would not support nor benefit ordinary citizens and would make a huge impact on the country’s marine resources and the livelihood of fishermen and urged the government to stop this immediately.
The project was initiated in 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the time of former president Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa. The project was suspended after Mr. Rajapaksa lost the election in January 2015, the reason was the new government wanted time to review the project to make sure that it satisfied all the required standards and free from corruption.
The government allowed to proceed with the project, as an effort to reassure China. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe visited china at the beginning of this month.
Lankans Protest the Port City Project
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