The Chinese embassy has clarified that the image of an entry ticket to the Lotus Tower in Colombo that is making rounds on social media, is fake.
The embassy urges the public to verify facts before retweeting.
The fake and authentic tickets are shown below :
The Lotus Tower, dubbed as South Asia’s tallest structure, is to open its doors to the public tomorrow (15).
The 350-metre (1,155-feet) Lotus Tower, costing USD 113 million, is built with Chinese loans.
Speaking to the media earlier this week, Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and Chairman of the Lotus Tower Management Company (Pvt.) Ltd. – Mr. R.M.P. Ratnayake said that after the business activities at the tower are initiated on Sep. 15, the tower will be opened to the public later in the same day after 2.00pm under the first stage.
The first stage will see to the opening of the observation deck. Visitors will be able to enjoy a 360 degree view of Colombo city at the observation deck and join the entertainment events at the premises. All visitors will be allowed to the observation deck only once and will be allowed to remain there for 1/2 hour. Also, only around 150 visitors will be allowed at the deck at the same time.
The tower will be open to public from 2.00pm – 10.00pm on weekdays and from 12.00 noon – 11.00pm on weekdays. According to the company, the tower is to be lit up from 7.00pm – 10.00pm on weekdays and from 7.00pm – 11.00pm on weekdays.
Tickets
Tickets are priced at Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 for adults. The Rs. 500 ticket is for visiting as a part of a group while a Rs. 2,000 ticket would enable the ticket holder to proceed without no waits and without having to join groups. Tickets for children aged below 10 years are priced at Rs. 500. However, schools are able to contact the management for pre-booked school tours from Oct. 01 ( 0742012354 / 0742012357). A ticket for a schoolchild on a school tour will be priced at Rs. 200. Tickets for foreigners are priced at USD 20.
Delays
Chairman and CEO of the Lotus Tower Management Company (Pvt.) Ltd. addressing the mediaSpeaking to media, CEO of the Lotus Tower Management Company – Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Prasad Samarasinghe said that the said that the need to rectify 21 defects in the structure had further delayed the opening.
Noting that keeping the tower closed will only add to the financial losses of the tower, he said that they had sought to expedite the opening, in 03 stages.
He further said that although a loan of 88 million dollars had been approved for this project, only 68 million dollars had been given disbursed by the Exim Bank of China due to construction delays. The remaining cost has been borne by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).
The company further noted that more than US$14 million (US$14,695,138.44 million) including interest remains to be paid to the Exim Bank.