News
Casino magnate Packer’s project back on the cards
Australian casino mogul James D Packer and his Sri Lankan partners are redesigning their proposed resort in Colombo Fort on the instructions of the Urban Development Authority (UDA), Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.
He said his ministry had to submit four cabinet papers before the deal could be finalised. “There is no delay. They are preparing their plan and redesigning their building now. They have agreed to build two towers,” Mr. Abeywardena said.
Rank Holdings (Pvt) Ltd is the local partner of Mr. Packer’s enterprise, Crown Limited. Together, they have formed a project company called Lake Leisure Holdings (Pvt) Ltd to set up and operate an integrated resort which will include a 400-room hotel with meeting, convention and gaming facilities.
Last month, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the Sunday Times that the partners were asked to move the resort from the car park in front of Lake House in Colombo Fort to another property along D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha.
If Lake Leisure Holdings wishes to remain at the same location, it would have to change the original design so that two towers are built instead of the 36-storey block it had in mind, Mr Rajapaksa said.
The reason behind the UDA’s request was aesthetic, the Defence Secretary explained. A World Bank expert had advised that anything being built should be in the form of two towers to enable a view of the Beira Lake and of the proposed Lotus Tower. Authoritative sources revealed that this had caused consternation among the project partners as they had already spent around US$20 million on the design. Upon receiving the UDA’s instructions in writing, however, Crown Ltd Chief Executive Rowen Craigie and Crown’s Chief Financial Officer Ken Barton arrived in Sri Lanka last month for talks with officials.
Mr. Craigie was later quoted in the Australian media as saying, “The visit was productive and informative.” No further details were given about the progress of the project.
Yesterday, Ravi Wijeratne, Chairman of Rank Holdings, confirmed that. “We are making some slight changes in the design. When it is completed, we will launch it to the media.”
Meanwhile, Minister Abeywardena said that although the public had been given 14 days to provide feedback on the project, nobody had done so. Representations were invited through a gazette notification and the time provided has already lapsed.
As a next step, the project partners must submit their new design and full proposals to the BOI. These will be submitted to cabinet for further approval and then published again via a gazette. After the lapse of another mandatory time period, a final cabinet paper will be submitted containing all details and conditions, including taxes.