Outer circular road cost negotiated down by Rs. 30 b

The new Government has managed to reduce the cost of the outer circular road by Rs. 30 billion through stiffer negotiation.
The major saving was disclosed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during his address to a top business gathering celebrating the 65th anniversary of Associated Motorways Ltd. “Most of you want to continue with projects started by the last Government but I disagreed,” the Premier told the audience. “As a result we negotiated the outer circular highways and we got a Rs. 30 billion reduction or nearly 40%. Just imagine if I stuck to what you told me,” he told those present. Wickremesinhe also said that the country had been burdened with high debt taken from multilateral and bilateral sources. “We have enough problems paying the loans we have taken. I don’t want to burden people further,” the Premier added. In a related development, Health Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday that the Outer Circular project had been over-priced in order that politicians of the previous regime who negotiated the deal on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government would be left with a sizable commission.
“The amount which would be written off therefore is a part of a commission which was to go into someone’s pocket,” he said. Responding to a question raised by journalists as to whether the reality is that no one obtained any commission out of the project physically although allegations were still been levelled at ministers of the previous regime, Minister Senaratne said the usual procedure that was followed was that part of the commission was given as an advance.