Cabinet passes new construction projects worth over Rs. 4 bn

Thursday, 18 January 2018 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Cabinet yesterday passed several Cabinet papers on a slew of new projects, including two Rs. 3.5 billion water supply projects and new court buildings for several districts.

Improvement of infrastructure at the Uva Wellassa University was approved by the Cabinet on a submission made by Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella.

“It is required to begin infrastructure development work related to constriction of library building, auditorium, staff teaching unit, alternative Water Supply System and student welfare centre and main access road in 2018 to cater increased student intake and it was decided to call for bids for selection of contractors,” the Cabinet paper said.

A second Cabinet paper to construct new Court buildings was presented by Justice Minister Thalatha Athukorala. The new court buildings will be built in Welimada, Ratnapura, Theldeniya, Pugoda, Kantale and Kilinochchi using the budgetary allocations for 2018.

Sri Lanka is in desperate need to more court houses as well as judges and other officials to staff them, as the country grapples with a massive backlog of cases, some spanning decades. The Government has pledged to open new courts and fast track cases, particularly those linked to corruption in an effort to get the majority of over 7000 cases completed.

Implementation of Stage III of Medirigiriya Water Supply Scheme presented by City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauff Hakeem was awarded to M/S Squire Mech Engineering Ltd. for Rs. 1.2 billion.

A fourth award to implement stage one of the Anuradhapura North Water Supply Project, also by Minister Hakeem, was approved. The award was given to M/S Access Engineering PLC at a cost of $ 6.17 million from JICA and Rs. 2.349 billion of domestic funds.