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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Economy & Trade

Beijing Offers No Help! Chinese-Funded Airport So Deeply in Debt It Can't Pay Electricity Bills, Sri Lanka Tearfully Seeks Buyer

From Liberty Times · (13m ago) Chinese Critical tone

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Sri Lanka is seeking buyers for the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), built with Chinese financing, due to its continuous losses and inability to cover operational costs like electricity.
  • The airport, opened in 2013 and named after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has struggled with a lack of regular flights and has faced challenges including bird strikes and wildlife on its runways.
  • This situation is part of Sri Lanka's broader economic crisis, exacerbated by debt from infrastructure projects like the airport and the Hambantota Port, which was leased to a Chinese company.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka is once again facing the consequences of ambitious infrastructure projects financed by China, as it seeks to offload the loss-making Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA). The airport, a flagship project under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and built with financing from the Export-Import Bank of China, has been a financial drain since its inception in 2013.

Despite its strategic location and potential for tourism, MRIA has failed to attract sufficient regular flights, leading to persistent operational deficits. The inability to even pay its electricity bills highlights the severity of its financial woes. This situation is emblematic of Sri Lanka's broader economic struggles, which were severely impacted by a debt crisis in 2022, partly fueled by extensive borrowing for Chinese-backed infrastructure.

The airport's challenges extend beyond finances; it is situated along a migratory bird route, leading to dangerous bird strikes, and wildlife like wild deer and buffalo have been known to wander onto the runways, necessitating military intervention to clear them. These operational hurdles, coupled with a lack of commercial viability, have made MRIA a symbol of unsustainable development.

From our perspective at Liberty Times, this is a critical juncture for Sri Lanka. While international coverage often focuses on the 'debt trap' narrative, we see the immediate impact on our nation's resources and development potential. The government's move to find a buyer for MRIA, following the earlier handover of the Hambantota Port to China Merchants Port Holdings, underscores the difficult choices Sri Lanka faces. We must learn from these experiences and ensure future development projects are sustainable and truly serve the nation's interests, rather than becoming perpetual burdens.

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) has huge growth potential in areas such as tourism, and is a strategic investment.

— Sri Lankan GovernmentIn a letter to potential investors seeking a buyer for the airport.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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