The Sri Lankan Parliament on May 20, 2021 passed a Bill on laws governing the China-backed Colombo Port City.
- The bill was passed after the Supreme Court suggested certain amendments, following over a dozen petitions challenging the Bill that political opposition and civil society groups said “directly affected” Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
- The bill proposes to create Colombo Port City Economic Commission to administer the port city.
- The $1.4-billion Colombo Port City was launched in 2014 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the island nation.
- The project is currently being built on land reclaimed alongside Colombo’s iconic sea front, while environmentalists and fisher folk opposed the move.
- The Colombo port city is a special financial zone being built next to Colombo, mostly on land reclaimed from the sea. They are calling it the next Dubai and it is being touted as a city from the future, however, some experts have termed it as “Sri Lanka becoming a Chinese colony.”
