Interviews with some of the bid officials and a video of the unveiling of the logo:

No new pics yet....

Sri Lanka Port | Seaways

Latest Vessel Made In Sri Lanka For Greatship Group Named “greatship Rohini”


GREATSHIP ROHINI NAMING CEREMONY

Colombo Port City Project

As of 17 jan 2011

COLOMBO PORT 2011-FEB-17

COLOMBO PORT 2011-FEB-17

Sri Lankan Southern Highway















images - http://riseoflanka.blogspot.com/2011...g-post_09.html

Info on Colombo- Katunayake Expressway (with concept pics):

Games Bid
18 Mar, 2011 14:08:59

Sri Lanka prepares model in bid for Commonwealth Games

Mar 18, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has prepared a model with 20 key venues and facilities in its bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the southern town of Hambantota, the central bank said in a statement.
The organising committee of the Commonwealth Games 2018 Candidate City Hambantota is preparing an "attractive" bid document under the 15 stipulated themes to be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), it said.

The model of Sri Lanka's Games City which includes an athletics stadium, an aquatic centre, a multi-sports complex, a velodrome stadium and a hockey stadium is to be unveiled on Saturday.

The recently built Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota also serves as a key venue of the city plan and all other sites including the Games Village are to be constructed around the cricket stadium.

CGF chief executive Mike Hooper is scheduled to visit the proposed games city at the weekend.

"The key purpose of the CEO’s visit to Sri Lanka will be to understand the steps being taken by Hambantota as a Candidate City for the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and to assess the commitment and preparedness of the city towards hosting the games," the statement said.

Highway Hopes
18 Mar, 2011 17:27:56

Sri Lanka expressway first stage nears completion

Mar 18, 2011 (LBO) - Construction work on stage one of Sri Lanka's first expressway is set to end this month with 99 percent of the work over, according to details revealed by the Road Development Authority.
The southern expressway, being built in four stages, will have a total length of 131.1 kilometres and allow 100 kilometres an hour travel between the capital Colombo and the southern town of Matara.

The total cost of the first three phases of the project with a highway length of 95.3 km to the southern town of Galle has risen to 59.5 billion rupees, according to the RDA.

The first stage of the road to be done, by end-March, a 29.3 km section between the town of Kurundugahahetekma and Pinnaduwa, in southern Galle, is funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Contractor Kumagai Gumi of Japan started work in April 2003 and the cost of this project has increased to 24.1 billion rupees, the RDA said.

Another section of 34.4 km from Kottawa, a suburb of Colombo, to Dodangoda, which is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), started in September 2005 and is scheduled to end in July 2011.

The RDA said 85 percent of the work on this section is over. It is being built by China Harbour Engineering Company with the cost having risen to 20 billion rupees.

Another section of 31.6 km from Dodangoda to Kurundugahahetekma, also funded by JICA with Taisei Corp of Japan as contractor, is set for completion by end-July 2011.

The RDA said 80 percent of work on this section, which began in March 2006, is over with the cost having risen to 15.4 billion rupees.

The fourth section of 35.8 km of the southern expressway, started in June 2010, will stretch from Pinnaduwa in Galle to the southern town of Matara.

This section is funded by Exim Bank of China with the contractor being China National Import & Export Corporation.

The RDA did not reveal the cost of this section nor the scheduled completion date.

The southern expressway will initially have four lanes, later to be widened to six lanes, with 11 interchanges connecting to the rest of the road network, RDA director-general R W R Pemasiri said.

Pemasiri said part of the expressway from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa in Galle, will be opened to the public in July.

are they upgrading or is it about the colombo port city development with new apartments hotels etc.....

Colombo Port City Project

New thread to discuss about the new Colombo Port City. The Colombo Port Project thread can be used to discuss about the new Colombo South Port Project.




A new port city in Colombo soon

[March 24 2011]

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Ports and Highways Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena told the Parliament a feasibility study is undertaken to reclaim a land of 300 - 400acres in the open sea between Galle Face to Kollupity to establish a new port city.

The proposed new port city will be planned and develop as a modern city to establish economic centre of Colombo city addressing constrains related to the haphazard development of buildings and road network in the existing Colombo city, he said.

The Minister said new port city will enhance the investment opportunities in phase with the Colombo Port expansion project and enable to reach megaeconomic targets.

According to Minister this approximate project cost is estimated as US $300 million and the feasibility study of the project is being done by a team of professionals comprising Moratuwa University and Sri Lanka Authority.

He said the construction work on the oil tanks complex of the port will be completed by May this year. Therefore the port would be able to provide fuel to ships with effect from June the port would provide various other services to ships as well.

Expected ‘Port City’ comes to Colombo

Posted by ann on Feb 14th, 2011 and filed under News.



Sri Lanka Ports Authority has started the initial construction work of the proposed “Colombo Port City” project, a top official of Ports Authority told “Lanka News Today”.

It will be built near Galleface, adjacent to Colombo South harbor.

Revealing about the new project, the top official of Sri Lanka Ports Authority told ‘Lanka News Today’ that the initial land surveys are being conducted at the moment. Though the official did not reveal the deadline, he said the project will reach its completion as quick as possible.

“Colombo Port City” which is going to be built in a 400 acre land area, acquired from the sea. Sri Lanka Ports Authority has already planned to build the “port city” as a separate island near Galleface.

The planned “port city” will be used for business oriented purposes, entertainment and tourism promotion.

Sri Lankan government is expecting to spend more than $400 million dollars to complete this massive project.

Internationally, there are so many sophisticated “port cities”, connected to the busiest harbours all over the world. Sri Lanka Ports Authority is planning to construct a “port city” of that caliber, in order to attract investors and tourists.

Formula One track

A Formula One track is planned for the New Port City to be constructed in the vicinity of the Colombo Port. According to the Chairman, Ports Authority, Dr. Priyath Wickrama an eight lane F1 track will “definitely” be a part of the New Port City, he said.
Formula One has strict requirements for its tracks and the Sri Lankan track, if it is to be a reality, must be carefully planned if it is to be implemented in the New Port City. Currently planners are formulating ways of fitting the track in the premises of the city whilst also allowing for maximum leeway for commercial activities. Space is also a problem so a synergistic approach with commercial roads must also be adopted. F1 tracks around the globe often use sections of public roads for racing.
The New Port City will set Sri Lanka up for its own city-on-the-sea akin to Palm Island and The World, Dubai. The city is to be constructed on filled land taking up the area between the Southern edge of the new Colombo South Port and the Fort Lighthouse. The total area of sea reclaimed is set to be 400 acres.
‘The New Port City Development Project will be implemented in March 2011’ said Chairman, Ports Authority, Dr. Priyath Wickrama in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Leader. The New Port City is a concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was apparently inspired while out on a visit to inspect the landfill being constructed for the Colombo South port.
‘The new city is going to be well planned. Colombo unfortunately is not very well planned anymore. It was a quite well planned city during colonial times but has since become haphazard,’ said Wickrama.
The initiatives for the city involves shopping complexes, hotels, office complexes, etc. There is also a marina planned for boats and other water based activities.
The construction is set to begin in March 2011 with an initial budget of $400 million. The filling of the land is projected to take two years while subsequent infrastructure construction is projected to take another one and a half years.
‘The Ports Authority will call for investors to buy land for use and construction as the project gets underway’ said Wickrama adding that private sector funds will be key in ensuring that the project is completed in time. He also said that many investors both local and foreign have shown ‘a lot of interest’ in investing already.
‘The models have been constructed and feasibility studies have been done. All the expertise has been provided by us and no foreign consultants have been approached so far. The technology and knowledge needed for filling the land is sophisticated. A monorail is planned to reduce congestion in the city. Entrants will be encouraged to park their cars at the entrance and use the monorail to navigate the city,’ he said. According to Wickrama the funding will likely come from a Chinese source as some interest has already been conveyed from there. Wickrama also mentioned that bonds will be issued to raise funds in addition to private investments.
‘The Ports Authority has been financially stable but could perform much better,’ said General Manager Capt. Nihal Keppetipola, adding that a key reason for this is the foreign exchange loss suffered in the repayment of a yen loan taken for super infrastructure developments a decade ago. ‘The New Port City project more than anything else will be a massive revenue earner for the Ports Authority,’ he said.