"One-Galle Face" becomes a deserted graveyard – Investment in water ..!

Here's how the Foreign Giant "Shangri-La" came to our country, exploits local Sri Lankan investors and threatens our own people, leaving them penniless ..!

Sri Lanka investors in “One-Galle – Face” are left with massive debt and to pick up the pieces of the failing Mall – at the mercy of the Foreign Chinese Giant Developer SHANGRI LA. 

The local Investors who invested billions in shops in One-Galle – Face Shopping Mall, belonging to world famous brand “Shangri la” have fallen into a helpless situation by being unable to get any returns on their investments and to bear an unreasonable rent and operating costs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the very beginning the developer of this project, who is a Chinese Foreign Company, refused to accept the Sri Lankan way and business culture saying they were experts and superior to the local businessmen. 

The developer did not complete the construction of the mall within the promised time and hand it over to the local investors to commence their business as a result of which the opening of the shopping mall delayed and dragged by months. The developer says the delay in completion of the project within the time period was to the Easter bombing attack on "Shangri-La" Hotel on 21st April 2019. But local investors refuse this excuse, given by the developer insisting that these two buildings are located separately which are not connected to each other. 
 
These delays in completion of the development means losses of Billions of Rupees to Sri Lanka investors left helpless to carry this burden. 

Even though everyone was already left destitute in a situation where the economy of the country collapsed after the Easter Bombing attack then the COVID 19 pandemic came to Sri Lanka. The COVID-19 epidemic spread across the country, the economy collapsed, businesses collapsed, people lost their livelihoods and everyone was left in terrible financial hardship, but the management of the "Shangri-La" - "One-Galle Face" ignored this and forced their tenants to keep their shops open. "One-Galle Face" management did not grant any proper amenity to the Sri Lankan investor tenants and continue charging the rent in an extreme inhuman manner. 

"Shangri-La" hotel company has violated the promises made to investors, ignoring local businessmen, threatening and intimidating them, and imposing an unreasonably high cost on them. It is an authoritarian, dictatorial administration.

During the COVID-19 pandemic there is no customers to the "One-Galle Face" Mall. It is a deserted graveyard and the tenants have no income and their business are failing. But when the local investors fight the landlord against the injustices of overcharging rent the management just threatens and pressurizes and ill-treats the local investors by exerting their great powers and blacklisting them.

To maximize their own rental profits, the management of the "Shangri-La" - "One-Galle Face" is forcing local investors to keep their shops opened either they have business or not. Even though the management is aware there are no customers, they demand payment of the high  rent. They are imposing fines if the payment of rental is delayed even for 10-15 days and it is almost double of the normal payment. They are also threatening to terminate the leases of those who fail to pay the fines and extra charges. As a result, local businesses are facing huge financial difficulties and some facing total ruin.  

Meanwhile, hundreds of innocent young Sri Lankan staff employed at the One-Galle Face mall have lost their jobs due to the extremely unfair and arbitrary conditions imposed on tenants by Shangri La management. Thousands of staff have their monthly salaries cut by between 35% and 45% just to keep their jobs so they can feed their children and families, pay rent and finance companies.   

As a result of this situation ALL of the local investors are facing a huge financial losses and extreme pressures and many are forced to close down either because management is forcing them, because they cannot pay the huge rent or because the pressure of the high costs are too much and they face financial ruin.   

The local management of the "One-Galle Face" who do not understand or care about Sri Lankans and have little experience, training or awareness of responsibilities in construction or leasing or tenant relations and mall management and not keeping the promises given to local investors to provide international expertise in these areas.

When more tenants and forced to close down their shops and the Mall fills with empty spaces, it becomes less appealing to customers and this make worse the situation for the struggling Sri Lankan tenants left behind with no customers.  

This is how the Foreign Chinese giant SHANGRI LA is staying open for business by threatening our local investors and treating our own people, forcing them to pay impossible rent or face closing down and going out of business. Shangri La is only working to save their own company.  at the direct expense of the local Sri Lankan tenants, who are left with nothing.