JICA to resume construction of second terminal of Katunayake airport

15 February 2024 06:49 pm Views - 3083

Colombo, Feb 15 (Daily Mirror) - Since Sri Lanka's economy is showing growth, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said they will support the construction of the second terminal of the Katunayake Airport after the financial restructuring process is implemented by the International Monetary Fund.

The decision was announced during a discussion between Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and a group of representatives, including JICA Institute Chairman Akihiko Tanaka at the Ministry.

The discussion was about the resumption of the construction of this second terminal at Katunayake Airport. The construction of the second terminal of the Katunayake Airport was started in 2020 at a cost of Rs. 145 billion under the JICA soft loan scheme, and the project was stopped in 2022 due to the economic recession in the country by March 2022.

After the country was declared bankrupt, the concessional loan programme by JICA for the second terminal project was also stopped.

As a result, the construction of essential components of the second terminal was abandoned by the contractors, which was completed using the financial allocation of the airport company.

Accordingly, 6% of the construction of the project has been completed by now.

Due to the rising prices of raw materials, equipment and goods in the construction sector, in addition to the loan amount given by the JICA, another provision of about USD 450 million is required, Minister Silva said.

After this discussion, the representatives of the JICA company chairman observed the construction work currently being done at the second terminal of Katunayake Airport.