By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema
The police Financial Crimes Investigations Department (FCID) has commenced an investigation into the controversial Krrish Transworks Colombo (Pvt) Limited project that was initiated during the former Mahinda Rajapaksa regime. Several VVIPs of the former regime are hence expected to be interrogated by the FCID in the next few weeks.
The US$ 650 million Krrish square mixed development project in Colombo was aimed at constructing four high-rise buildings containing a luxury hotel, apartments, malls and office space covering a land space of 4.3-acres on a 99-year lease from the Urban Development Authority (UDA).
However, the Krrish project was marred with controversy and allegations made of secret payoffs to several prominent figures of the former regime including a few VVIPs in order to expedite the relevant approvals. The issue of the alleged payoff resulted in a controversy over the final installment the Krrish Group was due to pay the UDA to complete the land lease transaction. The project has been stalled since March 2013.
It was reported at the time that Krrish had deposited the amount equivalent to the final installment for the Krrish Transworks Colombo (Pvt) Limited project in a private bank in Singapore as a payoff to a VVIP. The final installment that was due to the UDA by Krrish amounted to around Rs. 450 million.
The names of several powerful members of the former regime were highlighted in the controversial Krrish project while drafting of the agreement was undertaken by a legal firm that was owned by the son of a VVIP of the former regime.
The Sunday Leader learns that the relevant files have gone missing from the respective legal firm.
Krrish has so far made a payment of Rs 4.4 billion while the total due to the UDA is Rs 4.995 billion. The final payment is yet be made to close the land lease deal.
Be that as it may, officials from India’s Krrish Group visited the country early this year to discuss the possibility of resuming the stalled project under the new government.
Accordingly, a discussion was held between the Krrish officials and the Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI), Upul Jayasuriya. The BoI during the discussion had requested Krrish to pay the dues and continue with the project. The Krrish Group however is yet to respond positively to the request.
The US$ 650 million Krrish square mixed development project in Colombo was aimed at constructing four high-rise buildings containing a luxury hotel, apartments, malls and office space covering a land space of 4.3-acres on a 99-year lease from the Urban Development Authority (UDA).
However, the Krrish project was marred with controversy and allegations made of secret payoffs to several prominent figures of the former regime including a few VVIPs in order to expedite the relevant approvals. The issue of the alleged payoff resulted in a controversy over the final installment the Krrish Group was due to pay the UDA to complete the land lease transaction. The project has been stalled since March 2013.
It was reported at the time that Krrish had deposited the amount equivalent to the final installment for the Krrish Transworks Colombo (Pvt) Limited project in a private bank in Singapore as a payoff to a VVIP. The final installment that was due to the UDA by Krrish amounted to around Rs. 450 million.
The names of several powerful members of the former regime were highlighted in the controversial Krrish project while drafting of the agreement was undertaken by a legal firm that was owned by the son of a VVIP of the former regime.
The Sunday Leader learns that the relevant files have gone missing from the respective legal firm.
Krrish has so far made a payment of Rs 4.4 billion while the total due to the UDA is Rs 4.995 billion. The final payment is yet be made to close the land lease deal.
Be that as it may, officials from India’s Krrish Group visited the country early this year to discuss the possibility of resuming the stalled project under the new government.
Accordingly, a discussion was held between the Krrish officials and the Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI), Upul Jayasuriya. The BoI during the discussion had requested Krrish to pay the dues and continue with the project. The Krrish Group however is yet to respond positively to the request.
www.thesundayleader.lk
No comments:
Post a Comment