{"id":139549,"date":"2015-02-18T12:09:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T06:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=139549"},"modified":"2015-02-23T13:11:01","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T07:41:01","slug":"open-letter-to-the-government-of-sri-lanka-on-the-port-city-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/open-letter-to-the-government-of-sri-lanka-on-the-port-city-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter To The Government Of Sri Lanka On The Port City Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ranil Senanayake<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ranil<\/a>

Ranil Senanayake<\/p><\/div>\n

Open Letter to the Government of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Through :<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/p>\n

Minister Hon. Rajitha Senaratne<\/p>\n

Minister Hon Lakshman Kiriella<\/p>\n

Dear Sirs,<\/p>\n

On the Port City Review<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am writing this open letter to you all as I have doubts that you might receive it through the layers of bureaucracy and entrenched interests that support the proposed \u2018Port City\u2019 project<\/span><\/a>. A recent news report quotes a senior government spokesman stating that a \u201ccomprehensive review would look into every aspect of the project, including its environmental impact.\u201d Obviously a \u2018comprehensive review\u2019 will take a few weeks at least for a project this size and any decision taken in a few days would mean that no \u2018comprehensive review\u2019 has been undertaken and we are once again lulled into a state of false complacency while our nations future is dismantled.<\/p>\n

It will be salutatory to have the names of the scientists who are on the \u2018comprehensive review\u2019 committee, as there is serious doubt of quality of work by the \u2018scientists\u2019 who performed the initial EIA, which we the public have no access to as yet. We trust that you will not continue the underhand, opaque transaction procedures of the last government and be tarred with the same brush, we trust that you will you give us the Government that you promised us, open and transparent. I as the only qualified Systems Ecologist in this country, offer my services to this nation and to you GRATIS in the defense of this nation, if you are to set up an independent Sri Lankan committee to investigate the EIA that allowed the \u201cPort City\u2019 to proceed.<\/p>\n

As we, the public have not has access to \u2018Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that has been done in regard to this project there are some serious concerns that I would request you to consider. These considerations are basic, they impact this nation far into the future and if not addressed could create irreparable negative consequences for the public of this nation. May I list a few to illustrate the magnitude of the problem?<\/p>\n