Hambantota is currently rebuilding after it was devastated by the tsunami in 2004 which killed nearly 6,000 people living there and, along with the rest of Sri Lanka, is also recovering from the end of a 27-year civil war that has killed at least 80,000 people across the country.

The President has promised that by 2018 the construction of the port, airport, hotels, sports facilities and other infrastructure developments in Hambantota would be completed and that he was confident that the city would be ready to host the Games.

Rajapaksa said: “We have a responsibility to rebuild the country under a stable Government after terrorism was eradicated."

The bid is being led by Rajapaksa's oldest son, Namal, who is proposing that an international sports complex be built to accommodate the Games.

It is expected that the new 37,000-seater cricket ground (pictured) being built in Hambantota for next year's cricket World Cup will be a centrepiece of the proposals for the Commonwealth Games.

Maxwell De Silva, the secretary general of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee, insisted that the bid was serious.

He said: "This is the initial one [step], taken by the bidding team.

"We need to make a comprehensive presentation on what we are going to do, and submit a blueprint at a meeting in the Caribbean next year, where the final decision will be made.”

But there are still several hurdles to be overcome before Hambantota's bid becomes official.

The next deadline is to lodge a non-refundable £60,000 ($91,000) deposit by April 16.

Then, at the end of this month, there will be a meeting at the Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) headquarters in London which will also be attended by Gold Coast, the only other city who have put themselves forward to host the Games after the late decision by Nigerian capital Abuja to drop its bid.

The two candidates must sign and return the host city contract by June 30 and then lodge their final bid by May 11, 2011.

The host city will be chosen at the CGF General Assembly on November 11 at a meeting in St Kitts and Nevis.

But there are already doubts over whether a tsunami-devastated, poverty-stricken, war-torn region should be bidding for the Games.

Michael Jeh, a former Sri Lankan cricketer who attended Oxford University and now works at Griffith University in Australia, claimed that it would expose questions about what was happening in the country.

He said: "It will draw two separate emotions.

"The sympathy vote from the tsunami and the cynical anti-civil war sentiments.

"There will be international questions about human rights issues ... why boat people are coming to Australia and leaving Sri Lanka in their droves if the living conditions are not that bad.

"If I was living in that sort of hardship, you would think they would sort out the refugee situation before taking the luxurious step of hosting the Commonwealth Games."

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