Sri Lanka, May 18 -- It has been revealed that out of the 92 shops leased at the Colombo Floating Market project which was launched with great fanfare in 2014, only 16 shops are currently operational.

This information was uncovered during a special field inspection conducted by officials from the Transport, Highways and Urban Development Ministry along with the Urban Development Authority (UDA).

This shopping complex, which had been allocated to traders by the UDA under five-year lease agreements, has now fallen into a state of severe dilapidation due to a lack of proper maintenance.

The inspecting officials pointed out that since most of the wooden and metallic structures in the market complex have decayed, it has become an unsafe loc...