Cancellation of light rail project Champika says will reveal reason soon

By Yohan Perera   

Former Minister of Megapolis Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday said he will come up with a staggering disclosure behind the cabinet decision to cancel the proposed light rail project.  MP Ranawaka told a press conference yesterday that the five reasons given by the cabinet to cancel the projects are unacceptable.   

“The first reason given for the cancellation was that the cost was too high. This is not true as the project comprised several expenses such as cost of infrastructure development involved, the estimation and payment of compensation. The total cost was computed by taking into all these expenditure involved with the project. The second reason was the environmental pollution, which cannot be accepted as well as everything was studied in detail when planning the project. The other reason is that there was an initial project plan to have a light train service on the surface rather than a system that would run on pillars. This is also baseless as there was no such plan developed at any time,” Mr. Ranawaka said.   

“I will reveal the real reasons behind the cancellation of the projects in the near future,” he added.