The 33 million US dollar project, "Realty Tower", has 18 floors and will be built in the Colombo suburb of Nawala, on 139 perches of land. It will include an ice skating rink, a novelty in the tropical island.
The company said the complex will have over 230 air conditioned shops, a 225-vehicle park, food court, children's play area, supermarket, and a 270 seating capacity digital cinema.
Ceylinco's first shopping mall "Realty Plaza" came up in Ja-Ela, north of Colombo, near to the country's only international airport.
Ceylinco says they want to build shopping malls in fast developing suburbs of Colombo.
"My idea is to set up shopping complexes out of Colombo in the suburbs and even in rural areas," chairman of Ceylinco Consolidated, Lalith Kotelawala, said at the signing ceremony Tuesday.
“The beauty of this shopping complex is that it is a very cost effective and fantastic marketing opportunity for people who are small and medium industrialists,” he said.
The investment promotion agency, the Board of Investment gives tax concessions to projects.
Sixty three-bed-roomed luxury apartments will be built in the second phase of the project and the ice skating rink will attract crowds from the nearby fast-growing suburbs of Nugegoda, Narahenpita, Kotte, Rajagiriya, Battaramulla and Malabe, the company said.
Ceylinco estimates around 5,000 people to visit the shopping mall on weekdays and over 15,000 during weekends.
Investor promotions minister, Sarath Amunugama, said the rapidly growing number of high rise buildings in Colombo were signs of growth.
“The sky line is fast changing. A large number of new buildings are coming up. We are showing signs of growth and signs of growing purchasing power in the country,” Amunugama said.
The minister said that the government is taking development to other areas like the east and the hill country, which have been lagging behind the western province where the capital is located.
He said he has just had talks with the American ambassador about investment by US firms in the east, which the government wrested control of from Tamil Tigers last year.
A big city mall in Kandy, in the central hills, will come up in the next few months.
"We are changing the sky line and the life pattern of people,” he said
I do not see any logic in having and Ice skating ring in Sri Lanka when only 4% people can swim in an island surrounded by the sea. They should take up swimming instead- at least it can be life saving.
Youngsters( teenagers) from Denmark, Finland and Norway come all the way to Sri Lanka, on a regular basis, to do volunteer work at institutions like Mother Theresa's orphange(Getambe) for mentally dysfunctional children and the Day Care Facility for the elderly( Ampitiya) in kandy. This work has been going on for a long time without much fanfare.
It's shocking that children from local schools in Kandy ( or elsewhere) do not participate in such activities.
Most parents in Sri Lanka encourage children to take up swimming, tennis, ballroom dancing elocution and other social climbing activities. Very few are encouraged to look after an elderly neighbour or such similar community minded activity.
When I wanted to collect some money for sterilizing all the stray dogs in the neighbourhood, no one pitched in to help financially or otherwise. I carried out the project at my own cost. The same neighborhood collected several thousand rupees for a Christmas party!!
We should encourage local children to take up community minded projects and not superficial, superfluous, self-centred activities like Ice Skating!.
The Minister should stick to his words and bring in more appropriate investments and upbeat the prospects of the country even though the was is confined to another locality. Best of luck!
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