Cabinet approves fresh deals on expressways

The Cabinet this week approved two separate initiatives to further bolster expressway development in the country.

The Government said that the Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal made by Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Kabir Hashim, to obtain a treasury guarantee for the Bank of Ceylon and to authorise the Road Development Authority to enter into a loan agreement with the Bank of Ceylon to obtain consultancy services for construction supervision of civil works for Northern Section II comprising the Kerawalapitiya to Kadawatha segment of the Outer Circular Highway Project.

With regard to the Central Expressway, the proposal made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to award the contract for the construction of the road section of 32.55 km from Kossinna as per the recommendations made by the Discussion Committee appointed by the Ministry of Finance according to the decision made by the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economic Affairs, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The road section from Kadawatha to Meerigama is to be contracted under the first phase of the Central Expressway. The section from Kadawatha to Kossinna, approximately 5 km long, is expected to be completed through the savings of the third phase of the Outer Circular Highway. Preliminary work on it has already commenced.