Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe is considering changing the name of the Chinese-built Lotus Tower as its name and structure are similar to a key political party which was forced to step down from the government last year.
The Lotus Tower is built similar to lotus bud, which is the symbol of Buddhist nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by ousted prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the face of strong public protests on May 9, last year.
“The President is considering a name change but there is nothing officially about a change of name,” Lotus Tower’s Head of Marketing Bimsara Rosario told EconomyNext.
During the procedure of changing names it will deal with rebranding, remarketing and design changes,which will encounter further expenditure, Rosario said.
Shanuka Karunarathne, the director of the Presidential Media Division (PMD) told EconomyNext that they have not been informed about such a name change from President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Many still call the tower as “Rajapaksa Tower”, which is criticized for being a prestige project of the Rajapaksa government and considered as a white elephant project.
The design is derived from the Lotus flower. The lotus symbolizes purity within Sri Lankan culture and is also said to symbolize the country’s flourishing development. The tower base is inspired by the lotus throne.
The 350-meter or 1,150-feet tower, the tallest tower in South Asia, was built with $104.3 million with the 80 percent of this being borrowed from Exim Bank of China and China National Electronics Importers and Exporters Corporation (CEIEC) and Aerospace Long March International Trade Co. Ltd, (ALIT) are the contractors.
Located in the commercial heart of Colombo, the tower has been called a symbolic landmark of Sri Lanka.
The state-run Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), which was under the purview of then President Rajapaksa in 2012 funded the local funding for the project.
“If an analysis is conducted, the name of the Tower is one of its strengths. The more controversial the tower, the higher the inquisitiveness to come visit the tower,” an official from the TRC said.
The tower triggered controversy when the Indian government raised concerns over its purpose as China was behind the construction amid concerns over spying, Sri Lanka government officials have said. Beijing has rejected Indian allegations.
The Tower has earned a revenue of 700 million rupees since its opening in September, last year through April 30, an official from the Lotus Tower said.
“All of the biddings are coming to an end and we only have two slots left and by next Christmas we hope to have the entire tower open,” Rosario said, referring to the shopping slots in the entire Tower.