Colombo metropolitan transport plan fails to gain progress
Sri Lanka’s Transport Ministry has failed to achieve any progress in the 25-year comprehensive Colombo metropolitan transportation plan prepared with the assistance of Japanese International Corporation Agency JICA, World Bank and Asian Development Bank despite allocating millions of rupees during the
2015 -2016 period, a report released by the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) revealed.
Massive sums of Rs. 741.2 billion and Rs. 237.1 billion had been allocated as short term investments and operations respectively and maintenance cost of this plan for a period of six years from 2015 to 2021 to minimise the traffic congestion in the Colombo metropolitan area.
The investment spreads across all modes of transport with buses and BRT (the Bus Rapid Transit system) getting 12 per cent, railway – 33 per cent, monorail – 17 per cent and roads – 23 per cent.
The introduction of a BRT system has been identified as a solution to the Galle road traffic congestion during peak hours.
However the Ministry had failed to achieve any financial or physical progress with regard to those plans in 2015 and 2016, COPA disclosed.
The Committee noted that a strategic plan had not been prepared for the period from 2012 to 2016 to minimise the losses incurred by the Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) and the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB).
Further, the SLTB had reduced its losses but the SLR had increased the losses continuously during the period of 2012 to 2016.
The land lease outstanding amount of the SLR had been increased to Rs. 1.88 billion as at 31.12.2016, COPA report revealed.
The Ministry has not focused its attention to implement a combined bus service from Pettah, Moratuwa, Negombo and Kottawa railway stations with the SLTB, COPA alleged.
A senior official of the Transport Ministry told the Business Times that a plan had been prepared with the support of JICA and it had been reviewed with the assistance of the University of Moratuwa and with the establishment of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Province Development the responsibility of the plan was assigned to that Ministry.
Since it was a land use plan and a transport plan the Ministry of Transport works with the Megapolis Ministry and it will be implemented based on the studies carried out by the JICA and University of Moratuwa, he said.
He noted that there are about 8100 files relating to this project and delays have occurred due to legal problems.
A Transport Hub is to be built near Colombo Fort and the Ministry plans to purchase 500 railway engines under the Indian loan scheme, he disclosed.
He explained that this was a step taken to start the bus – railway combined service and although a bus service has already been started to Battaramulla there is no vehicle park to park the buses.