News
Central Expressway Stage III: Japan urged to provide fresh proposal
Japan has been requested to come up with a fresh proposal for stage III of the Central Expressway project after disagreements arose over the Rs 135 billion project.
The Government’s decision to review the proposal had been conveyed to the Japanese Ambassador by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last week at a Colombo meeting, where the Government’s counter plan was also explained.
Prime Minister’s Office sources said that, during the discussion, Mr. Wickremesinghe pointed out that the delay in stage III was holding up the construction of stage II which needed to be completed by December this year.
Under the proposed project, the Government had brought the construction of the Pothuhera interchange under Stage III, but, in view of the differences, has now included the interchange under stage II, which is currently underway with local funding.
Cabinet approval has been obtained to bring the 1.62km-long Pothuhera interchange under stage II and remove it from stage III which was to be constructed with Japanese funding.
The cabinet paper said that the government intended completing stage II by December this year if the interchange was not completed, the Central Expressway stage II would remain unserviceable.
It was also conveyed to the Japanese delegation that the Government would have to look at other possible investors for stage III of the project–from Pothuhera to Galagedara, 34.12 km in extent.
Stage III of the project was due to be funded by Japan’s Mitsubishi Bank.
The Sunday Times had sought a response from the Japanese embassy about the status of stage III of the project, but there was no response.