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| Sunday, 15 January 2006 |
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ADB funds
for country's road network
by Kurunegala North Group Correspondent The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant a loan of US $150 million to upgrade and renovate about 270 km of national highways in Sri Lanka making opportunities for economic development of the country. While the country's road density is higher than that of many developing countries the road network standards are inadequate to meet the rapidly growing freight and passenger traffic. According to information this development project is the second in a series of ADB operations in Sri Lanka's road sector. The Asian Development Bank has been helping establish a policy and institutional framework to improve the overall performance of the country's road sector since 2002. The project roads are part of the Government's investment plan for 2005-2010 and include Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura as well as hilly roads and South highway links. The project includes building or replacing bridges, drainage and culverts and providing weight stations when necessary. It will also finance the acquisition of land for roads linking to Colombo. An ADB senior project specialist observed that the roads contribution to national development and economic growth in the country to cope with the constraints the existing road infrastructure must be improved and upgraded. The project will further assist reforms to improve the Ministry of Highways and Road Development Authority's strategic management of the road sector. It will also review policies and regulatory frameworks, improve human resources development and project management, and finance the first phase of the construction of a headquarters for the RDA. A four year performance-based maintenance program will also be piloted in four to six areas, to be implemented through private sector contractors formed from the current labour available in the respective areas. The Government is contributing $58 million towards the projects total estimated cost of $208 million. The RDA is the executing agency for the project which is due to complete in 2010. |
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