Posted by Karthiyayini on February 24, 2012 Colombo, Feb 24 (TruthDive): With Sri Lanka occupying the fourth place in Chinese strategic planning in South Asia, more than 50 per cent of the overseas funding for construction and development projects for Sri Lanka since President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power has been siphoned in from China.
China, in its attempt to build a strong presence in south Asia and to fuel its long-term strategic ambitions is backing infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka.
Colombo has started seizing large areas of lands to build an airport of international standards for which China has presented models of the airport for approval, revealed TNA parliamentarian Mr. Sritharan.
Sri Lanka plans to invite China to build an airport of international standards at Poonakari in the north of the country which is the traditional homeland of Eelam Tamils, to balance India’s projects centering around KKS harbour and Palaali airport in the northern coast of Jaffna peninsula.
Poonakari ,the ‘city of flowers’ is situated in a controlling location linking Vanni with Jaffna Peninsula, with Palk Bay and Jaffna lagoon on either side. It is also located close to Rameswaram and Thondi of the Tamil Nadu coast.
China has been chosen for the task, considering the advantage of the location of Poonakari to check any ‘enemy attacks’ from Tamil Nadu or India, political observers said.
Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa and an officer in the Lankan Navy is playing a role in maintaining the interests of Colombo, sources added.
Meanwhile, China has also been accorded a construction project for a tourist resort in the Neduntheevu Island off Jaffna and close to Kachchatheevu and Rameswaram in the Palk Bay.
Additionally, Mr. Rajapaksa had also secretly inaugurated a contentious China-backed project in Maathakal under the eyes of Sri Lanka Navy, without any public knowledge, sources reveal.
The controversial project is aimed at installing windmills and solar panels along the coastal stretch from Thiruvadinilai to KKS which is the closest coastline to Tamil Nadu in Jaffna.
In October 2011, as a part of Malaysian Prime Minister’s US$ 10 billion economic cooperation initiative with China, the agreement was drawn between the Malaysian corporate, KLS Energy China Machinery and Engineering Corporation to ‘develop’ wind/solar hybrid power project in Jaffna.
The Malaysian organization of Chinese connection will set up windmills and solar panels to produce electricity and ‘sell’ it to the people of Jaffna, permanently replacing the coastal people and the graceful Palmyra palms that now dot the coast.
