News
Abandoned expressway site poses livelihood problems for villagers
View(s):- RDA says construction work will resume once next tranche of the IMF facility arrives
- Beam collapse raises questions about project’s viability; construction material going to waste
By Kasun Warakapitiya
The Kadawatha-Mirigama expressway stretch, which was set to be completed by the end of the year, has been abandoned, and nearby villagers are dealing with its consequences.
The project, which started in 2020, has been halted for over three years.
In the 2024 budget, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said the second phase of the Central Expressway, the section from Kadawatha to Mirigama, “will be started jointly with China”.
The Sunday Times visited Bemmulla in Gampaha, where one of the beams of the expressway bridge collapsed last Sunday.
(See box.)
Under the pillars, there is stagnant water. Weeds have grown. Half-built concrete structures lie idle, overgrown with weeds.
Angry villagers said they had lost their paddy lands, and neither they nor Sri Lanka had benefited.
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- Sunil Shantha Nawaratne
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- Members of the investigation team and RDA technical officers inspecting the structure where one of the beams collapsed this week, raising serious concerns about the abandoned project. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Bemmulla resident Manike Kodippliarchchi, 62, said officials and contractors told them to hand over their paddy land to build the expressway and that compensation would be paid.
When the project was halted, they were told that contractors would pay compensation for
their paddy lands and damages caused to their houses due to
construction.
“The project started around 2020; more than three years have passed, yet there is no compensation,” she said.
Three-quarter acres of their paddy land were vested with the project. They had been unable to cultivate the remaining land over many seasons as the Chinese contractor had diverted water into the canal through drains. As a result, the remaining paddy lands are underwater, the resident said.
Her husband, H.A.M.A. Ananda, 65, said the police are trying to arrest villagers who live under the abandoned expressway structures.
He added that boys who go fishing in the culverts are sometimes dragged away by the police on suspicion of vandalising the abandoned structures.
But he said he believed construction workers stole metal parts and materials.
He also claimed the walls of his house were cracked.
Businessman M.D.N.S. Dissanayake, 53, said his paddy fields were flooded during rainy days as the project constructors had obstructed the flow of the canal which feeds water to the fields.
“Some farmers don’t get water, while others get too much water, making it impossible for us to farm and earn a living. Compensation should be given to affected people, covering the years of torment people underwent due to the sudden halting of this project,’’ he said.
Yards set up to mould concrete beams, fix pillars, and other materials remain abandoned. One such place was near the Bemmulla Railway station.
Two security guards remained. Warehouses are locked. Chains used to hoist beams and support pillars are visible, along with moulds once used to construct
concrete pillars. Metal parts and large steel beams are left to rust. Crushed stone and sand lay
in piles.
Small trees have grown beside the pillars, and six portable cranes are covered with black cloth, and the metal tracked wheels too appear rusted.
Some villagers claimed that abandoned structures and sheds were used by drug addicts.
The officer in charge of the Bemmulla Police, Inspector Nuwan Tharaka, said no one was arrested for any acts of vandalism, or for removing parts.
RDA chairman C.P. Athuluwage said that the project will resume once the agreement for the next tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s comes through. “When the loans get reactivated, the construction will resume.’’
The compensation process has not ceased but is delayed as the process is lengthy and carried out through divisional secretaries and other government stakeholders, such as the evaluation department of the RDA, he said.
| UDA says Chinese builder responsible A three-member expert committee has been appointed by the Road Development Authority to investigate the collapse of a beam and the slanting of another two beams at the Kadawatha-Mirigama expressway, UDA chairman C.P. Athuluwage said. The RDA had earlier sent two teams to the site in Bemmulla. According to a senior official, the experts were appointed because the information gathered by the two teams was inconclusive.  Sunil Shantha Nawaratne The Chinese contractor is responsible for the project and should replace the beam and rectify any other issues if the report points them out. According to Mr. Athuluwage, the project, which was due for completion by year-end, had been stopped after nearly 40% of construction was done due to economic constraints. It is to be revived with the upcoming installment of the IMF agreement, which would activate the loans. The Sunday Times visited the location where the beam collapsed at the 17-kilometre point on the Kadawatha-Mirigama expressway. The beam that had collapsed was the third one (middle) of the five-beamed partially constructed structure, which was also supported by the pillar on the right side. According to a security officer posted to prevent people from reaching the area, four Chinese project officials climbed the structures and were photographed leaving the area on Thursday. They were followed by a team of RDA officials, a university professor, and a contractor’s representative. They also climbed the collapsed beam and structures without safety gear. Later, they used safety gear and a crane to climb and observe the six-beamed expressway portion. The officials said this was not the time to make media statements. Resident Sunil Shantha Nawaratne, 65, said he had seen the collapse last Sunday around 5:30 p.m., when he was working in the paddy field. “I heard a loud earth-shattering noise. Then I saw a cloud of dust at the half-built expressway structure. When the dust cleared, I saw the beam on the ground.’’ He later informed the Bemmulla police. (See video on sundatytimes.lk) Construction and structural engineer D.T. Rajasekaran said any project cannot be halted due to financial constraints without understanding the designer’s intentions. When projects are halted, some components are exposed to the weather, causing decay.
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| China EXIM Bank to fund the section For the section 2 of the Central Expressway, partly funded by local commercial banks, a US$989 million ‘concessional’ loan for 85% of the US$ 1.16bn contract, a loan facility from China EXIM Bank was signed for the Kadawatha-Meerigama section. The agreement was signed on March 22, 2019 by Dr. R H S Samaratunga, then secretary to the Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and Cheng Xueyuan, the Chinese ambassador in Sri Lanka, on behalf of the EXIM Bank of China. The embassy posted on X at the time that “1,500 direct and indirect jobs will be created for workers’’ in the construction of Central Expressway Section I (Kadawatha to Meerigama). “Main contractor: Metallurgical Corporation of China’’ |
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