Govt. commences 100,000 km road development

Thursday, 20 February 2020 01:21 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the ceremony yesterday

The national program to develop 100,000 km of road to provide quality road access facilities to rural areas commenced yesterday under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the village of Deltota in the Central Province.

Under the President’s ‘Saubhagyaye Dekma’ policy manifesto, the Ministry of Roads and Highways and Local Government Institutions will implement the program to provide easy access to credit, prioritising small business development, self-employment and household needs as well as household-level livelihood development initiatives.Under the program, development of the Peradeniya-Galaha, Deltota-Rikillagaskada roads commenced yesterday. The project will include the carpeting of the existing road network and development of the provincial road network.

Accordingly, 1,238 km of road directly under the Road Development Authority (RDA) and 16,000 km of road belonging to Provincial Councils will be developed under the program.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana earlier said that the Government would introduce a points system to select roads which score 50 points or more. According to Gunawardana, points will be allocated based on how many houses are located along the road, whether it provides access to a hospital or school and whether it has been repaired at any point during the past 10 years. The program was funded by Asian Development Bank and the

Saudi Fund.