New hotel projects, approved before the tsunami, told to re-apply for a building licence if within no-building zone

New hotel projects - that were approved before the tsunami- must re-apply for a building licence if they fall within the latest ‘no-building’ zone.





New hotel projects - that were approved before the tsunami- must re-apply for a building licence if they fall within the latest ‘no-building’ zone. "People with licences obtained previous to the tsunami must re-apply for a licence if they are within the 100m zone," said R A Samaranayake, Director General of the Coast Conservation Department on Thursday speaking to journalists at the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency.

Before the tsunami in December the coastal strip where no buildings were allowed – or the setback area - varied from 35m to 125m.

With the tsunami devastating nearly three quarters of the island’s coast and in some cases extending inland up to 1km, the government decided to increase the setback strip for safety reasons.

The new setback area is up to 100m from the point of high tide, on the western side of the island and 200m from the point of high tide in the eastern side of the island.

Now the hotel industry is trying to work out where they fit