Chinese contractors reject Lotus Tower ‘spying’ allegation

Chinese contractor of the Lotus Tower in Sri Lanka on Tuesday denied allegations that the tower was to be used as an electronic surveillance facility against India and added that such “baseless rumours” only insulted the Sri Lankan government.

New Delhi based analyst, Bhaskar Roy reportedly said that the tower, if allowed to complete construction, will be a threat to the security of the Indian Ocean and the tower which will be South Asia’s tallest tower will be used as an electronic surveillance facility.

However, the Chinese contractor said that such baseless allegations not only insulted them but also insulted the Sri Lankan government as the project was approved by the cabinet. “The Lotus Tower is a project which has undergone prudential assessment by the Sri Lankan government, and approved by the Cabinet. It is a complex of digital broadcasting and TV, tourism, recreation and shopping. Once the project is completed, it will significantly improve the quality of broadcasting and TV signals in Sri Lanka, and become the highest tower in South Asia, which will attract tourists for sightseeing and shopping, provide local people the opportunity to overlook the beautiful view of their motherland,” the Chinese company in charge of the project said in a statement.

Further, the company said that the proprietor of the project was the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the Chinese contractor was only assigned to do the construction work.

“About 50 percent of the electricity in this country is generated by the coal power plants funded by the Chinese preferential loan. Because of that, the cost of electricity is lowered to a great extent, which benefits almost every Sri Lankan family, foreign diplomatic missions, UN agencies and foreign businessmen based in Sri lanka,” it said, Xinhua reports.