Southern Highway opening: officials at sixes and sevens

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

The much talked about Southern Express Highway Project has come under criticism with no apparent date fixed for its opening. Officials of the Ministry of Highways could not confirm the exact day on which the highway would be opened, except to say that it will be commissioned this month. When contacted an official of the Ministry said the Highway will be opened on an auspicious day that will be decided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sources said that there is no confirmation as to when the highway would be opened. The ADB is a funding agency for the Highway.

There has been speculations on the opening of the highway this month due to a delay in completion of the project the largest highway project in the country.

The 126 km (78 miles) highway will link Colombo with Matara, a major city in the South of the island. The Construction work on the road commenced in 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in August 2011 at a cost of $600 m.,

When completed the road will reduce the time taken to travel from Colombo to Matara to one and a half hours from the current four hours.

The highway project is funded by the ADB, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Nordic Development Fund, the Swedish International Developoment Agency and the Government of Sri Lanka.