PORT CITY - Hatchet Job at the LBO CEO forum on 20th May 2015

The LBO CEO Forum at the Inst. Of Chartered Accountants, 6^th Floor, 30 Malalasekera Mw. 20th May 2015 at 6pm

The Sales Manager for Port City gave a presentation.

There was a very slick presentation! Gave size of CCC, no arguments! Gave picture of land at 233Hectares – No guarantees that will be correct! Said all subject to UDA approval and the land owned by SL and that by China WILL NOT BE CONTIGOUS and will be up to bartering on blocks!!! As per the master plan as presented.

Stressed all the time that UDA will look critically and only once their approval of each aspect is given will each stage be started!

Business District with a HUGE Convention Center (badly needed for Colombo) Hotels, Business areas, mixed development areas, and exclusive residential areas, with 25% devoted to parks and greenery as in a modern metropolis! US$ 1.4 is ONLY infrastructure to get the island stage, and not the buildings on it which is estimated to cost another US$14B over a period of time.

The Singaporean Salesman had the cheek to say that with the Port City, the existing real estate values in Colombo will rise substantially once Colombo becomes a desirable place to live in the future. Surely with Port City this will diminish, without it will rise even faster!

Beaches alone that are swimmable unlike present beach in Galle Face, of 3KM! all sounded superb! Especially saying largest Foreign Investment ever in SL and NO contribution reqd from SL AT ALL!!!! Icing was that 83,000 will be given jobs!

Failed to talk about – How many large rocks in Sri Lanka will be destroyed along with the Environment, to fill this place, and how many thousands will lose the wells and springs as a result of the loss of water!

No relief to traffic which will be worse, unless supported by a metro system paid for by the Chinese to cover all of Colombo at NO additional charge.

Saying that it is less than 1/3 of the Southern Port Terminal in Colombo, which has caused environmental damage in the north with sea erosion and having to replace sand he said this project will enhance and NOT destroy the coast line! No idea how he came to that conclusion! However one must look at the Environmental Impact of the Southern Terminal INDEPENDENTLY of the same Environmental Impact of the Port City.

What about the need for Electricity for the equivalent of a 150K people city! As it is 5 star, it will need Electricity that the Equiv of 1M Sri Lankans currently consume! Solar or Fossil Fuel power station required inland just to cater to them. 

What about the water they consume, unless they have an independent desalination plant for ALL their water needs? How about disposing of sewage and treatment thereof, will it end up in the sea, and how about garbage disposal as it will require more landfills.

Sorry lets stop at the shit currently generated, we cannot even contemplate the extra shit that will be generated in future from this Port City, and SL will be the repository of the mountain of shit as a result of the Port City, with Colombo being more polluted than Beijing - NO WAY JOSE 

SO A COMPLETE NEW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT COVERING ALL THE ABOVE FROM KNOWLEDGEABLE AND IMPARTIAL PROFESSIONALS NEEDED IF SL GOVT WISHES TO PERMIT THIS!