The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake
Construction of a bridge project begun in 2021 and expanded with a new bridge in 2022 has been delayed due to rain, water management requests by farmer organizations, raw material shortages, and issues involving the State Development and Construction Corporation. The cost estimate has been revised from about Rs. 46.07 million to Rs. 86.59 million, with Treasury funds released only for completed and approved work. Due to the unfinished bridge, two private buses have been rerouted between Gampaha and Minuwangoda, leaving about one kilometre unusable, and steps are being taken to terminate the current contract and transfer completion to the Minuwangoda Urban Council by the end of the year.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Answer:
¶ 02 (a) (i) Construction of two bridges at this site commenced. The first bridge was started and completed in 2021. A new bridge was commenced in 2022, for which the old bridge was removed that year. Heavy rains at the time, requests from farmer organizations to intermittently block water, and shortages of raw materials caused delays beyond the expected period. Therefore, construction has not yet been completed.
¶ 03 (ii) Yes. The North Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority has informed that the two private buses previously operating on this route now run between Gampaha and Minuwangoda via an alternative route. Due to the bridge renovation, about one kilometre between Chaththigedara Junction and Pansilgoda Junction cannot be used by these two buses.
¶ 04 (b) (i) The original estimate as at 23.02.2021 was Rs. 46,070,758.79 (VAT excluded). As per Cabinet Decision No. CPA/23/0766/608/05 of 30.05.2023, the revised estimate is Rs. 86,588,568.23 (VAT excluded).
¶ 05 (ii) It is only an estimate; no deposit is made to a bank account. Funds are released from the General Treasury only for works completed and approved, and payments are made to the contractor, the State Development and Construction Corporation (SD&CC).
¶ 06 (iii) Not applicable.
¶ 07 (iv) Yes. Considering the issues prevailing at SD&CC and since Minuwangoda Urban Council has expressed willingness to take over and complete the bridge, steps are being taken to terminate the SD&CC contract and assign it to the Minuwangoda Urban Council.
¶ 08 (v) Administrative steps to re-award the contract are planned to be completed before the end of this year, after which construction will commence.
¶ 09 (c) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 21 May 2025 ·No. 1749121318003248 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 21 May 2025. No. 1749121318003248. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/8056