Extended Southern Expressway to Matara will boost development

By Shirajiv Sirimane

Time is money and experienced businessmen make it a point to plan their daily schedules, thus saving time, which is money.

Construction work under way

A bus plying on the Southern Expressway

A section of the road

For perfect time management, people need to be in specific places at the scheduled time. For this, a smooth transport network is a must. Sri Lanka was notorious for bad roads filled with potholes, but today this negative aspect has been completely reversed.

Though Sri Lanka had achieved major success in fields such as IT, irrigation and power generation, having an international standard highway was only a dream to the country. It was an alien concept to Sri Lanka. When the Southern Expressway was opened, thousands of people flocked to catch a glimpse and many others drove along the highway, to be a part of history. The Colombo - Galle Expressway was then followed up by the Colombo - Katunayake Expressway, which would open next month. This would be followed by the opening of the extended Southern Expressway up to Matara.

Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal said at the opening of the Southern Expressway, that its opening proved that 'Sri Lanka too can' do things that were only thought of as possible by developed countries.

When operational, the Southern Expressway will reduce the time taken to travel from Colombo to Matara (161 km) to one and a half hours from the current four hours. The Expressway has already reduced the time taken to travel from Colombo to Galle (116 km) to one hour from three hours. The Government plans to introduce a third stage to the project by extending it up to Hambantota to connect the new harbour and the Mattala Airport.

The Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency provide financial assistance for the Expressway project. Compensation paid for land acquired from 420 persons had come to around Rs 437 million. The Colombo - Matara Expressway would have 10 access points which would link the Expressway with Kotte and Dehiwela, Moratuwa, Panadura and Wadduwa, Kalutara and Matugama, Beruwala and Bentota, Balapitiya and Ambalangoda, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Weligama and Godagama, Matara.

Twenty two bridges are being constructed along the Expressway. The Kalu Ganga bridge, Welipenna Bridge and Benthara Ganga bridge and several other bridges have already been completed.

It is estimated that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Southern Province will increase to more than 10 percent in the near future which would also help narrow the regional disparity. Over 1,500 people have already found direct employment in the project while a further 5,000 have found indirect employment. Agriculture, fisheries and tourism would be some of the first industries to reap benefits from the Expressway.

One of the main complaints of tourists was that they had to waste almost five hours on the road after arriving at the airport to reach the Southern Coast. With the completion of the first stage of the Expressway up to Galle, a tourist arriving at the Bandaranaike International Airport could reach Bentota in one and a half hours and Unawatuna in less than two hours.

These four highways also have the provision to be widened to six lanes as and when there is demand.

Efficient road transportation is vital for the development of the country and the completion of the Expressway, which is no longer a dream, will elevate the status of the country to even greater heights, wooing more foreign direct investments to the country.