Checking Numbers

The Hapag-Lloyd delegation including, Capt. Prateek Gandhi – Director Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Faheem Mir – Manager - Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Lalith Witanachchi – Vice President, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Mindaka Dassanayake – General Manager, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.,Mr. Rohan Ranasinghe – Terminal Operations Manager, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Mr. Iqram Cuttilan – Managing Director, Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd poses for a pic with SLPA’s Chairman -Admiral Sirimewan Ranasinghe and the Managing Director - Eng. Ganaka Hemachandra. SLPA's Vice Chairman - Eng. Herath M.P. Jayawardhana, Director (Operations) - Mrs. G. Zavia Miskin and Director (Marketing and BD) - Mr. H J K U Kumara are also present.

May 3 (LBO) – A Chinese construction firm selected to design and build the Colombo-Katunayake expressway submitted their financial proposal last week after a two-month delay. A government appointed technical evaluation committee is now going through the proposal and hopes to have their report out as early as next week, secretary to the Highways Ministry, Sirisena Amarasekera told our sister programme Lanka Viyaparika Puwath.

After many false starts, Sri Lanka appointed China Metallurgical Construction Corporation (MCC), to design and build the expressway, after the Chinese Exim Bank agreed to fund it through a soft loan.

Costing around 200 million dollars, the 26 kilometer roadway which leads the island's sole international airport, is expected to cut travel time and boost the country's image among arriving investors and tourists.

Once cabinet approves the financial proposal, construction could begin within three months with the road being opened for traffic by 2009.

The 4-lane expressway, is estimated to require around 4-million cubic meters of sand and rubble through the 3-year construction period.

To be operated as a government owned toll road, t