Tuesday, 29 October 2013 01:16
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By Uditha Jayasinghe
The US$ 272 million Chinese-funded Southern Railway Project, which includes the longest tunnel in Sri Lanka, kicked off yesterday, amidst praise for the Chinese Government by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother and Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa was the main guest at the event, which took place in the southern town of Beliatta.
“We are thankful to the Chinese Government that has enabled us to do these large-scale infrastructure projects. Without their help these would not be possible. This railway was envisioned from the time of my father and for decades it never happened but now his son has made it a reality,” Rajapaksa said referring to his brother, the President.
Rajapaksa also noted that the railway would provide more economic opportunities for Sri Lankans and brighten their future and insisted that such development would bottleneck
brain drain.
He outlined numerous projects that have been started in the Rajapaksa hometown of Hambantota including a US$ 1.2 billion port and second international airport, which the railway will link together and spur development in the southern part of Sri Lanka.
Rajapaksa also took the opportunity to slam critics, saying, “Critics only criticise. They never do anything, whereas we listen to criticism and also do much.”
The new project, which will be completed in 2016, is the first phase project of the Southern Railway.
The total length of railway of this project is 26.75 kilometres; it is a single line and broad-gauge railway driven by diesel traction and design speed is about 120km per hour.
It will be conducted under three phrases and is funded by the Export Import Bank of China.
The general contracting unit is China National Machinery Corporation while the design has been subcontracted to the Consortium of Parsons Brinckerhoff and China Railway Fifth Survey And Design Institute Group Co. Ltd.
This project is the first railroad project that a Chinese company undertakes in Sri Lanka based on Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode, and the first new railway construction in Sri Lanka within a century.
After completion of this project, people can get to Kataragama directly from Colombo via Matara station, Hambantota Port and the southern new international airport.
It will establish an important network of the air, sea and road transportation, change the underdeveloped south and bring economic revival, says the Government.
The project will further strengthen bilateral relations and economic and trade cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa added.
On Sunday President Rajapaksa opened the island’s second highway, which was also built from a Chinese loan of US$ 292 million.
The highway will be used by leaders of 53 Commonwealth nations when they arrive to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) hosted by Sri Lanka next month.
During the opening President Rajapaksa praised China for supporting a project that was needed for more than four decades and finally became reality much to the happiness of the people.
The new expressway will reduce travel time between the country’s international airport and capital city to just 20 minutes.
Since Sri Lanka ended a 30 year war in 2009 China emerged at the island’s largest loan provider with US$ 1.2 billion in loans in 2009 and US$ 821 million in 2010.
In 2011 the amount fell to US$ 784.7 million but China remains involved in almost all the large-scale projects taking place, according to the Finance Ministry.
Some of the biggest projects include a US$ 1.3 billion coal power plant on the north western shore as well as a host of other investments in the south of the country that are estimated to exceed US$ 3 billion, including a US$ 1.2 billion harbour.
China was also one of the funders for the Southern Expressway, which was Sri Lanka’s first highway declared open in 2011.