Why Hambantota will never be the Colombo
As much as people, and the Government, carry on talking about it, Hambantota will never be the next Colombo, nor will it be close to it. Yes, there is an airport that will be coming up, there is the famed harbour, there is a new Indian Consular office, but there are some simple reasons why Hambantota will never be what the Government wants it to be.
Getting airlines to change flights to Hambantota will not be an easy task. Whilst Mahinda Rajapaksa Express Mihin Air would do it on whim, no other airline would. There should be sustained passenger flow for that to happen.
Hotels will still be in Colombo, and so will the facilities – meeting locations, lifestyle places, diners, shopping, living areas et cetera. In essence, the psyche of Sri Lanka’s “glamourous” employment is Colombo – Galle Road, World Trade Centre, Colombo 2, 3, 7.
Colombo will also continue to host the workforce. Colombo still houses the best schools in the country, and in this country of equal education to all – where a Thomian in theory is no better than one from Harispattuwa Central – the workforce coming out of those schools will continue to be there and their lives will continue to revolved around Colombo.
Sri Lanka has been established for a pretty long time, and Colombo has been the hub for centuries. Change is not easy, and change will never happen when it’s done over the whims and fancies of a single politician or his family.
As a farce to garner the support of the South, the Hambantota scam is working quite well. Rajapaksa is helping Hambantota – but we all know how is Helping Hambantota works.
When mahinda was telling that he’s going to end the war you guys said the same thing, just read the news papers one year before prabhas death, you guys said mahinda is cheating people
. Hambanthota will develop better than colombo here are the reason.
1. Since the city is built brand new it will be a well planed city. Not a shit hole like colombo ,which floods in one rain.
2. Since the port is there ships will be diverted to it more than colombo, since shipping line is more closer to hambanthota.
3. Since ships are coming there will be jobs, so the work force will shift slowly from colombo to hambanthota.
4. Tourists will love to land in Hambanthota since its closer to places that they wan’t to visit in Srilanka.(Beach/Wild Life)
5. If they wan’t to visit other places, they have the highway.
6. Its easy to divert planes to hambanthota since we are the once who’s going to decide where a plane lands. Pilot is not like a bus driver
.
7. For a plane to land in colombo or hambanthota is not a big difference. it just less than 150km, for a plane is just 15min or less. I hope you have never traveled in a plane.
8. Colombo is not “facilities – meeting locations, lifestyle places, diners, shopping, living areas et cetera. In essence, the psyche of Sri Lanka’s “glamourous” as you said ..its a unplanned SHIT HOLE. foreigner and locals will love to move out from there.
Please read some books and travel some places before you write article like this. For your information, Singapore was developed like this, it was once a desert place like hambanthota. All they did was to build the country was to build a good port and air port.
good day (hope you have the courage to post this )
indrakeerthi - November 28, 2010 at 12:10 pm |
I wish this change does happen so that Colombians can live and work peacefully..
Colombian - November 28, 2010 at 1:33 pm |
Yeah, agree with Colombian. I hope they move all the government shit out of Colombo and let us live in peace.
Chavie - November 28, 2010 at 1:57 pm |
A capital should be well connected with other areas of the country. Trying to connect hambantota with all other areas of sri lanka would take decades, would be a total wastage and would not be easy because it lies within a corner of Sri Lanka.
I hope our people would become mature enough to oppose these types of immature development efforts of leaders. We all know Mahinda is keen on turning around Hambantota only bc it is his hometown. That is simply not a quality of a national leader but is of a tribal leader.
What should be done is to take economic activity into rural areas not pour all the tax money collected from all around Sri Lanka into one district
Liberal Lanka - November 28, 2010 at 2:45 pm |
@indrakeerthi
Your point no 6 is valid. That would be the exact thing that would happen and don’t tell me it is in the best interest of the country.
Liberal Lanka - November 28, 2010 at 2:50 pm |
I think that’s an unnecessarily negative way of looking at it. What you’re talking about is a static environment, but I think with development in Hambantota will come jobs, a better local economy and more importantly, opportunity, which will be attractive to entrepreneurs and tourists alike. Colombo hasn’t been the hub for “centuries”; Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhpura were all hubs of economic activity way back in the day. There is no reason why Sri Lanka can’t have multiple major cities; trying to keep Colombo as the hub of Sri Lanka is what’s creating the current situation: gridlock on the streets, increased pollution, violence and corruption. Of course Hambantota has its share of corruption; you’d be hard pressed to find any structure or effort in Sri Lanka that doesn’t, but if there is some development and economic benefit to be had, then I think that’s a positive thing.
T - November 29, 2010 at 6:55 am |
@ Indrakeerthi,
If what you say is true, then why are the powers that be harping endlessly about turning Colombo into the wonder of Asia??
Maybe it’s because they don’t believe their own BS??
thekillromeoproject - November 29, 2010 at 11:38 am |
Hahaha DUH
PravNJ - December 14, 2010 at 12:54 am |