By: Staff Writer
April 04, Colombo (LNW):The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has uncovered significant irregularities in the development of the new passenger terminal at Katunayake’s Bandaranaike International Airport, citing frequent alterations to the roof design driven by successive governments’ political agendas.
During a recent COPE session with Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited, it was revealed that the terminal’s roof design has been revised multiple times to reflect different political symbols. One administration proposed a lotus flower-inspired design, while another introduced a version shaped like an araliya leaf, showcasing the extent of political interference in infrastructure development.
Dr. Nishantha Samarawickrama, Chairman of the COPE Committee, explained that the airport expansion aimed to increase passenger handling capacity—from 6 million to 12 million passengers—following Cabinet approval in 2007. By 2013, there were discussions to push this number to 15 million. However, the project has suffered due to inconsistent planning and questionable decisions.
Over the first four years, 344.5 million rupees were paid to a consulting firm responsible for planning and design. Hasitha Karunaratne, Head of Projects at Airport and Aviation Services, noted that the project required prior planning to secure funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Although Cabinet initially approved the design and the loan was acquired, the project stalled midway.
Despite the aim to increase capacity, the same consulting firm was retained for further services, raising concerns about transparency and procurement. Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramaratne disclosed that the former Minister of Ports and Aviation endorsed the firm without a proper bidding process. COPE members expressed that if competitive bidding had been conducted in 2009, Japanese funding through JBIC could have been utilized more effectively.
In 2014, a new contract was signed with the same firm, extending consultancy services for another 47 months at a cost of 1.36 billion Japanese yen—approximately 519 million Sri Lankan rupees. COPE questioned this decision, highlighting that the earlier payment of 344.5 million rupees appears to have been squandered due to halted progress and poor initial planning.
MP Asitha Niroshan Egodawithana criticized the repeated selection of the same consulting firm and emphasized that roof design changes were dictated by political motives. The back-and-forth between symbolic elements like the lotus and the araliya leaf underscores how public funds and international loans have been misused to serve partisan interests rather than public needs.
As of 2025, the terminal expansion remains incomplete, plagued by years of delays, political interference, and ineffective project management.
