Construction activities of the first section of the Ratnapura Expressway from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya will begin by the end of this year, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Technology and Innovations Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena said.
The Minister addressing the weekly Cabinet media briefing at the Government Information Department said Cabinet approved Highways Minister Johnston Fernando’s proposal to proceed with construction utilising funds of local banks and the services of local construction companies.
“In 2014 President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government proposed and granted approval for the project. The construction contract was awarded to a foreign company by the previous regime at a high construction cost. The government has decided to terminate that agreement due to that,” the Minister said.
The government has also decided to offer the construction contract to ten local contractors and they will obtain the service of sub-contractors.This decision has been taken to uplift the local construction industry.
“Although the project was planned with foreign funds, the project’s implementation with local funds has been found to be more beneficial to the country,” the Minister said.
The 71.8 kilometre expressway will link the Kahathuduwa exit on the Southern Expressway with Pelmadulla. It is estimated that the new expressway will reduce commuting time between Colombo and Ratnapura to 45 minutes and Colombo to Pelmadulla to one hour.
Construction work on first section of Ruwanpura Expressway to end soon [ 2020-07-02 14:17]
Construction work of the first section of Ruwanpura Expressway (Rathnapura Expressway) from Kahathuduwa to Ingiriya is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, Co-cabinet Spokesman Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Technology and Innovations Minister Dr Bandula Gunawardena said.
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal made by Highways Minister Johnston Fernando, to proceed with the constructions using the funds from local banks and the services of local construction companies.
The Minister said this when addressing the weekly cabinet media briefing at the Government Information Department.
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