COLOMBO:A 350-meter tall China-funded tower shaped like a gigantic long-stemmed lotus will be the main attraction for Sri Lanka to lure tourists to the bankrupt country.
The Lotus Tower said to be the tallest free-standing structure of its kind in South Asia, was opened to the public on Thursday,15 September some 10 years after construction began on the project, selling tickets to an observation deck with 360-degree panoramic views of the city, suburbs and the Indian Ocean. When fully occupied, the iconic tower overlooking Beira Lake in central Colombo will have shops, host weddings and boast a fine dining rotating restaurant on the bud of the flower.
“This will be the tourism and entertainment hub of Colombo,” said Major General (Rtd) Prasad Samarasinghe, chief executive officer of state-run Colombo Lotus Tower Management Co., which is overseeing the building’s operations. “We have developed a business model to earn enough money for operations and maintenance of the tower so that it is not a burden to the government, ”Samarasinghe was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Operators are forecasting 1.1 billion rupees ($3 million) of revenue by 2024, against a total construction cost of $113 million, following repeated delays. Building began in 2012 with a loan from China’s Exim Bank, which exposed it to criticism of being a vanity project, one of the many so-called white elephants commissioned during the tenure of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose family has since been ousted from several government posts.
The Lotus Tower or Nelum Kuluna in Sinhala or Thamarai Gopuram in Tamil was initiated in 2012 to further boost various economic sectors including telecommunications, trade and tourism, and symbolises a significant aspect of Sri Lankan culture. The tower rising to 356 m (1,168 ft) will be used for communication, observation and other leisure facilities,
Clients have already been found for more than 70% of the 133,000 square feet of commercial space in the podium block The lotus bud atop the tower will have nine floors and expressions of interest invited until September 23. The tower is also receiving bookings for weddings at a charge of 1.5 million rupees.
First envisaged as a telecom tower, critics have long questioned the feasibility of the project. The Telecom Regulatory Commission will service the Chinese loan with its own funds, Samarasinghe said.
Sri Lankan authorities have also been seeking investors for the desolate Chinese-built Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in the southern home base of the Rajapaksa family that ran the island nation for nearly two decades. Sri Lanka has sold a China-funded port in the southern district of Hambantota after failing to repay the debt for its construction.
Colombo Lotus Tower , the holding company, has called for tenders to run some of its main attractions, according to local media reports.
An official said an international hotel chain has bid for the contract for a revolving restaurant on top of the tower, a level below the observation deck. The restaurant operates on roller based technology which enables diners to dine on a moving deck offering a 360° view of the city of Colombo.
The restaurant’s kitchen is placed in the lowest floor and operates with service lifts for waiters to carry on their services, the official said. This measure was undertaken to prevent the risk of fires. A banquet hall is to be given to the same hotel to undertake events, the official added.
The entire premises at the Lotus Tower will be rented out to interested parties for trade and services to begin, the official said, adding that the entire process will take two to three months.
A statement from the President’s Media Division (PMD) said that the Colombo Lotus Tower company is engaged in negotiations with 58 investment companies and has expressed interest in entering into agreements with 22 of them. Quoting the management company, the PMD said orders have already been made for 15 events by December 31.
“A Chinese company granted 88.65 million US dollars and the rest has been borne by the Sri Lankan government. The loan installments are due to be completed by 2024. Already, 66.3936 million of the loan has been paid,” the statement said.
Entrance to the tower, built on 10.5 acres of land, will be ticketed at either 500 or 2,000 rupees for Sri Lankan visitors and 20 US dollars for foreigners. The 2,000-rupee ticket holders will not need to queue up to get in, the press release said, and can ascend the tower several times, while the 500-rupee ticket will only allow one visit to the top at a time. Plans are also under way to introduce a QR code instead of a ticket.
The ground floor will be occupied by restaurant chains and souvenir shops and commercial banks. The first floor will be used as office space and also include a cinema, and space will be rented out to investors. A conference hall seating 400 will be opened on the third floor, the floor on top of which will house a rotating restaurant. A viewing gallery up top will offer a ‘Kolamba Ahasa Yata (Under the Colombo Sky)’ experience, the statement said, adding that the tower will also boast Sri Lanka’s fastest elevator system, built using Japanese technology.
Already dubbed a tower to nowhere, former Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena stoked further controversy when he claimed that a non-existent Chinese company had vanished with two billion rupees (equivalent to 11 US million dollars at the time) of the funds allocated for the construction of the 356-metre tower. Sirisena made this starling disclosure at the opening ceremony of the partially completed tower in September 2019.Though the tower was declared open by President Sirisena, it has not fully opened its doors to visitors until now.
“The loan agreement between the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and China was initiated and the work on the Lotus Tower commenced in 2012. Although its construction was planned to be completed in 2015, the planned date of completion could not be met. The Chinese company completed the construction work and handed over the Lotus Tower to the Government of Sri Lanka on February 28, 2022. Thereafter, Colombo Lotus Tower Pvt. Ltd. was established and its operations were entrusted to the company,” the PMD statement said.
Major General Prasad Samarasinghe (Rtd) was quoted in the statement as saying that Lotus Tower plans to avail new technological experiences “along with entertainment similar to those found in wealthy countries around the world”. Other attractions include adventure sports such as sky diving and bungee jumping.
Samarasinghe had said that, so far, 80 percent of local investors and 20 percent of foreign investors have joined the investment opportunities at the Lotus Tower.
Dialog Axiata Plc and Sri Lanka Telecom Company have already reached agreements for investments of Rs. 200 million each, the statement said.
