The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Member, all expressways and other roads have been awarded only through open tenders—no other method. On cost changes, multiple reasons apply. Due to the economic crisis, delays led to over Rs. 60 billion in delay costs on the Central Expressway as per figures at the time of the second loan signing; current rates may differ. Exchange rate increases also altered costs. In some projects, planning existed without full design, causing unexpected cost increases. For example, on the Potuhera–Rambukkana section, although the average per-km cost was around Rs. 800 million to Rs. 1 billion, at the tail end there is a massive rock about 400 feet deep. The cost to remove it was not in the initial plan because proper geotechnical investigations (soil investigations, boreholes) had not been done prior to design. Such variations add significant costs during construction. We are now taking steps to avoid such issues through better up-front design. Thus, several factors contributed to cost escalations.