Mr. Wickremesinghe told tourist industry leaders who met him today that the project would be scrapped because it would end up destroying the coastal belt from Negombo to Beruwala.
 

He said the international airport at Mattala would be made viable and put to better economic use while a new airport would be constructed in the Eastern Province.

 
Mr. Wickremesinghe said the new government would put in place a programme on a long-term basis to attract high-spending tourists with the intention of converting Sri Lanka into a major tourist hub by 2025.  “We will make sure that the tourist industry will provide all stakeholders with equal opportunities and a level playing field,” he added while answering several questions posed by the industrialists.

 
UNP parliamentarian and economist Harsha De Silva also participated at the meeting. (Yohan Perera)