Port City qualifies to be a state; Wijeyadasa cautions

COLOMBO (News1st): The Colombo Port City qualifies the four prerequisites -- population, territory, sovereignty, and government -- required to qualify as a statement, lawmaker Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has cautioned. "That (the Colombo Port City) would become a Chinese colony. Foreigners can acquire that land and sell them," Rajapakshe said during a media briefing on Thursday. He pointed out that matters regulations concerning the Port City will not be brought before Parliament. "The payment of salaries in this area will be made in foreign currency," Rajapakshe said. "If we purchase goods in that area, we must pay taxes for that. That is similar to paying taxes in a foreign state". The parliamentarian pointed out that the Special Economic Commission of the Port City has powers to enter into agreements with foreign states as well. Rajapakshe also claimed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has not been making decisions of his own will and that Basil Rajapaksa has been influencing him since his election to power. "Gotabaya Rajapaksa is only a puppet of Basil Rajapaksa," the parliamentarian remarked.