Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe defended the Chinese Port City project currently in Colombo, claiming that it “presents an opportunity for everyone to make money”.

The $1.4 billion project is the single largest foreign investment on the island, and was until recently put on hold by the Sri Lankan government, with Mr Wickremesinghe stating the project had to be reviewed last year.

However, the prime minister came out in defence of the construction and sought to alleviate fears that the Chinee will be looking to place military instalments on the island.

"The Port City is not a threat to anyone, it's an opportunity for everyone to make money," he told reporters. "The Chinese have not asked for any military base in Sri Lanka."

A new committee has been appointed for the Forum for Searching, Handed, Kidnapped and Forcibly Disappeared Relatives in the Vavuniya District this week.

The organisation, which has branches in all the districts across the North-East, has been active in staging demonstrations and writing petitions to help locate the tens of thousands of disappeared.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has restored military security for his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa just days after stepping down his protection.

Mr Sirisena announced that a contingent of 103 Sri Lankan soldiers will remain with the former president for his personal security, reversing an earlier Ministry of Defence decision.