'Danish' wind power and 'Chinese' tires to revive the economy
Sri Lanka’s first state-owned wind farm is inaugurated. It is expected to generate 100 megawatts and save 20 billion litres of diesel in 20 years. A Chinese company will build a car tire factory near a port operated by a Chinese company. The country's dependence on Beijing is growing.
Colombo (AsiaNews) - Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday inaugurated Sri Lanka’s first wind power station.
The Thambapavani Power Plant in Mannar (Northwest Province) has a capacity of 100 megawatts with 30 turbines along a 12.5 km stretch of Sri Lanka’s coast.
Built by Denmark’s Vesta Asia Pacific, the wind farm costs US$ 200 million, partly financed with a loan from the Asian Development Bank.
According to the Minister of Power Dullas Alahapperuma, the electricity produced by this plant will save 20 billion litres of diesel in 20 years.
Yesterday the government also announced that a Chinese company will build a US$ 300-million tire factory, the first large-scale Chinese investment in the country, near the southern port of Hambantota, which China helped to build.
In order to pay off the port’s one-billion price tag, Sri Lanka agreed to lease it to a Chinese state company for 99 years.
Minister of Mass Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella expects that 80 per cent of tire production will be exported, whilst the rest will be sold domestically.
Despite the debts accumulated over the years, Sri Lankan authorities continue to expand business cooperation with Chinese companies. Sri Lanka is a key part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, meant to control world trade routes.
A few weeks ago, the prime minister release the government’s budget for next year. It relies on the investments flowing to Colombo’s new port, which was also financed with Chinese money.
During Mahinda Rajapaksa’s terms as president (2005-2015), Sri Lanka took on debts asking for capital from China to build large infrastructures, which in some cases have proved useless. For example, Colombo's Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, inaugurated in 2013, is considered "the emptiest" in the world.
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01/08/2022 18:05
15/02/2022 16:56
