The Government has decided to restart the Kaduwela Athurugiriya to Colombo light rail project, which was abandoned when it was ready to commence construction on a loan from the Government of Japan.
An advertisement has been published in the Government Gazette today (09) requesting the assistance of qualified consultants to review the revised light rail project, revise certain points and add new ones.
The project was earlier under the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development with the involvement of the State Ministry of Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal and Community Sanitation.
According to the announcement made by the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Procurement of the Ministry, the present Government is preparing to construct a 32 km light railway line from Athurugiriya to the Port City.
In June last year, the current government informed Japan that it had no plans to proceed with the project, even though it had begun construction on the project with a loan of US $ 270 million at an annual interest rate of 0.1 per cent under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The move angered the Japanese government and caused a great deal of controversy at the social and diplomatic levels.
However, the abandoned project is set to be restarted with a revision. The government has not made an official statement on the financial allocation for this. The Environmental Assessment Report for the entire project has been prepared and published by the Central Environmental Authority and has been submitted to the public for comment.
The Environmental Assessment Report has been prepared for the construction of three light rail lines between Ragama Kirulapone, Kelaniya, Moratuwa and Makumbura Multipurpose Transport Center to Hunupitiya at a cost of US $ 4179 million.
