Road development drive begins in South

Irangika Range

The Government has embarked on a massive rural road development project in the South to improve the region’s link with the rest of the country. Highways and Road Development Minister T.B. Ekanayake told the Daily News that rural uplift and village reawakening was introduced to accelerate development of rural Sri Lanka by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2006 under the Mahinda Chintana policy.

“Therefore, plans are afoot to develop the rural road network which will be a boost to the economic development in the Southern region.

We have identified a number of rural roads to be reconstructed and renovated in the three districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota with local and foreign funds,” the Minister said.

“The essence of our rural empowerment program is to ensure that rural infrastructure development takes place at a rapid rate. Neglected rural roads in the South are being paved today with concrete and carpet,” he said.

The Minister said construction work has already been completed of several roads such as Hakmana-Walasmulla, Denagama-Mulatiyana (Rs. 600 million), Thihagoda-Mulatiyana ( Rs. 350 million), Kirinda-Kamburupitiya (Rs. 200 million), Hakmana-Beliatta and Matara-Yatiyana (Rs. 150 million).

In addition, construction work is under way of two main roads including Matara-Wellawaya at a cost of Rs. 5,000 million and Tissa-Kirinda at a cost of Rs. 450 million. The Asian Development Bank and the European Union have funded these works. Meanwhile, Galle-Deniyaya road is being reconstructed with World Bank funds amounting to Rs. 2,500 million.

A number of roads such as Beliatta-Walasmulla, Middeniya-Walasmulla, Middeniya-Panamura, Walasmulla-Weeraketiya, Weeraketiya-Middeniya, Weeraketiya-Ranna, Ranna-Angunukolapelassa are being reconstructed with local and Japanese funds in the Hambantota district.

In Galle District, roads at Bentara-Uragaha (Rs. 500 million), Vanduramba-Athumale, Yakkatuwa-Athumale, Galle-Yakvella, Galle-Udugampola are being renovated and reconstructed at present. Furthermore, three roads in Akuressa-Katamwila, Mathumba-Imaduwa and Vanduramba-Kottawa are under construction in the Matara District currently.

Many bridges in Vandurambha, Udugama, Akuressa and Katamvila are also being constructed while several roads in Kalugalle and Kaluwella in Galle are widened at present.