INDIA AND SRI LANKA GOING TO GET INVOLVED IN BUILDING WEERAWILA AIRPORT

By Walter Jayawardhana

The governments of Sri Lanka and India are discussing the construction of the Weerawila Airport in Sri Lanka with public and private sector participation , the proposed constructor of the Airport ,The Cochin International Airport Ltd.(CIAL), has announced. The Kerala state government of India and several NRI’s hold stake in the CIAL and it is reputed to have built India’s first airport with public and private participation. S.Bharath, Managing Director of the Company said that the Sri Lankan government has agreed to give the contraction of the airport to the Indian Company while the Company is also willing to take over the construction. Bharath said they have put the ball into the Indian government since the money to invest in the project is a problem for the company. A delegation led by Bharath visited the island nation in January and participated in several rounds of talks with government officials. During the visit the delegation also met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Weerawila is in the old parliamentary constituency of the President and it is considered a pet project for him to develop Southern Province, and is figured a major project of the development of the Province. During his private visits to Kerala’s Guruvyoor Temple, the President himself suggested the partially state owned Kerala Company should be interested in constructing the airport , Indian agencies said.