SRI LANKA unveiled a towering Christmas tree, claiming to have surpassed the world record despite construction delays and a shorter-than-planned finished product.

    The 73-meter artificial tree in capital Colombo is 18 meters taller than the current record holder, organizers said. The tree’s steel-and-wire frame is covered with a plastic net decorated with more than 1 million natural pine cones painted red, gold, green and silver, 600,000 LED bulbs and topped by a 6-meter-tall shining star.

    The tree cost US$80,000 and was criticized by the Catholic Church as a “waste of money.” The church suggested that the funds would have been better spent on helping the poor.

    Hundreds of port workers and volunteers struggled for four months to put up the tree in time for the holidays. Work was suspended for six days in early December after Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith — representing the island nation’s 1.5 million Catholics — lambasted the project. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe responded to the criticism by saying the tree was not being built with public money, but with donations from individuals and private firms.

    The Guinness World Records is yet to confirm if this is the tallest artificial Christmas tree. Currently, the record is held by a Chinese firm that put up a 55-meter tree-like tower of lights, synthetic foliage, ornaments and lamps in the city of Guangzhou last year.

    Sri Lankan organizers said they wanted the tree to help promote ethnic and religious harmony in the Buddhist-majority island nation, where a long civil war ended in 2009 but reconciliation remains a challenge.

    “This is just to show the world that we can live as one country, one nation,” said Arjuna Ranatunga, a former cricket player and the minister of ports and shipping. He said Sri Lanka is still grappling with issues regarding religion, caste and race.

    Minority Christian and Muslim communities complain of state-sponsored discrimination, and there are allegations of widespread abuses against minority ethnic Tamils both during and after the war.

    (SD-Agencies)