Sri Lanka’s new government will review Chinese infrastructure projects awarded under the previous administration, a junior minister said, a move bound to please Indian and Western powers concerned about Beijing’s access in the island.
The government on Friday said it would review a US$1.5 billion port deal with China Communication Construction Co over concerns about the Chinese company getting land on a freehold basis in a high-security zone.
That port project had been of particular concern for India, the destination for the majority of the transshipment cargo through Colombo. India was furious with the last government after it allowed to a submarine to dock there twice.
Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Harsha De Silva said on Saturday that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s government would look at benchmarks for Chinese infrastructure costs using independent audit firms.
“We will certainly do that because we want to show the people the true cost of these projects as well as what they are paying for these projects,” De Silva said, adding that the government would consider legal action against people involved in over-priced projects.
Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was unseated on Jan. 8, heavily depended on China for infrastructure in the wake of a devastating civil war. He has borrowed more than US$6 billion for mega projects since the end of a 26-year conflict in May 2009.
De Silva said China had already started to discuss the issues “at the highest level.”
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