Kurunegala-Habarana railway project suspended
The Kurunegala- Habarana Railway line project which was based on an unsolicited Chinese bid of over US$ 959 million for the construction work has been suspended.
The cabinet paper presented by President Maithripala Sirisena under the 5-year plan of ‘Let’s Awaken Polonnaruwa’ District Development Programme (2016-2020) to implement the project by accelerating the preliminary work has been withdrawn due to objections raised by the cabinet recently.
Under this 5-year plan, the project for the construction of a rail track from Kurunegala to Habarana via Dambulla, 84 km in length had been identified as a priority, Transport Ministry Cabinet Memorandum revealed.
China agreed to contribute to the implementation of this project and therefore the proposal made by Transport Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, to appoint a project team for speedy action to complete the project and acquire the lands required for the identified trace of the rail track was approved by the Cabinet earlier this year.
The Transport Ministry had entertained the construction contract proposal with a revised bill of quantity amounting to $959.89 million submitted by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC).
This tender was to be awarded to CSECE in an unsolicited bid of over Rs.1 billion ignoring the government’s good governance pledge of sticking to proper tender procedures, the Business Times reliably learns.
On October 2, the Finance Ministry submitted its observations stating that this project should be postponed as a project to be after 2020 due to its high estimated cost.
Further the Chinese lending banks have informed the Ministry not to decide on Chinese contractors under the present circumstances, the Ministry’s Memorandum of Observations revealed.
It has also objected to entertaining an unsolicited bid without following the proper tender procedure of competitive bidding.
The proposed Kurunegala- Habarana railway line runs across the commercial towns of Dambulla and Sigiriya in the North Central Province.
Such a massive railway line construction project should be implemented in a phased out manner and the handing over of the whole 5- year project contract (Design and Build) to a Chinese company without a competitive bidding process is unacceptable, a senior engineering consultant who wished to remain anonymous told the Business Times.
He noted that CSCEC’s project proposal should have been evaluated by a technical committee of experts without accepting half-baked solutions.
Construction of the rail track from Kurunegala to Habarana via Dambulla has been identified as an essential and prominent task under the ʻLet’s Awaken Polonnaruwa’ District Development Programme.
This project expects to provide convenient transportation for people in the Eastern and North Central Provinces and to achieve provincial development by connecting Dambulla Economic Centre with the railway network.
But the return on this massive investment is not substantial because the country’s railways operate as a state service not as a profitable venture, the senior engineering consultant pointed out adding that the issue here is the financial viability of the project in the long run.
The current investment on all the railway lines so far constructed is enormous since these are based on commercial loan facilities, he said expressing fear that it will be a huge burden on the country’s economy.
The trace runs almost parallel and on the side of A6 highway and is designed to operate trains at 100-120 kmph. The proposed railway trace should be evaluated in terms of engineering, economy, environmental and social aspects, he said.
However promoters of the project are pushing it as a President’s initiative for their petty personnel gains without considering the government’s development priorities, he disclosed.
Protesting against the involvement of the Chinese company, Convener of Railway Trade Union Alliance, S.P. Vithanage told the Business Times this proposal was made some time back to implement in stages with the deployment of Sri Lanka Railway Department engineers and workers without seeking foreign loans or foreign assistance.