ගාලු මුවදොර අක්‌කර පහක්‌ ඇමෙරිකානු හෝටලයකට බදු දෙයි
රනිල් ධර්මසේන
ඇමරිකාවේ ෂෙර්ටන් සමූහයේ සුඛෝපභෝගී හෝටලයක්‌ කොළඹ ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා කොළඹ ගාලු මුවදොර හමුදා මූලස්‌ථානයට යාබද අක්‌කර 05 ක ඉඩම අනූ නව අවුරුදු බදු පදනම මත එම ආයතනයට ලබාදීමට ඇමැති මණ්‌ඩලය තීරණය කර ඇත. මෙම ඉඩම සඳහා රජයේ ප්‍රධාන තක්‌සේරුකරුගේ තක්‌සේරුව අනුව ඩොලර් මිලියන 73.5 ක මුදලක්‌ රජය ලබා ගැනීමට නියමිතය. එමෙන්ම සමස්‌ත ව්‍යාපෘතිය සඳහා සමාගම විසින් ඩොලර් මිලියන 300 ක සෘජු ආයෝජනයක්‌ සිදු කරනු ලබයි.
සුඛෝපභෝගී හෝටලයක්‌ නිසා ඒ ආශ්‍රිත සංවර්ධන කටයුතු රැසක්‌ මෙම ආයෝජනය තුළින් සිදු කිරීමට අපේක්‍ෂිතය.
ඉන්දියාවේ සීමාසහිත පී. සී. සමාගම ඇමරිකානු ෂෙර්ටන් සමූහයේ බලයලත් නියෝජිත වේ.
ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන ඇමැති බැසිල් රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් මෙම ඉඩම පැවරීමට අදාළ යෝජනාව ඇමැති මණ්‌ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ.
http://www.divaina.com/2011/12/02/news02.html
ITC India replaces China’s CATIC for hotel project at Galle Face
* Long term tax exemptions would have been offered to ITC - Harsha
by Zacki Jabbar
With China’s CATIC pulling out of the agreement to build a luxury hotel on the former Army headquarters land at Galle Face, the government said yesterday that it has decided to give the same land to ITC Limited of India, a franchise of Sheraton Group to build a mixed development project which would include a five star hotel.
Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing in Colombo, said that ITC would invest USD 300 million on the project, of which US $ 73.5 million would cover the 99-year lease rental on the land.
The project has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on a proposal by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and would be a boost for the Sri Lankan tourism industry since it was a franchise of Sheraton Group, USA. he said.
Rambukwella said that the government has embarked on a project to convert Colombo into a Middle Income City which would include housing for shanty dwellers living within the city, ensure better living conditions and to provide them opportunities for urban employment and livelihood activities.
Meanwhile, Harsha de Silva, MP, said that since the Cabinet has approved the transfer of the former CATIC land at Galle Face to ITC on the same terms and conditions, it can safely be assumed the ITC would have been offered long-term tax exemptions and other benefits under the Strategic Development Projects Act.
"While we are not opposed in principle to investments from recognized parties it must be reiterated that the government has once again violated the law in conducting this transaction. The Strategic Development Projects Act clearly states that prior to Cabinet approval being granted for strategic projects with wide-ranging tax incentives the proposed exemptions must be published in the Gazette. This is to provide the public with an opportunity to air any concerns they may have with regard to the proposed project. Only after the lapse of thirty days from the publication of such a Gazette, can Cabinet approval be sought by the minister in charge of investments. Assuming Cabinet approval is granted, a second Gazette must be published with the specific incentives within six weeks of such approval. Thereafter the proposal must be placed before Parliament within three months for its approval."
The government has not published the required Gazette and this was a violation of the law. While it may argue that a Gazette is not necessary purely for the lease of land, the spirit of the agreement the government enters into with Sheraton, if it has not already done so in stealth, will certainly be to offer long term tax exemptions in return for the investment on the leased land. There is no reason for ITC to lease out the land other than to build a hotel, he observed.
In a country where the government can pass ad hominem legislation with no regard to the basic process of legislating as witnessed only weeks ago, what difference does it make if existing laws and procedures are blatantly violated? The public was also now fully aware of how the tyranny of the majority guarantees the passage of any legislation even if it has to be done by physically assaulting Opposition parliamentarians. No government can act with such impunity forever, de Silva observed.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=40253
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