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A9 reconstruction in progress

by Manjula Fernando and Rajmi Manatunga

Re-building of the Jaffna-Kandy A9 highway, the main land route linking the North and the South, is now in progress. The project undertaken at a cost of Rs.700 million is jointly funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Sri Lankan Government.

The road which was devastated by the war between the Government Forces and the LTTE for over 19 years was first opened for civilian traffic in April last year following the joint ceasefire declared on February 22.

A senior official of the Road Development Authority told the Daily News yesterday they have selected the stretch from Omanthai (194th kilometre) up to Muhamalai (290th kilometre) for immediate development since this 100 kilometre stretch was in a dilapidated state.

The ADB share is 73.5 per cent of the total cost and the rest is borne by the Government.

"The construction which is to be completed before December this year is handled by seven local contractors and supervised by a team of independent consultants from Australia," the official said.

The RDA will be assisted by the Sri Lankan Army and an independent organisation called Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) which is involved in de-mining work in the uncleared areas. The UNDP is also providing assistance for de-mining the highway.

The official said: "Already 75 per cent of this stretch is now cleared of mines. However, there is still a stretch of about 12 kilometres yet to be de-mined." He said only the A9 corridor will be cleared for traffic and there will not be any assurance of safety outside the road.

Once the construction is completed the road will be about 5.5 metres wide, the same width as it is now. Agreements were signed on December 23 between the Road Development Authority (RDA) and eight private contractors to reconstruct the highway which had been the battleground for the Security Forces and the LTTE for several years.

The RDA said the reconstruction work had been divided into eight sections and assigned to eight different contractors as a measure to expedite the work.

He also said that both the Army and the LTTE had granted permission for the work and agreed to allow the vehicles of contractors into LTTE-controlled areas.

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