Govt. changes northern expressway structure: UPFA

The UPFA today charged the present government had reduced the number of lanes of the Northern Expressway planned by the previous government in order to show that it was able to reduce the cost of the project.

Colombo District UPFA Candidate Danasiri Amaratunga said the UNP led government had reduced the number of the lanes of the expressway to two from three.

 “The UPFA government introduced the project with three lanes to ease the increasing traffic. However, the UNP government had reduced the number of lanes to two to show it was succeed in reducing the project cost. The government had also changed the expressway’s name to ‘Central Expressway’,” Mr. Amaratunga said.

He said the government had allowed the same old company to carry out the construction of the expressway after accusing it previously.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/80939/govt-changes-northern-expressway-structure-upfa

Treasury guarantee to Bank of Ceylon for Outer Circular Highway Phase II RDA loan

The government is to grant a Treasury guarantee to the Bank of Ceylon for the Road Development Authority (RDA) to enter into a loan agreement with the Bank for the consultancy services for construction supervision of civil works for the Northern Expressway Phase II stretch of the Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha Outer Circular Highway project.

This is on a proposal by Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Kabeer Hashim."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/treasury-guarantee-to-bank-of-ceylon-for-outer-circular-highway-phase-ii-rda-loan/

Committee to study electrification of Panadura-Veyangoda railway network

The Cabinet approved a joint proposal by Ministers of Internal Transport R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka to grant policy priority to electrify the Colombo urban railway service, starting with urban railways, to match contemporary global standards. 




As an initial step towards this, a steering committee is to be formed comprising senior officials representing the Ministries of Internal Transport, Power and Energy, the Ceylon Electricity Board, Department of Sri Lanka Railways, the Institution of Engineers, the Department of National Planning, and the General Treasury to make a detailed study of the feasibility of electrifying the railway segment between Panadura and Veyangoda and also to determine appropriate strategies and projects to electrify the railway system based on the findings of the feasibility reports.

The feasibility study will be based on the preliminary feasibility assessment conducted in 2008 jointly by the Institution of Engineers of Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Department of Sri Lanka Railways."





http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/committee-to-study-electrification-of-panadura-veyangoda-railway-network/

Colombo-Kandy Central Expressway splits into four phases

The construction of the Colombo-Kandy Central Expressway is to be implemented in four phases by dividing its full length into four parts according to the recommendations of the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs.

The first phase would be from Kadawatha to Meerigama with the loan assistance from China EXIM Bank.



The second would be the Meerigama to Kurunegala stretch (with the Ambepussa link) which is to be funded by the Asian Development Bank

The stretch from Pothuhera to Kandy which would be the third phase will be funded by the loan assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the final and fourth phase of the stretch from Kurunegala to Dambulla would be handled by local contractors through funds collected through a local bond issue.



 The proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to approve the appointment of Procurement Committees, Negotiation Committees, and Loan negotiations on the recommendations of the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs to accelerate the commencement of this project was approved by the Cabinet."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/colombo-kandy-central-expressway-splits-into-four-phases/

Construction of Matara-H’tota segment of expressway inaugurated

The construction work on the extension of the Southern Expressway from Matara to Hambantota, which is funded by China, was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena and the Chinese Ambassador this morning.

The expenditure for the construction of the 75-kilometer segment is estimated at Rs. 45 billion. 




It will connect Matara- Godagama to Hambantota Harbor via Beliatta, Andarawewa, and Mattala.

The completed Southern Expressway will be connected to Colombo-Kandy Expressway and Colombo-Katunayake Airport Expressway via the Colombo Outer Circular Highway which is expected to reduce the traffic congestion in the Colombo city and provide faster access to outskirts.

The section of Southern Expressway from Pinnaduwa (Galle) to Godagama (Matara) was opened to public on 15th March 2014.



The section from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa (Galle) was completed in November 2011 and is in operation at present.

Meanwhile, a part of the outer Colombo Highway from Kaduwela to Kadawatha is expected to be vested with the public by the President next week.
"



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/construction-of-matara-htota-segment-of-expressway-inaugurated/

High-speed elevators at Lotus Tower goes before courts

Micro Constructions has gone before courts claiming that Japan’s Fujitec Corporation and its joint venture company Fujitec Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the Board of Investment approved Sri Lankan subsidiary established by Micro Holdings Ltd to which the former government had awarded the tender for the supply and installation of high-speed elevators and escalators to the ‘Nelum Kuluna’ or Lotus Tower being constructed at D.R. Wejewardene Mawatha in Colombo, are preparing to transfer this tender to another company and for court to intervene in this issue and stop such a transfer.  



Accordingly, the Colombo District Court recently issued an enjoining order preventing this tender from being canceled.

The construction contractors to the Lotus Tower, China’s CNEIEC Ltd and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) have been named as respondents.

The total height of the Lotus Tower being constructed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission at D.R. Wejewardene Mawatha in Colombo is 350 metres."



http://www.adaderana.lk/bizenglish/high-speed-elevators-at-lotus-tower-goes-before-courts/

MR Govt. launched projects without funds

Former president Chandrika Kumaratunge said today the Mahinda Rajapaksa government had initiated development projects illegally without finding funds needed for them and that the present government has had to pay back the loans obtained by them at exorbitant interest rates.



 “No project can be initiated without crediting funds in the Treasury or finalising documents needed to fund such projects. It is illegal to do so. But the previous government launched such development projects including a drinking water supply scheme at an estimated cost of Rs.560 billion. They were forced to obtain loans at exorbitant interest rates to fund this project when contractors asked for money. Governments usually do not obtain loans at an interest rate of more than 2 percent but the previous government had obtained loans at interest rates of 9 per cent from China and European countries,” Ms. Kumaratunge said.



 She said the government was renegotiating development projects initiated by the previous government without following the due tender procedure.(Ajith Siriwardana)"





http://www.dailymirror.lk/76169/mr-govt-launched-projects-without-funds-cbk