Matara to Beliatta railway not up to mark

By Dayaseeli Liyanage   

The Minister of Transportation Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the railway authorities to refrain from taking over the newly constructed railway line extended from Matara to Beliatta without conducting an investigation to see if the construction was up to the standard, since there had been many complaints about irregularities regarding 
the construction.   

It was reported that one of the railway bridges had already fractured, And a ceiling of a building had collapsed.

The signal system is yet to be commissioned and therefore the track cannot be taken over by Department of Railways,He reiterated.   

It had been revealed that construction of the railway had been  carried out by a Chinese company with no previous experience in the construction of railways.   

The minister had given these instructions in a discussion he had with the authorities of the Railways Department. It was also revealed that 98% of the total cost of construction had already been paid.   The construction of the railway had not been completed on the expected date which was in November 2016 and the railway should not be taken over unless it is up to the required standards the Minister said.   

It had been revealed that construction of the railway had been  carried out by a Chinese company with no previous experience in the construction of railways