Sri Lankas can travel on Outer Circular Highway to Kadawatha soon

The second phase of the Outer Circular Highway which connects the Southern Expressway at Kottawa which was started by the former government from Kaduwela to Kadawatha, spanning a distance of 8.9 kilometres will be completed and opened to the public in May, Deputy Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion Eran Wickremaratne told www.adaderanabiz.lk



 The government did not have any issues with the construction of this highway but only had some problems with the cost estimates for its construction, he added.

While the second phase of this highway would be opened by end May, construction work would also begin on the third phase which is the 9.32 kilometre stretch from Kadawatha to Kerawalapitiya by mid March, said Deputy Minister Wickremaratne.

The government had earlier stated that the estimated costs for the approved civil contracts for the third phase is Rs. 66.6 billion, 95 per cent of this cost would be met with a loan from the Export Import Bank of China.



 The land acquisition for this project is now nearing completion while Rs. 1.1 billion is reportedly to be paid as compensation.

The government also stated that the construction work would begin after the recommendations of the review committee appointed to evaluate the technical and financial aspects of this project.

The loan agreement for this project was signed in Colombo during the earlier regime by former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera and Export Import Bank of China’s Chairman Li Ruogu.

Once the third phase of this highway is completed, those using the Southern Expressway could continue directly to Katunayake. The total distance of the Outer Circular Highway is 29.1 kilometres."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/exclusive-sri-lankas-can-travel-on-outer-circular-highway-from-may/

AG requests more time to inform govt’s stance on Port City

Attorney General today requested more time from the Court of Appeal to inform the government’s stance over the Colombo Port City project.

The Attorney General made the request subsequent to a writ application filed by the Centre for Environment Justice seeking an order to halt the Colombo Port City project.

Accordingly the Court of Appeal directed the Attorney General to file a report regarding the government’s stance on the project on June 15.



http://www.dailymirror.lk/70751/ag-requests-more-time-to-inform-govt-s-stance-on-port-city

Colombo Port City Project, Monster or Trans-formative Opportunity?

Since the beginning of the recent Presidential election campaign, development projects initiated or implemented by the Rajapaksa administration have come under severe criticism by the opposition, mainly on the grounds of corruption or wasteful expenditure. Although the allegations are still being made and are yet to be substantiated in a court of law it is reasonable to assume that a perception has been created among the public against corruption and malpractices. However, long term socio-economic benefits of most of these projects have not been questioned by even the anti-corruption critiques. The writer can vividly remember a similar uproar against the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project and its numerous components during the early 1980s. In both these situations, criticisms were not necessarily on the outcomes of the project implementation but on the transparency of the processes. Among the projects initiated by the previous administration which came under severe scrutiny, the largest, most diversified and integrated development project is The Colombo Port City Project (CPCP). The purpose of this article is to highlight the salient features of this landmark project and analyse the impact of implementing a project of this nature on the Island of Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean.

What is the Colombo Port City Project (CPCP) all about?
As usual Sri Lankan politicians, particularly those groups who are opposing the specific development projects, tend to depend on ‘slogans’ and vituperative statements instead of presenting a balanced analytical view. The CPCP too, unfortunately, is being subjected to senseless attacks rather than substantive criticism based on facts and figures. At the end of the day, the general public and even some of the critics have a very vague understanding of the project, its components and potential impact on Sri Lanka’s future development. The Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project too generated similar politically motivated backlashes.

The CPCP, according to reports, was conceived by the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe even prior to year 2001. He has motivated by a prospective Singaporean investor who later withdrew due to an inability to raise the required funding for implementation. After the end of the war, in 2009, the Rajapaksa government initiated an unprecedented infrastructure development program within which the CPCP becomes the centerpiece. Fortunately, this time around funding in the form of direct investment, with no burden on government coffers has originated from a Chinese company, the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).

The Chinese company would have been in a more advantageous position to implement this project due to work previously undertaken by another Chinese investment project, the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT). In the case of the CICT project as well as the Port City Project, investors would have been greatly benefited from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Colombo breakwater construction which had already been completed. In this sense, this entire integrated Colombo port expansion and Port City development could be seen as a logical development that has materialised over a long period.

As explained in the promotional material, the salient features of the project include: a marina and yacht club, a central boulevard, a sea view apartment complex and a five star hotel, shopping and entertainment centre, office space, a mini golf course, and many other modern facilities. The first phase of the project is the reclamation of land by the CCCC and the cost estimated for this was US$ 1.5 billion. Once the reclamation is completed the overall investment is expected to be between US$ 15 to 20 billion.

Potential Benefits: Developing Sri Lanka as an International Commercial Centre

Although the CPCP is subjected to many controversies no one has challenged the potential benefits of a massive integrated development project of this nature. The reclamation and construction of the port city will itself create subcontracting and employment opportunities for the local community. The medium and long-term vision of the sponsors of the project is to establish Colombo as an international business hub and a unique tourist destination in Asia. Therefore, the opportunities to be created for the Sri Lankan youth in many modern economic sectors will be very substantial in the long term.

The investment envisaged and the scale of operations of CPCP are massive in the context of a small economy like Sri Lanka. It is a very rare occurrence to attract 100% foreign investment for a project which has a very long gestation period. In many other countries such massive port city developments have been co-funded by the government of the host country and the governments of other friendly nations with the balance investment being generated from private sources. The best example of promoting a port city through direct government initiative and investment is the Dubai Port City Project.

The remarkable achievement of Sri Lanka was its ability to attract 100% foreign investment to implement this initiative of hitherto unheard magnitude in South Asia. The multitude of commercial activities envisaged to be promoted within the port city complex will have roll over beneficial effects throughout Sri Lanka for generations to come.

The incentives offered to the developers constitute 20 hectares of freehold and a further 88 hectares on a 99 year lease out of the total reclaimed land of 233 hectares. As a result, this US $15 – 20 billion investment can be implemented without any addition to the country’s debt burden at a time when the headroom for such borrowing has become constrained.

Environmental Concerns

Any development projects which will lead to the slightest changes in the environment may be criticised as ‘environmentally damaging’. The CPCP which involves large scale reclamation, adding to the land mass of the island, and sand mining from the ocean can easily be tarnished as having negative impact in the longer term. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) too may come forward with numerous reasons as to why a project of this nature should not be implemented. In this context, the infamous protest campaign waged against the Kandalama hotel project with fabricated environmental concerns is a good example. Of course, environmentalists went beyond natural science and logic to stage protests in Dambulla. Among those environmentalist NGOs there were quite a few organisations promoted and funded by various interest groups both foreign and local. Today, Kandalama is one of the most environment friendly hotels in the country which earns millions of dollars from tourists while helping the surrounding villagers. A similar example of damage caused by the so called environmentalists was the postponement of the Norochcholai Power Plant project for decades due to the protests by interested parties. Consequently, households and businesses were saddled with higher electricity prices which undermined the competitiveness of the economy. As a result ouseholds suffered lower disposable income and the economy experienced a loss of investment and employment. Taking these historical facts into consideration no government in a country like Sri Lanka should abandon or even delay multifaceted, long gestation projects such as the port city development, highway construction or establishment of industries on the basis of unsubstantiated protests by so-called environmental groups.

Concerns of Other Countries

It appears that there are some hidden hands behind the objections to CPC project, based on misconceived notions promoted and supported by countries that are annoyed by the Chinese emergence as a major economic power and investing in countries which they consider as within their sphere of influence. Unfortunately, some of these countries fail to understand that development of port cities such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong have benefited the hinterland massively. When Singapore was opening up and developing with FDI from all over the world big brothers like Malaysia and Indonesia might have had the same attitude towards the fast developing neighbor. Fortunately, Singapore had a brave, visionary leader in Lee Kuan Yew.

Options Available for the President, Prime Minister the Government and Sri Lanka

1.Abandon the project, cancel all approvals granted and restore the Colombo water front. This will entail enormous direct and indirect costs probably leading to expensive international litigation. In future, foreign investors whether Chinese, Americans, British or Indians will have difficulty in trusting any agreement entered into by the Sri Lankan government.
2.Abandon the project, provided the interest groups or countries opposing the implementation of the port city by a Chinese firm can guarantee immediate replacement of such investors with the parties they feel comfortable with.
3.Stand firm and allow the current arrangement to proceed on the understanding that any corrective action, where necessary, will be taken by CCCC to improve the final outcome.

What should not be done by any sensible leadership in Sri Lanka is to forgo a rare opportunity of a massive multifaceted investment project funded 100%by FDI. Sri Lankans hope that the President, the Prime Minister and their economic team will expeditiously take decisions and remedial actions, where necessary, to ensure the country’s development will continue to progress irrespective of the political differences, personal animosities and/or egoistic conflicts. When progress is stalled it is the leadership that is accountable to the people and finally pay the supreme price of losing power.

Well Meaning Advice

The leaders should not allow personal animosities, vengeance and petty political considerations to prevail in making policy decisions. They should be strictly guided by facts, and most importantly by what is good for the country in the long term, when deciding on development priorities for the country, especially with regard to crucial areas such as investment, both FDI and local, fiscal consolidation and promoting ease of doing business.Good governance, reconciliation and co-existence must go beyond the present emphasis on ethnic harmony to a clear and transparent programme of action to include the business sector too.

It is important to formulate and implement a clear and forward-looking medium-term economic strategy for creating a conducive investment climate which incentivizes the private sector to play its essential locomotive role in the economy.

This is the Seventy First Economic Alert of Pathfinder Foundation. Readers’ comments are welcome at www.pathfinderfoundation.org

Sourcs : http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/colombo-port-city-project-monster-or-trans-formative-opportunity/

Port City awaits instructions from Sri Lankan Government

CHEC Port City, a subsidiary of China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) and the Project Company of the Colombo Port City states the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is yet to invite the Company for a discussion or issue a directive to the company regarding the project review process,which is currently underway.

The Project Company has requested for an opportunity to express its concerns regarding the temporary suspension to the GoSLappointed Review Committee, and is willing to fully corporate with the committee during the review process.

The Project Company complied with the suspension notice issued on March 6, 2015 immediately and as per the directive given by the Sir Lankan Government, submitted copies of all permits and approvals within two working days.The Company notes these permits and approvals were originally issued by the relevant competent authorities of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA),clearly directing the Project Company to commence reclamation work of the Colombo Port City.

In keeping with the agreement signed between the Project Company and the Sri Lankan Government, the responsibility for securing approvals and permits relating to the project is vested with the Government of Sri Lanka and SLPA, whilst the commercial risk of the project is being absorbed by the Project Company, as the total project development cost of approximately USD 1.4 billion, is invested by the Project Company.

As such, the commissioning of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study and other permits and consents, in keeping with the agreed Public-Private Partnership (PPP) structure of the project, were secured by the SLPA and was then referred to the Project Company. SLPA engaged with the University of Moratuwa, to conduct the EIA. The company reiterates that EIA was commissioned by the SLPA, in keeping with the Terms of Reference (ToR) formulated by a Sri Lanka Government appointed Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) comprising senior officials and agencies from Sri Lanka including the Coast Conservation Department and the Central Environmental Authority, Geological Surveys & Mines Bureau, and the Department of Archeology. The EIA study was approved by the TEC and the Coast Conservation Department, the project-approving agency.

The Project Company commenced construction of the Port City and dredging following the signing of the aforesaid agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka on 16 September 2014 which specifically provided that the Project Company shall commence reclamation work forthwith and after being informed that the necessary approvals are in place as per the lettersissuedby the SLPA.

The Project Company has prepared detailed feasibility reports that have been evaluated by the international lenders to the project, prior to drawing down of the debt component. Such studies include detailed reports prepared by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the world’s largest real estate consultancy companies. Matters relating to infrastructure design, availability and utilization have been addressed by international consultants Atkins of UK, AECOM of USA and SWECO of Sweden, and over several months discussed and documented with Government agencies such as National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

Further, the land allocation in terms of the concession agreement was negotiated and agreed between the Sri Lanka Government and the Project Company, taking into consideration inter alia all aforesaid matters and in particular, the fact that the total cost of the project is financed by the Project Company.

The Project Company awaits the opportunity to clarify the above details and provide necessary information to the Project Review Committee.

Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/port-city-awaits-instructions-from-sri-lankan-government/

Over 5000 Suspended

Over 5,000 employees contracted by the two companies involved in the Port City Project, have been suspended from their contracts with immediate effect. The Sunday Leader learns that 5,924 workers attached to the two Chinese companies have had their contracts suspended.

A media spokesperson from the CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Limited confirmed the suspension of the contracts this week.

Accordingly, 900 Chinese and local employees attached to the China Nadar Company and 5,024 employees attached to CHEC Port City Colombo Limited have been suspended from their contracts. Officials at the Chinese companies said that they had to take the decision after the Government failed to give an assurance on recommencing the Port City project.

Sources said that 12 Sri Lankan executive level officials who worked at two floors of the Central Point Building and 12 Chinese, Swedish and American officials have also been suspended from work. When asked to comment, the Chief Sales Officer at CHEC Port City Colombo Limited, Liang Thow Ming said that the delay on the part of the Government to give the green light for work on the Port City project to resume, resulted in the decision to suspend several employees involved in the project.

The government is expected to take another nine months or even a year to decide whether they would recommence the project. The Chinese company has invested about 70 per cent of the project cost via loans. Due to abrupt suspension of the project, the relevant companies have lost approximately Rs. 500 million a day and since they have to pay for the contract companies and their employees engaged in the project work, they have decided to suspend the employees, he said. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ajith P. Perera, when contacted by The Sunday Leader, said that the government will decide on the future of the project based on the report of the Committee appointed in this regard.

Source: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2015/04/05/over-5000-suspended/

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ රැකියා ලක්‌ෂ විස්‌සක්‌ අනතුරේ

වැටුප් ගෙවන්නටවත් මුදල් නැතිලු දැනටමත් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ ඉවත්කරලා

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රය යනු අපේ රටේ දල දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් සියයට දහයකට පමණ බලපාන මෙරට ආර්ථිකයේ වැදගත්ම අංශයකි. එය කොතරම් වැදගත්ද යන්න පෙන්නුම් කරන්නට හොඳම උදාහරණය ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයෙන් රටට සැපයෙන Rජු හා වක්‍ර රැකියා ප්‍රමාණය ලක්‌ෂ 20 ක්‌ පමණවීමය. ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් අද වනවිට එම ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයම බරපතල ප්‍රශ්නයකට මුහුණ දී සිටී. ඒ තමන් කළ වැඩවලට අයවිය යුතු ගෙවීම් දිගින් දිගටම ප්‍රමාදවීම නිසාය. මේ නිසා ඉදිකිරීම් ආයතනවල සේවකයන්ට වැටුප් ගෙවන්නටද නොහැකි තත්ත්වයක්‌ උද්ගතවී තිබේ. මේ වනවිට ඇතැම් ආයතනවල දැනට මාස කීපයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ වැටුප් ගෙවා නැත. තවත් ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම් ගණනාවක්‌ දින නියමයක්‌ නොමැතිව වසාදමා ඇත. සමහර ප්‍රධාන සමාගම් සේවකයන් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ ඉවත්කර ඇත. සිංහල අලුත් අවුරුද්ද ආසන්නයේ සේවකයන්ට ලබාදිය යුතු ගෙවීම් ලබාදීමට නොහැකිවීම නිසා සේවකයන්ද පත්ව සිටින්නේ බරපතල අපහසුතාවන්ටය.

පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයට පෙර සිදු කළ ඉදිකිරීම්වලට ගෙවිය යුතු ගෙවීම් ලෙස රුපියල් ලක්‌ෂ හතලිස්‌ පන්දාහකට (මිලියන 4500) අධික මුදලක්‌ ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම්වලට රජයෙන් හා රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවලින් නොගෙවීම නිසා මේ තත්ත්වය උද්ගතවී තිබේ. පසුගිය රජයට එරෙහිව නැගුනු බරපතල චෝදනාවක්‌ වූයේ ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් සම්බන්ධයෙනි. එම නිසා මේ කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් දෙස වත්මන් රජය බලන්නේ තරමක්‌ වපර ඇසිනි. ඇතැම් විට වත්මන් රජයේ සැකයද නිවැරදි විය හැක. එහෙත් ව්‍යාපාරික ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ සියලුම දෙනා පුරුදුව සිටින්නේ පවතින රජය සමඟ සමීපව කටයුතු කරමින් ව්‍යාපාර කරන්නටය. පැවති රජය සමඟ මෙන්ම වර්තමාන රජය සමඟද එලෙසමය. එසේ නොමැතිව ව්‍යාපාර කරන්නට බැරිය. ඔවුන් ව්‍යාපාර කරනවා මිස දේශපාලනය නොකරති. එම නිසා ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයට මේ සියලු ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වී තිබෙන්නේ පසුගිය ජනවාරි මාසයේ සිදුවූ ආණ්‌ඩු පෙරළියත් සමඟ ඇති වූ තත්ත්වයන් නිසාය.

මාර්ග ඉදිකිරීම්, ජල සැපයුම් ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත් හා ගොඩනැගිලි ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා මෙම මුදල ගෙවීමට ඇති බව සඳහන්ය. මෙම ඉදිකිරීම් අතර විදේශ ණය හා ආධාර ව්‍යාපෘති, දේශීය බැංකු හරහා ගෙවීම් සිදුකරන ව්‍යාපෘති, මහ භාණ්‌ඩාගාරය විසින් මුදල් ගෙවීම් සිදුකරන ව්‍යාපෘති පවතින බව සඳහන්ය. මේ ගෙවීම් සියල්ලටම ඊට අදාළ නිලධාරීන් සියලුම දෙනා පාහේ අනුමත කර අවසන් ගෙවීම් සඳහා යොමුකර තිබු ඒවා බව ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවෝ පවසති.

ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ ඇති විශාලත්වය හා එය පැතිරුණු ස්‌වභාවය ගත්කළ ඒ සඳහා දායක වන ප්‍රමාණයද අති විශාලය. ඉදිකිරීම් ඉංජිනේරුවන්, කාර්මික නිලධාරීන්, එම කාර්යාලවල සේවකයන්, පෙදරේරුවන්, කම්කරුවන්, සැපයුම්කරුවන්, කාර්මිකයන්, වැලි අදින්නන්, ගල් කඩන්නන්, රියදුරන්, විවිධ සේවා සපයන්නන් ආදී සුවිශාල ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ මේ සඳහා දායක වෙති. මේ නිසා අද වනවිට බත් පැකට්‌ සපයන්නාගේ සිට වැලි ගොඩදමන්නාගේ සිට ඉහළම ස්‌ථරවල සේවකයන්, ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් දක්‌වා අද අසරණව සිටිති.

ප්‍රධාන කොන්ත්‍රාත් සමාගම් ගත්විට එම එක්‌ එක්‌ සමාගම් සතුව අඩුම තරමින් රුපියල් මිලියන දහසකවත් ඉදිකිරීම් යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ තිබේ. ඇතැම් සමාගම්වල ඊටත් වැඩිය. ඒ සියලු යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ මිලදී ගෙන ඇත්තේ දේශීය බැංකු හෝ මුල්‍ය සමාගම්වලින් වසර හතරකට හෝ පහකට ලීසිං පහසුකම් ලබාගනිමිනි. මේ නිසා දැනට මාස කීපයක සිට ලීසිං වාරික ගෙවීම මේ සමාගම් විසින් පැහැර හැර තිබේ. එහෙත් අදාළ බැංකු හා මුල්‍ය සමාගම්වලටද එම යන්ත්‍රොaපකරණ රැගෙන ගොස්‌ තව කාටවත් විකුණා හෝ අදාල මුදල අය කරගන්නට නොහැකි වී ඇත්තේ කර්මාන්තයේ පවතින තත්ත්වය මත එම යන්ත්‍ර කිසිවකුට අවශ්‍ය නැති නිසාය. එසේම සමහර මූල්‍ය ආයතනවල යාඩ් වාරික නොගෙවන ලද වාහනවලින් පිරී පවතින බව සඳහන්ය. එපමණක්‌ නොවේ. මේ ඉදිකිරීම් සමාගම් බොහොමයක්‌ බැංකුවලින් ව්‍යාපාරික ණය ලබාගෙන තිබේ. මේ වන විට ඒවා ගෙවීමද පැහැර හැර තිබේ. ඒවායේ පොලී එන්න එන්නම ඉහළ යමින් තිබේ. ණය අයිරාවල පොලිය ඉහළ මට්‌ටමක පැවතීම නිසා තත්ත්වය බරපතලය. මේ අතර තවත් බොහෝ දෙනා තම දේපල උකසට තබා ණය ලබාගෙන තිබේ. ඒවා නොගෙවීම යනු බැංකු හා මුල්‍ය ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයද බරපතල අර්බුදයට ලක්‌වීමකි.

අපේ රටේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල හා විවිධ කාර්මික විද්‍යාල, කාර්මික පුහුණු කිරීමේ ආයතනවලින් දහස්‌ ගණනක්‌ වාර්ෂිකව ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රය සඳහා පුහුණු කරවති. මේ සියල්ලන්ටම පුහුණුවීම් මෙතෙක්‌ ලබාදුන්නේ මේ ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත් සමාගම්ය. වර්තමාන ගැටලු හමුවේ මෙම පුහුණු කිරීම් සියල්ල අදාළ සමාගම් විසින් නවතා ඇත. එවැන්නක්‌ කරන්නට ශක්‌තියක්‌ද ඔවුන්ට නැත. මේ නිසා අදාල පුහුණු කිරීම් සිදුකරන්නට ස්‌ථාන නොමතිවීම් නිසා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල, කාර්මික විද්‍යාල ආදියද මේ වනවිට ගැටලුවලට මුහුණ පා සිටිති.

මේ තත්ත්වය මේ ආකාරයටම පැවතිය හොත් ඉදිරි මාස දෙක හෝ තුන තුළ ඉදිකිරීම් ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ සුවිසල් කඩාවැටීමක්‌ සිදුවී එය සමස්‌ත ආර්ථිකයටම බරපතල ලෙස බලපානු ඇත.

මේ අතර වත්මන් රජය හා ඉදිකිරීම් කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් අතර පැවති සාකච්ඡාවලදී අදාළ ගෙවීම්වලින් සියයට විස්‌සත් - තිහත් අතර ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ කපා හරින ලෙස රජයේ නියෝජිතයන් දැනුම්දී ඇති බව සඳහන්ය. එවිට කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් පසා ඇත්තේ තමන් මේ කොන්ත්‍රාත් ටෙන්ඩර් සඳහා ඉදිරිපත්වී තරගකාරී මිල ගණන් යටතේ ලබාගත් බවත් එම නිසා එවැනි මුදල් ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ කපාහරින්නට නොහැකි බවය. තම සමාගම් වල ප්‍රශ්න, සේවක ගැටලු, ණය, ලීසිං වාරික ප්‍රශ්න ආදිය මෙහිදී කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් රජයට දන්වා තිබේ.

මාර්ග ඉදිකිරීම් සම්බන්ධ ගෙවීම් පිළිබඳව මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ නිලධාරීන්ද එලෙස විශාල මුදලක්‌ කපාහරින ලෙස ඉල්ලා තිබේ. එයද කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් ප්‍රතික්‌ෂේප කර තිබේ. එම නිසා අදාළ ගෙවීම් සඳහා රජය විසින් මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියට ලබාදුන් රුපියල් මිලියන 2200 ක මුදල මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ හිරවී තිබේ. එහි නිලධාරීන්ද තීරණයක්‌ ගත නොහැකිව සිටින්නේ පසුගිය දිනවල රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් අනුගමනය කළ දරදඬු ප්‍රතිපත්තියට බියෙනි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට සම්බන්ධ සියලු දෙනා මේ තත්ත්වය තේරුම් ගෙන වහාම මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට විසඳුම් සෙවිය යුතුය. එක පැත්තකින් Rජු හා වක්‍ර රැකියා ලක්‌ෂ විස්‌සකි. අනෙක්‌ අතින් අපේ රටේ ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් පිරිසකි. ඒ සියල්ල අතරින් මෙහි බලපෑමක්‌ ක්‍ෂේත්‍ර ගණනාවකට දරුණු ලෙස යොමුවන බවද පෙනේ.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් තොරතුරු විමසීම සඳහා මහාමාර්ග හා ආයෝජන ප්‍රවර්ධන ඇමති කබීර් හෂීම් මහතා සම්බන්ධ කර ගැනීම සඳහා අවස්‌ථා ගණනාවකදී උත්සහ කළද ඔහුගේ ජංගම දුරකථනය විසන්ධි කර තිබිණි. ඇතැම් අවස්‌ථාවල දුරකථනයට කිසිවකු පිළිතුරු දුන්නේ නැත.

ජනිත සෙනෙවිරත්න

Source: http://www.divaina.com/2015/04/05/feature20.html

Highways Minister explains how ‘good governance’ government builds highways

Some allege that the incumbent government does not construct any roads or highways. However, since the good governance government cannot construct road like the former government, certain systematic methods are being planned in the construction and development of roads to eliminate fraud and corruption, said the Highways and Investment Promotion Minister.

Highways and Investment Promotion Minister Kabeer Hashim alleged in Colombo that road construction had been undertaken during the previous regime without any transparency or disregarding any tender procedures and in some instances when the cost of construction of a kilometre of road had been some Rs. 75 million, huge amounts like Rs. 200 million per kilometre had been spent.

“We are proceeding systematically. We are preparing better plans and going ahead. But some criticize that we are not working,” the Minister said.

He said that it had been revealed that some road contracts had been offered at much higher rates like around 55 per cent more than the actual and the Ministry was auditing these accounts.

There are several officials in his Ministry who had been involved in these corruptions and that he has to continue to work with them, the minister lamented.

The incumbent government’s keen attention has been drawn towards certain road development projects undertaken during the former regime through local loans and one such instance is where the loan obtained from the National Savings Bank alone had been Rs. 28 billion and that this amount had in fact not been released for road construction, said Minister Kabeer Hashim.

The road network in Sri Lanka witnessed a huge transformation during the tenure of the former government with the construction of the Katunayake Expressway, the Southern Expressway, the outer circular road while most roads were carpeted of concreted.

Roads and highways could be considered an essential component in a country’s economic development and economic development could be accelerated through road development.

Source: http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/highways-minister-explains-how-good-governance-government-builds-highways/

අධිවේගයෙන් බිලියන 30ක් අඩු කලා කිවුවට අඩු කලාම නෙමෙයි.. අඩුකරන්න සාකච්චා ආරම්භ කලා..

පසුගිය රජය විසින් බිලියන 66.8ක වියදමක් දරමින් ආරම්භ කරන ලද කොළඹ පිටත වටරවුම් මාර්ගයේ ඉදිකිරීම් සඳහා වන අස්තමේන්තු මුදල අඩු කිරීම සඳහා සාකච්චා චීන සමාගම සමග ආරම්බව තිබෙන බව ආයෝජන ප්‍රවර්ධන හා මහාමාර්ග නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය එරාන් වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා පවසයි.

ඔහු පවසන්නේ අඩු කරන මුදල පිළිබද මෙතෙක් අවසන් එකගතාවක් නැති බවයි.

ඇමති රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතා විසින් පසුගියදා කියා සිටියේ එම මුදල බිලියන 30කින් අඩු කිරීමට චීන සමාගම එකගවූ බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් චීනය විසින් එම ප‍්‍රකාශය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම බැහැර කලේය.

Source:https://lankacnews.com/sinhala/news/130323/

China rejects Rajitha’s claim

The Chinese embassy in Colombo today denied claims by Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne that the estimated cost of the Colombo Outer Circular Road was reduced by Rs.30 billion.

An embassy spokesperson told Daily Mirror that the news report on the Colombo Outer Circular Road cost reduction was not in line with the facts. "We have contacted the relevant Chinese contractor. It was proved that no agreement was reached between the Chinese contractor and Sri Lanka Road Development Authority on any reduction of the cost of the project. The so-called Rs. 30 billion commission being paid to the previous government was also groundless. The total contract cost by the Chinese contractor is Rs. 66.8 billion,” he said.

He said the contract cost was reasonable since the 9.5 kilometre project included a six kilometer long viaduct as well as the building of a 3.5 kilometre long embankment which he said was a low estimate compared to those quoted by other countries. (Kelum Bandara) 

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk/68301/china-rejects-rajitha-s-claim#sthash.pz1194l1.dpuf

China agrees to write off US$ 30 M from OCR cost

China had agreed to write off US$ 30 million from the total amount which it had lent to Sri Lanka for the construction of the Outer Circular Road (OCR) which connects several highways, the Sri Lankan Government announced today.

The announcement was made by a group of ministers at a media news briefing held last evening. This had been communicated by the Chinese government during the visit of President Maithripala Sirisena to China recently.

Minister of Health Dr Rajitha Senaratne said the project had been over-priced in order that politicians of the previous regime who negotiated the deal on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government would be left with a sizable commission. “The amount which would be written off therefore is a part of a commission which was to go into someone’s pocket,” he said. Responding to a question raised by journalists as to whether the reality is that no one obtained any commission out of the project physically although allegations were still been levelled at ministers of the previous regime, the minister said the usual procedure that was followed was that part of the commission was given as an advance.

In addition Minister Senaratne said the Chinese Government had given a grant worth more than US$ 300 million to the health sector alone including Rs. 11.5 billion to set up a special hospital to treat kidney disease in Polonnaruwa. In addition he said a nine storied OPD unit for the Colombo National Hospital was also to be built with Chinese assistance.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who was also present, revealed that the Chinese government had offered them a grant of Rs 4 billion to renovate the Supreme Courts Complex in Colombo. Minister of Urban Development Rauff Hakeem also offered his views and said the Chinese President had conveyed to President Sirisena his idea of setting up a Silk Route Fund through which Sri Lanka would also benefit. (Yohan Perera and Piyumi Fonseka) 

Source: http://www.dailymirror.lk/68135/agrees-to-write-of#sthash.oArrvqZr.dpuf