Transport Minister Reviews Progress on MCC-Built Central Expressway Section

Sunday, 20 September 2026 15:31 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

COLOMBO, Sept 17 — Sri Lanka’s Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and Leader of the House of Parliament, Bimal Rathnayake, inspected the first section of the country’s Central Expressway on Thursday, as construction entered its first year since fully resuming after a prolonged suspension.

Rathnayake led a delegation to the CEP-1 project, being built by Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd (MCC), and reviewed construction progress and safety arrangements at the site. Liu Su, General Representative of MCC Sri Lanka Branch, accompanied the inspection.

The full resumption of construction on CEP-1 was witnessed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sept. 17, 2025, according to MCC.

During the visit, MCC Project Manager Zhu Yong briefed the minister and other officials on construction progress and key work carried out since the resumption.

Rathnayake welcomed the progress made over the past year and acknowledged the efforts of MCC’s local project team, according to a statement issued after the visit.

He described the Central Expressway as an important transport infrastructure project for Sri Lanka and said its completion would contribute to improving road connectivity and supporting economic activity along the route. He called on MCC to optimise construction arrangements, increase resource allocation and accelerate work towards the completion and opening of the expressway.

Liu thanked the Sri Lankan government, transport authorities and the Road Development Authority for their support, and said MCC would further coordinate resources and strengthen project management to accelerate construction and facilitate an early handover.

He also called for continued support from the Sri Lankan side in areas including funding, material supplies, site coordination and administrative approvals, according to the statement.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Transport, the Road Development Authority, Sri Lankan project supervision teams and representatives of MCC Sri Lanka Branch and the CEP-1 project department attended the inspection.