All About The 1,155-Feet Tall Sri Lanka’s Lotus Tower. What Are Its Connections To China?

The Lotus Tower in Sri Lanka is a 1,1555-feet (350-meter) tall tower visible from all over Colombo and is purple and green in color. The tower was constructed with an estimated $113 million and will open soon. The tower has become an issue of controversy due to many reasons. The tower is seen as a sign of the ousted Rajapaksa clan’s closeness to Beijing. The tower is one of the “white elephant” projects constructed with Chinese loans. This was done under the tenure of former Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In July, the president was ousted from office after protests over Sri Lanka’s great economic crisis. The protests lasted for several months.

What Is The Controversy?

The Lotus Tower’s construction is often seen with frowns due to the corruption claims ever since the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka commenced the construction in 2012.

China granted hefty amounts as loans to Mahinda Rajapaksa for several infrastructure projects. However, these infrastructure projects, including the Lotus Tower, failed miserably. However, the Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company has decided to open the tower to curb the huge amount and mitigate the losses.

"We can't keep this closed. The maintenance costs are huge. We want to earn the upkeep of the building and turn this into an entertainment center, ”Prasad Samarasinghe, the Chief Executive expressed in a statement.

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Sri Lankan Media Calls It A Vanity Project

The structure is not warmly welcomed by the citizens of Sri Lanka. Criticism by local media argues that the structure cannot enhance current transmissions in the island nation. The local media called the 1,155-feet tall nothing but Rajapaksa’s vanity project and a  "towering story of pride and waste." There have been judgments floating around the media that the tower is Rajapaksa’s failed imitation of Beijing’s 405-meter Central Radio and TV tower.

Connection Of Lotus Tower With China

The most prominent reason behind the ongoing economic crisis leading to countrywide protests in Sri Lanka is the island nation's borrowing from China. Debt taken from Beijing is estimated to be around 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s $51 billion in external borrowings. The country announced that it would default in April.