London - based Sri Lankan, the investor:

Rs. 8 billion luxury resort in Negombo

Shirajiv SIRIMANE in London

Sri Lankan born real estate developer based in London, Ronney Beven Perera is to invest approx Rs. 8b (35 million Pound sterling) to construct a four star luxury resort in Negombo.

In an interview with Daily News Business he said that he has already purchased a 100-acre land near the Negombo lagoon for this purpose. He said that he is now in the process of obtaining final Board of Investment approval for this project. “I still have an issue to settle with the Coconut Development Authority,” he said.

Perera said that a British architect would be designing the proposed 50- room villa style hotel. The interest rate

 in UK is around 7.5 per cent per annum. (As against 20 per cent in Sri Lanka) “I would be raising 80 per cent of the capital from bank funding from UK and the rest would be profits generated from my own businesses,” he said.

Construction of the project would commence next January and the property would be ready by 2009 winter. A travel company would also be opened next year with the intention of promoting this Negombo hotel.

Perera, a former Immigration lawyer in London has just completed building five luxury apartments in the same premises where he operates a restaurant serving Portuguese food.

The three-storeyed property was purchased by Perera when it was auctioned by a Bank in 1995. The Property developer had obtained two million pound sterling credit from a different bank to finance this project.

“It’s very encouraging the attitudes of the UK banks as they provided credit for me although I have been staying in the country only for 5 years,” he said.

Perera has also diversified into film industry and has completed shooting ‘The Leader’ at a cost of Rs. 45 million which would be the most expensive Sinhala film ever produced and screened so far. It would be screened in the seven Emirates in UAE, India and Sri Lanka.