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| Sunday, 8 May 2005 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Budget allocation not enough to maintain all highways The Ministry of Highways says that the money allocated from the last budget is insufficient to maintain all highways in the country. The Ministry needs at least Rs. 2.5 billion to maintain all highways in the country. We received only Rs, 1.9 billion from the last budget, Ministry Secretary Sarath Amarasekera said. Hence they are mainly attending to the most important and urgent matters, since they have to manage with that amount, he said. The government is planning to rehabilitate the main highways in the country covering 650 Kms at a cost of US$ 100 million with World Bank assistance. Initially, the government will rehabilitate three selected highway projects at a cost of US $ 46 million on a case by case basis, Amarasekera said. Under Phase one we will rehabilitate the Nittambuwa-Kandy, Galle-Deniyaya and Ingiriya-Ratnapura highways which will be starting very soon, Amarasekera said. When Phase one is completed it will cover approximately 220 Kms and the second phase will be inaugurated once approval is granted by the government and the World Bank, he said. According to the Ministry of Highway sources the second phase is likely to start in mid 2006 if construction work is completed as planned. The highways under the program are likely to be Wellawaya-Siyambalaanduwa, Siyabalaanduwa-Damana-Ampara up to Karaitivu, Maradankada-Giritale, Giritale-Thirikonamadu, Galkulama-Punawa, Madavachchiya-North Central Province boundary, Bandarawela-Welimada and Puttlam-Padeniya. These highways have been selected by consultants to enhance the country's highway network. In addition the government will rehabilitate the Kalutara-Matara highway at a cost of US $ 19.5 million which was devastated by the recent tsunami. The 117 km highway will be completed under a World Bank grant, he said. Amarasekera said that they have also called for expression of interest for the construction of the Colombo-Katunayake expressway. The government expects a local or international private sector construction company to take over the project on a Build Operation and Transfer (BOT) basis. At present 30 per cent of the construction work has been completed. The investment for the project would be around US $ 155 million and the main feature of the agreement is that the revenue risk will not be passed on to the prospective construction company. The repayment period would be 15-20 years, Amarasekera said. At present construction work on the Colombo-Southern expressway is progressing. HS |
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