2 April 2024 08:19 pm Views - 1417
"Even I hope of completing the expressway system in the country as soon as possible. But we are unable to get loans until the debt restructuring process is finalized," he said.
"We can only think of completing expressways after the debt restructuring process of the Road Development Authority (RDA) is completed," he further said.
Moreover, he said there is no truth in handing over the daily operations and management of highways to a private company.
The Ministry had approved the transfer of daily operations and management of expressways from the Road Development Authority (RDA) to a state-owned company called Sahasya Investments (SIL).
SIL is a 100 percent state-owned company under the Treasury and the RDA.
The expressway system in the country is not profitable, but it carrys so much debt that even the government is not sure of how to settle them, Minister Gunawardene said.
"The government is not in favor of privatizing the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), RDA, SriLanka Airlines, and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), but only the management system needed to make them efficient is being changed.
"Therefore, technical, managerial and strategic methods need to be resorted to," the Minister said.