Discussed for years, construction to start before year end

As a solution to the traffic congestion in Kandy city, a multi-modal transport hub will be established in front of Good Shed Bus Station, Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said.

This plan to integrate all modes of transport was limited to discussion for seven years and its construction work will be started before the end of this year under the assistance of the World Bank, the Minister said.

The Minister revealed the plan on Saturday (26th) at the opening of the Kandy City Railway Station and the Superintendent’s Office Complex in Kandy.

The Kandy City Railway Station has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 5 million under the direct allocations of the Railway Department.

As the existing Kandy main railway station is located in one corner of the city, the construction of the new railway station will bring great relief to the passengers travelling from Kandy towards Matale and from Matale to Kandy.

The office complex has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 80 million to replace the old office building that is on the land earmarked for the construction of multiple transport hubs. This division carries out construction and repairs of buildings and bridges belonging to the Railway Department along the lines from Matale to Nawalapitiya.

Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said that the railway history of our country was connected with Kandy. During the British colonial era, the construction of the first railway line was aimed at Kandy. From then till now, under various changes, the train services from Kandy to Colombo and upcountry have been providing a great service to the common people of this country.

“In addition to the Kandy railway station, we have been waiting for a long time to build and open a small railway station like this to make it more convenient for the people of the city. From today, this railway station will become a place that provides faster, more efficient and effective service to the city dwellers and the people coming to the bus stand,” the Minister said.

“There is a huge traffic jam in the city of Kandy due to the lack of a standard and advanced system to manage trains, buses, taxis and other vehicles. Apart from Colombo, Kandy is the most congested city. A plan was prepared to develop the Good Shed venue as a multi-modal transport hub by combining all the means of transportation. Accordingly, plans have been prepared to build a multimodal transport hub with all the facilities with the assistance of the World Bank,” he said.

“Although the World Bank aid was approved for that, it was held for seven years. Last week, a Cabinet paper was presented to activate the plan, offering tenders and starting work. The President and the Cabinet advised me to study the urban development plan that is currently being implemented with KOICA assistance and discuss an integrated final plan with them. Accordingly, it is hoped that the work will be started this year and the construction will be completed within three years,” the Minister said.

“The main obstacle for all the development projects in our country is the inability of the government to invest money for them. The reason for this is that the income generated by the Sri Lanka government through taxes from people and other sources is spent on the salaries and pensions of government employees, subsidies and loan interest,” he said.

“Every government has implemented development projects by taking loans both domestically and internationally. When the loans are insufficient, the money was printed. Any development scheme like a road, bridge, anicut, dam, or power plant has been done with local and foreign loans.

Regardless of the government, regardless of the political ideology, your child’s school was built, the hospital was built for you, the roads were built for you, the railway was built, and even this railway station was built with local and foreign loans.

People’s tax money is not sufficient for that. Governments have paid those debts. After the Easter Sunday attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic, we have not been able to pay that debt. Therefore, we have informed the nation that we cannot pay the loan instalments and interest until we restructure the debt.

Therefore, the institutions that provided us with loans no longer approve any loans. As a Government, we believe that the country will get a chance to breathe again after debt restructuring by this September,” the Minister said.

The Minister urged all those in the transport services such as the Railway Department and Sri Lanka Transport Board and all those in the other manufacturing sectors to work together more efficiently to take the country out of this difficult situation.

Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana and others inspected the construction work of the newly built double railway line in Kandy and the flyover near Gatambe, which were recently held.

Members of Parliament Gunathilaka Rajapaksa and Ranjith Bandara, General Manager of Railways W.A.D. Munasinghe, Railway Additional General Manager (Operation) V.S. Polwatta, Railway Additional General Manager (Infrastructure) H. M. W. Bandara, Central Province Chief Secretary Sarath Premawansa, Kandy District Secretary Chandana Thennakoon and others participated in the event.

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