• Main Opposition to propose several amendments to Bill during third reading today
• Party seeks changes to composition of CPC Economic Comm.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said yesterday that it will extend support for the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill if the Government agrees to accommodate amendments the Party proposes during the third reading of the Bill.

MP Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament that the SJB will move an amendment to convert the CPC Economic Commission to a Government corporation with ex-officio members and the Central Bank having regulatory authority over it.

The other amendments include a ban on companies that invest in Port City from carrying out any other venture in any part of the country, De Silva said during the debate on Port City Economic Commission Bill. The SJB MP said that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had appointed a committee headed by him to prepare a legal framework for the Port City.

“We were to come up with a report in 2018 but we could not do so because of the constitutional coup that year, and this was further delayed by the Easter Sunday attacks in 2019. However, we were able to come up with the report by October 2019. We proposed ex-officio members among those appointed to the authority to be tasked with running the CPC, and proposed that Parliament have regulatory powers over it,” he said. 

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